Page 40 of Cherry on Top

Will chuckled. “Maybe don’t try it on my wall, though.”

“Don’t worry. I’m gonna paint you something beautiful.”

Will had never doubted it. Okay, yes, he had. But only when he’d been convinced Enzo was a vandal who only wanted to cover his building with graffiti.

“I know,” he said.

“I talked to my mom this morning,” Enzo said. “When’s your next evening off?”

For a moment, Will didn’t quite grasp why he was asking. Or what his day off had to do with Enzo talking to his mom.

And then he realized.

“The conversation didn’t go well, then?”

Enzo shook his head. “She’s basically already convinced. You’re right, the path of least resistance is to just go along with it. So, when are we gonna have our big date?”

Will’s eyebrows raised. “Who says I even want a big date?”

“If we’re doing this, we’re doing it right. No questions. No half-measures.”

That didn’t really surprise Will much. Enzo was a Moretti, after all. They were kinda notorious for going all-in.

Look at Luca, moving to Indigo Bay and changing his whole life when he’d fallen in love with Oliver.

“Alright. In two days. You gonna be ready for it that quickly?”

Enzo laughed. “Oh, baby, I’m ready right now.”

“Baby, huh? Fake date me for five minutes and I’m already baby.”

Enzo looked intrigued. “You want me to call you something else? Some other kind of cute pet name?”

“Honey? Cutie? Darling?” Will grinned. “How about Daddy?”

Enzo rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

“Then you’d have to explain to my mother what that means,” Enzo said. “We’ll put a pin in this. Maybe that can be one of our discussions on our date. What charming nickname I’m going to murmur in your ear.”

Will had been the one to suggest this plan, but he could admit now that he hadn’t thought it through as much as he should’ve.

Because Enzo would want to commit to this—he’d said he did, just now, in case there was any question—and that was going to mean playing it up in public. There would absolutely be cute pet names and Enzo dipping his head low, murmuring into his ear in that deliciously melodic voice. Then he’d flutter those lethally gorgeous eyes in Will’s direction and expect Will to melt like his highest quality chocolate.

Well. That wasn’t going to be a problem. Melting would be the least of his worries.

“Works for me,” Will said. “Explain to me again how you screwed things up with Oliver.”

“By being totally the wrong guy for him. And also being an arrogant asshole,” Enzo joked, the self-deprecating light in his eyes proving that if that had been true at any point, it wasn’t any longer.

Enzo Moretti had grown up.

Very, very well, if Will had any say.

“I’m kinda thinking,” Enzo continued, before Will could come up with something to say that wasn’t, I don’t believe it, it’s impossible to believe something so ludicrous, “that maybe dating you is gonna redeem me in the eyes of the town.”

“Oh?” It was the most—the best—Will could get out and that was saying something. Fake Boyfriend Enzo flustered him even more than Regular Enzo. He didn’t know whether to be delighted or horrified by this.

“All anyone believes I’m capable of is one terrible date with Oliver, eight years ago, and then sulking about it afterwards. I’d like to prove I’m better than that.”

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