Page 52 of Cherry on Top

Well as I could, Will said. A little hard to go into some of the finer details in front of your mother.

Aw, and she’s worried if I’m a gentleman.

You are. In case you were wondering.

A guy who wasn’t would have said screw the consequences and thrown caution to the wind, but Enzo hadn’t, even though he had to know that any desire he felt was easily reciprocated by Will.

Turns out you haven’t been brainwashed by the town! Or maybe you’ve actually been un-brainwashed?

As Will pulled his shirt off and unzipped his jeans, settling on the edge of the bed in just his boxer briefs, sadly alone, he thought of what he’d known of Enzo before he’d come back.

What Giana had promised him Enzo was like, every time she’d come in, singing his praises. The casual references Luca and Oliver had made to their cousin. The stories Kate had told him when he’d asked.

The only thing I thought about you before you showed up was that you must need help getting a date, or else why else was your mom so insistent I talk to you?

Ouch.

Good news, you definitely don’t need the help.

An understatement.

Thanks for making me feel better.

It’s unfair the whole town judges you by how you were when you were twenty-one. We’re all idiots at that age.

Even you?

Even me.

Will thought of himself, when he’d been twenty-one.

He hadn’t been wild by any stretch of the imagination, but he’d stayed out too late, partying on the beach, hooking up with anyone he felt like, rolling into one of his parents’ stores with only a few hours of sleep, hungover and jittery with the caffeine he’d drunk to combat his exhaustion.

Nobody had ever judged him for that. Okay, well, they had, but only a little. He’d still worked hard, but had he cared as much about the work? Back then, no.

It wasn’t like a whole town had condemned him, not like they had Enzo.

Of course, Will hadn’t known that Enzo. He only knew this Enzo. But he understood, a little, why Enzo didn’t want to come back here, and why he’d refused the idea of moving back permanently. Why he’d carved out a life for himself elsewhere.

Huh, Enzo texted back. I think I’d liked to have met you, back then. Think of all the trouble we could’ve gotten into.

Will wanted to tell him, imagine what we could get up to now.

But he didn’t need to say it because he had a feeling they were both thinking it.

I think we’re having a pretty good time now.

Definitely the most fun that Will had ever had on a first date. Even a faux first date.

Could be even better.

Will stared at his phone’s screen. He knew Enzo felt the same. He’d felt it the whole date, and especially at the park, when they’d playacted their first kiss.

God, pretend I didn’t say that. It only makes it harder, Enzo texted before Will could figure out how to reply.

Easier, too? To know it’s not just me.

You’re working tomorrow? Enzo sent, and Will was actually glad that he’d changed the subject. He wasn’t sure how much more teasing he could take before he decided they might as well just give in.

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