Page 54 of When the Fake Snow Falls

Miles walks back around to his seat with Amanda sliding in next to him. “Good job, Stink.”

My smile widens. “Why, thank you.”

Chase smiles at Amanda as she takes a seat. “Nice to see you again.”

You’d think he just said something a lot more with the way she beams at him, but that’s part of his charm. “You too.”

Gesturing toward the man sitting on the other side of Miles, I ask, “And who do we have here?”

He’s tall. I can tell even though we’re all sitting. I only come up to Miles’s chest, and he looks to be about the same height. He has strawberry blonde hair with scattered freckles, and Ihopethis is the guy Miles has been so crazy about.

The guy holds out a hand to introduce himself. “Hi, I’m Elvis.”

Amanda does a double take. “Your name isElvis?”

“He’s my accountant,” Miles says, like it will somehow explain.

Elvis lets out a laugh. “Would you stop?” Turning back to the rest of us, he adds, “I am not his accountant.”

“Oh, that’s right.” Miles puts his hand up to block out Elvis and loudly whispers, “He’s my lover.”

My eyes fly to Elvis. After what Miles mentioned about him needing a little more time, I figured he would look uncomfortable, but he just lets out a hearty laugh and says, “You’re stupid.” The adoration in his eyes suggests otherwise, though.

Miles looks over at Elvis. “You really should be my accountant.My finances are amess.I hope you know what you’re getting into.”

Elvis shakes his head. “You don’t scare me.”

“He should,” I say with a laugh. Reaching my hand across the table, I introduce myself. “Candace.”

Elvis grins and takes my hand. “You and I need to talk.”

My smile widens. “We definitely do.” In a playful whisper, I add, “I know all his secrets.”

Miles looks between us. “I’m not sure how I feel about this.”

Ignoring his comment, my eyes jump between him and Chase. “So, how did you two end up here together?”

“Well,” Miles says, taking the lead. He gestures toward Elvis, and says, “We were on a date, minding our own business, when this hunk of a man walked up and asked if we’d ever consider adding a third. I, of course, said yes right away, but when I looked up and saw it was Daddy Chase, I wasshocked.”

Chase gives me a sideways glance, his lips turning upward. “I was getting takeout.”

Laughter bubbles in my throat. “Makes sense.”

He gives me that easy-going smile I love so much, and I’m overwhelmed by my need to kiss him. He’s here. Spending time with my best friend of his own free will. Seeing him put in the time to get to know someone so important to me has me wishing this was more. It’s something so small, but it’s hitting me too hard. If there weren’t so many people around, I’d probably climb him. But instead, I settle on resting my hand on his knee hidden beneath the table, showing my appreciation in a smaller way. It’s one of the first times I’ve made a move to touch him, and Chase’s eyes light with delight.

His acknowledgment heats my cheeks, and the feeling of his knee against my fingertips has my heart pounding. Even after he looks back at my friends to jump into the conversation,all I can think about is the way he just looked at me, and the fact that I’m still touching him.

It’s enough to make me pull my hand away.

Chase snatches my fingers under the table before they get too far, and firmly puts my hand back on his knee. He doesn’t say anything about it, and he doesn’t look at me, but he keeps me there, his hand resting on mine, before he lets go and folds his arms on the table.

No one notices our subtle exchange. Amanda asks Miles and Elvis how they met, and without missing a beat, Elvis jumps in and says, “We were both on Christian Mingle.”

Miles nods. “We were the only two with shirtless profile pics and knew it was meant to be.”

Laughter breaks out among the table, and the sound of Chase laughing next to me, while we’re surrounded by my friends, might be more addicting than anything else about him.

Elvis catches sight of the dwindling beer in front of Miles. “Another?” he asks, pointing to the glass.

---