Page 8 of Tastes of Him

“So then Roddie comes up and saves me from the guy by giving him some fake ass WebMD diagnosis,” Kevin said, throwing an arm over Rod’s shoulder and grinning at him in a way that had me contemplating homicide. “And that’s when I knew we would be friends for life.”

Julie and Cameran laughed along with the other guys at the table, but I had to fight hard to even give a hint of a smile. Four hours of dealing with this guy—Kevin—was quickly becoming my villain origin story. First, it was the way he continued to call RodRoddie, even though I could see Rod wincing slightly with each utterance. Then it was the way he quickly seated himself between us at the restaurant. If not for the fact that I was starving and the food smelled like heaven, I might have fought homeboy and gladly accepted my spot in jail. Even when I sat down beside Rod when we got toCasey’s, he’d taken up the seat on Rod’s other side instead of leaving it open for Cameran. Without Cameran’s little head shake in my direction, I would have pushed his ass off the stool, sticky floor or not.

But this…thistouchy-feely shit was about to be the death of him. I hadn’t fought anyone since high school, but I might have to catch a case. If not for the fact that Rod never moved away, I would have said something. But despite him seeming to dislike being called “Roddie,” he never shrugged off the touches, and that gave me pause. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that Rod hadn’t had partners while he was away at school—I had even heard about a couple of them from Cameran—but this guy was over the fucking top.

Feeling like I was about to lose my pasta, I decided to get some air. “I’m going to step outside.”

Rod turned to look at me. “Are you okay?”

I waved away his concern. “I’m fine. Just a little lightheaded. I’m going to grab a water and then check out the porch.” Cameran offered to join me, but I shrugged her off and walked toward the bar. I leaned against the counter and gestured to the bartender. She nodded and walked over to me.

“What can I get you?”

“Another life, maybe,” I mumbled before asking for a beer.

The woman gave me a look before turning away. When she placed a bottle of water in front of me, I looked up in confusion. Her dark brown eyes looked over me before she cocked an eyebrow.

“You’re Sean, right?”

Excuse the fuck out of me?

“How do you know me?” I wracked my brain to think of where I might have known her from, but I was coming up with not a damn thing. “Have we met, and I just conveniently forgot?”

She snorted and leaned on the bar. “I’m Jennifer. Never met, but we might as well have, as much as your boy talks about you.”

“My boy?”

“Rod,” she said, nodding. I glanced over my shoulder, following her gaze, and had to swallow hard when I saw Rod looking back. He gave me a small smile and raised his eyebrows quickly.

I shook my head before turning back to her. “Ah. He’s not my boy,” I corrected. I grabbed the water and uncapped it. It was a cold shock against my tongue, but I welcomed the moment to get my bearings. “We’re…friends. Good friends, from childhood. His sister and I run a coffee shop together.”

The woman reached out, offering me her hand, and I shook it while trying not to show how messed up I was from her thinking I had some kind of claim on Rod.

“For just friends, he seems to talk about you an awful lot. Almost more than he talks about his sister.” Her gaze was sharp.

I waved off her words to disguise how much they made my heart race. “Well…” I trailed off, not knowing what to say to that. It felt good to know that Rod had mentioned me enough that it was noticeable. Felt good in that secret part of me that always wanted to know that I was on someone’s mind.

No, not someone’s. His.I would deny it if someone mentioned it, but at least I could admit it to myself.

“Yeah, well, he does like to run his mouth sometimes,” I replied, not knowing how to respond to that. I opened my mouth again to say something else, but a hand grabbed my arm.

“Sean,” Cameran said, turning me toward her. She smiled and nodded at Jennifer before looking back at me. “You need to come back to the table.”

“Why? I was going to check out the—”

She pulled me slightly, cutting me off. “Just come on.”

With a sigh, I thanked Jennifer before letting myself get led back to the table like a lamb to the slaughter. Rod’s friends were nice enough, minus that Kevin guy. I wanted to punch him in the throat every time he smiled at Rod. I didn’t like him, and if I hadn’t promised to be nice, I would have told him that to his face.That’s what I get for denying my nature.When we got back to the table and sat back down beside Rod, the conversation was still in full swing.

“So, you’re planning to drive all the way back home by yourself?” Kevin asked. The muscles in my eye twitched when I saw his hand resting on Rod’s shoulder.This bitch is going to make me lose my mind.

Rod shrugged, the move making Kevin’s hand slide away. “I had planned on Jermaine joining me, but he had a change of plans, unfortunately, so I’ll just be riding solo.”

“That sucks, man,” Brody said, sounding so damn sincere. I liked him well enough. He seemed like a nice guy, and he didn’t hang all over Rod like a wet fucking blanket. “If I had time between moves, I totally would make the drive with you.”

“Well, I could join you.”

The alcohol in my stomach turned sour, and I twitched slightly, accidentally brushing into Rod as I fought not to gag. Rod frowned as he glanced at me. “Are you okay?” When everyone else turned to look at me, I schooled my expression to the one I used when a customer was pissing me off, but I was still trying to make a sale.

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