Page 51 of Hard to Pretend

I grinned. “Mason used to date the manager,” I answered as we sat at a small table for two. “They weren’t too serious, but we formed a pretty good friendship.”

“And Mason wouldn’t mind you calling in a favor with his ex?” he questioned. I could hear the concern in his tone, the idea that this could upset the healing scabs of my relationship with my best friend.

I loved him even more for it.

“It was his idea,” I assured him. “Like I said, they weren’t that serious. They still talk from time to time.”

He nodded and opened the menu. “None of my friends are really close with their exes,” he said with a shrug. Then he shook his head. “Actually, I take that back. Matt’s high school boyfriend is back in town, and he said they’ve been texting.” I raised an eyebrow, and he shook his head. “I don’t think it’s like that. Noah was his first love, but it was years ago. I’m pretty sure they’re just friends now.”

Our server came over and took our drink orders. By the time she came back with drinks and bread, we were ready to order the rest of our food. When the server left, I turned my attention to the reason for the night: his new job.

He told me about the salary and benefits package. He sounded so excited as he went over everything else he knew about his new position. They’d even sent himthe name of his mentor: Jasper. “Don’t tell him to go easy on me,” he teased.

I shook my head at him. “I would never.” Especially after we’d gotten into that fight over my meddling. I knew better than to intervene professionally. It may have worked out well for him, but I had full faith he could have done it without my help. I knew he’d succeed at Enterprise without me saying or doing anything.

He would make it on his own merit, just the way he wanted.

The dinner part of our date didn’t last too long. We ate our food and talked. We laughed over dessert, and after I paid the bill, I drove us to the movie theater. Once a month, they played older movies, and this month, one of the movies he loved was playing.

His eyes lit up when I told him what we were seeing. “I always wanted to see this in theater.”

“I know,” I reminded him. “You told me once that you were pissed you were too young to see it when it came out.”

“I didn’t even know it was playing this weekend,” he laughed. “I never keep up with these. Who knows how many movies I’ve missed that I wanted to see.”

My laughter joined his. It was such aSebthing to say, and I loved him for it. For the fact that he didn’t keep up with what movies were playing or what was going on around town. It made surprising him easier.

I heard someone call out to us from the concession line. While the voice was familiar, I didn’t have the immediate recognition that Seb did. I watched as his eyes lit up. He practically dragged me toward the voices. I saw the source after a few steps: Silas and Jonas. We stepped into line with them and chatted as they bought a giant bucket of popcorn and soda. I was still too full from dinner to even think about movie snacks, but I bought Seb a small popcorn with extra butter.

“You know, I feel kind of betrayed,” Seb teased Jonas as we walked toward our theater. “You know more than anyone how much I wanted to see this in theater, and you didn’t tell me.”

“Actually, I texted you a few hours ago to see if you wanted to hang out, but you had plans.”

I grinned, raising my hand. “I’m the plans.”

“Absolutely you are,” Seb confirmed, leaning over and giving me a quick kiss on his cheek.

The four of us found seats together in the middle of the theater, Seb and Jonas sitting side by side. I listened as Seb told his best friend about his new job until the lights went down. While this had been planned as a date, I was more than happy to share Seb’s attention. Maybe I should have invited his friends to celebrate with us. He seemed so excited seeing Jonas and Silas, and I thought maybe it would’ve been better than a solo date. Hindsight was 20/20.

After the movie, Silas suggested we all go to Dana’s for dessert. We took separate cars, and Seb held my hand the entire drive across town. “You’re okay with this turning into a double date, right?” he asked.

“If I’d have been thinking, I would have suggested it myself,” I promised him. “I know how important your friends are to you.”

They were just as important to him as my friends were to me. Everything was made better because they were beside him, just as everything was better when my friends were with me. It was something we had in common, something I appreciated about him. Because it meant that I’d never have to choose. I’d never have to worry that my partner was going to be pissed when I spent time with my friends without him.

It had happened before with other partners, both mine and a few of my friends.

“I love you,” he exhaled, bringing my knuckles to his lips.

We sang along to the music over the radio as we drove from the theater to Dana’s. There were moments in life that you wished you could bottle up, and this was one of them for me. If I could keep this feeling for the rest of my life, I’d die happy.

In that moment, I knew it was true. He was the person I wanted to be with for the rest of my life. Maybe it was too soon to feel that way, but I knew it deep in my soul. This was the kind oflove that lasted.

We parked at Dana’s, and we went inside. Jonas and Silas were already waiting for us, squeezed in together on one side of a corner booth. I slid into the opposite side, and Seb squeezed in beside me. We both looked at the sticky, laminated menus, even though I knew exactly what I wanted for my second dessert. Of course, by the time the server came over, our order had gone to more than just dessert.

It wasn’t my fault that a giant plate of loaded fries sounded like heaven, nor was it Seb’s fault for agreeing.

Silas and Jonas ordered chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks, and we all seemed content to know that this was not going to be just a quick dessert trip. We chatted about more potential double dates as we ate our way through our greasy, deep fried snacks. By the time we ordered the desserts we’d originally come for, we had hard plans to go to a picnic lunch and had tossed around the idea of going to one of the summer Shakespeare performances at the park.

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