Page 68 of The Mayor and the Mystery Man

“I almost got an elbow to the face that night. How did we wind up there?”

“I might’ve forgotten to check what room I booked for us.” The innkeeper gave us the weirdest look when we checked in, and I took it upon myself to thoroughly explain that we were just friends on a post-graduation road trip. This conversation felt a little bit like that, but at least we hadn’t lost any of our bantering skills post-sex.

He poured me a cup of coffee into a #1 Dad mug. His hand rested easily on my back as he handed it over.

“Anyway, sorry about last night,” I said. “The blanket tug-of-war.”

“All good.”

Pins and needles prickled on my skin. I should’ve laced up my shoes before coming down because we were dancing this morning. Dancing around the thing that happened. Dancing wasn’t what we did in our friendship.

Leo nodded, trying to come up with the next dance move. “The run was good. How are those sneakers working for you?”

“Good.”

Who cared about sneakers? We had sex last night! We said things to each other that couldn’t be written off to the heat of the moment. I had my best friend’s dick in my mouth, and he licked my ass like it was Tootsie Pop.

I put down my coffee cup and toast. “Leo.” I found myself getting breathless again. “Last night…”

Before I could finish that sentence—or more accurately, figure out how to finish that sentence—someone knocked at the front door. Leo was all too happy to bolt to the foyer, but admittedly, I felt a wave of relief, too.

Vernita clacked into the kitchen, looking so happy you’d think she was the one who had mindblowing sex last night. Maybe she did. Her husband was quite handsome.

She pointed at both of us. “You two. A-plus. Amazing. Gold stars. Academy Awards. All of it. Dusty, I was nervous about your plan yesterday. It had the potential to backfire greatly. But it didn’t. It didn’t at all.” She grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured herself a cup of coffee, which she did not need at all, judging by her enthusiasm. “And Leo, you...you blew me away.”

She pulled him into a hug, ignoring his sweaty attire.

“If I’d known you could play the guitar like that, I would’ve had you do more fun things like that. That was...that was Clinton playing the sax onArsenio Hall. That was huge.”

“Haven’t I always been fun?” Leo asked.

“No,” Vernita and I said at the same time.

Leo sipped his coffee and shut up.

“My emails have been out of control. I’ve gotten inquiries from media outlets across the state about you. You’ve gone somewhat viral.”

Leo shrugged modestly while I beamed like a proud boyfriend—err, fake boyfriend.

Vernita pulled up a video on her phone from YouTube of the performance. The clip ended with me kissing Leo. Even from this distance, it was obvious that this was no fake kiss and that kissing had not become old hat as my plan had presumed. My heart jumped as I remembered that moment when everything went quiet, and our mouths met.

“Unfortunately, there are rumors being spread that you weren’t actually playing,” Vernita said, rolling her eyes. “Somebody is saying your guitar wasn’t plugged in, and you’d hired a professional guitar player to play for you backstage.”

“That’s one thousand percent fake news,” I shouted out.

“Reddit loves a conspiracy theory,” Vernita said.

“Rita.” Leo laughed to himself. “Anyone who was there knows it’s bullshit. They can look at my calloused fingers.”

Leo stuck out his hands, showing off rough fingers that caressed my skin last night, that plunged inside me, that held me as I slept. My dick got hard all over again.

“I’m not worried, but I am continuing to monitor.” She took back her phone and resumed checking her email. “And Dusty…”

I held my arms out, showing that I was da man. Anything to get the blood pumping elsewhere. “I was amazing.”

“That was the best fake kiss I’ve ever seen. You two really sold your relationship. That’ll shut up all the doubters.”

Except for the two doubters in this kitchen. Leo studied the consistency of his coffee while I examined the crumbs on my plate.

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