Page 7 of Not That Impossible

“What would it do to me?” I said.

“It would fire up your obsession with him again. Jasper, my arsehole cousin is not the man for you.”

“Okay, one? It can’t possiblyfire upmy obsession again because that fire is eternal and unwavering and will be burning bright when the sun devours Earth. And two, can we not call it an obsession? That makes it sound weird. He’s my soulmate.”

Adam groaned.

“Shut up,” I said. “I don’t tell you to get over your obsession with Ray.”

“Because it’s not an obsession,” Adam said. “He’s my soul—oh for fuck’s sake you’ve got me saying it now. He’s the love of my life. And he’ll realise that one day, if I can get him to stop hating me long enough to give me a chance.”

Adam’s attention cut over to where Ray and his friend were having drinks. I felt his focus like a heat shimmer in the air beside me. I was surprised Ray couldn’t. He was chattering away to his friend, blithely unconcerned that Adam was there.

“Yeah, and Liam’s the love of my life,” I said to Adam. “If I can gethimto stop hatingme.” And be into dicks.

He grunted and we sat there like a pair of losers, drinking our drinks and staring hungrily at men we could never have, pretty much as we’d been doing for the last few years.

I’d been fascinated with Liam from the day we met when I was fourteen and he’d arrested me and Adam for tagging the millennium monument in the town square with pink spray paint (we were innocent). The more I saw him, the more I liked him. Like became a teenage crush, my teenage crush became love, and here I was.

Turned twenty-four, and hopelessly infatuated with a man who would never give me a second look, even if he was divorced, because he was straight, and he only saw me as his little cousin’s best friend.

The thing between Adam and Ray was newer.

Ray moved to Chipping Fairford a few years ago. Adam took one look at him and that was it. Game over. He used to hang out after his shift at the Co-op, pretending to work so he could bump into Ray, or take on extra hours stocking the shelves, in case Ray came in and Adam got the chance to talk to him.

Of course, back then Adam was eighteen and Ray, who was Liam’s age, never even gave him a second look.

Not until last year, when Adam came back from Cambridge university and slept with Ray’s boyfriend, Fraser. That got him a second look all right.

He’d had no idea that Fraser was in a relationship, let alone in a relationship with Ray.

Despite that, I had no doubts as to Adam’s eventual happy ending. He was a force of nature. Sexy, tousled, determined nature who had set his sights on Ray and would get what he wanted, because that’s how Adam rolled.

As for my happy ending…

I met Liam’s gaze across the room again. He held it for a moment before deliberately turning back to his date.

“I’m pissed off with you,” I told Adam. “You should have told me he’s divorced.”

“He’s not the right man for you, Jasper.”

“Obviously, I know that. What with him being, you know.” I waved a hand in his direction. “Into tall and beautiful women and whatnot.”

Adam grimaced down at his beer.

“You still should have told me,” I said. “I’d like to have known.”

“Sorry,” he said. “Actually, no. I’m not sorry. It was on purpose. I don’t want you with someone like Liam. He wouldn’t treat you right.” He slung an arm around my shoulders, tugging me in to his side, and dropped a quick kiss on the top of my head. “You need someone kind. You deserve a man who appreciates you for all your weirdness.”

“Uh—”

“Someone who will stand up and point at you and say, this guy. This ismyguy. The one for me. My little freak. Fight me.”

That was sweet. “Am I weird, though?”

“Jasper,” he said fondly. “You’re perfect.”

“Awww.”

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