Page 66 of Sweet on You
22
Ronnie
The next night, Lex and I had made plans to meet up with James and his husband, Nate. It was the first time we were going out as a couple with other people. It was like taking an act on the road… we needed to see if this was sustainable around other people rather than just inside our little bubble. Unfortunately, I was wound so tight, I felt like my shoulders were in knots around my ears.
We had arrived at the restaurant first, and I should have known better. James was almost incapable of being on time. Lex’s hand found the back of my neck and he wound his fingers into one of my curls. “Hey,” he whispered. “You okay?”
I glanced to my right and did my best to give him a smile, nodding. “Yeah.”
How could I be okay when he was already telling me he loved me? It wasn’t that I didn’t care for him or think I was also falling for Lex… but it was so soon. He had even said himself that, with his daughter in the picture, he needed to take things slowly. What if I accepted this, accepted his love, only to be left yet again?
No. I needed to harden myself to Lex, just a little. I needed time and space and even though my heart was screaming at me to tell him how much I liked him… that maybe I was even falling in love with him, too… I couldn’t. Not until I was sure he was as invested in us as I was.
Lex cleared his throat and leaned in, whispering, “Can we talk about what happened last night?”
I blinked, speechless. I wasn’t usually the one running from these conversations… I was usually the one initiating them. All my life, I had been the confrontational person. Lex had turned my world upside down and I wasn’t sure I liked it yet.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry! We had no idea we’d have such a hard time finding parking!” James said.
“And of course, his meeting at the Inn went later than he thought.” Nate covered James’s hand with his, eyes widening playfully. “His meetings always go later than he thinks.”
Saved.
I exhaled a relieved breath and turned to face James and Nate as they rushed forward and kissed me on my cheek. Then, leaning across the table, they shook Lex’s hand.
“I’m so glad we’re doing this,” James said, taking a seat and opening his menu. “I don’t think I’ve ever been on a double date with Veronica Tripp.”
I rolled my eyes. “Hello? Prom… senior year? Does that count for nothing?”
“Honey, that doesnotcount,” James snorted. “First of all… that wasn’t a double date. I was your date. And neither of us was getting laid at the end of the night. So, yeah. Definitely doesn’t count.”
I laughed, remembering how James came to the hospital and asked me to be his date to prom while I was still hideous and hooked up to IVs and fluids. Frankly, I think he was the only person my mother or brothers would have allowed me to go to prom with, anyway.
“You two have known each other since high school, but never double dated before?” Lex asked, pointing a finger back and forth between us.
“We’re victims of circumstance,” James said, shrugging. “We’ve never been dating people at the same time. She was withHe Who Shall Not Be Namedand I was in my noncommittal stage at that time.”
Nate leaned over the table, pretending to whisper to Lex, “That means he was in his manwhore stage, by the way.”
“Ah,” Lex nodded. “Most of us have gone through that stage, right?”
“Not me,” I said, taking a sip of wine.
Nate raised his hand. “Me neither.” We high fived like the nerds we were and laughed from across the table.
James rolled his eyes. “Anyway, we’ve met each other’s boyfriends… but never while we each had our own. So…” He held out his hands as though presenting our whole table. “Tada! First ever double date in eleven years of friendship.”
“Impressive,” Lex’s brows lifted and he winked at me, resting his arm along the back of my chair.
“I think you mean pathetic,” I snorted, taking another sip of wine. Lex eyed my glass and took a drink from his own soda water.
“Hey,” he said quietly, tugging on one of my curls. “Careful. That’s my girlfriend you’re talking about there.”
I sputtered, nearly spitting up my sip of wine, but instead it went down the wrong pipe. It was the first time he’d ever called me his girlfriend. And we hadn’t really talked about it. Not since he brought up the L word. Jesus, we went from claiming to want to move slowly to going at warp speed. As I kept coughing, bits of red wine dribbled down my chin and onto my white shirt.
Lex rubbed his hand in circles over my back. “You okay?” he said through my coughing fit.
“Yeah,” I held up a finger and pointed toward the restrooms. “I’m just going to go clean up a bit.”
