Page 18 of Hate To Love You
Teague grins. “Do you do dating profiles, Peanut? Do you use those … silly little dating apps with the gimmicks and the promises to help you find your soul mate?”
Liam checks his phone again, this time picking it up. “No,” he says after a pause, tapping and scrolling through notifications.
Teague smirks. “Me neither,” he decides to say, takes a sip of his water, then smiles again. “Y’know, I’m happy I get to spend my birthday with you. You even gave me a rather generous present just now—yes, I noticed—and it’s those little sweet things that tell me there’s hope for us yet.”
Liam freezes, then squints at Teague. “Birthday present?”
“You let me call you Peanut and didn’t flip out about it.”
Liam blinks. “I did?” He realizes itdidslip a second ago. “Oh.”
“And I very, very,verymuch appreciate that present. It’s more meaningful to me than you know. Don’t worry,” he quickly adds, “I won’t abuse this beautiful gift you’ve bestowed upon me. One use only. Two max, if I’m feeling frisky on our drive back.”
Liam doesn’t say anything after that, but he appears to be in his head in that Liam-like way as he scrolls much slower through his phone, distracted, perhaps bothered.
Teague gnaws on his lip and decides not to press anything further. He likes teasing Liam, but the last thing he wants to do is really hurt him. He can’t even imagine a possible scenario where he’d upset Liam irredeemably. The only thing he ever wants to bring Liam is joy.
Not that he’s even partially succeeded once in their time this summer so far.
But there’s still quite a bit of summer yet.
Long after the boys enjoy their burgers and fries, they’re just about to get up when suddenly the aproned woman comes out of the back with a mustached man bearing a slice of cake on a plate with a candle sticking out of it. Teague is beside himself as they sing Happy Birthday and place the cake before him. Similarly stunned, Liam can’t bring himself to sing as he watches the scene unfold like he’s not even here. “Make a wish!” says the woman as she clings to the mustached man—her husband, Teague presumes.
Before making that wish, he glances at Liam across the table.
Liam stares back, the flickering candle between them.
“It already came true,” decides Teague with a smile, pursing his lips as if to kiss someone, then blows out his candle.
8
Wishes
Liam can’t make a lick of sense out of it.
Not the birthday cake itself, of course. That well-meaning but nosy lady clearly overheard them mentioning Teague’s birthday and caused that whole scene just to seal the deal on her fantasy of winning them over and adding two additional lovebirds to the population of Spruce.
What Liam can’t make sense out of is the way Teague gazed at him over the table.
Like Liam was the thing he wanted for his birthday.
Like Liam was the wish.
Even after they swing by the ranch, pick up the order (which takes four trips to get all of it onto the bed of the truck), and are heading back to Fairview, Liam is still turning it over and over in his head.
And what was all that nonsense with Teague teasing about the two of them being a couple? Walking a dog together? Holding hands? Liam can’t care less what Teague’s dog is named.
When they reach their first drop-off, pulling into the parking lot of Nadine’s, Teague and Liam are spared the work of carrying in the supplies, as a couple of burly employees are sent out by the manager. Teague keeps insisting on helping, but the workersat Nadine’s don’t let him, doing the carrying themselves, leaving Liam and Teague lingering by the truck.
“Despite living here all my life, I’ve never been here before,” admits Teague with a sigh. “A bit out of my price range.”
Liam is still bothered. He can’t shake these intrusive thoughts. Still, he makes himself calmly respond: “Me neither. My big group wanted to go here for prom senior year, but then someone’s mom booked another place at half the cost.”
“No idea what would inspire me to pay all this money to come here anyway.” Teague kicks at a spot on the ground. “Unless I … maybe had a … special person to take here.” He gazes over at Liam across the hood of the truck. “I would spend every cent I had to make my better half happy.”
“That doesn’t sound very economical. Or smart.”
“Love isn’t economicalorsmart. It just is, Peanut.Last time!” Teague quickly cries with a lift of his hand, seeing Liam tense up. “Last use of my birthday present, promise, cross my heart.”
