Page 112 of Knot That Serious

Beckett chuckled. “Would I be here spying on your roommate with you if I didn’t?”

“Well, when you put it that way,” Jack drawled, and then cleared his throat. Made a point to meet Beckett’s deep blue stare. “I love you, too.”

Beckett’s smile was blinding. “See? How hard was that?”

Jack rolled his eyes, affection in his chest like a balloon with too much helium. “Not so hard… when it’s you.” Jack slid his chair to the side, ignoring the scrape of the wood against tile, and sidled up to Beckett.

A touch of amusement wrinkled the lines around his eyes. Jack slid a hand up to the back of his neck and pulled him forward. They met in the middle, a chaste kiss, a brush of lips. A token of affection.

“Cool,” Jack thought as he pulled away.

“Cool?” Beckett asked, arching a brow.

Ah. He’d really said that aloud. Heat flushed Jack’s face. “I said what I said.”

It was cool to, like, tell someone how you felt and learn how they felt, too.

“So… what, exactly, is the plan here?” Beckett asked.

Jack spied the waiter returning, and said, “The plan is to order food.”

But past that… Jack actually wasn’t that certain. He nodded politely at the waiter and only half-listened as they got the spiel about specials, and then Beckett pointed at something on the menu.

What exactly was Jack hoping to accomplish by stalking his roommate?

“Jack?” Beckett said, and Jack blinked at the alpha before returning to the moment.

“Oh, right,” Jack said, and told the waiter his order before handing over his menu.

Beckett stared at him for a moment after the waiter left before crossing his arms on the table and leaning forward, giving Jack his full attention. “So, the plan?”

“We’re just… parallel dating,” Jack said. Even to him it sounded like bullshit, and he had to fight a laugh. This was ridiculous. What did it accomplish? Absolutely nothing.

“I just want to make sure he’s not secretly a dick or something,” he tried again.

“Uh-huh,” Beckett hummed doubtfully.

“And if it starts to look serious, like he’s about to ask her to join a pack, we can…”

Beckett lifted his brows, tilting his head and waiting for Jack to finish his statement.

“We can… cause a huge distraction.”

“Like what?” Beckett’s lips were twitching now, too.

“Like… trip a waiter,” Jack whispered conspiratorially. “Or set a fire.” Jack snapped his fingers, pointing at Beckett. “We could hit him with a car.”

“Jack!” Beckett said, sounding scandalized, but finally, his lips curled into a smile as a laugh spilled out. “You’re terrible.”

“You’re right, this is so dumb,” Jack said, shaking his head. “It’s kind of fun, though. I mean, where else would I have gotten to see you dress like… that?” he asked, motioning to Beckett’s outfit, his suede patches. His hair was parted on the opposite side and glasses were perched on his nose.

Jack didn’t know Beckett wore glasses, until he’d showed up at his door. Now he wished he wore them all the time.

Jack sipped his wine and wrinkled his nose as the hairs on his lip got wet. The fake mustache was not high-quality.

“I feel like a librarian,” Beckett said, pushing his glasses up. Then he arched his brows. “Got any librarian fantasies?”

Jack grinned. “I do now.”

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