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Liam wrinkled his brow. “Do you, like, get any action at all by calling them handies and gobbies?”
“You’d be surprised,” Ambrose said, and winked, and Liam discovered that, no, he wasn’t surprised at all. Ambrose was hot. He was still at least fifty-percent dickhead, but he was hot. Okay, his display of douchebaggery from the other night had been fake, but it was still a hell of a first impression to try to overcome. And, in Liam’s defence, he was pretty sure that being paid money to act like a dickhead was something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. It wasn’t the sort of job a non-dickhead would take, right? At least some of Ambrose’s douchebag act had to be a case of art imitating life.
He was super-hot though. And his smile was cute, and made Liam want to smile in return.
“So, tell me about you,” Ambrose said, wiping his greasy fingers on his jeans. “And also tell me how we met, and how long we’ve been dating, and anything else I might get third-degreed about over dinner with your parents.”
“Third-degreed isn’t a verb,” Liam said.
“Aha!” Ambrose grinned broadly, the sunlight sparkling in his hazel eyes. “English major, right?”
“No,” Liam said, slightly abashed. “Um, just a pedant?”
Ambrose laughed. “Okay. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Um,” Liam said. “My name is Liam Connelly. I’m twenty-three. I’m doing a joint degree in Science and Commerce, and I’m hopefully going to do my master’s in Agriculture and Environment.”
Ambrose narrowed his eyes. “I hope our backstory isn’t that we met in class, because there is no way I can fake any knowledge of, or, if I’m honest, interest in any of the words you just said.” He brightened. “Oh! Maybe we met at the Royal Easter Show! You were there checking out cows or something.”
“Why would I be checking out cows?” Liam asked.
“Because agriculture! Cows are a part of agriculture, right? Or am I thinking astronomy?”
“Jesus, I hope not,” Liam said. “No, I’m not interested in cows. I’m interested in grapes.”
“I like the green ones without seeds,” Ambrose said. “Do you have a favourite grape? Maybe we met in the produce section at Woolworths?”
“My family owns a winery,” Liam said. “And no, we didn’t meet over grapes. Can’t we just say we met here one morning, when we were both getting coffee?”
“That’ll work,” Ambrose said. “Wow. A winery. That’s cool. Okay, so you’re doing a double degree, and a master’s, in stuff that’ll help the family business.” He smiled, and a single dimple appeared in his left cheek. “That’s kind of awesome.”
“Yeah,” Liam said. “It’s pretty cool, actually. I’ve always loved the family business, so my parents were really pleased I wanted to go to uni and do something that would lead into that, you know?”
Ambrose nodded. “Connelly, you said? Isn’t there already, like, a famous wine label called Connelly Cellars? Is that awkward for your family? Do you always have to be like, ‘Oh no, we’re the other Connellys who make wine’?”
“No,” said Liam, furrowing his brow. “Because we are those Connellys.”
Ambrose fumbled his coffee. “Shit! Seriously? Holy crap!”
He was even cuter when he was flustered, Liam decided, even if he was a dickhead. Who didn’t know astronomy from agriculture?
“Oh, wow,” Ambrose said. “Wait, so you’re hot, and you’re rich, but you can’t get a date? What’s that about?”
“Um, not that it’s really any of your business, but I’ve been busy.” Now that he was saying the words out loud to a third party, it occurred to Liam that they did sound kind of pathetic. God. Was his mum right? No. Impossible. “I mean, I’m concentrating on uni.” He became aware that Ambrose’s smile was growing as he listened. “I have a really heavy workload right now, and I don’t need the distraction. Not that…not that a relationship is a distraction. I don’t hate relationships, or people. I mean, if the right guy came along, I wouldn’t chuck him out or anything.”
“You could have just said you’re not looking for a relationship right now,” Ambrose said. He bumped their shoulders together. “That’s a valid response.”
“Oh.” Liam blinked. “I’m just not looking for a relationship right now.”
“That’s it,” Ambrose said, his smile digging that dimple back into his left cheek. “So, is there anything you want to know about me? Or anything you think I should be to really get your parents on the hook here? I’m not used to coming up with good qualities.”
“Yeah, I remember,” Liam said dryly.
“Oh, let me think!” Ambrose pinched the bridge of his nose. “I was in a cult, and I was selling some MLM brand, and I also did online porn, right?” His eyes danced. “Yeah, those go down great with parents!”
“You’re a student, right?” Liam asked.
Ambrose nodded. “Theatre.”
