AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He meets me at the Uber, opening my door and holding his hand out for me. This man toes that line between fuck buddies and making me wonder if we’re dating, but I guess maybe he’s just treating me with respect. Truth is, I wouldn’t still be fucking him if he was kicking me out of his apartment five minutes after he came or not showing any signs of being a decent human being.
“Hey,” he says when I accept his hand and step out of the car.
“Nice of you to meet me.”
That low laugh I’ve come to expect slips out of him. “Too nice?”
“Not at all.” I rise to my tiptoes and kiss his cheek. “Thanks.”
His hand goes limp in mine.Shit. Shit. Shit.That was something a girlfriend would do.
“Let’s go.” I change the subject, pushing away the awkwardness as if it never happened. I tug him toward the security gate, but he doesn’t budge.
“I’m actually starving, and I don’t have anything at my place. Mind if we go get pizza or something?”
I can’t tell if he’s joking or serious, which makes me conflicted on how to answer. I haven’t eaten anything all day either, so I could use some food, but that’s against the few rules we mapped out when we ventured into this agreement.
“You’re serious?”
He nods, not letting go of my hand. “I promise, we can go dutch so it’s not a date.”
“You want to get pizza?”
“Yeah. I promise not to read into it.”
I roll my eyes at his joke. “Okay, but no deep dish. Takes too long.”
I pull him the opposite way he’s facing because if we’re going, we’re going to my favorite place. It might be easier this way anyway. Telling him I’m Conor’s sister in public might prevent him from getting too outwardly angry at me.
“Hard bargain,” he says, walking in line with me.
Now I understand the hat. He was wearing it that day at breakfast too. It’s his way of trying not to be recognized. Lucky for him, my favorite place is kind of a dive, so even if people recognize him, they probably won’t approach him. The clientele isn’t really the selfie type.
“I like you taking control,” he says, his thumb running along my pointer finger.
“Stop petting me.” I go to unwind my hand from his, but he tightens his hold.
“I’m making sure you don’t wander into the street.”
“Yeah, I might go chase a butterfly.”
I stop at the corner and look at him. He steps closer, tucking our entwined hands behind my back, tugging me into him and kissing me for everyone around us to see. I should push him away and say PDA is a boundary we can’t cross, but I don’t. Instead, I kiss him back, and I actually slide my tongue into his mouth.
Thankfully, a few guys in their twenties whistle when we don’t move on the walk signal. Rowan ends the kiss, lowers his hat with his free hand, and we walk across the street.
We arrive at the pizza place, and I request a small booth in the back. I sit on the side of the booth that faces the door, so Rowan’s back is to everyone. I don’t love the hat if I’m honest. His hair is too great to be hidden.
“Right now, I want to be one of those cheesy couples who sit on the same side of the booth,” he says, his foot playing with mine under the table.
“Yeah, we don’t need a headline like ‘Rowan Landry Fingers Some Random Girl at a Pizza Joint.’” I pick up the menu as if I don’t know what I’m going to order. Rowan takes his finger and lowers the top of my menu so he can see my face. “What?”
His smile that’s usually on display when I’m with him isn’t there, and my stomach clenches. Maybe he wanted to come to a public place because he’s already found out who I am, or maybe he wants to break it off.
“Two things.” He holds up his two fingers. “One, you’re not some random girl. Two, can you please stop thinking of me as Rowan Landry?”
I sink back into the booth, cross my legs, and rest my hands in my lap. A part of me wants to ask more questions about number one, but I go right to the number two. Because he doesn’t know how right he is about number one. “I’m sorry. I know who you are, obviously, but that’s not why I’m doing this. You know that, right?”
He shrugs, and I sigh.
