Page 97 of The Friend Zone

I blinked at him as he flipped to the dog-eared page, scooting to sit up against his pillows.

“Shut the fuck up,” I said, staring at him.

He looked over at me. “What?”

“You wear glasses?”

“Just for reading. Why?”

Just when I thought the man couldn’t get any more attractive, he goes and puts on motherfucking glasses.

“This is a joke, right? You are not allowed to get hotter than you already are. I forbid it.”

He set the book down across his lap and grinned at me. “You like the glasses, huh?” He bounced his eyebrows. “Want me to keep them on the next time?”

I giggled. “Yes, please.”

He pulled the glasses down and then put them back on. His eyes got wide. “Oh, wow. Look how pretty you are!”

I laughed and moved his book, climbing over his lap until I straddled him. His sweatshirt rode up my thighs. Then I held his cheeks in my hands and peppered kisses all over his face. He closed his eyes and let me, beaming like a happy little kid.

I smiled at his upturned lips. “You know, it’s Tarantino Trivia at Malone’s tonight. You wanna go? I’m getting kind of hungry.” Josh had nothing in his fridge, and we’d eaten the burgers I brought hours ago. I looked at my Fitbit. “But we’d have to leave in, like, ten minutes.”

“Sure,” he said, his hands on my thighs. “Do we invite Brandon and Sloan?”

I shook my head. “They’re going to Luigi’s for dinner. It’ll just be us.”

He gave me a soft peck on the lips, his eyes warm. “It’s a date—let’s go.”

It wasn’t a date, but I didn’t correct him. He’d just roll his eyes and say it was just an expression and he wasn’t trying to slip a date past me, the way he always did. I didn’t need the reminder.

I wished it was a date.

He followed me home in his truck so I could get ready and let Stuntman out. Then we took an Uber so we could both drink.

On the ride over to Malone’s, I checked my emails.

He peered over at me as I tapped on my phone. “Wait until we’re stopped. You’re gonna get carsick.”

“No I won’t.”

“Yeah you will. You get nauseous when you look at your phone in the car,” he said.

“That’s only when you drive, because you drive like a lunatic,” I said, typing in an email about Pug Life sweaters on back order. “Braking, hitting the gas too hard, taking the turns too fast. And on top of that, you don’t even swear.”

He chuckled. “What does swearing have to do with driving?”

“If you’re not pissed off when you drive, you’re not really paying attention.”

I gave him side-eye and caught a dimple on his cheek. I smiled down on my screen. Then I swallowed. I did feel a little dizzy, actually. I set my phone on my lap and closed my eyes.

“I told you,” he said in the darkness behind my lids. “So stubborn, all the time.”

“No. Sometimes I’m asleep. And anyway, you don’t know my life.”

He laughed. “Yeah, actually, I do. I know all about you.”

I scoffed. “Mm-hmm.”