21
Courtland
The front door opens. A snort escapes me, and I jerk awake.
"Hey,"
Buzz says, stepping into the living room carrying something.
"You're still awake?"
I yawn, nod, and stretch my arms overhead all at the same time. "Yup."
He grins, resting a tray of what looks like dog turds on the coffee table.
"You weren't waiting up for me, were you?"
"Why would I do that?"
I ask, peering over the table.
"And what on earth are those?"
"They're the chocolates I made tonight. With Zane."
"With who?"
I look up at him and smile sweetly as he takes off his gloves.
"I'm kidding. About the guy, not about these. Are they even edible?"
He smacks my chest with his gloves and sits down next to me. I watch in horror as he picks up a bar and takes a massive bite.
"They're delicious,"
he says, munching away happily.
"Trust me. They taste better than they look. Here."
He thrusts his half-eaten bar in my face, and, without thinking, I open my mouth and let him feed it to me. If it were chocolate-dipped strawberries, or oysters, or Lady and the Tramp style pasta, this moment might be sexy. But we're sharing what basically looks like dog shit, so it doesn't have quite the same feel.
Luckily, he's right, and the taste more than makes up for the appearance. It's a gooey, caramelly piece of chocolate heaven.
"What did I tell you?"
he says with a husky chuckle.
I swipe the corner of my mouth where a little caramel has spilled over.
"Bold of you to assume I liked it."
He leans in closer, his voice dropping even lower.
"You just made a come face. Pretty sure that means my chocolate is the bomb."
"How do you know what my come face looks like?"
"Because you did this…"
He tosses the chocolate bar onto the tray, closes his eyes, tilts his head back, and then contorts his face in a way that makes it look like he's coming.
It's impossible to ignore the fact that Buzz is handsome. He's tall, jacked, and classically good-looking, but his face, now bathed in the low amber light of the corner lamp, makes me realize just how beautiful he really is.
Even though he's all grown up, he still possesses a boyish charm. His jawline is clean but not overly sharp, his eyes are wide-set and slightly downturned, and his lips are soft and full. Long, dark lashes fan against his cheeks, casting delicate shadows that dance across his skin.
If I were a more spontaneous person, I'd reach out and swipe my finger along his cheek…but I'm not. So I sit there, waiting impatiently until he opens his eyes.
A brow lifts as he smirks.
"That's how your face looked."
"Whatever."
I adjust how I'm sitting.
"So, how's Zane?"
I ask, not because I care but because it's a topic guaranteed to deflate the erection threatening to poke out of my sweatpants.
"He's fine."
Buzz picks up the chocolate bar and takes another bite.
"He, uh, tried to kiss me."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"When?"
"When I dropped him off."
"What did you do?"
"I sidestepped it with an awkward hug."
"I see."
I gesture for him to hand the bar over even though there are at least half a dozen turd bars I could take from the tray. He does, and when our fingers brush, it sends a wave of warmth cascading from my fingertips all the way up to my shoulder.
"So what are you going to do?"
"About what?"
"About Zane having feelings for you?"
He frowns.
"I don't have to do anything else, do I? I avoided kissing the guy. I think he got the message."
"If you say so."
"You don't agree?"
"I wasn't there, so it's hard to tell. But he seemed pretty serious when he told me about his feelings for you. I don't know whether one brush off is enough for him to get the hint."
"Shit."
Buzz yanks the chocolate bar back and stuffs the rest into his mouth, no doubt wondering how to get himself out of this conundrum. I wish there was something I could do, but given my and Zane's track record, anything I'd do to help would most likely blow up in my face.
"Come with me."
"What?"
"Next week. Zane and I are going to a board game night at Ann's Café. Come with me. You can run interference."
"Won't that piss Zane off?"
I ask, eyeing off his turdesque creations, hoping he'll feed one to me again.
"Because his feelings are definitely my top priority."
That earns me a half-hearted smack on my bicep.
"Do it for me."
Buzz bats his ridiculously long lashes at me, and how the fuck am I meant to resist?
"Fine. But if things go bad between me and Zane, this time it's on you."
"Deal."
We shake hands, and I smile. I have a feeling cockblocking Zane is going to be my new favorite hobby.