I hummed, scouring his face. “Not all that different than the present, except when a virus is stopping you.”

“All right, I get it. No panky. Let’s cuddle.”

“Huh.” My mouth quirked.

“What, huh?”

“I mean…that’s probably the very first time you’ve ever suggested cuddling to me and meant that you wanted to cuddle.” I pushed against his chest in order to pull away, but he didn’t budge.

“I feel bruised by your implication.” His tone of voice told me the exact opposite.

“No, you don’t. ‘Let’s cuddle’ is every dude’s euphemism for ‘I’m going to convince her to have sex. She just doesn’t know it yet.’ Except newsflash, dude, she knows it.”

He frowned. “Have you been reading an illegally gained copy of The Bro Code or something?” His arms slackened, and I pulled away, sitting back. Turning, I ran my hand over his tousled hair, attempting in vain to tame it. Not only did he need a shave, but also a haircut.

“I’m an observer of life. I know how you not-so-smooth operators work.” I winked. “So you’ve got me all snuggled up against you, right? And then you slowly, subtly start to ‘rub’ me somewhere seemingly innocent, like my back or my stomach or something. Your hand moves in circles, growing wider and wider so that you eventually touch more ‘interesting’ spots, like the bottom of my bra or the top of my panties.”

“Sounds about right.” He reached out as if to demonstrate, and I knocked his hand away, laughing.

“And then oops, your hand slips under the elastic, all while cuddling.” I made air quotes with my fingers. “You wonder why suddenly she’s in the mood because you’ve been not-so-subtly putting the moves on her, all in the name of cuddling.”

His features were all innocence. “I can’t help it that my hands and innocent touches drive you insanely wild with desire. It’s not like I can turn that off.”

I snorted. “You’re way too full of yourself.”

He licked his lips. “I can’t wait till you are way too full of myself.”

My head leaned forward, touching my nose to his “Well, you’ve got the dirty and man parts down perfectly. It’s a matter of time before you get the old down.” Reaching out to smooth his cheek, I could tell he was exhausted. Despite his frisky talk, he was leaning his head on the couch again, eyes drooping. “Now, I think you have sleep in your future, and I have to get back to that girthy tome. C’mon, old guy. Time for bed, gramps.”

And by the way he hardly protested, I could tell I was right.

 

 

Chapter 15

Adam

Three and a half weeks after mono body-slammed me and demanded I slow down, I completed a half-day at work. It was the longest half a day of my life. Or it felt like it, anyway.

Nevertheless, I managed to keep a brave face for the duration before going home to collapse. And wisely, on Emilia's advice, I'd scheduled hat day a Friday so I wouldn't need to show up the following day, even if I wanted to.

One of the first things I did was something I'd studiously avoided before falling ill—met privately with Jordan.

Just as two years before, when I'd taken a leave of absence, he'd had to do the heavy lifting for me while I was sick. All this in spite of the tension that had boiled up between us.

Emilia was right. I owed him a lot. I owed him an apology.

Yeah, I was still sore from the things that were said. But since my conversation with Emilia, I'd had a week to think things through.

Jordan sat across from my desk, methodically running down the checklist of the most important items to be handled now that I was here. I listened carefully, jotted notes to myself, and asked few questions. When he finished, he gave a pointed glance at his watch and pushed himself out of his chair.

I capped my pen and leaned forward. "Can you stay for a few more minutes?"

Jordan's brows twitched together briefly as he sank again into the seat. "Sure, man. What do you need?"

"I need to apologize. To you."

He blinked then jerked his head to gaze out the window, ducking to examine the sky. "Huh."

"What?"

"Just checkin' to see if pigs are flying. No flying pigs yet."

I leaned the chair back, watching him. "I deserved that."

He didn't say anything, instead clenching his jaw so that his cheek bulged. Then, getting up, he turned away from me and he went to the window to peer out of it.

The silence grew, and I cleared my throat, suddenly uneasy. I stood from my chair, and for lack of anything better to do with my hands, I stuffed them into the pockets of my jeans. "I said some shitty things—"

"Shitty things were said all around," he interrupted. "And I get it. Tensions are high. Emotions are high. You're facing a huge life change. But I can't help but wonder, after this, if being the best damn company officer I can be and being your friend are mutually exclusive."

I straightened, studying his posture—the rigidity of his shoulders, the hands clenched into fists. "Of course not," I said quietly.

"Really?" He turned to me. "Because that's sure as hell not what it feels like from here."

I paused, realizing that I should have expected this. I should have prepared for the pushback. I had no idea, in truth, what I had been expecting. A few jokes. Jordan blowing the whole thing off with his usual brand of salty humor. Maybe some well-deserved putdowns aimed in my direction. His usual BS. I braced myself to take my lumps.

He put a hand out toward me. "We've been friends for a long time, Adam, and business partners for almost as long. I've messed up in the past. I fucked up huge last year, and you had my back then. I'll always be grateful for that. And if you know me, you know that loyalty means a lot to me. And you've earned my loyalty many times over."

I blinked, at once touched and troubled by his speech. It was true. He was loyal—sometimes to a fault. In so many other ways throughout our history, he'd been there for me. Jordan had even been an asshole to Emilia when we'd had our relationship troubles—out of protectiveness toward me.

"But I like to think that I've earned your loyalty repeatedly as well. And your trust. And I felt neither."

My jaw dropped—it wasn't hard to hear the hurt in his voice, and I was a first-class dick for having caused it. "I do trust you, Jordan."