“Oh really?” he said, leaning forward, that devilish smile playing on his lips. “Maybe you can show me that sometime.”
“It’s like it never ends,” Paul muttered.
“And for Darren, Absolut on the rocks,” Santiago said, placing the glass in front of my fake boyfriend. He let his fingers rest along the rim of the glass, rubbing it in a slow circle. I had to hand it to the kid; he was nothing if not awesomely persistent. And now, for some reason, he was persistently just standing there, fingering Darren’s drink. I would adore him if I didn’t hate him so much. It was quite the quandary.
“We’re not ready to order,” Paul said. “You can leave now.”
“Hmm?” Santiago asked, eyes never leaving Darren. “Vince, tell your father I’ll bring his bread in a moment.”
“Why does he still think you’re my dad?” Vince asked. “You don’t even look like me.”
“I’ll tell you when you’re grown up,” Paul said, patting his hand.
“You always say that,” Vince said. “And then by the time I think about it again, you don’t have pants on and your legs are over my shoulders and I always forget about everything else.”
“I think I might need new friends,” Corey said.
“Santiago,” I said. “I hate to be a bother, but you’re fingering Darren’s drink. I’m sure he’d like to take a sip.”
“Oops.” Santiago sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. “My apologies. Sometimes, my fingers have minds of their own. Do you remember my fingers, Darren?” He wiggled them in Darren’s face. “I’m told I have magic hands.”
Darren just stared straight ahead, stone-faced and silent.
“Bae,” I said. “Don’t be rude. He asked you a question. Do you remember his fingers and magic hands?”
Darren glared at me.
I smiled back at him.
His face softened slightly. Like he was exasperated, but fondly so.
I tried not to be startled at that. Because he was good. Almost too good. He was Daniel Day-Lewising the shit out of me.
I needed to Meryl Streep him so hard.
I reached my hand out and cupped the back of his head, letting my fingers brush through his hair. I squeezed his neck gently and smiled at him. “You’re so special,” I told him. “And I can’t wait to spend my life with you.” Ha. Take that, asshole.
Paul choked on his tea.
Darren’s jaw tensed, but then he relaxed into my touch. “Back at you. We’re going to be so good together.”
“This is so nice,” Santiago said, sounding bored. “Are you going to sing to each other? Because it looks like you’re about to sing to each other.”
And then he left, having been signaled by another table, but not before trailing his fingers along Darren’s arm. Paul narrowed his eyes and glanced between the two of us, but before he could say anything, Corey beat him to it.
“So, I’m curious,” Corey said to Darren and me. “Which one of you made the first move?”
“Sandy did,” Darren said immediately before I could even finish processing the question.
“Really?” Paul said, sounding surprised. “I would’ve have thought you were going to need to wear him down a lot more.”
“Nah,” Darren said. “He just… well. Why don’t we let him tell the story? He was the one that initiated everything, after all.”
“No, please,” I said, my smile fixed on my face because I was going to win this Oscar. “I insist you tell it. You just have the most beautiful speaking voice.”
“But, boo,” he said, eyes twinkling with pure evil. “You’re the one that dragged me up to the Queen’s Lair, proclaiming that you couldn’t stand the thought of us being apart any longer. Remember? I think you should tell them everything that led up to that point. And then maybe we could tell the rest together.”
That. Mother. Fucker.