Sidequest for Love

“Looks like your boyfriend is making you a slap-up meal,” Adam commented. We were far enough away from Neil that he couldn’t hear our conversation. At least I didn’t think he could.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said as I opened the can and brought it to my lips.

“He wants to be, though,” Adam replied, and I glanced at him speculatively.

“Are you mad about that?”

His brow furrowed. “Why would I be mad?”

I shrugged. “Not sure. I always wondered if you had a crush on me.” He barked a laugh, and it was a little too amused for my liking. “What’s so funny?”

“Christ, you’ve an ego.”

“I don’t have an ego. You just always seemed jealous whenever we were gaming and I mentioned going out to find a hookup.”

“I wasnae jealous, Afric. I was worried. I think of you as a younger sister, and London is a dangerous city. I didnae enjoy the thought of you going out there and having sex with random blokes who could turn out to be serial killers.”

“Oh,” I said and took a long gulp as chagrin took hold. “That actually makes sense.”

“Aye, it does. And anyway, I thought it was obvious that I like Winona.”

I gaped at him. “Yellowshoes?”

“Aye,” he replied sombrely.

“But you two are always arguing.”

“Arguing is akin to foreplay for some.”

I laughed at that. “You’re such a perv. Have you ever told her that you like her?”

He shook his head.

“Why not?”

“She’s not gonna be interested in the likes of me, and besides, she lives too far away.”

“I still think you should tell her, see what she says. You never know. She might decide to move to Scotland. She’s always complaining about the unbearable heat in Florida and how much she’d love to live somewhere cold and rainy.”

His eyebrow arched. “You think she’d move to Scotland for me?”

“I don’t know. It’s possible. You’ll never know until you tell her how you feel.”

Adam fell silent after that, the two of us drinking in quiet contemplation. He said that Neil wanted to be my boyfriend. The very idea sent butterflies flitting around inside my stomach. And the way Neil had looked at me earlier. He definitely wanted to kiss me. I just wasn’t sure if his feelings matched mine. Was he merely sexually attracted to me, or did the very essence of who I was appeal to him the way the very essence of who he was appealed to me?

Eventually, Adam went to re-join the others, and Neil approached with two paper plates. He handed one to me, and I peered down. He’d cooked us steak, mushrooms, peppers, and diced potatoes with some kind of gravy sauce drizzled over the top.

“Wow, how did you manage all this on that tiny little cooker?”

“I prepared the vegetables and the sauce this morning, so I only had to throw everything into a pan and fry it up.”

I grinned. “You’re a genius. And thank you for planning this whole trip. It should’ve been my job to plan it. I was the one who invited you, after all.”

He shrugged and lowered to sit next to me. “I’m a bit of a control freak when it comes to planning.”

“I noticed that.”

We ate quietly for a few minutes before Neil asked, “So, what were you and Adam talking about?”

“Are you trying to find out if he made a move on me?”

Again, he shrugged and focused on eating.

“He didn’t make a move. Turns out he doesn’t fancy me at all. He fancies our online friend, Winona. That’s what we were talking about. I was encouraging him to tell her how he feels.”

“Oh,” Neil replied, and I noticed his shoulders loosening at this information.

“So, now there’s egg on my face. He laughed so hard when I asked if he had a crush on me. He said he thinks of me as a little sister.”

“Well, you said you didn’t fancy him either, so at least you don’t have to go through the awkwardness of turning him down. Unless, of course, you were lying and you do like him?” He glanced at me questioningly.

“I wasn’t lying,” I replied. “Besides, I actually like someone else.”

Neil frowned so hard the familiar line between his eyebrows deepened. “Who?”

“You wouldn’t know him,” I lied.

He exhaled a breath, still frowning as he aggressively chewed his steak. When we finished dinner, Neil produced two red velvet cupcakes. “Grandma made these. She was kind enough to let me steal two for the trip.”

“As if I needed any further cause to adore your grandmother,” I said, taking a bite from the cupcake with relish.

“She likes you, too. She thinks you’re a hoot,” Neil replied, a fond note in his voice.

I smiled wide. “I am a hoot. They should put that on my gravestone and credit Phil with the quote. I can’t wait to come to dinner at her house again, though I’m trying to be polite and wait for an actual invitation,” I said, shooting him a pointed look.