Starting with the Unexpected (4 page)

“Dude, just…. No. I’ve got to introduce you to my parents.”

Marcus smirked at me. “Isn’t it a bit early to introduce me to your parents?”

I rolled my eyes and leaned back in my chair. “I introduce my friends to them, smartass. They have a habit of adopting the people I befriend, and it sounds to me like you could use that.”

“Well, I
have
always wanted an asshole older brother,” Marcus snickered.

I snorted. I would have been happy to give him mine and never have to deal with my brother again. “No. If you want a real brother, I’ll share Jordan with you. He’s better to hang out with than Brandon, any day.”

“I’m off Friday night,” Marcus said immediately and grinned. I bit back a groan as the thought of simply leaning over to taste that grin popped into my head. “What are we doing?”

Deciding that telling him I’d be licking him from head to toe would be highly inappropriate, I merely shrugged. “Jordan works seven days a week, but you probably knew that already. If you come over around ten, we can order pizza and watch
Doctor Who
or play video games or something before Jordan has to leave.”

“And after Jordan leaves?”

Oh dear God. The boy was going to kill me. “More of the same,” I said casually. “Until we pass out if you want. The couch is insanely comfy.”

“Really?” Marcus asked, and I didn’t quite understand why there was so much hope in his voice until he added “I’d love to get out of the apartment for a night.”

My eyes narrowed as understanding dawned. “He’s been coming by, hasn’t he? Your ex, I mean.”

“It’s fine,” Marcus said a little too quickly.

“No, it’s not,” I said hotly. “He already screwed you over. Now he needs to leave you the fuck alone.”

Marcus reached over and squeezed my arm gently, silencing me. “Really, I’m fine,” he said. “He rings my doorbell and calls for me to answer the door for a minute before leaving. I had the locks changed the day after I dumped him, so the key I gave him doesn’t work anymore. He never actually lived with me, and it’s just my name on the lease anyway, so it’s not like he has legal grounds to gain entrance. He’ll give up after I ignore him for a while.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. I’d had crazy exes I’d had to call the cops on who sounded a lot like Marcus’s ex, but I didn’t know Marcus well enough to give my opinion on the situation. So instead, I said “Okay, if you’re sure. But hey, you’ve got my number, if he makes too much of a pest of himself.”

“Yeah,” Marcus said, and I hoped I wasn’t imagining the fondness behind his smile. “And trust me, I’ll use it if that happens, but Davis is a coward. He won’t go beyond knocking on my door. Now finish your drink and your scone, so I can send you home.”

I wanted to know if he’d follow me home and tuck me in too, but I opted to do as he said without the creepy commentary. There was small talk between us as we nibbled, and I discovered he had a fondness for the color blue, was allergic to broccoli, had a major sweet tooth, and had never—as far as he knew, anyway—watched anime. Anything animated was apparently frowned upon by his family, and I told him that we’d have to fix that for him. In turn, he learned that I had an unnatural fondness for donuts (particularly crullers), I was terrified of spiders, and my favorite season was winter. He was interesting, and even if we opted not to move beyond friends, I’d be content. I’d still want to devour him whole, but that was only natural given how damn edible he looked.

We tossed our cups as we walked out, and he smiled at me. “I’ll see you Friday?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’ll text you the address.”

“Sounds good.” He hesitated, then gave me a small smile. “Would it be inappropriate to hug you before we split?”

I snorted and yanked him close. “I hug my friends,” I said as I gave him a squeeze. “You can ask Jordan. I hug him all the time.”

“Good,” Marcus said as he returned the embrace, obviously comfortable with giving real hugs instead of those half-assed, one-armed hugs so many guys want to give their male friends. “Friday.”

“Friday,” I echoed, and stepped back, ending the hug. “See you then.”

He gave me a nod and a smile, then turned and walked away. I couldn’t help but stare for a minute before heading back to my car. The time between then and Friday suddenly seemed like an eternity.

I
DID
not expect to be nervous on Friday. I expected to be batshit crazy by the time it arrived, given my lack of patience, but I didn’t really expect to be nervous. Marcus and I had texted every day since he revealed the secret behind Mari’s identity, and we’d even had a few actual phone calls. This was pretty unheard of for me, since I tended to use my phone for texting, nine times out of ten. I was comfortable talking to him, so there was no reason for me to be nervous, right?

“Stop pacing,” Jordan said. The bastard was trying not to laugh. I could tell.

“I’m not pacing,” I said, pacing the length of the living room toward the kitchen. “I’m just making sure you haven’t left any of your nasty hetero porn out. Wouldn’t want to traumatize him.”

“Right. Except that was your excuse yesterday.”

I stopped in my tracks and turned to glare at him. “Yeah, and you could have been watching it since then.”

The doorbell rang, and Jordan let out a heavy sigh. “Oh thank God. Maybe you’ll stop panicking now.”

“I’m not panicking,” I protested, my voice an octave higher than it usually was.

“Right,” Jordan said again with a snort. “Want me to answer the door?”

“Please?” I croaked and headed into the kitchen. To look at the pizza menu. Because I wasn’t freaking out, I was merely trying to figure out what we should order. Really.

I almost had myself convinced of that by the time I heard laughter in the living room and footsteps heading for the kitchen. When Marcus stepped into the room behind Jordan, his face lit up with a smile. “Hey, Ollie.”

“Wait, he lets you call him Ollie?” Jordan asked. “He tried to beat me up for that when we were little.”

Like that, the panic was gone, and I could feel the stupid grin crawl onto my face. “Hey,” I answered casually. “I was just checking out the menu. Anything in particular you prefer?”

“Meat,” Marcus said immediately, earning a snicker from Jordan. “I’m fond of my meat.”

“That’s as it should be,” I said, and yelped in surprise as he draped himself against my back and looked over my shoulder at the menu. I turned my head just enough to flash a grin at him again. It wasn’t like Jordan and I didn’t do the exact same thing all the time. We’re both very touchy-feely people, so it was second nature. Comfortable and familiar. Except when Jordan did it, I didn’t have to pray to God that my dick didn’t embarrass me.

“I’m starving,” he said. “Feed me. How do you feel about extra cheese?”

“Extra cheese is always good with us,” Jordan answered. “We could just do a meat and cheese if you wanted. I usually get some form of veggie, but we could skip that for tonight.”

“Or we could get two pizzas,” I pointed out.

“Oh sure, use logic,” Marcus said, feigning exasperation. I could practically hear him roll his eyes dramatically.

“I made cookies,” I offered. It was kind of a cheap shot, trying to win my way into his affections via his sweet tooth, but I’d take what I could get.

“Cookies,” he answered cheerfully, wrapping his arms around me and giving me a squeeze. “All right, you can stay.”

“I should hope so,” I remarked. “I kind of live here.”

This earned us another snicker from my roommate. “I like him,” Jordan said. “We should keep him. He’s our kind of people.”

“You’ll have to feed and walk me,” Marcus told him seriously. “Emphasis on the feeding part because, like I already mentioned, I’m kind of starving here. It’s a big responsibility. I’m not sure you’re grown up enough for that.”

“Neither of us has killed anyone,” I assured him.

“Yet,” Jordan added.

Marcus gave me another quick squeeze and then took a step away. I tried not to notice how much colder my back felt without him pressed against it. Friends first and all that. I’d been the one who wanted to give Marcus time to deal with whatever baggage his ex had left him with before moving beyond friendship, and I wasn’t going to back away from that decision. “I guess you can keep me, then,” he said. “Or at least as much as you can keep someone who lives somewhere else.”

“That works,” Jordan said and swatted my arm. “Order food. We’ll grab sodas and go find something to watch.”

“Sure,” I said distractedly. I picked up the phone as he and Marcus, in turn, raided the fridge for soda and headed back to the living room. This at least gave me a chance to take a few deep breaths and lean against the counter for a moment as I collected my thoughts.

When I’d placed our order for dinner and joined them in the living room, Jordan and Marcus had taken over either end of the couch and were already absorbed in a round of the latest edition of
Burnout
. It wasn’t my idea of a fun game, but I was sure Jordan was glad to have someone to play with, so I headed for the neighboring recliner, not wanting to interrupt them.

They paused the game, and Marcus looked over at me. “Do you want to join us?”

I shook my head. “I’m more the
Katamari
and
Little Big Planet
type,” I told him. “I’m not really a video game person, not like Jordan. But I enjoy watching other people play.”

“Voyeur,” Jordan said, snickering. “You’re such a perv.”

“Yeah, but I’m your perv,” I said, batting my eyelashes as Marcus laughed. “Besides, this way the game doesn’t have to stop so one of us can answer the door.”

“Behold the pizza bitch,” Jordan intoned and nudged Marcus’s leg with his foot. “Come on, let’s play.”

For the next two hours, until Jordan left to fetch his papers, the three of us were ensconced in the living room. I watched Marcus absolutely shine with the playful attention, and it reaffirmed my belief that he needed friends more than he needed a lover at that time. I also began to wonder if he
had
any other friends, or if his ex was the type who made sure the other friends were pushed away. I’d had an ex like that once, and it had taken a lot of convincing on Jordan’s part for me to see what was happening. It was an insidious thing, and if it hadn’t been for Jordan, I would have found myself alone at the end. I shuddered at the thought.

Marcus must have noticed, because he reached over and put a hand on my arm. “You okay?”

“Ghost of relationships past,” I explained. “I’m fine.”

He gave me a curious look, as if he were trying to decide whether to ask for more of an explanation, but that was when Jordan saw the time. “Oh hell, it’s midnight.” He tossed his controller at me and stood. “Sorry man, I’m about to turn into a pumpkin. I need to go get my papers.”

“Donuts earn you help rolling,” I told him.

“Yes, yes,” Jordan grumbled. “I suppose I can stop for some damn donuts.” He grabbed his keys and gave me a playful whap to the back of the head. “I’ll see you in a couple hours. Marcus, it’s been awesome. If you’re still here when I get back, I’ll see you then, but either way I hope you decide to come by on a regular basis. It’s nice to be able to play with someone who can appreciate a good digital car wreck.”

“Sure,” Marcus said, managing to look pleased and shy all at once. “I’d like that. A lot, actually.”

Jordan patted him on the shoulder and headed out, whistling as he went, leaving the two of us alone. The moment he did, I could feel my earlier nervousness try to bubble up again. “I need another soda,” I announced, pushing myself up from the recliner. “You want anything?”

“No thanks,” Marcus answered. “I’m fine. If you aren’t into video games, do you want to watch a movie or something?”

“That works,” I said, heading for the kitchen. By the time I came back with both my soda and the cookies we’d completely forgotten, the bubbles of anxiety were gone, and I plopped down at the end of the couch that Jordan had vacated.

“Want to tell me what you were thinking about earlier that left you cold?” Marcus asked and immediately took one of the cookies. He sighed happily when he bit into it, and I couldn’t help but grin. He was so adorable.

The charm of watching him devour baked goods was almost enough to make me forget that he’d asked me a question. I wanted to blow it off, but maybe hearing more about the comedy of errors that was my dating history would help him open up about himself. “Your ex,” I said. “Did he isolate you from your friends?”

There was a pause, then a nod. He was looking straight ahead at the paused game, but I had a feeling he wasn’t really seeing it.

“Well, you’re in good company,” I said. “I had an ex that did that, and I pretty much lost everyone except for Jordan. He’s the one that eventually made me see what was happening. It wasn’t pretty.” I reached over and gave him a friendly pat on the knee. “I can’t say whether you’ll be able to repair those friendships, but Jordan and I at least understand your situation. And he meant it, by the way. That he hopes you come around.”

“And you?” he asked, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. “What do you think?’

I snorted and popped open my soda as I put my feet up on the coffee table. “I think you’re far too precious for your own good. But beyond that, I think you could be a great friend and fun to hang around. So yeah, I hope you come around too.” I grinned, pointed a finger at him and narrowed my eyes. “But don’t think this means I won’t be asking you on a date at some point in the future.”

Marcus laughed and his body relaxed. He leaned back against the couch and turned his head to look at me. “I’ll hold you to that, so long as you aren’t the type to get me to take you to some high-end restaurant and then buy three of the most expensive things on the menu. I have student loans, after all.”

“It’s not the venue that’s important, it’s the company,” I said, giving him a poke to the side. “But all that isn’t important right now. Right now is about you taking time for yourself. I learned that the hard way.”