Page 35 of Yours, Unexpectedly

What so proudly we hailed…

Never mind, I’m not coming.

Gabe

I’m joking! Please come!

Anders???

I hate karaoke. I have this deep seated desire to be good at everything I do. I love being on stage because I have practiced, rehearsed, and perfected what I will be performing, and I know I’ll be good at it. Karaoke? Everyone expects me to be good because I have a decent voice, but I don’t like having songs sprung on me with the expectation that I’ll blow everyone out of the water. That, and drunk people can be surprisingly hard to please.

It does not help that I’m completely in my head about seeing Bex again. To say that I was shocked about her suggestion of friends with benefits would be the understatement of the century. In a million years, I never thought I’d hear those words come out of her mouth.

The more I think about it, though, the more it makes sense.

She’s scared.

And fuck, so am I.

It scares me how much I want Bex.

How much I desire her physically, yes, but also just how much I enjoy being in her presence. Earning her smiles, laughs, and now her moans and gasps.

I was pretty fucking angry at her suggestion. To be honest, it made me feel like I wasn’t worthy of all of her. But at this point, beggars can’t be choosers, so I’ll have to show her what being with me for real would look like. She can call it friends with benefits all she wants, but I know how great we can be together and now I’m going to fight for it.

Which might be hard to do when her brother is sitting across the table from me.

“So, I thought you said your sister and her friends were coming?”

Gabe looks up from his phone. “They are.”

“And since when do you need a buffer while hanging out with those three?”

He looks back down at his phone, brow furrowing. “I don’t need a buffer. I just miss you, man.”

Yeah, I don’t buy that.

“Okay, well I was going to sign you and Luci up for a song. You cool with that?”

That gets his attention.

“What? Why? I mean I can… but maybe I shouldn’t. Do you think I should? Should I sing with her?”

“Right. So glad you didn’t need a buffer tonight. Want to talk more about that?” Maybe if he does, he won’t notice if I’m spending some extra time with Bex tonight.

Gabe glances to the side, massaging the back of his neck.

“I don’t fucking know, maybe there’s—” He stops short and I follow his gaze to the door.

“Wow,” we both say at the exact same time before slowly turning our heads toward each other, expressions mirrored as we narrow our eyes in perfect synchronization.

Before either of us has a chance to say anything, Bex, Luci, and Riz arrive at the table.

“What’s with the weird faces?” Riz asks as she slides into the booth after Luci, leaving the spot beside me open for Bex.

I can see on Gabe’s face that he’s fighting the urge to turn toward Luci, but his eyes remain narrowed on me. “No weird faces.”

Bex is still standing by the table looking back and forth between us. With a shake of her head she says, “Whatever, I’ll go get us drinks. Anyone want anything?”

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