Page 92 of Flirting with Forever

The tips of John’s ears went pink, but he shrugged. “It was a memorable moment. And he stuck in my head because I couldn’t for the life of me believe that anyone in their right mind would reject you, for any reason. Married or not.”

Mary laughed again. “John, you’d rejected me not two days before that!”

He shook his head adamantly. “I stupidly pushed you away, but I certainly didn’t reject you.” He kissed her palm again. “The point is, I was jealous of that guy, flirting with you so easily. And he didn’t have his mother there with him.” John shook his head with a little laugh, looking down at their laced fingers and then back into Mary’s face. “I wanted tobethat guy.”

“I wouldn’t want you to be that guy,” Mary replied immediately, vehemently. “Because then you wouldn’t be you. And there’s no one else like you. Seriously, I’ve looked. I’ve had thirty-seven years to search, and you’re the only one I’ve found.”

John’s eyes dropped back to their hands and Mary took the opportunity to really look at his face. Sometimes, when his eyes were on her, that iceberg blue was the only thing she could see, she missed the forest for the trees. But now she took great pleasure in observing the inky black frame of his hair and eyebrows. She relished the cut of his jaw, highlighted with blue-black stubble, the way his ears lay so flat against his head. Jeez, she was gone for him.

“So. Boyfriend, huh?” His eyes flicked up and she froze, flushing deeply.

“I...thought so? I mean, obviously it’s not a decision that can be made unilaterally, but yeah. It rolled off my tongue so easily I think because it suits what we are to one another.” She cleared her throat. “Right?”

He was full-on grinning now, the way he had on the dance floor. It was the kind of smile that changed his entire face. “I can’t believe MFT just asked me to be her boyfriend.”

Mary laughed and warmed and smiled all at once. She’d told him about Cora’s nickname. She loved so much that there was someone on planet Earth who called her that again. “So what if I did?”

“I haven’t been a boyfriend since undergrad. I might be bad at it.”

“I’m not particularly worried.” A thought occurred to her. “Although maybeyoushould be. Boyfriends tend to meet parents.”

He gave her a look that was so patently Estrella that Mary nearly laughed aloud. “I’ll be thrilled to meet your mother. I’ll tell her all about my cougar fetish.”

Mary threw her head back and roared with laughter. “Oh, my God. She’d have a heart attack. It would serve her right for laying into me about my age this much.”

Mary sobered and absently leaned forward to kiss John again, barely registering that she was seeking comfort from him. “It really is going to be terrible, John. Meeting her. I’m going to be humiliated the entire time with the way she speaks to me. You’re going to see what a pushover my dad is. Ugh. Let’s just skip it.”

“Mary.” His hand went up to her cheek, pushing her hair back. He opened his mouth to say something, but the bell over the door jingled, and they both looked back to see who was coming into the shop.

It was Via and Matty, chatting with one another and grinning about something. They both looked extremely sweaty and Mary saw that Via had their softball stuff strapped to her back. Via was volunteering for Matty’s summer Coach Pitch league, and their practices took place in a park only a few blocks from Mary’s shop.

“Hi, guys!” Mary called, thrilled to see them.

Via looked up, her eyes taking in the way Mary and John leaned toward one another, the grip of their hands. “Hi.”

“Water,” Matty croaked, dramatically clutching at his throat. “Preferably Gatorade.”

The adults all laughed at his antics. “I have water and lemonade up in my apartment. You’re welcome to it.”

“Let’s get some and bring it down for the girls, Matty,” John suggested, nodding his head toward the stairs up to Mary’s apartment.

“Which girls?” Matty asked. “Them?” He pointed at Mary and Via. “They’re definitely ladies.”

The adults laughed again, and John held the door for Matty, saying something to him with a smile as he followed him up to the apartment.

“Ooooh,” Via teased softly, leaning her petite frame against the counter much the way John just had, her eyes sparkling. “Mary’s got it bad.”

Mary blushed and smiled. “That obvious, huh?”

“You two seriously seem over the moon for each other.”

Mary took a deep breath. “I think we are.”

Mary and John had spent time with her group of friends twice over the last month. Tyler’s skeptical deep freeze of John had lasted about seven seconds once he’d realized how sweet John was to Mary. How lucky he obviously felt. John didn’t fit seamlessly into the group. He didn’t have a ton to talk to Sebastian or Tyler about, and honestly, he’d seemed at his most comfortable tossing a Frisbee with Matty out back. But still, to Mary it had been perfect. Because as compatible as she’d been with each person in her friend group as individuals, for a long time she’d felt like the odd person out. The only single one. The one who’d had more of a connection to Cora than she had with Via or Fin. A relic of the past.

Not that she didn’t love Via and Fin. Not that she didn’t value their friendships deeply. She did. The same way she did with Tyler and Seb. Her best friends. The two people who’d been there in her darkest times. Who’d helped her start her shop. Who’d helped her rebuild her shop. But somehow, having John there, as odd a fit for the group as she herself was, made Mary finally feel like she fit. Because no matter what, John was going home with her. He wanted to go home with her. He checked her drink level to make sure she wasn’t thirsty, literally and metaphorically, and at the end of any gathering, they held hands on the train, on the way to one of their houses, wherever Ruth currently was. It was a fresh, potent heaven that Mary had barely let herself hope for.

Via, still smiling over teasing Mary, paused for a second and twiddled her fingers on the counter. “Listen, while Matty’s upstairs, I wanted to bring something up to you.”

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