Page 30 of Catch Me If You Can

“Okay, okay, we get it,” he says quickly, laughing.

“I mean, come on. So what, we both like the same girl. It happens.” I wink.

He shakes his head, but he's smiling.

When the drinks arrive, I nearly topple over laughing. They come in a giant round glass, a peach slush topped with a cocktail skewer stacked with fuzzy peach candies.

“Oh, comeon,this is incredible,” I say, sipping mine. It’s sour and shocks my tastebuds right away. “Fuzzy Azzes just may be my new fav thing to put in my mouth.” I smile, biting back a laugh from my own joke.

“You’re really comfortable with all this... gay stuff, huh?” he asks, half-laughing as he eyes his drink.

Hm. I guess I never really thought about it. Now that I have…yeah, I guess someone’s sexuality never really mattered to me. I shrug. “Love is love. Doesn’t have to be complicated.”

“Itgetscomplicated sometimes,” he says quietly, too quickly. Like the words slipped out before he could stop them.

His cheeks flush as he lifts his drink again.

I watch him closely as he shifts in his seat.“Yeah. I guess it can.”

There’s a pause.

Then, unexpectedly, he asks, “So what did you mean earlier—about Sarah being into...particularstuff in bed?”

I blink. “Thought you didn’t want to know.”

He shrugs, suddenly interested in the condensation on his glass. “Just curious. Wanted to compare notes, I guess.”

I can’t help but smirk. “Well, she sure liked it when I talked dirty.”

His eyes go wide. “You… talk dirty?”

“I do a lot of things. Depends on who I’m with. But that? That was definitely one of her favorites.”

He chews on that for a moment, looking both stunned and weirdly impressed.

“Yeah, no. We didn’t do that,” he says finally, rubbing the back of his neck.

I sip my drink again, watching him carefully.

“So, what’syourthing?” I ask, biting my lower lip, suddenly feeling wildly intrigued. To think of Nathaniel losing himself over to what feels good? Yeah, I want to know.

He hesitates. Our eyes lock.

“My thing?” he echoes, voice soft.

“Everyone has one.”

“I don’t think I do.”

“Or maybe you just haven’t found it yet.”

His gaze flickers down to my mouth, watching the way I nibble on my lip. It’s subtle, but I see it. He always watches me like that.

It’s intoxicating. I feel like I’m on stage, getting that same rush from the audience that I love.

“What’syours,then?” he asks, breath slightly uneven.

I lean back, folding my arms behind my head, considering him.

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