Page 73 of I Think They Love You

He pretends the shine in her eyes doesn’t mirror his own. After all, it’s only allergies.

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It’s been forty-eight hours since the meeting with his dad, and Denz is good.

He’s great.

He’s—

“Okay, enough,” Jamie says, standing shirtless over him. Denz is sprawled on the sofa clutching a bag of white cheddar popcorn. He hasn’t moved, other than for a bathroom break, in nine hours. The sun’s on a weekend-long retreat, the clouds outside thick and gray. His current situation feels earned.

Judging by the muffled lecture coming from the5 O’CLOCK BREWT-shirt caught around Jamie’s head, he disagrees. The black shirt is one size too small. It’s uncertain if that’s by design or from Jamie’s inability to follow basic laundry instructions. Wavy hair sticking up everywhere, he says, “You’ve been like this for two days.”

“Like what?”

“Like a puppy who’s waiting for their family to pick them up from the doggy hotel after a vacation, but they never do because they died in the zombie apocalypse.”

“That was… specific.”

Jamie scratches his scruffy jaw. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Denz lies. “Rough week at work.”

Jamie scoots in close to Denz on the sofa.

Denz loves this about them. How they’ve never required space to be comfortable. Neither has ever subscribed to toxicmasculinity bullshit. Cuddles should be a mandatory requirement for any friendship. Honestly, it should have been far easier for them to fake-date one another.

“The CEO thing?” Jamie asks.

Denz exhales into a nearby throw pillow, nodding.

“Want me to call out sick?” Jamie offers. “We can have a WTN.”

“WatchingThe Proposalwon’t fix my problems.”

“I was going to suggestNeighbors.”

“That’s not a rom-com.”

“Blasphemy!” Jamie squeezes Denz’s ankle before standing again. “Zac Efron and Dave Franco’s characters were unquestionably boning. At the very least, trading blow jobs. That’s why Zac’s character is such a prick in the sequel. Jobless and dickless.”

“The perfect storm.”

While Jamie fixes his untamed hair, Denz tosses a handful of popcorn in his mouth. “What happened to you Friday night? I thought you were off?”

Jamie pauses his grooming, cheeks flushed. “Oh, I went to a… basketball game.”

“Is that a joke?”

Jamie averts his eyes. “The Atlanta Eagles are very good this year. They’re going to the playoffs.”

“AtlantaHawks,” Denz corrects, squinting at him. “You hate sports.”

“I literally work at three sports bars.”

“Where you’ve been banned from touching any remote for switching the games toHouse Huntersreruns.”

“People need to know the value of a housing budget and a qualified real estate agent,” Jamie argues. “I’m saving marriages.”

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