Page 23 of Love Potion

I lift my gaze.

“Trust me, I’m happy. I’m very content with my life. You’re not in my way in the slightest, and there’s no one else I’d rather spend my free time with. If that changes, I’ll handle it.”

I know him well enough to hear the authenticity in his voice. “Okay.”

“And I’m trusting you to be honest with me too,” Bane continues. “If you want to get out there and see who’s available, then you should do that.”

I can’t tell him that the only reason I would ever do that is so he doesn’t worry about me after he finds his own partner.

“I don’t want to. I’m going to the workshop to understand myself better, that’s all.”

“Then we’re good, right?” He squeezes my hand, smiling sweetly at me. “This works for us?”

I nod, feeling my mood lift. It’s probably wrong that I want all his time and attention, but if he wants it this way too, that’s okay, right?

“Yeah, we’re good.”

“Perfect. Let’s enjoy dinner, then later we can hang out and maybe find a movie or something.”

“Okay.”

“Actually, we should rewatchTitanic. That would be fitting for tonight.”

“You would do that?”

“Hell yeah, I would. I think it’ll be fun to see how different it is after seeing the exhibit tonight.”

“That sounds great.”

Our food is delivered and we dig in, but as I swirl pasta around my fork, I meet his eyes.

“You’re amazing, Bane.”

“So are you, Jerr.”

Maybe if I figure out how I work and what makes me tick, I could find a way to be the kind of guy Bane could be romantically interested in. We have all the other aspects of a great relationship, we just need the physical. I have to give it ashot, because I don’t see how there could be another guy out in the world better for me than my best friend.

TEN

BANE

After dinner,Jerryn and I walk up and down the boulevard, gazing into the closed shops. The weather is mild tonight, and lots of people are out.

“The city is so different from Willow Bay.”

Jerryn nods. “Very. I like the city for an occasional night out, but I prefer our quiet town. Does that mean I’m getting old?”

I chuckle. “No, because that would mean I’m getting old too.” I wrap my arm around his shoulders, pulling him close. “I think it just means we like where we live.”

He smiles happily. “Right.” We’re quiet for a few more minutes until Jerryn says, “Remember when Indy called with his crazy idea?”

“Sure do. It was like a shelter in the storm.”

“Not even a week before that we were talking about making some major changes. Then he called.”

“Meant to be, right?”

Jerryn nods. “I think so. Look at everything that’s happened since we moved back. Moby’s is booming and the house is amazing. All our friends found love too.”

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