Page 55 of Awestruck at Dusk
“Tobiaslovesyou.” He snorted with a faint but gentle smile. “What happened?” William let his body rest against the wall beside him, a foot crossed in front of the other. His hands slid inside his perfectly tailored pants pockets.
I loved how easily we could switch off those heavy conversations and just fade out into something so unrelated but helpful in balancing out the complexness.
“I um—introduced Jordan to Cecile, and they started making out. So, Tobias wants to burn me alive.”
“Shit.” He laughed.
“It’s not funny, William. I didn’t know Tobias and Cecile were, you know, in contact.”
“Fucking?”
“William!”
“That’s interesting,” he said, the right corner of his mouth pulling up slightly.
“Ah, what’s—interesting?” I sipped on my wine and looked away. And that’s why it’s good to have something to use as a distracting prop.
“That your cheeks react when I sayfuckingin that context,” he said, locking his gaze with mine.
“It’s the wine.” I was trapped, immobilized. I’ve never stood a chance against the hypnotizing blue of his eyes.
“So Nemorino’s works then?”
Obviously.
“You’re not helping me sort this out!”
“Okay.” He smiled. “So Tobiashatesyouright now because he’s drunk, horny, and jealous, which seems to be the theme of the night, but he’ll go back to loving you tomorrow when he’s sobered up,” he said. “Does that sort things out for you?”
“I guess.”
William looked away and smiled. “You had to throw Jordan at Cecile ofallpeople.”
“What’s wrong with Jordan?”
“Nothing. That’s the point. He’s a great guy. I like him. We all do,” he admitted.
“Yeah, I bet he is,” I said with a chuckle.
“Do you find him attractive?” William asked, tilting his head with curiosity.
“Well, I don’t know. I guess he’s—okay.”
William laughed harder this time. “I’m just curious to know if a guy like Jordan calls to your attention.” Jordan and William were like oil and water. So different in every way, physically speaking.
“He must call to any girl’s attention, isn’t that your point? But let’s just say that if I were Cecile, I would probably lean more toward Tobias.” Maybe that would clear things up for him.
“You do know who he is, right?” he asked, probably thinking I didn’t know what he did for a living.
“Of course I do. I saw that movie he starred with Joel a few months ago.” And I sipped on my wine again. There’d been some steamy scenes in there that Jordan had participated in. Cecile was in for a treat if that was something she wanted to pursue. It seemed to me like she did.
“Ah! So you’ve been acquainted with Jordan’s ass.”
I’d been, but, “Don’t you use like butt doubles and stuff?” I laughed a nervous laugh.
“Some of us don’t need them.”
“So, your ass is out there for the world to see?”
