Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
It hits Liam a second later. “Did she think we’re a couple?”
Teague chuckles, arms folded on the table. “So? Spruce is a … unique kind of place. No one bats an eye.”
“Fairview isn’t so bad, either.”
“But Fairview isn’t a walk-in-a-park-with-your-dog-cuddling-your-man kind of place. You get looks.”
“Why wouldn’t people look no matter who you are? It’s totally weird to walk your dog and hold hands with someone at the same time. Who does that?”
Teague leans forward. “We could do that. Do you wanna hold hands with me while walking my dog?”
Liam is about to scoff at him, then seems to think better of it, and instead lifts an eyebrow, feigning interest. “You have a dog?”
“Sweetest most doggiest dog there is. Rus is his name.”
“Is that short for Rusty or Russell?”
“Neither, actually.”
“Interesting.” Liam takes a glance at his phone—to check the time, Teague presumes. “We still have to take part of the order to Nadine’s on our way back to the store.”
“Isn’t it fun? Going on a little adventure instead of being stuck in the store like we are every day?”
“I like being stuck in the store,” insists Liam, inspecting a spot on his glass of water. “Do they clean these glasses properly? I still can’t believe she thought we were a couple.”
Teague studies his eyes. “Would that be so bad? If you were … I don’t know … with a guy like me?”
Liam retracts his hand from the glass and averts his eyes. “I’m not gonna answer that.”
“What?” laughs Teague. “I’m not that repulsive. I even brush my teeth now and then, believe it or not.”
“Oh, that’s nice. You should put that on your dating profile.”
Teague grins. “Do you do dating profiles, Peanut? Do you use those … silly little dating apps with the gimmicks and the promises to help you find your soul mate?”
Liam checks his phone again, this time picking it up. “No,” he says after a pause, tapping and scrolling through notifications.
Teague smirks. “Me neither,” he decides to say, takes a sip of his water, then smiles again. “Y’know, I’m happy I get to spend my birthday with you. You even gave me a rather generous present just now—yes, I noticed—and it’s those little sweet things that tell me there’s hope for us yet.”
Liam freezes, then squints at Teague. “Birthday present?”
“You let me call you Peanut and didn’t flip out about it.”
Liam blinks. “I did?” He realizes it did slip a second ago. “Oh.”
“And I very, very, very much appreciate that present. It’s more meaningful to me than you know. Don’t worry,” he quickly adds, “I won’t abuse this beautiful gift you’ve bestowed upon me. One use only. Two max, if I’m feeling frisky on our drive back.”
Liam doesn’t say anything after that, but he appears to be in his head in that Liam-like way as he scrolls much slower through his phone, distracted, perhaps bothered.
Teague gnaws on his lip and decides not to press anything further. He likes teasing Liam, but the last thing he wants to do is really hurt him. He can’t even imagine a possible scenario where he’d upset Liam irredeemably. The only thing he ever wants to bring Liam is joy.
Not that he’s even partially succeeded once in their time this summer so far.
But there’s still quite a bit of summer yet.
Long after the boys enjoy their burgers and fries, they’re just about to get up when suddenly the aproned woman comes out of the back with a mustached man bearing a slice of cake on a plate with a candle sticking out of it. Teague is beside himself as they sing Happy Birthday and place the cake before him. Similarly stunned, Liam can’t bring himself to sing as he watches the scene unfold like he’s not even here. “Make a wish!” says the woman as she clings to the mustached man—her husband, Teague presumes.
Before making that wish, he glances at Liam across the table.
Liam stares back, the flickering candle between them.
“It already came true,” decides Teague with a smile, pursing his lips as if to kiss someone, then blows out his candle.
8
Wishes
Liam can’t make a lick of sense out of it.
Not the birthday cake itself, of course. That well-meaning but nosy lady clearly overheard them mentioning Teague’s birthday and caused that whole scene just to seal the deal on her fantasy of winning them over and adding two additional lovebirds to the population of Spruce.
What Liam can’t make sense out of is the way Teague gazed at him over the table.
Like Liam was the thing he wanted for his birthday.
Like Liam was the wish.
Even after they swing by the ranch, pick up the order (which takes four trips to get all of it onto the bed of the truck), and are heading back to Fairview, Liam is still turning it over and over in his head.