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Taylor covertly glanced over their shoulder and checked, “The blonde? Yeah. She keeps looking over here.”

“Fuck me,” I whispered, “I should go.”

“What? No. Assert your dominance.” Leo gently pounded his fist on the table. “We were here first.”

“Were we?” Jacqueline asked him.

“I don’t know, but I feel like we were,” Leo shrugged, “Just breathe. Was it a bad breakup?”

“Terrible,” I murmured, keeping my hand locked on the side of my face, “She cheated on me with the redhead. I didn’t know they were still together.” Heat flamed my cheeks, and something was burning in my chest. I shook my head, “I don’t want her to see me shaken like this.”

“Hey,” Taylor reached out and wrapped one of their hands on my shoulder, squeezing me, “You’re okay.

She sucks. You have no reason to be embarrassed.

She should be the one embarrassed.” I lifted my eyes to meet theirs, seeing only sincerity in their expression.

My heart started thumping in my chest from the feel of their warm hand on my shoulder, and I gave them a tentative smile in thanks.

“Shit,” Leo murmured, crouching low toward the table, “I think she’s coming over here.”

“No,” I wheezed, “No, no, no. She’s going to know.”

“Know what?” Taylor asked as a pinch formed between their dark brows.

“That I’ve been a mess ever since,” I felt my chin wobble, “That she broke a small piece of me.” The admission was embarrassing, but I didn’t regret admitting it either. I felt safe with my friends here. I wasn’t scared for them to know exactly how shitty this breakup had been.

Taylor glanced over their shoulder, “They’re definitely talking about coming over here.” Taylor glanced down at the table before looking at Jacqueline and Leo. All three of them exchanged panicked looks, trying to come up with something to help.

I had great friends.

“Just pretend you’re completely over her,” Leo murmured, his light blue eyes checking over toward the bar, “As if you didn’t even notice she was here.”

I snorted, “How?”

“Look focused on something else.” Jacqueline lifted a shoulder, “Pretend we’re talking about something intriguing.”

“Besides my cheating ex having the ovaries to come over here?” I muttered.

Taylor grinned, “I’m great with exes.”

I huffed a laugh, “What does that even mean?”

Taylor’s eyes dropped toward my lips, which parted against their own volition. As if Taylor’s attention on my lips hypnotized them, “Do you trust me?” Taylor asked, meeting my eyes again.

I blinked at them, lowering my hand a fraction, “Um. I think so.”

“If I cross a line, kick me under the table,” Taylor pulled off their headband and quickly ran their fingers through their dark hair, giving their hair more volume, and swooping it up and to the side. They styled it in a way that made me want to run my fingers through their hair myself.

“Okay?” I asked it like a question right before Taylor reached over and grabbed a leg of my chair, and roughly scooted me much, much closer to them. It made a loud scrape against the tile flooring, and I braced myself by gripping the edge of the table so I wouldn’t accidentally fall into their lap.

“I know I smell like ass, but let me help,” I felt Taylor’s breath on my cheek and neck.

They draped one of their arms on the back of my chair, and I shivered at the feel of their warm lips brushing against my temple.

I realized what they were doing, what they were setting up the scene to look like.

I met Leo’s enthusiastic grin before I turned to face Taylor, who was so, so close to me.

I was about to say something, but Taylor turned their head to keep their lips near my ear as they continued, “Keep your attention on me as much as you can. Right now, you’re not her ex. You’re mine, Nicole.”

I gasped, my eyes wide, and a blush stained my cheeks. Leo chuckled as he took a sip from his beer, and Jacqueline pushed the new guac bowl in front of Taylor and me.

Taylor’s fingers gently brushed my arm, creating a wave of goosebumps and a shiver that came from being this close to their warm body.

“Nic?” I stiffened at the old nickname, my nervous system a complete wreck from the exhilarating experience of sitting in Taylor Desmond’s embrace while hearing my ex’s voice.

Taylor murmured, “Don’t turn yet,” in my ear before they brushed their lips across my temple, a delicate touch that left a scorching path.

My lips parted. I was pretty sure I was panting.

I lowered my hand from the table to wrap my fingers around Taylor’s thigh.

I meant the touch to be some type of grounding gesture, a signal that I was out of my element and had no idea how to navigate this.

But their hand covered mine, squeezing against my fingers and encouraging my touch on their leg.

And their other hand? Fingers skimmed my arm and across my shoulder, teasing my neck and traveling to my hairline.

I shivered, and I felt Taylor’s lips pull back in a smile on my temple before they leaned back to look at me.

I not so subtly leaned into their touch, my heart hammering in my chest because I couldn’t remember the last time someone touched me like this. I missed it. I wanted it.

“Nicole,” Colleen cleared her throat, and I widened my eyes at Taylor. They smirked before their dark blue eyes shifted to look up at my ex over my shoulder.

“Someone’s trying to talk to you, babe,” Taylor nodded in Colleen’s direction. My cheeks flamed with the term of endearment, something that Taylor’s eyes clocked, if the way they lowered and dragged back and forth over my face had any indication.

They had just single-handedly created the perfect ruse.

They were my partner.

I was theirs.

But what did I call them?

Taylor just called me “babe.”

Should I call them “babe” back? I didn’t think I had ever called anyone “babe”. I wasn’t a pet name person, but I couldn’t ignore the butterflies that took off in my stomach from hearing Taylor refer to me as “babe”.

I was panicking.

This is fake, Nicole , I reminded myself.

“Huh?” I asked, blinking while I studied the way Taylor licked their bottom lip.

“Behind you,” Taylor replied before they leaned in, gently brushing their nose against mine to whisper, “You’re doing great.”

I exhaled my breath on a wheeze when they pulled back, before finally turning my head to look up at Colleen.

She was…stunning. As always.

But my heart was underwhelmed by her proximity. I could feel Taylor’s fingers gently massaging my neck underneath my hair, a physical reminder that I wasn’t alone. That they were making me flushed and flustered right now, not Colleen.

“Oh,” I grinned up at her, “Hi.”

Colleen smiled, but her eyes were darting between me and Taylor with an odd look, “How are you? It’s been forever.

” She opened her arms wide, and I wanted to scream.

Was that really how she was playing this?

As if the last time we saw each other, she hadn’t taken my heart and shattered it into a million pieces?

As if I didn’t watch her and Sarah practically skip out of the door of our apartment?

I tried not to grimace before I stood from my seat, immediately missing Taylor’s grounding touch, and gave her the briefest, stiffest hug I had ever given someone.

Taylor wasn’t wrong, they were sweaty after playing rugby with Leo earlier this afternoon. But after smelling Colleen’s familiar perfume, I wanted nothing more than to be surrounded again by Taylor’s natural scent mixed with fresh-cut grass and whatever body spray they put on before the game.

It was citrusy, a smell I didn’t normally lean toward but found appealing on them.

I was about to take my seat again when Colleen’s hand wrapped around my wrist, keeping me standing with her and Sarah. Sarah looked more uncomfortable than Colleen did, but managed to pull her lips into a stiff, friendly smile.

“What have you been up to? Are you still working at…” Colleen snapped her fingers, unable to remember the name of the company she previously blamed for pushing her to cheat on me.

My hands balled into fists at my sides, but I did my best to maintain a friendly smile.

“Sun Steer. And yes, I’m still there,” I practically spoke through gritted teeth.

“Right!” Colleen’s eyes widened. “How’s that been going?”

“Good,” I nodded, “I still love it.”

Colleen’s smile wavered a little before she released my hand and looped her arm through Sarah’s, “I’m glad to hear it, we’ve—”

“—Taylor?” Sarah leaned around me, her green eyes widening as she addressed my fake partner, “Oh my god, I thought I recognized you.”

Back off, they’re mine .

Thankfully, I didn’t speak the impulsive thought out loud.

“Oh, hi!” The sound of metal scraping along the tile let me know Taylor was standing to properly greet the woman who swiftly stole Colleen from me. I stepped to the side, letting them wrap Sarah up in a quick hug, before they stepped back and took up space beside me.

“Do you come here often?” Sarah asked, squeezing Colleen’s arm against her side.

“It’s my first time, actually,” Taylor grinned casually at Sarah, and right when my eyeballs were darting between the two of them, wondering what their history was, there was a tug on one of the beltloops of my khaki shorts.

As soon as my side pressed up against Taylor’s again, I realized that they had just casually used their finger to pull me into their embrace.

Their hand rested on my opposite hip, and I found myself squeezing it against me in response. The flex of their fingers over my shirt both soothed and excited me.

“Nicole was telling me about their guac, so we decided to meet up here.” Taylor’s fingers accidentally dragged my shirt up a hair, exposing the smallest sliver of my midriff. Their pinky brushed against my skin, and when my breath caught in my throat, they froze their movements.

“Oh, is this your partner?” Colleen asked, holding a hand toward Taylor for them to shake.