Page 73 of Wrapped in Red

I giggled. “Am I not pretty? Sure, I’m not as beautiful as you, Maverick, but I’m sure as hell cute.” I watched a flush sneak up his neck and over his face.Gotcha.

“Are you flirting with me? You can’tflirtwith me. I’m a married man.” He smacked a hand against the center of his chest that showed off two rings. Yeah, he was absolutely a married man with that giant rock.

He was so cute. I wanted to be besties with him. Hug the shyness right out of him. “I’m so not flirting with you. Look how flustered you are right, boo. Relax.” I nudged his shoulder with the palm of my hand, and he turned an even darker shade of red.

“Stop it,” Maverick hissed through clenched teeth as his eyes practically bugged from his head.

I broke into a big smile that I was sure split my face. “Gay, yes, but I’m not flirting. I’m already taken, and did you happen to notice that you and I are both twinks? You might be beautiful, but you’re not my type. I like big guys. No offense.”

Maverick’s mouth fell open. “I’m not a—”

“Sweetheart, you totally are. We’ve had this conversation before.” Jackson Olson grinned at me as he wrapped an arm around his husband and turned him around, so they were face to face. “I don’t think Ezra was flirting with you.”

I beamed. “Totally not flirting.”

“I just... He said I was beautiful. You’re the only man that’s ever said that about me before, Jax.” Maverick glanced over his shoulder, like he was trying to make sure I was real or not before he spoke again. “I mean, isn’t that flirting?”

Jackson tipped his head up. “Finally! Someone else can see what I’ve been saying all these years. Someone else agrees with me about how damn beautiful you are.” He leaned forward to whisper something in Maverick’s ear, which caused him to giggle and wrap his arms around Jackson’s waist.

“Wait, where’s Andy?” He bounced back, suddenly remembering what had caused this conversation in the first place.

“Mav, sweetheart, Andy’s fine,” Jackson assured him. “He and Leo, who is the brother of Noel McCormick, a driver, are sitting right over there.” He pointed to a couch where the two boys sat with paper plates in their laps, their heads together as they looked at something on one of their phones. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

Maverick turned to look at me. “I’m sorry. I worry a lot about Andy, and you... you didn’t do anything. Ezra, right?” He gave me a shy smile as he held out his hand, and I noticed his nails were painted black when I took it. “Oh, I love that color,” he commented when he saw that mine were green.

“Thanks.” I preened happily.

I noticed that he was blushing again. I really wanted to be his friend now. I wanted to corrupt him. The things I could teach this man would probably make him wish he’d never met me. Or make his husband thank me later.

“They are cute, though, right?” Jackson asked his husband. “I mean, other than how worried you are, aren’t you a little bit happy that our son has his first crush, and it’s on a boy?” He wrapped his big arms around him as they watched Andy and Leo.

Maverick worried his lip between his teeth. “He’s had a crush on Leo for months.” My brows shot up. “You didn’t hear that from me,” he hissed. “God, I shouldn’t have said that. Andy will be so mad if he finds out.” His shoulders slumped forward.

“I won’t say anything. Scout’s honor,” I assured him. “Leo came to me for help with his makeup.” I wasn’t about to say anything about his crush, though. That was between us girls.

Maverick still looked nervous. “You did that?” When I nodded, he relaxed a little. “It came out great.” He leaned into his husband. “We shouldn’t...we shouldn’t be watching them. This feels wrong.”

“Probably not,” Jackson agreed, and we turned away. “Mavs, we might need to think about Andy wanting to take Leo on an actual date. Which one of us is going to drive, that sort of thing.”

Maverick looked shocked. “Uh, drive? Goose, I’m going with them. He’s not going on a date alone. No fucking way.” He slapped a hand over his mouth before he looked at me again.

“Not my kid, remember? You’ll have to discuss all the details with...” I pulled my phone from my purse as dread filled me. I turned to see CC watching me as he spoke with Noel, a smile pulling at his lips. When he caught me watching him, he winked at me. “Excuse me for just a second.” I didn’t wait for a reply as I marched over to my boyfriend, my hands shaking with what I was about to do. “A word, CC.”

CC tilted his head. “Right now?” I nodded. “Okay, sure.”

“Outside, where we can talk in private.” I kept my face as calm as possible, but inside, I was screaming. I was going to hate myself for this tomorrow.