Page 81 of Wrapped in Red

“What are you doing here? Are you two talking about me?” He blinked in confusion before he reached up to grab a handful of his messy auburn hair. His cheek was swollen where Ty had hit him, but at least it hadn’t turned black and blue like the last time.

Seth shook his head. “Not me, no.” He brought his fingers up to his mouth in a zipping motion. “He tried to bribe me with dick, though.”

“Dude, not cool!” I exclaimed as I turned my eyes back on my boyfriend. “Ezra, you all right?”

He nodded. “I wasn’t sure if you were still here.” He took a step into the kitchen. “You made cinnamon rolls?” His dark orbs met mine, and a flush crept up his neck and over his face. “Did you save the frosting?”

“Maybe.” I pushed the chair back, hoping he would come sit with me. “You ready to talk to me now?”

Ezra looked between Seth and me. “I might be.” He took another step into the room as he chewed on his lip. “Can I have one of those?” He pointed to the plate of pastries, which caused a smile to spread over my face.

“You don’t have to ask,” I told him before he rushed to climb up into my lap. “I’m not feeding you this time, though.”

Seth scoffed. “Ugh, are you two going to make me listen to this grossness?” But I caught the smile that pulled at his lips. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. As long as he remembered I was the boyfriend and the original best friend.

“You’re just jealous,” Ezra muttered as he chewed his food. “You want what I have. A hot-as-fuck boyfriend who bakes for you and licks frosting from your nipples.”

Seth stared at him before he threw his head back, laughing. “Thanks for sharing that with me.”

“Princess, maybe leave out the personal stuff,” I whispered as I pushed the hair back from his forehead. “Does your cheek hurt?”

“A little.” Ezra smiled at me. “Thank you.”

I pressed a kiss against his hair. “I’m not sure for what, but you’re welcome.”

“For rescuing me, for staying, for...” He waved a hand at Seth and the plate of food. “This.”

I felt warmth and butterflies inside my stomach. “Ez, I—” I love you? Was that the right thing to say? “Best friends love one another for life,” I choked out instead, because I didn’t want the first time I told him I loved him properly to be in front of an audience. I wanted it to be just as special as he was.

The disappointment in Ezra’s eyes made my heart drop. “I know,” he whispered.

“Do you two need some time alone to talk about this? This feels like a couple conversation.” Seth’s brows dipped. “I mean, I know Carson asked me to come over because he felt I could help since I was more familiar with the whole Ty situation, but I could go.”

“Please stay,” Ezra murmured.

I gripped his waist. “Princess, maybe we should talk alone.”

“Seth stays, Carson,” he snapped. “You want the truth? I’m going to give it to you. Just fucking back off for a second.”

I flinched. Ezra was still upset with me. Fine, that made two of us, but I wasn’t going to yell at him.

“Okay, sure.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and dropped my hands from his hips.

“Don’t stop touching me.” He twisted his body around to face me before he grabbed my hand to lace our fingers together. “It started a couple of weeks after us, after we, you know.” Ezra leaned into me, his face against my neck. “I was at a party, and Ty was there. He asked me where you were, since we were supposed to be together. I told him we broke up.”

I met Seth’s gaze. “Sort of true, I guess.”

“I wasn’t interested in Ty, though, at least not at first, but he was persistent. I ran into him a couple weeks later when I was out with Seth for the first time. He asked for my number, and I said no.” Ezra tangled the fingers of his free hand into the hem of my shirt.

Seth nodded. “True story.”

“Then I saw him at the grocery store. He asked if he could take me out on Valentine’s Day.” Ezra drew a shaky breath. “And this time I said yes.”

I placed my hand against his back. “You don’t have to feel guilty about it, boo.” I rubbed circles into his skin. “We weren’t dating. You wanted someone to love and take care of you.”

“Ty was nice to me at first. Kind, sent me flowers and these really fancy looking chocolates.” He sniffed softly. “I knew he was hiding me, though. I mean, who doesn’t have Facebook?”

Seth shook his head when I looked at him again. “Asshole,” he mouthed before he stood up to help himself to another cup of coffee.