Act casual, I told myself as I stopped pacing to lean against the trunk of my car. This wasn't a big deal. I was just taking my sister and her boyfriend to Savannah to show him around the city while she handled some business for her company.

Except Nate's not really her boyfriend, he's gay. But our family doesn't know that. They don't know that I'm gay either.

Well, Liv knows. She's my sister and my friend. I should've told her years ago, but I was too afraid to tell anyone. I thought it'd be easier to avoid her, but I'd been wrong. I'd missed having her in my life, now I could again, and it felt like a weight lifted from my shoulders.

The front door of Granny's house opened, and Nate and Liv appeared on the porch. Don't gawk.

I did. Christ, I couldn't help it.

Nate looked amazing—tall, muscular, square jaw, stunning smile, and dark hair that straddled the line between styled and messy perfectly.

My pulse raced at the sight of him in jeans that hugged his thick quads and a beige sweater that brought out the bright green of his eyes. Normally, it was easy to ignore my attraction to someone. It was a primary requirement for keeping my sexuality private. But with Nate, I had no control.

We'd all been here for days. I'd spent hours with Nate trimming limbs in Granny's yard and avoiding the family. And last night after Briar, the cousin from hell, ruined Christmas, Granny suggested a movie night for just the four of us—Granny, Liv, Nate, and me, watching Home Alone and eating all the desserts. I'd spent an embarrassing amount of that time sneaking glimpses of him.

Still, his power over me wasn't wearing off. If anything, it was getting stronger. I couldn't see him without wanting to be closer, or wracking my brain for something to say that might earn one of his smiles.

Nate caught me staring and raised his eyebrows. "Hey, Joby."

The sound of my name in his voice was more exciting than it should've been, and my face warmed. "Hi."

"Ready?" Liv asked, and I tore my attention from her fake boyfriend to find her giving me a knowing grin.

I narrowed my eyes at her in warning, but said, "Yep. Let's go."

Nate knew I was gay. Liv told me he was glad I wouldn't have to hide anything, and we could be friends. The word had never seemed offensive before, but now, just thinking it made me cringe. Friends might be fine, but it wasn't even close to everything I wanted.

As I got in the driver's seat, Nate opened the passenger door for Liv before climbing into the backseat, bringing the scent of his woodsy cologne with him. Focusing on the car, I turned the key and pulled down the circle drive toward the road.

Ten minutes later, Liv was rigid in the seat beside me, tension rolling off of her in waves. She was nervous about her meeting, especially since realizing a few minutes ago that she didn't know the name of the person she was meeting with. Yanking the visor down, she checked her makeup for the third time before slapping it back into place, hitting the roof of my car.

Her fidgeting should've been enough to keep me distracted, but my mind was split between the road—where it needed to be—and the way the sun shone through the window, lighting Nate's face. He glanced up, meeting my gaze in the rearview as we waited at a red light, and gave me a wink that set off tingles in my chest, immobilizing me.

The car behind us honked, and I flinched, tearing my gaze from Nate's and finding us sitting still at a green light. My face heated and a soft chuckle came from the backseat that made the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, but I glued my eyes to the pavement ahead of me and didn't look back.

Liv checked her cell again, and judging by her groan, she still didn't have a response from her best friend and business partner, Laurel.

"Who turns their phone off?" I asked, trying to remember the last time mine had been off.

"They were going to the new Avatar movie."

Her shoulders drooped in defeat, and Nate sucked his teeth. "I heard that's hella long too. Over three hours."

"Fantastic." She whined and dropped her cell in her lap. "And of course, the company's web page still lists Mr. Taylor running the place. He retired a month ago! How hard is it to update this stuff?"

I hated seeing her so nervous. "It'll be fine." I patted her leg. "This man chose a bar to talk to you. He doesn't seem overly formal. I'm sure he'll understand when you have to ask his name."

"I guess." Jerking the visor down, she poked at her hair as I stopped the car in front of the restaurant. "If nobody stands out, I'll just ask for Mr. Taylor's nephew."

Nate laughed and exited the car to open her door, drawing my attention back to him as he told her, "You're going to do great! Call when you're done."

He slid into the seat beside me, and my hands suddenly seemed unsteady. I squeezed the steering wheel to stop the trembling and told myself to relax. This wasn't a date. It was just showing a new friend around the town where I grew up.

"So, anything specific you want to see?" I asked.

"Nope. I'm pretty sure I'd want anything you want." His tone lowered with a hint of suggestion, and something in my chest warmed.

Had he done that intentionally? I peeked over just as he faced his window and ran his fingers over his mouth, covering his cute smirk.

He definitely knew the effect he had on me. Probably because everyone had the same reaction to him. Even Granny giggled like a teenager around Nate.

Or maybe he knew because he watched me just as closely as I watched him. The thought made me sit a little taller in my seat as I pulled away from the curb.

💜 Thanks for checking out book two in the Wayden Isle Series!!

If you haven't read book one, Festive Fake, you should be able to read this without a problem, but it'd be more fun if you read them in order and had all the background.

If you did read Festive Fake, you probably recognized some of this scene. Now that we're seeing things from Joby's perspective, I thought it'd be fun to watch him and Nate getting to know each other and all the things we missed in book one.

What do you think so far?