Better Be True Read online

  Two servers walked around with food, one of whom was totally hot. Nothing compared to Luke—let’s just be honest here—but gazing at the waiter was more appropriate than gazing at Luke. Even if he should be playing it up as his plus-one fake boyfriend.

  It just . . . it didn’t feel very fake, and that was frying Nico’s synapses. Screwing with his resolve not to crush on another jock.

  Fuck. Focus on the moment. On the suite. He looked around. Not quite as nice as the one at CitiField in New York. And not just because he was from New York either. The . . . well, those . . . actually, it was just as nice. But definitely not nicer.

  The glass panels were closed today, given the temperature, but Nico slid them open and slipped outside. Luke’s partner wanted to introduce him to the senior people, and Nico knew enough to let that happen without him.

  Kent and Sebastian had just shown up—three innings into the game—and Kent immediately showed off his very important boyfriend. The pained look on Sebastian’s face made Nico feel for the guy. Sebastian probably didn’t know the score with Kent, or maybe he was starting to suspect. Someone should tell him. Just not Nico. That could never come off well.

  Only two other people sat outside, and they sat in the first two seats of the front row. Figuring others would soon come out, Nico sat at the far end.

  The game was uneventful, but still good. Aaron Nola, the Phillies’ best pitcher, mowed down the Chicago Cubs. He was working on a shutout. That fact Nico knew what that meant gave him a twinge of pride. Go, me!

  One of the Phillies hit a high fly deep to the left field side. The crowd stood and cheered, until the outfielder caught it for the third out. Nico needed a drink but stopped when Kent walked toward him.

  “Hi, Nino.” There was just enough snark in his voice that Nico knew the slipup had been intentional.

  Kent held out his hand as he closed the last few feet.

  Several thoughts raced through Nico’s mind: ignore the offered shake, spit in his hand before accepting, squeeze Kent’s hand as hard as he could, or . . .

  Nico flashed his dimples and pumped Kent’s hand. “Kirk, how are you?”

  “It’s Kent.”

  “I know.” He jerked his hand back, still smiling. “Just like you know my name is Nico.”

  Kent’s lips thinned, and his jaw muscles twitched. When Nico tried to walk around him, Kent didn’t budge, effectively blocking the way. “You’re not that big a deal, you know.”

  “Says the nobody trying to block me from getting a drink.” Shaking his head, Nico stepped over his chair into the row above.

  “Oh right, the mighty Amato bakery boy. Yes, I’m sure everyone here is so impressed.”

  Nico stopped, looked at Kent for a moment and then inside where Sebastian talked to Luke and Luke’s mentor.

  Nico kept his voice low. “You scummy piece of shit. You cheated on Luke, left him in a financial bind, and broke his heart just so you could leverage Sebastian’s family into a job offer. I’ve seen my fair share of snakes in my time, but you are one of the biggest.”

  “You don’t know shit, dough boy.” Kent hopped the row, cramming his face in front of Nico’s. “Luke’s a fool. He’s so straitlaced, he’ll never get ahead. His career goals are to become Mr. Salaryman. To settle down and plan for the future. Boring. That’s not for me.”

  “Fine, he’s not for you, but that justified cheating on him? Pretending you’d help pay for the apartment you knew he couldn’t afford on his own?” Nico leaned in, making sure to use his height to look down at Kent. “You’re a user. Nonna calls people like you porca troia. And you are. Now, please step aside.”

  The outer door opened, and Luke stepped out holding two glasses of wine. His dark eyes landed on them warily. Kent followed Nico’s gaze and inched back.

  “Nice talking to you, Nico.” The fake smile made Nico’s skin itch. “I need to get back to Seb.”

  Nico forced himself to smile and waved at Kent. “Good talking to you too.”

  “Sebastian is getting you a drink,” Luke said to Kent. Clearly, he hadn’t heard their conversation. “Said he’d meet us here.”

  “Great.” Kent glanced at Nico. “I’ll find him, and we’ll be right out.”

  Nico filled his cheeks with air and slowly exhaled.

  “What was that about?” He handed Nico a glass. “I have no idea if it’s full-bodied, but Mr. Rayner said the riesling was good, so I got two.”

  “I see your boss likes sweet things.” Nico smirked before he took a sip. “But he’s right, this is good.”

  Luke tasted his wine. “And you’re right, it is sweet. What were you and Kent talking about?”

  “Not much.” He didn’t like lying, but Luke obviously wasn’t hating on his ex. “He mentioned his future plans. How he wants to get hired after the summer.”

  Luke snorted. “That would explain the beeline to Mr. Rayner when they arrived. He interrupted us in his hurry to introduce Sebastian Forsythe.”

  “How’d that go?” Not that he cared. Careful not to spill his drink, Nico stepped down and sat in the seat he’d been using before.

  “Probably not as well as Kent was hoping. Mr. Rayner shook hands, then continued our conversation. Kent said something about seeing if you wanted a drink and left Seb with us.”

  “That was . . .” Shitty of him. “Nice of him to think of me.”

  “He took off before I could tell him I was going to get you something.” Luke took another drink. “It didn’t look like you two were discussing future plans.”

  From the corner of his eye, Nico saw Luke look at him. He tried to feign interest in the game, but he couldn’t keep it up. “I told him you deserved much better than how he treated you. He told me I didn’t know what I was talking about. We agreed to disagree when you showed up.”

  Luke watched him for a long moment, then leaned over and feathered a kiss on Nico’s cheek. “Thank you.”

  “It’s true.” Nico put his hand on his cheek, feeling the warm ghost of Luke’s lips. “Your next boyfriend needs to treat you right. If you like . . .”

  “Yeah?”

  “If you like, when we’re done pretending to be boyfriends, you can let me . . . you know, tell you if they’re doing right by you.” He’d nearly slipped and offered to show him how he should be treated. But he wasn’t the one Luke wanted.

  Even if Luke was vaguely curious about them, Nico hadn’t been acting one hundred percent himself. And as soon as he did, Luke would lose any interest. He’d be the Luke he’d first encountered at Harrison. Maybe a little less douchey, because they were friends.

  Friends, and fake boyfriends.

  He dropped his hand from his cheek.

  Luke’s smile wavered, and he quickly took a drink. “Thanks, but I think I need to figure out who is treating me right on my own, if you know what I mean.”

  “Yeah, I do.”

  Luke put his feet on the cement wall, leaned back, and stared at the field. “Tell me what happened while I talked to Mr. Rayner. Obviously Nola’s pitching a good game.”

  “Struck out five already.” Nico turned his attention to the game. “But the Phillies’ bats aren’t exactly on fire.”

  “Yeah, but so long as Nola keeps the Cubbies off the bases, they don’t need more than the two they have.”

  The inning ended and the next one began without either of them saying a word. Luke kept looking over his shoulder, but Kent never appeared.

  God, even if Luke experienced the same electric spark between them, he so clearly wasn’t over his ex.

  Nico shivered, cold and tired. If he had been in the outside seat, he’d have probably excused himself to get a drink and set off home. Gone for a run, and finally, finally set up the air mattress that had arrived before they’d left.

  Luke

  Luke: Thought you were just getting drinks.

  Kent: Seb isn’t feeling well, so we left.

  Luke: Sorry, hope he feels better.

  Kent: Th
anks, it’s just a migraine, He’ll be okay once he lies down.

  Luke: What did you say to Nico?

  Kent: You should ask him what he said. He cursed at me in Italian.

  That sounded like Nico. Not the cursing part. But if he got mad at someone, he’d do it in Italian.

  What happened that he swore at Kent? Whatever it was, it changed Nico’s mood. His step lost its spring and his smiles had turned stiff.

  Fuck, fuckety, fuck, fuck, fuck! This was supposed to be a time to relax and have fun, not ramp up his anxiety. Maybe bringing Nico had been a mistake. Not because of Nico, but he should have figured Kent would be jealous. Shit. That was part of the reason he asked Nico. Wasn’t it?

  The fact he couldn’t answer it easily told Luke this had gotten more complicated. Almost from the time they met, Nico had been good to him. Things seemed to just happen at the time Luke needed something. There was always too much food for one person, so Luke should eat with him or it would go bad. When the summer was over, Nico planned to send the stuff he’d bought for the apartment to his family, so no reason for Luke to kick in half. There was never an expectation for anything in return.

  But they were also just friends. Nico made that clear when he told Luke how his next boyfriend should treat him. Which was consistent with everything he’d said before. Nico wasn’t ready to date.

  So why had he agreed to practice with Luke?

  Hell, why had Luke even suggested it?

  Because he enjoyed the contact.

  They both had.

  And it didn’t necessarily mean anything more than that. You didn’t need to date someone to have sex. Friends with benefits, no strings attached, fuck buddies; those were things. They weren’t really Luke’s thing, but . . . .

  No. They weren’t. And he and Nico had to live together.

  Complicating that would end badly.

  And what was that bit about screening Luke’s next boyfriends? One minute, Luke was sure Nico was about to suggest they try dating for real, and then Nico said that.

  Okay, so the guy was hurting and didn’t want to go there again soon. Luke got that. One hundred percent. He’d gone all in on Kent. Thought they were in love and were planning their future. Turned out, that reality existed only in Luke’s heart and mind.

  Trying to figure Nico out, however, was maddening.

  He always did nice things for others, and then pretended it wasn’t anything. Just like now. No way he really meant he’d okay Luke’s next boyfriend.

  The better question was, how did Luke get Nico to admit what he really wanted?

  “Luke?” Hearing his name snapped him out of his thoughts. He turned at the same time as Nico. Mr. Rayner stood behind them, his ever-present smile as disarming as ever. “You have a minute?”

  Rayner looked young to be a partner, but Luke had trouble guessing people’s ages when they were between thirty-five and forty-five. He looked great for forty-five. His light brown hair, cut short, added to his youthful appearance. And he kept in shape. Maybe he should suggest he go run with Nico. They’d push each other in a good way.

  Focus! “Sure.” He glanced at Nico, who looked as pale as he felt.

  “Don’t look so scared. I just want to introduce you and your friend to Ted Umstead, the managing partner.” He nodded over his shoulder. “But we need to wait until between innings. Ted’s a big fan and doesn’t like being disturbed when the ball’s in play.”

  He settled in the seat behind them. After a second, he leaned forward and extended his hand to Nico. “We didn’t get a chance to speak when you arrived. Chris Rayner, call me Chris.”

  “Hi, Chris.” Nico shook his hand. “Nico Amato.”

  The twinkle in Chris’s eye threw Luke. “Can I assume someone related to you owns Amato’s bakery in Brooklyn?”

  Well, that’s some shit. Did the entire world know about Amato’s except Luke?

  “My parents and grandparents own it.”

  “Small world. I grew up in Brightwaters on the Island. My grandparents took us kids to the bakery every year at Christmas.”

  That earned a smile from Nico. Talking about his family always improved his mood. “Then you’d have met Nonno, my grandfather. He loves to take care of the children.”

  “Yes, the owner used to come out whenever we showed up. Like he knew us personally.”

  “Yep, sounds like Nonno.”

  Chris shifted his attention to Luke. “Ted loves baseball. Played for Yale in his college days. Wanted to play pro ball, but he’d tore up his knee in the Ivy League tournament and never got drafted. Which is a lot of words to say he wants to meet you, and especially wants to talk baseball.”

  Was that why they hired him? Because he played baseball? His dad would have said who cares, whatever gets you in the door to prove you’re worth hiring. “Should I ask if he played?”

  “Can’t hurt. He loves to talk about his playing days.”

  Luke tried to swallow his nerves, but it didn’t work. “Okay.”

  “Since we have a minute, I want to tell you a few things I told him.” Chris turned serious, and breathing suddenly became difficult. “And don’t look so anxious, it’s fine.”

  Nico rubbed Luke’s his back comfortingly. Like a real boyfriend might. “It’s all good, Luke. Breathe and relax.”

  The steady voice of reason to the rescue. He reached down and grabbed Nico’s hand. Fake or not, he wanted to pretend right now it was real. That Nico was here for him. Meant every kind word, every soft touch. “Right. Breathe and relax. Got it.”

  “Nico’s right, this isn’t a big deal. I just wanted to tell you that I’ve talked you up a bit. Your work is good, and people like you. You probably don’t remember, but I was on the call for your interview. We record them, and Ted no doubt listened to it before today. Don’t be surprised if he brings up something you said during the interview.”

  Oh, crap. “I don’t remember everything I said.”

  “Did you lie about anything?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  Chris’s laughter wasn’t what he expected. “And that is why I knew I wanted you to work for me. You’d be surprised how much horse manure we get in an interview.”

  “Really?”

  “You’d think people would realize we can sniff out lies pretty quickly these days, but it happens. And yes, we fact-checked you too.” He winked. “Just be yourself. Ted’s a really nice guy. He was my mentor when I interned . . . last century.”

  Nico’s eyes darted behind Luke. “I think the inning’s over. Ted and his wife are looking this way.”

  “That’s our cue.” Chris slapped his knees and pushed himself up. “C’mon, guys.”

  With his heart pounding, Luke released Nico’s hand, turned to his left, and rose from his seat. Mr. and Mrs. Umstead had got up and awaited their arrival. Chris mirrored them on the upper level.

  “I’m not sure if we should be offended that you sat as far from us as you could,” Mr. Umstead said. His smile said he was joking, but Luke couldn’t be sure.

  “That’s my fault, sir,” Nico said. “When I first came out, I expected everyone would want to be out here to see the game. I tried to make it easier for everyone by sitting down here.”

  “Very considerate of you.” He held out his hand to Luke. “Ted Umstead. Chris speaks very highly of you.”

  “Thank you, sir. I . . . Chris is really teaching me a lot.”

  “This is my wife, Janice.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Umstead.” Luke wasn’t sure at first if he should shake her hand but held his out to be safe. She smiled as she accepted. “This is my boyfriend, Nico Amato.”

  They exchanged pleasantries until the time between innings ended. Chris did most of the talking, and Luke didn’t remember much of what was said. Ted pointed out the eighth inning was about to start.

  “I understand you play third base for Harrison’s baseball team.” Ted smiled at Luke.

  “Yes, sir.”

&nbs
p; “It takes some grit to play the hot corner. I like that.”

  Luke wasn’t sure Ted was speaking just about baseball. “It has its moments, but I love it.”

  “Since no one else is smart enough to realize these are the best seats, why don’t you both join us?” Luke glanced at Chris, who gave him the barest of nods.

  “Thank you, sir.” He checked with Nico, who didn’t object. “That’s nice of you.”

  “No, thank you,” he said. “It’s always nice to sit with real fans.”

  The bartender brought everyone another drink. Luke sipped his. Sitting with the firm’s managing partner, his supervising partner, and their spouses had its perks. It also brought with it a raft of dirty looks. People had to be invited to sit with Mr. Umstead, and invites were scarce. Good thing Nico had sat at the end of the row.

  It also explained the dirty looks he’d gotten at the office. Chris was a favorite of Ted’s and would probably join the executive suite soon. Taking Luke under his wing had been one thing. Getting invited to sit with the Umsteads suggested bigger things. At least to others. Luke didn’t take an offer for granted.

  “I’ll have Luke give you my information,” Nico said. “When your parents bring the kids, let me know. I’ll probably be working during the holiday, but I’ll make sure Nonno is too so he can greet them.”

  Ted wanted to talk baseball with Luke. As Chris said, he’d brought up his college playing days. While they talked, Chris and the “spouses” chatted. Clearly it had gotten around to Amato’s Bakery.

  “That’s not really necessary. My kids always enjoy the trip.”

  “Not everything we do is necessary.” Nico smiled, and his dimple showed. So damn cute. “Nonno is a great baker and loves dealing with the customers. He’ll get a kick out of your visit. He’s been much happier now that Mom and Dad take care of the business side of things.”

  “Which one are you?” Linda Rayner asked.