Page 3 of All In

Fuck, I hate scary movies. “Fine, but if I end up with nightmares, I’m crashing in the guest room with you.” Excitement lights up Harlow’s eyes. Far more excitement than talking about his wedding did. “But we have to watch something funny afterward.”

He rolls his eyes, but there’s a huge smile on his face. It’s not like it should be a surprise to him after all these years. I’ll watch whatever he wants to watch, but I’m also gonna need something after, or I’ll be up all night.

Reaching behind him, he picks up the remote, then turns on the TV, pulling up the movie.

Harlow moves around my house like it belongs to him. It’s nothing new. When we graduated from high school, we even lived together for a while. It was an apartment back then, but when he met Josh, he decided it would be best to move in with his new boyfriend, and I decided it would be better to live somewhere that wasn’t full of him and his memory.

But then Josh started residency and has been working long hours, and slowly but surely, Harlow started coming here more and more often, even staying in my guest room a few times a month.

“Are you ready?” he asks, dragging my attention to him and away from my thoughts.

With a sigh, I tug the blanket off the back of the couch, pulling it up around my shoulders so I can use it to hide my eyes if I need to. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Harlow giggles. “Big baby.”

He hits play on the TV, then leans forward to put the remote on the table.

“I’m convinced all this shit they play at the start is almost as scary as the movie itself,” I say, eyeing the TV warily.

“Wow. You really are a big baby.” Harlow shifts, pulling his legs from my lap and turning around on the couch. He wiggles and shimmies until he’s comfortable, his body pressed to my side and his head lying against my shoulder. My heart thumps wildly.

Sometimes I wish he knew how this affected me. How tactile he is. How much he shows affection through touch.

But I’m not going to tell him. Because having him this close, his scent flooding my nose and the warmth of him seeping into my skin, is infinitely better than going without. And if he knew… Well, he wouldn’t be snuggling deeper into my side and sighing in relaxation like he’s living his best life. Hell no. He’d probably run for the damn hills, and he’d be right to.

So I keep my mouth shut; I let him cuddle into me. I try to sit still and soak it in and stare at the TV instead of drawing attention to the way his closeness affects me. Because if there’s anything worse than loving your best friend, it’s him figuring it out.

The living room is bright when I peel my eyes open. Harlow is sprawled across my lap, his legs thrown over mine and his face tucked against my shoulder. His hair is even more wild than it was last night.

I can’t help but grin. “Hey.” I nudge him. “What time is it?”

He sits up abruptly, his eyes flashing with alarm. “Uh… What?”

“The time…” I shake my head, working myself out from underneath him so I can reach my phone. “Fuck.”

“What?”

“We need to get to the venue.”

“Fuck!” Harlow jumps up like his ass is on fire, his head whipping back and forth as he looks around in confusion. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost ten.”

“Goddammit.” He buries his face in his hands, a groan echoing in his throat. “I was supposed to be there at nine.” His head shoots up, his blue eyes widening. “Josh is gonna lose his shit.”

I barely manage to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “He’ll get over himself. The ceremony doesn’t even start until five. You have plenty of time.”

Harlow doesn’t look convinced.

“Alright.” I place a hand on his shoulder. “You go get your stuff, and I’ll grab my tux, and we’ll go.”

He nods, and the motion has his hair flopping on his head. It’s adorable, and it makes me grin. He must feel it because he frowns. “Ugh. I need to fix my hair.”

“Don’t you have someone doing that?” I ask, scrunching my nose.

There’s a tense moment of silence, then he nods again. “Yeah, you’re right. Yeah. Okay. Let me just—” He runs off without another word, disappearing into the guest room.

I step into my room, pulling my tux out of the closet.