“Hope you like it,” I heard Harrison say from behind me. My back was to the kitchen, so I didn’t see him approach. So when he slid the bowl of food in front of me, it took me several long moments to process what I was looking at.

“Oh my God,” I whispered as I looked up at him. “What did you do?” I asked in disbelief. Harrison was standing next to my chair, his own bowl still in his hand. He paled at my question.

“Is it not the right thing?” he asked. “Mario said you order it every time you’re at the bistro, but maybe I heard him wrong…”

I shook my head and returned my gaze to the bowl full of macaroni and cheese. Cheeseburger macaroni and cheese.

My die-hard favorite food of all time.

“No, no, it’s perfect,” I assured him. “I just… I can’t believe you did this.”

Harrison was visibly relieved as he sat down next to me. “Oh good,” he said as he fiddled with his bowl until it was in the position he wanted it in. He seemed to catch himself and shook his head.

“Hey,” I said as I covered his hand with mine. When he looked at me, I said, “Thank you.” I pointed to the food. “For this.” I glanced around his apartment. “For everything,” I said more softly.

He sent me a wide smile and relaxed even more. How in the world had I ever thought this guy was arrogant? Seeing his insecurities just below the surface was almost painful to watch. I wanted to hunt that fucker Kyle down and beat the shit out of him – or at least give him a stern talking-to… God, I really did need to sign up for that Krav Maga class.

“It may not taste exactly the same,” Harrison said as he reached for his fork. “Mario helped me bribe one of the chefs for the recipe, but they were talking really fast and my Italian is a bit rusty so it’s entirely possible I missed something. I’m not sure, but I also might have agreed to sleep with one or both of them in addition to the hundred bucks I forked over.”

I let out a bark of laughter and covered my mouth with my hand. Thoughtful and a sense of humor. Who would have thought it?

“Why’d you do all this?” I asked as I dug into the food. The second I closed my mouth around the fork, I let out a loud moan. I felt my cheeks heat in embarrassment even as I reveled in how amazing the cheesy goodness tasted. When I glanced at Harrison, I saw that he was watching me with open hunger in his eyes.

“Harrison,” I said in amusement when he didn’t respond right away.

He jerked to attention. “What? Sorry,” he blurted. “Uh, I did this because… because I just wanted to make up for you missing out on your favorite meal. Mario said they make it special just for you.”

I nodded as I crammed another forkful into my mouth. I finished chewing before I said, “I went in there one night a few weeks after I’d moved here. I was missing my grandparents and just feeling really homesick and lonely, you know?” At his nod, I continued. “Anyway, I saw they had macaroni and cheese on the kids’ menu, so I asked the waiter if I could order that. He told me it was just for kids and I just kind of fell apart. Luckily, the restaurant wasn’t too busy, but I was making such a scene that three waiters, one of the chefs, and the owner came to check on me. The owner felt so bad that he offered to have the chef make me whatever I wanted. Cheeseburger mac-n-cheese was my grandad’s favorite, so I asked for that. I go in there at least once a week now and they make it for me every single time,” I explained.

Harrison was watching me intently. “Why didn’t you order it that night? Why’d you let me order for you?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Guess I figured if I wanted a grown-up relationship, I needed to grow up a bit.”

“Is that what you want? A relationship?”

I dropped my eyes to the bowl in front of me. “I thought I did,” I murmured.

“But you don’t anymore? What changed?”

The turn in conversation was unexpected and not entirely welcome. Being with Harrison these last few days had been fun and easy because I hadn’t given myself time to think about complicated shit like dating and relationships. Somehow knowing that he and I would never mesh had freed me from trying to figure out how to be the perfect guy… the one who would be wanted both in and out of bed.

“I think that’s the problem,” I admitted. “Nothing changed. Going on dates doesn’t make me dateable. I wanted what my grandparents had, but maybe I’m only meant to have what my mom did. Maybe I’m the guy people only want to be with until someone better comes along.”

I shook my head. I needed to stop feeling sorry for myself. I stabbed at the pasta. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Heart2Heart might have gotten the matchmaking part wrong, but this” – I motioned between us – “they got right. We could all use more friends, right?” I asked, trying to keep from wallowing in my self-pity.

“Right,” Harrison said quietly. He paused and then reached for his glass of water.

“To new friends,” he said as he held his glass out.

“To new friends,” I agreed as I clinked my glass against his. I avoided his eyes and took a drink, then reached for my fork again.

Disappointment went through me because it felt like we’d just reached some unspoken decision.

What did you expect, Nate? For him to see something in you that just isn’t there?

I actually shook my head and forced myself to swallow the food in my mouth.

And barely noticed that somehow the once-delicious meal now just tasted like sawdust.

Are you sure you’re okay, sweetie? It’s not too late to change your mind.

I re-read Kira’s text a second time and found myself half-tempted to actually take her up on her offer to join her and her fiancé at their cozy little bed-and-breakfast hideaway.

God, I’d sunk pretty low if I was actually considering being a third wheel on my best friend’s romantic Valentine’s getaway.

I texted her back with a comment about Netflix calling my name and told her to have fun, then headed to the kitchen. I’d only been home from work for thirty minutes, but the first thing I’d done when I’d walked through the door was throw on a pair of sweats. It was step one in putting yet another shitty Valentine’s Day behind me.

Step two was in the form of a pint of cookie dough ice cream waiting for me in the freezer. I hadn’t even bothered with grabbing some dinner on the way home from the flower shop.

I was bringing out the big guns and going straight for the ice cream.

Anything to forget the fact that I hadn’t seen Harrison today during my lunch break. We hadn’t made any firm plans the night before when he’d driven me home after dinner at his place, but I’d still held out hope that we could go back to just hanging out, despite how I’d managed to bring our budding friendship to a screeching halt with my pity party.

Why hadn’t I just kept my mouth shut when he’d asked me about relationships and all that shit? I could have just made a lame joke about it and we could have moved on. Maybe we could’ve even hung out tonight and had an anti-Valentine’s Day celebration or something.

But no, I’d scared him off with all the heavy talk about not being good enough for a real relationship. Could I have been any more pathetic?

Only if I’d asked him for a pity fuck right there on his dining room table, maybe.

I snatched the ice cream from the freezer, dug around the drawer for one of the big spoons, and headed for my bedroom. No wasting time with the living room couch… I was going for the full-on package. Snuggling under my covers and eating myself into a diabetic coma while watching a marathon of the Scream movies. If cookie dough and watching a bunch of dumb kids getting offed didn’t pull me out of my funk, nothing would.

I was halfway to my room when I heard knocking on my door. I debated ignoring it, since it was likely one of Kira’s many friends looking for her.

“Hang on,” I called as I trudged back through the kitchen to the front door. “She’s not here,” I automatically said as I opened the door.

And was greeted with a huge bouquet of flowers… and an impeccably dressed Harrison Garrison.

What the hell?

“Harrison,” I said in disbelief.

He thrust the flowers at me. “I don’t want to be your friend.”

“Um, okay?” I said in confusion.

“Fuck, that isn’t what I meant,” he said. He ran his fingers through his hair and then started patting down his pockets. He pulled out a huge Hershey’s chocolate bar and handed it to me. “I forgot the greeting card.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that, but when he cursed under his breath, I felt a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth and something inside of me warmed.

“I don’t want to only be your friend,” Harrison amended. “And you shouldn’t be spending tonight with Häagen-Dazs. At least not until after…”

“After what?” I asked, barely managing to stifle my smile.

“Until after our date.”

“We have a date?”

Harrison’s hands hadn’t stopped moving from the moment I’d opened up the door. They were trying to smooth out nonexistent wrinkles in his jacket. It was a clear sign of how nervous he was.

“You should go on dates because you are dateable, Nate – you’re so much more than that. And because it’s Valentine’s Day… and any guy would be lucky to take you out and… and I want that guy to be me. I know I’ll probably just mess it up and say the wrong thing or embarrass you by cleaning shit or moving things on the table around or—”

“Harrison,” I cut in, my heart in my throat. “Is this you asking me out?” I managed to ask.

He stiffened, then settled his hands and gently fisted them, as if to stop them from moving around so much. “It is,” he said quietly, his voice filled with tension.

“What the hell took you so long?” I whispered and then I was pushing into his arms, not caring about the flowers or the chocolate or the ice cream or any of the other shit that potentially stood between us.

“I’m sorry,” I murmured against his chest. “I’m messing up your suit.” I tried to pull back, but Harrison enfolded me in his arms and held onto me.

Tight.

“Don’t care,” he whispered. Then I felt him kiss the top of my head. “Life’s messy, right? That’s why God invented Hoovers.”

I let out a watery laugh as he repeated my grandfather’s favorite line, and I clutched him even closer to me.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Nate.”

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Harrison Garrison,” I murmured. I knew I should let him go so I could go get ready for our date, but I was reluctant to release him, and from the way he was holding onto me, I knew he wasn’t in any rush to let me go either.

And all I could think was, finally.