The Best Mate He Trusted Wanted Me More Chapter 04

The Best Mate He Trusted Wanted Me More Chapter 04

The reader feed was speechless.

“Bro, you’re literally holding your best friend’s girlfriend’s foot while calling her bad news. The self-awareness is on life support.”

“He barely scratched her cuticle and looked ready to write an apology letter to her toe. Now he wants to act cold? Be serious.”

“Best-friend energy checks out. One runs his mouth, the other runs on self-control. Both are embarrassing.”

I didn’t answer.

Rowan bristled.

“Are you really going out to eat?”

I thought for a second.

“Put the tools down. Go cook.”

Silence.

His jaw dropped.

“Excuse me? I don’t cook. I’ve never needed to.”

Ignoring him, I started listing dishes.

“Garlic butter prawns. Pan-seared sea bass. Lemon-herb cod…”

Another jolt hit him, and Rowan angrily pulled out his phone to search for recipes.

“Oh, and I don’t eat cilantro or green onions.”

He was already stomping toward the kitchen when I called after him.

“Eat it. You’ll live.”

He kept bringing dishes to the table, and my mood improved significantly.

“Didn’t know you could actually cook. Way better than me. I’ve been cooking for myself since I was eight, and it never tasted this good.”

I took a bite and didn’t hold back the praise.

Rowan froze for a second, then grabbed the sea bass off the table.

“It’s undercooked. I’ll redo it.”

I kept eating.

The reader feed was cackling.

“He stuffed the fish with cilantro to mess with her, then folded the second she praised him.”

“Clara really made ‘I cooked as a kid’ sound like a tragic origin story.”

When Rowan left, I still had two nails unfinished.

“Am I really not going to get zapped? I didn’t finish the task.”

He kept looking back.

I waved him off, annoyed.

“No, you won’t. I’m canceling the task. Go. My boyfriend’s almost

home.”

He let out a dry laugh.

“I spent all day waiting on you, Clara. You can’t even pretend to be nice?”

The reader feed agreed.

“At least he knows where he stands. Barely.”

“He did unpaid labor all day, and she still kicked him out before her actual boyfriend showed up. Brutal.”

When Julian got home, I reheated the leftovers Rowan had made.

We weren’t even halfway through dinner when Julian’s phone rang.

“Sorry, Clara.”

He frowned.

“Rowan says it’s urgent. I’ll be back early tonight. And that outfit you bought last time… I’ll wear it for you. To make it up to you.”

His ears were burning red.

I bit back a smile.

I loved watching him act calm while clearly dying inside.

Watching his perfect self-control crack on purpose was dangerous and so attractive.

“Go. I’ll wait.”

I opened my phone. Rowan had sent another cheeky emoji.

I wasn’t even mad today. If anything, I was grateful.

Without him, Julian never would’ve agreed to wear that.

I didn’t reply, and he sent a string of question marks.

I was genuinely excited for tonight. I’d laid out Julian’s outfit early, and I’d changed into something silky and revealing.

It was late when the doorbell finally rang.

I gave myself one last look in the mirror, pleased with what I saw, and hurried to open the door.

Then I stared, wide-eyed, at Rowan standing stiffly in the doorway.

His pupils blew wide. His eyes dropped from my face to my neck, then lower.

He turned bright red.

He raised his hand to cover his eyes.

But Julian, slumped against his shoulder, had one arm pinned beneath him, keeping him frozen in place.