Lovers are not full Just A Bit Confusing

He is really eye-catching.

Sira Haldane cleared the table, her eyes squinting at the man sitting a few tables away.God, if he had a girlfriend (as these good-looking boys usually do), the girl must be lucky.Sira couldn't help staring at the man, only to see that he was talking to the other end of the phone and laughing happily.His smile is really pretty, look at those dimples, those white teeth.It's the smile that makes those blue (or maybe green?) eyes so heartwarming.He should be about the same age as Sira, in his early twenties.His pale blond hair is well-manicured, and his face is attractive but not intimidatingly handsome—a face you stare at and can't help but smile.The man was tall enough for her too; he was tall, but not much taller than she was.He is well-built, but not exaggeratedly muscular.so perfect.

Sira sighed dreamily.

Someone snorted coldly behind her.Sira looked back, and it turned out to be another waiter, Amanda, and she laughed jokingly——

"He's so pretty, isn't he? But he's not what you and I can imagine."

"How will you know if you don't try?" Sira shrugged.She may not be as beautiful as a model, but she knows that she is very popular with men.

"You didn't recognize who he was?" Amanda raised an eyebrow. "I know you're new here, but...he's not some handsome guy next door, he's one of the most expensive golden bachelors in the country."

Sira glanced at the man curiously. "Really? Who is he?"

"His name is James Grayson, the only son and sole heir of the Earl of Lytton."

Oh.

Generally speaking, apart from the royal family, Sila didn't know much about other noble families, but even she knew Earl Riton.He was one of the few noblemen in England who possessed both enormous wealth and political influence.Their family's lineage might be more pure than the Queen's.

Sira looked at the stunner—James—and asked, "Has he got a girlfriend yet?"

"Not a girlfriend," Amanda said. "It's the fiancée. He is married to Miss Meghan of the Cadogan family."

Sira giggled. "Really? Does anyone still do this now?"

"Of course, rich people still do it."

Sira shook her head. "It's crazy, and it's not medieval."

"Speak to Lord Lytton. He's evidently keen to get the marriage done--the Cadogans have half Europe in their hands, and money is of course not too much. It is the family rule of the Grayson family not to depreciate their property, otherwise they would not be as prosperous as they are today."

"How do you know everything?" Sira asked, and she looked at James again.He had hung up the phone and started eating lunch, looking expectantly at the restaurant entrance every now and then.Omg he is so cute.He has that warm air about him that makes him look sleepy and feel squishy and incredibly cute.Sira thought that was a silly way to describe a man, but it was the right word—James was lovely.

"He's a regular here," Amanda replied. "Sometimes I can't help but eavesdrop on him chatting with friends. Speaking of Ryan..." She nodded in the direction of the restaurant door, smiled and sighed.

Sira looked back. "oh!"

The man who had just walked in—she had never seen such a sexy man in her life.

He was over six feet tall, muscular and broad-shouldered.He had messy black hair, green eyes dark and sinister, and a stubble-stretched jaw.Sira never thought that anyone's eyes could be described as "sexy", but this man made her change her mind.

If James reminded her of slick lovemaking on satin sheets, his friend reminded her of rough sex.

"It's handsome, right, I understand." Amanda sighed again.

"Please tell me he's single," Sira said.Her eyes followed Ryan to James' table.He was as quick as a big cat.

Amanda laughed and said, "The sexiest dudes have their own, sweetheart. Forget about them. Yes, they're both hot, but you can't get them."

***

James Grayson watched as his best friend of 14 years approached him - with the eyes of the restaurant crowd behind him.He smiled miserably.Ryan has that effect on people.

"I can't believe it, you ordered food before I came." Ryan said, and sat down on the chair beside James carelessly.

"How rude, what is your courtesy, Viscount Exmouth?"

James chuckled and turned his attention back to his pasta. "I knew that I would be led badly by you in the end. Dad has always warned me so. I should have listened to him and stayed away from you."

"Your dad hates me," Ryan said, grabbing a fork and stuffing a forkful of James' spaghetti into his mouth.

"You do what you want." James said with sarcasm, which made Ryan laugh shamelessly, and James sighed forbearance.Ryan is such a frustrating guy. "I also ordered food for you, can't you wait a little longer?"

"I can," Ryan said, still with that lazy, annoying smile on his face. "But it's always better off your plate."

James snorted, avoiding Ryan's eyes, and continued eating.He wasn't going to ask Ryan why he was late.He doesn't ask.

"Sorry I'm late," Ryan said like he knew what he was thinking. "Hannah asked me to walk her to her dad's office, which is nearby. We got distracted on the way."

James didn't even need to look to know he was smirking. "I'm eating," he said. "Don't tell me the details of the disgusting person, please."

Ryan laughed twice, bumping his knee against James' under the table. "Prudish."

"'Gentleman, don't speak evil', haven't you heard of it?"

"I'm just telling you that you are not an outsider. Besides, I have never said that I am a gentleman. I am not like you. I know the names of thirty generations of ancestors."

James sighed. "You don't intend to let this stalk go in your life, do you?"

Ryan laughed. "That's right, because your life is ridiculous."

It's kind of ridiculous.

James smiled faintly, and he looked around the entire restaurant. "Those waiters are giving you winks." They always do.

Ryan glanced that way. "The one with the red hair is fine," he said. "I'll definitely have to hook up a few months ago."

James picked up his cup and took a long sip of tea.His mouth felt parched.He took another swig.

"So, are you serious about Hannah?" He put down his glass and asked casually.Ryan met Hannah a few months ago, and he was completely smitten with her.James had never seen him sink so deep.Ryan has always been the ruthless type until he met Hannah.

"That's right," Ryan softened his voice. "She... I think it's her, Jamie."

James hesitated to speak.He smiled and wanted to find something to say, say something he should say.

Thankfully, the waiter brought Ryan's pasta, which gave him a little precious time to think of what to say.

"So, when is the wedding?" he said.

Ryan laughed and bumped James' knee again. "Will you be my best man?"

The corners of James' mouth became more curved, and his face started to hurt from smiling. "Unless you're my best man too."

Ryan stopped smiling, his green eyes turning serious, fixed on James. "You don't really intend to do this, do you? Do you really want to marry the girl your father arranged for you?"

But James just shrugged and looked away.

"Jamie."

God, he really hated Ryan calling him that.Nobody called it that except Ryan.Some of James' friends have tried calling him Jim, but only occasionally.Now that they're both adults, Ryan's childhood nickname seems all the more absurd.But even knowing that James hated him calling it that way, Ryan still didn't change his words.Yes, he hated it.Ryan doesn't know the real reason yet.

"Jamie," Ryan called again, unaware that he was disturbing James' mind.

"What?" James asked.He did his best to pull himself together.It's never easy, but sometimes it's especially tough.Sometimes he doesn't understand what all this is for?He doesn't lie very well, and he doesn't pretend very well.He's almost completely incapable of lying to Ryan, luckily he's practiced a lot.

Ryan held his neck with one hand, which made James breathe carefully.Ryan's thumb pressed against his neck, commanding silently: Watch him.It had always been that way between the two of them, from an early age: Ryan was always the pushy, opinionated one, and he was always the boss when it came to playing games or pranks.

Ryan has been a king, a general, a villain, a big hero, and a dragon; and James, he will always be his loyal little follower.James didn't care as a child, but the 22-year-old James hated himself for being like this.Old habits die hard, and he still can't figure out how to stop playing the loyal and eager pup behind Ryan, only to be patted on the head and shake off his tail.This is why James' father hates Ryan so much: it's not that he was born as a commoner, but that he can't tolerate someone who has a greater influence on his son than he does.

"Jamie." Ryan tightened his grip slightly.

James relented, and he sighed and looked at his friend.

Ryan frowned. "Has he pushed you again recently?"

James almost laughed.Ryan only knows one thing, not the other.His dad was pushing him all the time, but Ryan didn't have to know that or he'd be mad again.They'd fight over it, and then a few days later they'd be doomed to make up.Because the two of them couldn't live without each other, and always had.

"Arthur has no right to ask you to do this." Ryan's eyes were firm. "You are his son, not his property, and that dirty trick of marrying you with your fingertips is an old joke from beginning to end."

James smiled and shook his head.No matter how many times he tried to explain, Ryan still couldn't figure out what was going on.They rarely dictated each other's lives, but in this one, Ryan never understood him.Considering the two men's vastly different family backgrounds and upbringings, James finds this not surprising at all.Ryan has four brothers and one sister, making a total of five siblings.James still remembers how weird he felt about the family when Ryan first brought him home more than a decade ago.It was a culture shock. As a child, James lived in a mansion. As the only heir to the title, he was born with huge wealth, and everyone around him took good care of him.

But the Hardaways were the opposite. They lived in cramped apartments, and the family didn't have enough money to spoil any of them.To make matters worse, when they met, Ryan's father had just died and his mother was not well.The family is largely supported by Ryan's older brother, Zach, who has become the de facto head of the family by the age of 16.James knew that Zach had done his best. He had been working day and night so that his younger brothers and sisters would have enough food and clothing.He basically did, but the first couple of years were pretty bad.So the Hardaway kids had to grow up fast.James still remembers wanting to crawl under the ground the first time he saw Ryan's house.Compared with the Hardaway family, everything for him came too easily.

But money is not everything.James is willing to exchange everything he has for a noisy but loving family like the Ryans.He loves the Hardaway family so much, and until now, he regards the Hardaway family as his second home.Sometimes, he really felt more comfortable at Ryan's than at his own.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't love his native family.He is grateful for what he has right now.His family may not be as warm and close as Hardaway's, but he knows that his parents love him very much.

The problem is not his parents, but his surname. To put it bluntly, he has never been able to figure out how to be a qualified heir to the Grayson family.The Grayson family is one of the oldest nobles in England.Britain has experienced many monarchs and wars, and even the political system has changed, but the Grayson family has always stood tall, with majesty, wealth and power forever, and is a close adviser to the prime minister and the royal family.In fact, the Grayson family does have a blood relationship with the royal family, and James' father is the No.11 heir to the throne.No one who wasn't born in the Grayson family could understand the significance of this, not even Ryan, who was so close to him that he wore a pair of pants.Maybe the one who doesn't understand the most is Ryan.

"Dad didn't force me to do anything," James said. "He's not as bad as you think."

The look on Ryan's face was still unmoved, "Of course," he said. "He just fed you a bunch of family duty bullshit from a young age."

"I like Megan," James said.He wasn't lying, he liked Megan as much as any other girl. "And she's different from those girls before, she won't be crazy about you, which is pretty good. I don't even know what those girls like about you, ugly."

As usual, Ryan would have returned some innocuous jokes with a grin.

But he didn't.His expression didn't change. "You deserve better than accepting an arranged marriage and marrying a girl you 'like'."

"My parents' marriage was also arranged by my grandparents."

Ryan laughed harshly. "I'm afraid your parents' marriage is not a happy one."

James glared at him.

Ryan's eyes softened a little. "Sorry," he said, squeezing the back of James' neck lightly. "Blame me for being cheap."

James looked down at the table. "They were happy." Well, "happy" might be an exaggeration. "At least when I was a kid they were fighting. But then I don't know how. But I want to say that they are not like this because their marriage was arranged. I think Meghan is good enough. You don't Do you like her?"

Ryan snorted dejectedly, patted James' neck with his hand, and gave another silent order, which also meant "look at him".James did.

Ryan said, "You know, I hate when Arthur makes you marry. It's none of his business when you marry and who you marry. But of course it's up to me whether you marry or not. If you really If you want to marry her, just pretend I'm farting. It doesn't matter what Arthur thinks, and it doesn't matter what I think. Understand, fool?"

"Of course your opinion matters," James said with a smile. "It's going to be awkward if you hate her, because you'll always be there." He hated how it sounded like a question at the end of the sentence.Ryan knew him better than anyone, and of course he could tell.

Ryan narrowed his eyes.

It's over, it's time to sensationalize, he's going to start sensationalizing.

"Jamie..."

"You are here!" A familiar voice interrupted what Ryan was about to say.

Ryan let go of his neck.James turned to look at Ryan's girlfriend.Half of him was relieved, but the other half was annoyed at being disturbed.He couldn't help muttering in his heart: This is not a disturbance, this is an invasion.

Hannah smiled and sat on Ryan's other side.She was lovely indeed: fair-haired, fair-skinned, and soft-spoken, not at all the type Ryan had liked before. "Hey baby," she leaned in and kissed the corner of Ryan's lips. "do you miss me?"

"I just dropped you off at your dad's place half an hour ago." Ryan said, still pulled her over, and kissed her tenderly.It's a public place, but Ryan doesn't care that much.

James gripped the teacup, staring at the dark liquid inside.

"My dad isn't here." Eleven seconds passed before Hannah had a chance to explain, and she sounded a bit out of breath. "That's why I came to you. You don't mind, James? I don't want to be the kind of girlfriend who hogs a boyfriend and keeps him from being with her friends."

James smiled politely, still staring at his teacup.The tea was cold, maybe he should change it.

"No, I don't mind." What else could he say.He glanced at the couple: Hannah was nestled against Ryan, her head resting on his shoulder, her slender hand on his chest.

James smiled again, stood up and said, "I'm leaving anyway."

Ryan then diverted his attention from Hannah. He frowned and looked at James: "I'm leaving now? But I just arrived."

"My lunch break is almost over," James said.Because I drove the fucking four 10 minutes just to have lunch with you.And you, late!Just because kissing her is more important than me, well, now she's going to snatch you away from me again.James bit his tongue, he hated this uncontrollable small belly.This is not him, he is not like this.

"It's a pity," Hannah said, her eyes fixed on Ryan fascinated.

But Ryan looked at James and said unhappily: "Don't think our conversation is over."

James rolled his eyes with a smile and sighed, "Forget it, dude. You're like a biting dog right now, honestly. That's not a likable trait, tell him , Hannah."

"James was right," she said, taking Ryan's hand. "You can be really aggressive sometimes. If someone doesn't want to talk about something, you should respect him."

"I respect that," Ryan said. "But Jamie is none other than that."

"Jamie's going to be late for work," said James, placing a fifty pound note on the table. "And Jamie really can't be late."

"Don't you work for your family business?" Hannah asked.

James forced a laugh. "That's why I can't be late. See you later, friends." He hurried out of the restaurant, hoping Ryan would stop dwelling on that.

But apparently Ryan didn't.Before James could reach the car, Ryan chased him outside the restaurant.

"Jamie!"

James resisted not sighing, but turned to Ryan with a numb face: "I really don't have time—"

"Listen, you idiot," Ryan said, his eyes deep and menacing. "I don't know what's going on with your head lately, but don't do anything stupid, okay? Don't agree to Arthur's plan just because you think it's your duty." Ryan raised his hands to cup James' face.Jamie stood still, but his heart was pounding under Ryan's focused gaze. "You deserve better. Marry someone who really blows your mind. Someone who loves you for who you are, not for your wealth or your family, but just because you're the best person I've ever known." Ryan looked at him with a smirk, "Really, it's fucking awesome to love someone, and you'll find your Hannah, too, and you deserve it."

Jamie wondered if it would be more painful than it would have been if Ryan had stabbed the knife in his bowels and made two slow turns.He thought he was smiling now.He wished he was smiling.His face hurts so he must be smiling.

He said, "Of course I'll find it. See you later, buddy." He was surprised at the lack of sound in his voice.

He smiled again and turned around.

He goes to the car.

He sat in.

He closed the car door.

He put his hands on the steering wheel.

He tried to swallow the painful lump in his throat, but failed.A harsh, choking sound escaped his throat.His chest bulged.He pressed his hands to his eyes, exhaled, exhaled.