“Oh, I’d dare, Mims. I’d very much dare. I need you. They’ve sent me a damn PDF with potential dates. A PDF. You know my beef with them.”
“I do.” He sighed, and his breath tickled my face. With that motion, I realized how close we were. Me pretty much sitting on his lap, my lips three inches from his. My stomach dropped with a sudden, aggressive realization of how strong and warm he was. Maybe it was the beard, giving off a Chris Evans vibe. I stepped back, swallowing down the unwelcomed tingling feeling.Whoa.
“So, you’re in?” I asked, seconds away from doing my own victory dance. He had one from high school football, and I remembered it move for move. “I’m sensing a yes.”
His gaze moved from my bright green ugly sweater with a snowman, up my neck, and onto my lips for a beat before he ran a hand over his face. “Fine. Fine, I’ll go.”
I cheered. Then I did the dance. I drew lots of stares, but I always did that. I wiggled around and spun, making Matt finally laugh. It always felt like a victory when I got him to chuckle all deep and loud, and I smiled at him, a real one. “You won’t regret this.”
“Don’t be so sure,” he said, the worry lines easing into a familiar half-smile. “I might suck at camping and Christmas karaoke.”
“You don’t suck at anything.” I ruffled his hair before returning to my seat. I loved doing that to him. A fifteen-year friendship and a hair ruffle was as good as a hug or high-five, but I never noticed how he leaned into it, just a bit. An inch. That little movement made my smile grow. “You’re good at everything to the point that it’s annoying, actually.”
His eyes danced with amusement. “Wow, you said that with resentment. Still bitter about game night?” he said, his muscles relaxed and his tone returning to the normal teasing.
“You wish.” I held up a hand. “Before we start trash-talking, let me give you the details. It’s in three weeks, the weekend before Christmas. I have an air mattress, but we might need a tent. I don’t… actually have one. Unless you want to rough it in the open air? But there could be bears, right?”
He blinked, slowly. “A tent?”
“To sleep, Mims. Yes. I was joking about sleeping bare in the woods.” I made my eyes go wide. “We’ll share a tent.”
“Share. Me and you.”
“Yes. That’s what I’m saying. I can’t sleep in a tent with one of these wonderful fools they set me up with.” I cringed. “Makes me want to vomit. So, let’s game-plan.”
With that, I went into every detail of the itinerary Becky sent me last week. She had an activity planned for pretty much each hour, on the hour, but there’d be beer and eggnog. Thank god there’d be alcohol. I loved me some games and activities, but acouples-onlyweekend away? Barf. Becky and her mom seemed to think being in a relationship was the be-all and end-all, but I disagreed. I liked zero commitments because that meant less of a chance of getting hurt. I had Matt, my friends, and my family. They were enough.
I took a sip of my mocha latte and smiled at my best and oldest friend. Matt and I had survived junior high together, so this couldn’t be that bad. Right?
CHAPTER TWO
Matt
I knew this would be a terrible idea and yet I was here, in the woods, watching Maddie walk around in skintight red leggings covered with Santa’s face and a white sweater that hung off one shoulder. With her long, light brown hair with bright red tips, too large eyes that fit her face, and her curves... I couldn’t stop staring at her. She wore her hair in two Princess Leia buns at the top of her head, her long locks over her shoulder, and laughed so loud it was a shock birds didn’t escape the trees.
“Glad you could make it, Matt,” her stepsister’s fiancé, Alex, said, nodding at me as he walked by with a cooler. I mimicked the gesture, even though my face heated. He totally caught me eyeing Maddie. It was no real secret that I had a crush on her. It started in high school and never went away, even though I prayed it would. It was the most inconvenient thing to be in love with your best friend, and even more so to know she wouldneverfeel the same way. Every brunch, dinner, trip, happy hour, and game night, I did the thing I always did—be her best friend. The safe guy. The one she went to when another fling was over or her mom had yet another heartbreak that made her spiral out of control. I used to be proud I was her emotional support person, as she’d brag about me to her friends, flings, and co-workers. They’d all stare at me like I was the lucky one, the person Maddie let into her sunshine life. But now? It grated on me. I was foolishly in love with a woman who didn’t believe in the emotion.
The two times I’d tried to tell her my feelings, we were interrupted, and the moment passed. The first one was five years ago, and her phone had gone off when her stepsister got in a car accident.
The last attempt was two years ago. Herflingshowed up at the bar, and I chickened out. After that, I gave up, accepting the fact we’d never be more than friends. She’d been unknowingly saying for years as she went on about never falling for anyone, refusing to be in a relationship, and constantly reminding me how much our friendship meant to her. It exhausted me to the point I’d even tried pulling away from seeing her all the damned time so I could move the fuck on.
But here I was, stuck in a tiny tent with Maddie because I could never really say no to her. This weekend would bebrutal.And not just because the campsite looked like Christmas threw up everywhere.
“Mattie,” she said, walking over to me with her pillow lips curved on either side. I loved her mouth—not just the shape of her full lips but also because she had zero filter and could make me laugh more than anyone. Even though I struggled with my feelings for her, she was the best person I knew. Comparing her to the sun seemed silly, cliché even, but she shined like one, and people orbited around her. Myself included. She was loud and funny and at times extra, but she lived life to the fullest and made everyone around her a better person.
“Hm?” I said, forcing myself to not stare at her chest. The damn sweater dipped low, exposing her collarbone with a dusting of moles. My gut tightened with need as the wind pulled the sweater snug against her body. Her pierced nipples strained against the fabric, making my mouth fucking water. She’d told me all about the piercings, the process and the pain and pleasure, but I had never seen them in person, just the outlines that slowly drove me crazy. Maddieneverwore a bra. She called it the itty-bitty-titty perk, I called it my own personal hell. I cleared my throat, my face heating up as I wondered how her nipples would look all pointed and cold. “What’s up?”
She grinned, like she knew what I was thinking. The woman was an endless flirt.
She pointed to empty spot of land next to us. “We need to put up our tent and then we’re cracking open the beer. All this camping has me thirsty.”
“Is that on the agenda?” I asked, lowering my voice and earning an even bigger grin. “Or are we going off script?”
“Mims. You rebel.” She reached up and ruffled my hair, her floral scent invading my senses and making my body tight. She smelled so good, all the damn time, and I wanted to devour her. There was no other way to describe it. She was beautiful, authentic, loud, and she understood me in a way no one else did. My heart thumped when she moved her hand from my hair to my jaw. “I like this.”
“My beard?” My voice was raspy as hell.
“Gives you the sexy lumberjack look. Paired with the plaid and green vest? Sexy, Matt.” Her blue eyes gleamed at me. “You should leave it.”
