“You won’t freak me out. What’s up?” She places her hands on my chest.
“Well, I just wanted to say thank you again for the most amazing night. I’ve never met anyone like you, who I felt so comfortable with right away. Like, completely drawn to you.” I run my hands over the top of her thighs. “Is that cheesy?”
She bites her bottom lip and smiles. “Cheesy? No, not at all. I like it. And I like you.” She sucks in a breath. “I had a great night with you too. It was unexpected, but that’s kind of the best part, right?” She tilts her head to the side and lifts a brow. “You, Blitzen, were a very nice surprise.” She bends down and kisses me on the lips.
I wrap my hand around her neck and deepen the kiss. We break apart, panting.
“So, I’m not the only one thinking we had a connection?”
“No, it’s not just you. I feel it too. But I’ll be honest with you. This isn’t something I was looking for, and I’m not really sure what we can do about it since we don’t live near each other. Do you have any ideas?”
“Well, I might. I mean, if you want to see if the magic goes beyond Christmas, I would love to see you again.”
She sits up again and traces the muscles on my chest and down to my stomach. “I would love to see you again too.”
“Good.”
We smile at each other.
“So, your idea?” she prompts.
“One of my best friends and his fiancée did long distance while she finished school. I mean, we could try it and see how it goes.” I really want her to say yes.
“Hmm … I’m not opposed to trying it. Maybe we keep it light until we spend more time together and see how it all works out? No pressure.” She takes my hands in hers.
“Right, no pressure. We see where it leads us.” I repeat, smiling. “I have to warn you though: I have no idea what I’m doing. I’ve never tried to have a relationship. But most of my close friends are all hooked up, so I think they’re good examples.” I laugh. “That probably sounds stupid.”
“Not at all. Tell me about them.” She rolls off of me and lies on her side next to me.
I turn toward her so I can look at her. “What do you want to know?”
“I don’t know. Just tell me about them. You’ve talked about them a few times, so I assume they’re important to you. So, if we’re going to try this on for size, I should probably know about the people in your life.” She props her head on her hand.
“Well, they’re my favorite people in the world, so I could probably talk about them all day.” I smirk. “The three I’m closest to are Beck, Casey, and Archie. We all played together at Walker and were roommates. Beck and Charlie—Casey’s twin sister—are getting married this spring. Casey and his girl, Noelle, finally got their shit together last year. They were best friends, but we all knew it was something more.”
“Oh, I love that.” She smiles. “The way you talk about them … your face lights up.”
“Yeah, I love these guys. Archie is my best friend. He and his wife, Emma, are the ones I spend the most time with. They have a little girl, Lainey, who is the cutest thing ever.” I tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
“Are they around our age?” She runs her hand up and down my arm.
“Yep. Archie and I are the same age, and I guess Emma is, too, actually. Funny story … they hooked up one night at a party, and she got knocked up. It was a whole thing because she was on scholarship for golf, and Arch was entering the draft after the season, so it wasn’t ideal timing. I still can’t imagine being a dad right now. It’s wild to me. I mean, don’t get me wrong; he’s the best dad, but the thought of having a kid right now … ” I shiver.
“You don’t want kids?” she asks.
“Oh, no, I absolutely do, just not anytime soon. My schedule is crazy, and when I have kids, I want to make sure I’m present for them, if that makes sense?” I raise a brow.
“Yeah, it makes total sense.” She nods.
“Archie is lucky because he plays near his hometown, so they have a lot of help from his parents, and her parents also moved there too. So, it works for them. I’m sure you know who he is. He’s kinda hard not to know. He’s got a loud personality.” I chuckle, thinking of him.
“I might know who he is.” She smirks. “But I don’t know him personally. He seems like a fun guy though.”
“He is. And he’s the same in person as you see on TV. One of the best guys I know.”
“I’m happy you have friendships like that. They’re hard to come by. I only have a few close friends, too, but my sister is my best friend. Speaking of … I have to meet her for lunch today. What time is it anyway?” She turns and looks for her phone.
It’s not on the nightstand beside us, and I have no idea where mine is. She gets out of bed and pulls out her phone from her coat pocket.
