Panic slices through my gut like a blade, realization smacking me dead in the face, and my eyes pop wider as I stare at her.
“What?No, I didn’t mean likethat.I meant as a friend.”
Let the record show: I did mean like that. The inherently selfish part of me wants Lexi and Wyatt to break up so I can take her to New York, where we can go to museums and walk hand in hand through the snow-covered streets. Hell, I’d even risk utter embarrassment by putting on a pair of skates at Bryant Park or Rockefeller Plaza, if that’s what she wanted.
But I don’t say any of this, obviously. Because we are—and probably always will be—just friends.
Doubt lines her soft features, mixing with the sympathy from earlier, and I instantly double down with the first thing I can think of.
“I’m seeing someone too.”
Willow snorts. “You’re seeing someone? Right”
“I am, but they can’t come to New York, so…” I trail off, keeping my gaze on Lexi. “I figured asking one of myfriendswould be the next best thing.”
Lexi’s manicured brows slide together at the center, and I know her well enough to realize she’s still dubious at best. “Who is it? And more importantly, why haven’t you told me before now?”
Footsteps on the stairs save me from answering, and all of us peer over the back of the couch to find Camden. He stops dead in his tracks halfway down the flight when he notices three sets of eyes on him, his gaze darting between each of us.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“Oh, you didn’t,” Lexi replies cheerfully, her gaze shifting from Camden back to me, still very much waiting on an explanation. One I clearly don’t have.
Which is why, in my panic-fueled desperation, I allow the dumbest thing to fall from my lips. “I was actually just about to tell Lexi and Willow…about us.”
“About us?” he echoes slowly, his brow furrowing.
I don’t have the chance to respond, because Willow lets out a laugh laced with disbelief, drawing both of our attention to where she’s seated beside me on the couch.
“You expect me to believe you’re seeingCamden?” Willow asks with a sharp laugh. “I mean, Logan…you can’t stand him. Not to mention his track record with hookups—no offense, hockey boy.”
Camden blinks a couple times before he utters, “None…taken?”
Scrambling, both in the literal and mental sense, I crawl over the back of the sofa to where he’s standing at the base of the stairs. I’m fully aware I look like an absolute idiot to the three of them, but I’m fighting for my life here.
“It’s new, but if I expect anything, it’s that you respectwhat’s happening between the two of us,” I say tersely, more for Willow’s benefit than anything else.
I send an imploring look with my gaze as it locks with Camden’s, and I pray like hell he can read thejust go with itI’m broadcasting.Then I do the most out-of-pocket thing in my life by raising up enough to press my lips to his.
If Camden’s surprised by my sudden display of affection, he doesn’t let on. In fact, he leans into it without a moment’s hesitation, his hand cupping my cheek while he molds his lips to mine, only to pull away a few brief seconds later.
There’s still confusion swirling in his sapphire gaze when it collides with mine, but thankfully, he keeps any questions to himself in front of the girls. Who, at this exact moment, are both gaping at the two of us like they just witnessed us summon a demon rather than kiss.
“There’s no way that just happened,” Willow states plainly. “I’m in an alternate universe or something, because there’s no chance in hell that you, Logan Reed—the biggest hockey hater this universe has ever seen—are seeing the goalie of the Leighton Timberwolves.”
Yeah, I didn’t think this one through. Thanks, panic.
But as the saying goes, in for a penny, in for a pound.
“Well, it did. It is.”
“Stranger things have happened,” Camden says with ease. “Just look at his brother’s relationship. Those two had hate-boners for each other for years.”
He slips his arm around my shoulders and uses the three or four inches of height he has on me to his advantage to kiss me on the side of the head. The unexpected PDA causes my body to tense instinctually, but I remind myself that if this is going to work, I need to relax and play my part. After all, if Camden can fall into this unspoken role with ease and without question, then I sure as hell can’t be the one to give up the jig.
I catch his gaze when I glance up, and he smiles down at me.
“You didn’t tell me you were planning to tell everyone, babe.”
