This was too embarrassing to watch, and whether or not she felt like she needed a lifesaver, he was going to provide one. Gavin stepped up beside her, extended his hand, and introduced himself, taking the pressure off her.
Over the next hour, people continued to chat, although Julie seemed to be avoiding Kory, so maybe her comments had been purposely awful? As soon as the Cohens left, though, Gavin nudged Julie and they crept through the dining room toward the back door. They were about to escape to the backyard when Ed and Peggy asked where they were going.
They froze the exact same way they used to when they were teens, proving fully grown or not, old habits died hard. Julie’s guilty conscience had constantly given them away, and apparently he was rusty—Jules wasn’t wrong when she claimed he used to be a better liar. Not that that was a title he aspired to, but a little bluffing now and then was important. In football and in life.
I should’ve thrown instead of faking that pass. But Holt wasn’t open, and before I could see the other route… The noise had been sickening as he’d hit that ground, the pain immediate. There were plenty of hits that sounded bad; plenty where he’d blinked and worked to catch his breath and wondered if he could move, only to pop up seconds later, completely unharmed; but that defender had been fast, hit hard, and Gavin had been taken by surprise—another thing that shouldn’t have happened.
All he wanted to do was go somewhere and talk to Julie, and maybe they should’ve told their parents their flights came in an hour or two later so they could’ve had time to catch up.
Then again, Darlene and Peggy would’ve called the airport and insisted they had arrival times listed wrong on the website, and sometimes having super involved parents meant no matter how good you were at fibbing, they were better at Sherlock Holmesing.
“Ed said he didn’t have a chance to tell you about the sleeping arrangements,” Peggy said, her gaze on Julie. “There’s been an accident.”
Julie gasped, and concern crinkled her brow. “What do you mean?”
“A pipe burst, and your bedroom and bathroom don’t exactly have walls right now.”
“What? When did this happen?”
“Three days ago, but we didn’t want to worry you,” Ed said. “So we’re actually staying with my mom right now, along with my brother and his wife and kids, so it’s a full house. There’s no way we want you to be at a hotel for the holidays, so we talked to Rashad and Darlene, and they offered to let you stay here with them.”
Gavin and Julie exchanged a glance, and he’d bet she was thinking the same thing he was. Was this a setup? Why would they introduce her to Kory, then? Peggy hadn’t stopped pestering him and Julie about setting up a time until they agreed to go out to dinner tomorrow night. And it’s not like they’d burst a pipe and destroy their house all so they could force them to stay under the same roof.
The phone in his pocket vibrated, and when Gavin saw his offensive coach’s name on the display, he excused himself to answer. With Julie staying with him and his parents, at least that’d make it easier to find time to hang out.
Which also made it slightly easier not to be so irritated about her date tomorrow night.
Chapter Four
Julie slipped into the satin and lace nightie she’d bought during her enthrall-not-appall shopping spree.
The office the Frosts had made up for her and her kitty didn’t have any mirrors, and now she cursed herself for not trying on the skimpy outfit in the store’s dressing room. She pulled the elastic out of her hair, freeing it of the barely there ponytail and scratched at her scalp to soothe it. There was something so satisfying about the moment the elastic was out of the hair and the bra was off the boobs.
“What do you think?” she asked, spinning to face the chair in which Kylo Ren was snoozing away. He cracked open one eye, trilled, and returned his chin to his paws for round two of his perpetual nap.
Since the vague noise hadn’t been very helpful, Julie bent and studied her reflection in the glass panel covering the fireplace. Thanks to the warmth from its flames, she wasn’t even cold in the negligible sleepwear. Dang, was it short—a cool draft wafted across her backside, so bending over equaled mooning. While she’d realized it was on the shorter side as she’d held it over her street clothes, she hadn’t noticed the slit in the thigh, and without anything else underneath it…
At least it makes me feel sexy. Even if the idea of wearing it in front of a guy I barely met is semi-horrifying. She fluffed her bangs and the rest of her locks and added a lip pout before vetoing it—how on earth did that work so well on Gavin? Was it because he assumed she was having a stroke?
Don’t go there. You can pull off being sexy. Somehow.
With a possible target acquired due to Mom’s meddling, Julie might actually have a chance at completing the Great Fling Experiment. Her hypothesis was that if it went well and she could improve her skills between the sheets, she could repair her battered self-esteem and have a better future relationship. The beauty of a fling was that it didn’t involve a whole lot of diving deep and sharing of emotions. With any luck, she’d unpack her baggage herself after she regained her confidence. That way, she’d be ready for a fresh start with a potential relationship guy.
A light rapping at the door made her jump. “Jules, it’s me,” Gavin said. “I’m coming in…”
As she dove for her usual pajama bottoms, she slammed her knee into the office chair. Kylo gave an offended meow as the chair wobbled and spun, but there wasn’t time to apologize or hold her aching shin. The elastic waistband on her cat-print flannel pants barely hit her hips before the door swung open.
“We never got a chance to chat, and—” Gavin blinked at her.
What did that mean?
That she looked as absurd as she felt?
Glancing down to double-check nothing was exposed didn’t help much, given that her high beams were on. She crossed her arms at pit height, like that old-school Superstar chick from SNL, and awkwardness crowded the air.
“That’s an interesting combo,” Gavin said, and she could do without the perplexed expression and hint of concern that suggested she was some clueless nerd who needed fashion tips.
Even if that conclusion wasn’t totally unfounded.
“My legs were cold, so I mixed and matched.”
His dark eyebrows ticked together, and then he shrugged, quietly closed the door, and stepped farther into the room. He sat on the futon that’d been made up with sheets and blankets, and she sat next to him.
“Your pants make me want ice cream.” He jerked his chin toward the colorful cones floating around other treats and Pusheen the cat, who was notorious for wanting to eat, sleep, and eat.