Julie narrowed her eyes. “Now I’m not sure if you’re saving us or jumping on the matchmaking bandwagon.”
“Does it matter?”
“Fair point,” Gavin said, wrapping one of his large hands around her bare shoulder. At the surge of heat over his deep voice, Julie decided he was right.
Instead of taking their previous spots on the loveseat, they stood behind it, palms gripping the backrest. As if guessing clues required their full facilities.
A minute later, Niki ticked off the words involved on her fingers and signaled the thing she and Grams were about to act out would be four words. Then Niki got down on all fours, and Grams set up behind her and flung down her arm.
“Ooh, doggy style,” Mom proudly shouted, coming off her seat.
“Mom,” Julie said, repressing a shudder.
“What? You claim to be good at biology and anatomy, so don’t act like you don’t understand how you were conceived.”
Heat flared through Julie’s face and she glanced at Gavin, who at least patted her hand and gave her an understanding look. It wasn’t the first time they’d learned more about their parents than they wanted to during a game of charades, and likely, it wouldn’t be the last.
As the guesses continued to fly, Gavin nudged Julie’s arm and canted his head in the direction of the kitchen.
“I’m so hungry,” Julie said, nice and loud. “I think I’m going to sit out this round and go grab more food.”
On cue, Gavin cleared his throat. “Now that you mention it, I could use more to eat as well. We’re gonna sit out the next few rounds, but you all go ahead.”
Luckily, everyone was engrossed in Niki’s and Grams’s…burlesque act? Rashad made a guess involving a whip—and received an affirmative response—so that seemed like as good a time to leave as any.
As they rounded the kitchen counter, Julie slowed her steps and eyed the holiday spread that’d been picked over. “Wait, I’m legit hungry again.”
“Already?” Gavin said in an incredulous tone, and she grabbed a plate and bumped it into his elbow.
“Okay, so I might need help on the dating awkwardness front, but you could use some advice yourself. As in: Never point out how much a lady eats. She’s probably still gonna eat it, but now she’ll feel all self-conscious about it.”
“I’ll have you know I would never say that to a lady I was on a date with—I’m not a kid on my first date.”
She snagged a roll and bounced it in one hand, as if she were a pitcher at the mound. “Really? Because I’m about to toss this at your head for saying it to me.”
He placed his hand on her waist. “That’d be a better threat if I wasn’t aware of your horrible aim.”
“Maybe from afar.” She cocked her arm, planning on showing him that at close range, the odds of landing a hit were much better.
Instead of words, he counteracted by hooking his hand on her hip, towing her closer, and angling his head.
Gavin opened his mouth wide—um, did he mean to kiss her or devour her? More, did she truly care?
His mouth neared her neck, and her throat worked extra hard at swallowing. The fluttering of her eyelids caused flashes of light and dark, light and dark, and then he sank his teeth into…her roll.
An automatic squeal came out. Too late, she clamped her lips. Neither one of them so much as breathed as they waited to see if she’d been loud enough to draw attention.
Judging from the rambunctious guesses being flung right and left, everyone else was too wrapped up in the game. Gavin reached around her and piled more rolls on her plate, along with a handful of cubed cheeses and an assortment of deli meats.
“Open up,” he said and, since she’d completely lost her mind over the man in front of her, she did.
“Please accept my offering of this pepper jack that’s as spicy as you are.”
The instant the bold flavor hit her tongue, she moaned.
Gavin’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his transfixed, dilating pupils awakening another side of her. One that’d been hungry and craving this brand of passion for a long, long time. His fingers drifted down her arm, spreading the ravenous sensation further.
Their hands locked together as if they’d been made to do so, regardless of the vast difference in sizes. Then, gripping their plate of food tighter, she let herself be swept along as they charged up to the second floor.
And when Gavin veered right, toward his bedroom, she didn’t question it.
Perhaps she’d been better than she’d thought this year, because it looked like her wildest fantasies involving her best friend were about to come true.
…
There was a reason roller coaster rides lasted only a couple of minutes. The human mind was a fan of expectations and predictable endings—in real life scenarios anyway. One hundred seconds of thrill could be enjoyed and easily survived in that controlled environment.
All day Gavin had been a spectator in the ups and downs, dips and turns, and abrupt changes in direction. Instead of continuing to grip hold of the safety bar and hope for the best, he longed to steer himself away from the track someone else had designed and forge his own path.
He relieved Julie of the heaping plate of food and set it on his desk. At her whimper, he handed her a roll off the top of the stack. “There. Happy?”
She sat on the foot of his bed and munched, placated. “Very.”
Gavin loosened his tie and slipped the strip of fabric from beneath his collar. He tossed it aside and undid the top couple of buttons on his shirt, which was easier than fastening, fortunately. Then he sat to Julie’s right. Since his shoulder was feeling much better, he’d abandoned the sling and considered doing the same to the brace, but he didn’t want to push it and undo the healing progress he’d made.
He wrapped his left arm around Julie’s shoulders and fell backward, taking her with him as he toppled onto the soft mattress. “Finally. I was starting to worry I’d never have you to myself again.”
Julie rested her head on his shoulder and said, “I’ll alwayth make thime for you” through an enormous chunk of roll. Somehow it amplified her adorable factor, even as breadcrumbs hit his neck.
It’s official. I’m a goner for my best friend.
Of all the times it could’ve happened, why did it have to be now, when everything else in his life was up in the air? He had too many balls to catch and not enough time to get to them all, and today he’d gotten a reminder of how inadequately he could balance it all.
Light thunks sounded as Julie kicked off one shoe and then the other. She placed her hand on his abdomen and cuddled closer, and he inhaled her vanilla perfume. A bad idea, but it was too late to do anything about the shock of awareness anyway. She draped one of her legs over both of his, and his throat went dry.