Chapter 36
36
LAYLA
“ O h. My. God. You little slut!”
My best friend abandons her cooking box on the front mat and excitedly yanks down the neckline of my turtleneck sweater. She inspects my hickies and my love bites and my other hook-up induced injuries, and she squeals.
“Hello to you, too.” I toss back, shrugging out of her reach, grabbing the food supplies and heading into the kitchen.
Karli invited herself over here to night under the guise of testing out some new recipes for her cooking subscription business. But I know her well enough to know her real intentions.
She’s here for the ‘tea’.
Since the guys are playing basketball tonight, she called and offered to cook me dinner. I told her that Archer’s fridge is brimming with leftovers. Yet still, she insisted that she was coming over. I can’t say I’m surprised.
After the ( televised !) kiss that Archer and I shared at the hockey game, I knew my bestie would never let me off the hook without a detailed explanation. Now, here we are.
She hustles into the kitchen, quickly shucking off her coat and draping it over the back of a chair. “Don’t you dare act coy with me, missy. You and my brother are hooking up! Admit it!” Loudly clapping her hands together, she bounces excitedly on her toes.
“Shhh!” I scold her, index pressed to my lips. “Sky’s asleep.”
“Oops! Sorry.” She slams a palm over her mouth. Then she jumps right back into the conversation with a lowered voice. “You and my brother are hooking up!!!” she whisper-yells with just as much enthusiasm, bouncing around more quietly now. “Don’t lie. You’ve got the evidence all over you.” She motions to my hickies.
I try to act annoyed but the smile curling the corners of my lips isn’t doing me any favors. “Karli, you don’t understand,” I insist, self-consciously tugging my turtleneck up my throat.
“What don’t I understand?” She randomly grabs two coffee mugs from the cabinet before reaching into the box for a wine bottle. “You two were flirting the entire time at the hockey game. And then you kissed and almost set the whole arena on fire. And there is nothing ‘pretend’ about those hickies all over you now.”
“Fine. Things sort of got out of control when we got home, and we hooked up. For the first time,” I admit, trying not to shiver when I say it. “But we agreed that we shouldn’t do it again. We can’t take things further.”
Karli rolls her eyes, passing me a serving of wine before taking a hearty sip of her own. “Why the hell not? He’s single. You’re single. The two of you are hiding out in this cozy mountainside getaway.” She sighs wistfully. “The whole damn thing is romantic.”
“It’s not romantic, Karli. It’s complicated.” I try to sound like the reasonable adult in the room.
She insists on an explanation. “Meaning?”
“Yes, I’m crazy attracted to him. But I need to practice self-control.” I take groceries out of the box as I speak. There’s uncooked pasta, a brick of cheese, dried herbs, a rich-looking sauce and a fresh-smelling loaf of French baguette. I peek at the recipe card—red wine pasta with roasted tomato sauce and garlic bread. Yum !
“Self-control is overrated,” she grumbles.
“Karli!” I start listing out my problems on my fingers. “I don’t have a place to call home. I’m focused on saving as much money as I can. My baby daddy is unhinged and I have no clue what he’ll do next.” I give my head a brisk shake. “There’s way too much going on in my life. I’m not in the right headspace to jump into a relationship.”
Karli grabs a knife from the knife block and slices into the cheese. “Okay. Fine. You have a lot going on. Doesn’t mean you and my brother can’t have some fun.” She pops a cube of cheese into her mouth before ripping off a piece of bread.
“That’s precisely the problem,” I say. “Archer has made it clear that he won’t settle for a fling. With him, it’s all or nothing. Either we each jump in with both feet or we stay friends.”
She passes a piece of bread my way. “That sounds dumb. You know that, right?”
“Actually, it’s not.” I sigh. “The quickest way to get your heart broken is to get into a situationship, knowing that you and the other person will never be on the same page. I don’t want to hurt Archer and I don’t want him to hurt me. We’re friends and we’re coworkers and I’d very much like to keep it that way.” I stuff a piece of bread into my mouth, muffling the words I’m speaking. “A few months from now when it becomes blindingly clear that things won’t work out between us, I’ll end up losing my job and my friend. I don’t want that to happen.”
Karli scowls. “Why’d you have to be so pessimistic?”
“I’m being realistic , hun.”
She’s quiet for a while. “I hate this.”
“I hate it, too,” I admit.
She silently nibbles on another piece of cheese and then she says, “Are you sure you guys can’t figure it out? I just want him to be happy, like the rest of us are. And I know you bring that into his life. Ever since you moved in here, he barely even comes outside anymore. He just wants to be holed up in here with you every night.”
“You exaggerate too much.” I wave a dismissive hand at her.
She insists. “He’s like a groundhog. He just sticks his head out to forage for food, and then straight back into his burrow, he goes.”
I laugh softly. “I put my foot down with him tonight. I forced him to hang out with the guys. I couldn’t be alone with him right now. I’m trying to be strong and knowing he’s in the house all the time is driving me crazy.” I take a sip of wine and lean in, my voice a whisper. “Karli, he was wearing glasses the other night. Glasses . He looked so fucking hot. I wanted to burst into his library and ride his face.”
Karli holds up a hand, shaking her head. “Girl! I love you, but the graphic details, you keep to yourself.”
“Sorry.” I chow down on another piece of bread to muffle my laughter. “I’ve got to say—I miss him tonight that he’s not here.”
She throws her head back and groans petulantly. “You’re playing with my emotions, Layla. I’m trying to not be a bad influence and tell you to do something impulsive but—gah!—I want you two together so bad.”
My friend and I stand around in the kitchen, laughing and gossiping and eating the dinner ingredients. Before we even realize what we’re doing, we’re halfway through the bottle of wine and the bread and cheese are all gone. I guess we won’t be cooking tonight. Thank goodness for the leftovers in the fridge.
We hear an engine, and headlights beam against the side of the house. A moment later, the engine cuts out and my heartbeat kicks up.
Archer’s home.
I don’t know what comes over me. I abandon the conversation and head for the front door like a heat-seeking missile. I swing the door open before Archer can even climb the porch steps.
I smile at him. He smiles at me.
“Hey there, Belle,” he says, his grin only inching wider as he brushes a lock of hair away from my face. His eyes beam softly at me. “Did you get prettier while I was out with the guys?”
Blushing, I lean my cheek into his palm, loving the chill of his calloused palm against my heated skin.
Karli strolls into the room and the two of us jump apart like naughty teenagers.
“Hey, sis,” Archer says, trying to pull his usual stoic expression into place.
She just smirks as she shrugs into her coat. “I’m getting out of here. I wanna get home to my husband.”
“Thanks for keeping me company,” I say to her.
“Did you girls have fun?” Archer toes off his boots and hangs his jacket on the hook.
“We did.” Karli stares pointedly at him, bumping her shoulder into his side. “And you two could be having a whole different kind of fun if you weren’t both so stubborn.”
Archer’s ears go pink and he groans in annoyance.
Karli slaps a hand over her mouth to keep her cackles from waking Sky. “You’re blushing!” she accuses him before her eyes swing to me. “He’s blushing!”
Archer just rolls his eyes, heading off down the hallway. “You’re a little shit,” he grumbles at his sister.
Karli shakes her head in amazement. “I’ve never seen him like this.” She leans by my ear. “Go easy on him, Layla. Mr. Grumpy’s down bad.”
With a wink, she turns and skips down the snowy driveway to her car.