Chapter 1
Earth to Harls
Harley || Present day
Since leaving Benji eleven months ago, he’s been texting and calling relentlessly, but I refuse to respond; luckily, he hasn’t shown up at my place or my job.
Eleven months of actually being able to show up for my friends.
Being able to heal and enjoy my life, post Benji or P.B.
, as we’ve been calling it. Being able to watch Bella, Kodi and Mav’s daughter, and Hayden, Darcy and Tate’s son grow up.
I’m actually able to commit to traveling to the Smoky Mountains with my best friends for Christmas this year.
“Earth to Harls.” Kodi snaps her fingers at me across the fire pit on her back porch.
It’s Tuesday, so I’m at Kodi and Mav’s for a family dinner—although they’re not family by blood, my friends are my family by choice.
The guys from the team and my besties, including the newest member of the team Conrad Hoyer, his girlfriend Enid, and her younger brother, Mace are all here to prep for our upcoming trip.
“Huh? Yep. What’s up?” I stutter, hoping I wasn’t missing an important conversation.
“Your time off got approved, right?” Darcy asks from where she stands, bouncing Hayden to sleep.
“Yes! I’m so excited to spend Christmas with you all,” I beam at them.
Sin claps excitedly, “Yay! That means everyone’s going to come!”
“There’s an innuendo in there somewhere…” Darcy smirks, proud of herself.
“If you weren’t holding my nephew, I would throw a pillow at your head,” I laugh, and her grin widens.
“Speaking of coming, Harley and Sin, are you bringing anyone with you? We have to figure out sleeping arrangements. There’s a main cabin, a two-bedroom, and then a small A-frame big enough for two people,” Kodi prods.
“Absolutely not, I’m happy to spend the week with just you guys. No extra penises or vaginas necessary.” Sin sounds appalled, her face screwing up in disgust like the idea of having a partner at Christmas time is the worst thing in the world.
“Nope, just me this year.” I smile, but Kodi’s eyebrows furrow.
I wouldn’t mind having someone to cuddle up next to the fire and watch all the classics with though.
My brain betrays me when a certain, red-headed, left-winger runs by with Bella on his back.
Her loud laugh fills the space, and his smile broadens.
“Are you sure you’re okay? If Benji is still around, we can-”
Immediately, I feel the need to squash my friend’s thinking that I’d give him another chance. I refuse to do that.
“I need to fess up to something.” I cut Ko off and feel four sets of eyes burning into my soul.
Before I can even think about something rational—like just telling them that Benji is long gone—I’m concocting a tale about someone that I know they’ll approve of.
“Collins… Collins and I can take the A-frame together—because we’ve been seeing each other for a little bit. ”
Grace, Mav’s sister, covers her shocked expression with her glass of wine. Kodi’s eyes are the size of saucers while Darcy and Sinclair don’t look impressed or convinced.
“How long?” Darcy questions.
“A month or two,” I throw out, cataloging these details so that when I go to Collins and beg him to help me convince our friends we’re in a relationship, I can make sure he knows how this developed.
“And you’ve been hiding it this whole time?” Grace is the next to speak.
“We’ve been keeping it private, the whole Benji thing kind of threw a wrench into how I handle my relationships going forward.”
“I don’t buy it,” Sin, my best friend and the one who’d be able to call me on my bullshit, asserts. Her arms are crossed over her chest, and she’s shooting laser beams into my irises. “I’m going to call him over, surely he’ll want to fess up, considering we’ll find out in the mountains anyway.”
“No—” I fish for a good reason, “just let me talk to him before you out us to the whole group. You know how shy he is.”
“How did this happen?” Now it’s Kodi’s turn to see if I falter.
“As you know, he’s always been a support system for me, a safe place to go when things would get too difficult.”
“We could’ve been that for you, too, you know?” Sin sounds hurt, and I can’t blame her. Rather than going to my best friend when I was struggling, I ran to someone we met less than two years ago.
“I know, I’m sorry.”
“So after Benji, you were still hanging out?” Sin continues to prod for holes in my story.
“Yes, I was at his house all the time, not just to check on Precious while they were away for games. So much so that he was keeping my favorite snacks, tampons, and coffee creamer stocked.” Wait a minute…
Nope. Not thinking about how thoughtful that is.
“It just kind of naturally progressed. The more time we spent together and the more comfortable I got, the easier it was to see that there was potential for more. So we’re exploring that. ”
“Why fess up now, then? Rather than just sneaking around in the mountains.” Darcy narrows her eyes at me, and I begin to sweat a little bit as she scrutinizes me.
“I’ve kept too much from you guys over the past year, and what better way to spend Christmas than cuddled up into a cute hockey player’s side?” I mean both of those statements wholeheartedly.
“Fine, but I won’t believe it until I see it.” Enid, who’s normally the passive one, says. Her eyes flitting back and forth between me and Collins. She briefly pauses, smiling softly at Conrad and Mace tossing a football back and forth. Ironic.
“Ladies, may I top you off?” Dominic bows as he opens the sliding glass door, holding a freshly opened bottle of white.
Rather than responding, we all hold our glasses out for him as he pours.
He lingers in front of Sin a moment longer than the rest of us before setting the bottle on the side table and joining the guys back in the grass.
“Okay, so roomie assignments. The Harts, the Reeds, the parents, the future Hoyers, plus Nik and Dom will take the big cabin. Grace and Jason can take the two-bedroom cabin with Sin. Then Collins and Harls get the A-frame. Does that work for everyone?” Kodi asks, seeking confirmation that everyone is comfortable with the arrangements.
Of course, I’m comfortable with that; Collins and I have slept in the same vicinity before.
Nothing crazy is going to happen if we sleep in the same bed for a week and a half.
“That works for me. Wait. Grace,” Sin lowers her voice, “are you guys loud?”
“Oh my God! Sin! You can’t just ask people that.” I screech.
“What! I’m just making sure I don’t need to bring my noise-canceling headphones for nighttime. The holidays make men ravenous.” Sin’s mischievous laugh bursts from her mouth.
“You may want to bring them,” Grace says straight-faced. In the next moment, we’re all doubled over, gasping for air from laughing so hard. All of the men have now turned their heads in our direction, causing us to straighten up, doing our best to act casual.
“Grace, you dirty dog. I knew you would fit in with us.” Sin hums.
“I am so ready for this trip and some uninterrupted time with everyone.” Kodi sighs contentedly.
“Cheers,” I say as I hold my wine glass into the air, waiting for everyone to clink theirs with mine.
“Where are you headed?” Sin asks me as she pours coffee into the biggest mug I’ve ever seen. She’s preparing to work her first twelve hours of the week, and the coffee will be needed.
“Collins’ place.” I smile at her.
“Harls,” she probes.
“Sin,” I purr back.
She pours an obscene amount of peppermint mocha creamer into her coffee as she speaks, “I don’t buy it.”
“Jesus, Sin. Can you even taste the coffee anymore?”
“That’s the whole point, I like my creamer with a side of coffee.” She shrugs, “Stop avoiding my statement.”
“Just because something is private doesn’t make it untrue, Sin. I have to go, Precious is expecting me.” I smile devilishly at my best friend, blowing her a kiss and turning toward the front door.
“We’ll see about that!” Sinclair shouts at my back.
The entire drive to Collins’ house, I replay last night and the talk with the girls, all the details to make sure I can relay them properly to my boyfriend. He won’t say no, right?