Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
HOLLIS
Jonas
How’s it going?
Me
Meeting with the broker tomorrow to tour some properties.
And yes, before you ask, the hotel is at the top of the list.
Jonas
Excellent. Send me pics.
Me
Will do.
Jonas
How is everything else going?
Me
It’s…going.
Jonas
Really? That’s it. That’s all you’re gonna give me.
Me
It’s been an adjustment. We’re still trying to figure things out.
That is the understatement of the year. After that first night, I thought we’d found our rhythm again. Or we were at least getting there. We joked, and the conversation flowed.
It felt good. Normal.
Even when the conversation could have gotten awkward.
I understand her hesitance and her need for rules. I need them too. She may be trying to protect our friendship, but I’m trying to protect my heart.
The morning after my arrival in LA, we both slept in.
When she stumbled into the kitchen in skimpy sleep shorts and a hoodie, I tried to act like I didn’t notice and made us breakfast. She made coffee.
We moved around the kitchen like we’d done it a hundred times.
I unpacked my stuff, and in the afternoon, we headed to the grocery store and Target since I’d only brought the bare essentials on the plane.
We even stopped for an early dinner at a place Pres loves near her place, and I met the owner. She didn’t even hesitate to introduce me as her husband.
I took it as a good sign.
But then, evening arrived, and I offered to help out at the bar. She waved me off, saying she had it covered and was just going in to do some paperwork.
When she returned a few hours later, her mood was different. Darker. She went straight to bed, and ever since, she’s been quiet. Guarded.
Jonas
That’s understandable. There’s always an adjustment period. Keisha and I had ours, remember? You just need to give it time.
Me
You adjusting to having all of Keisha’s stuff around is not the same thing.
Jonas
I had to give up half my closet.
Me
I feel for you, I do. But, I’ve got to go.
Jonas
Say hi to the Mrs. for me!
It’s now been five days since I got here, and thanks to our mismatched schedules, I’ve barely seen Presley. When she’s bartending at night, I’m sleeping. When I’m working, she’s back at the bar doing inventory or catching up on more mysterious paperwork.
I know from our weeks of texting that she doesn’t usually clock this many hours unless she’s understaffed. But the loss of one employee wouldn’t account for the number of hours she’s putting in during the day.
Unless she’s just using it as an excuse to avoid me.
As I step out of the shower, I try to think of a reason why. Is it something I said? Maybe she’s having second thoughts. I wouldn’t blame her. What we’re doing isn’t exactly normal.
I dry off my hair and reach for my shirt, but quickly realize it’s not there.
Shit, I forgot my clothes.
I keep everything in Presley’s room to maintain the pretense that I sleep there in case anyone visits, but I always pull out fresh clothes the night before so I can shower when I wake up.
I did all that, but left them lying on the chair in the living room.
I glance at the door and then at my phone. It’s still early, and I’m usually the first one up. I don’t like the thought of her having to tiptoe around her own living room.
Plus, I like having the coffee ready for her when she wakes up, which probably won’t be for another thirty minutes.
I should be safe.
I turn the handle, step into the hallway, and run straight into my wife.
She gasps in surprise as I try to jump back, but my smart watch with the chunky metal band that Jonas insisted was stylish gets caught in her hair, and we’re instantly stuck together.
Stylish, Jonas? Try deadly.
“Shit, Pres. Are you okay?”
“Mm-hmm, yep.” Her voice sounds strained, and I look down to see that her face is practically plastered to my chest. I can feel her hot breath against my skin. She’s in one of those tight tank tops she likes to wear to bed and flannel sleep shorts that have no right looking that sexy.
No bra, of course.
Focus.
“Just give me a second and I can—” Before I can finish my sentence, she reaches up and unclasps my watch from my wrist and takes a giant step back.
“I’ll untangle it and get it back to you in a minute.” She turns toward her room.
“Yeah.” I nod. “Um, thanks.”
Then she flees back to the safety of her room.
PRESLEY
It’s times like these that I wish I had more friends. Because right now, I could use some good advice.
You had a friend, Pres, and then you went and married him.
And that is essentially my problem.
I don’t know how to be just friends with Hollis anymore. Sure, I’ve always had an attraction to him. I mean, who wouldn’t? He’s gorgeous. Seriously fucking gorgeous.
But, first and foremost, he’s always been my friend.
Until Vegas, that is. Until we got married.
Something happened that night that changed—obviously—how I see him, and now that simmering attraction between us feels almost electric. It doesn’t help one bit when he comes barreling out of the shower in nothing but a towel.
God.
That’s a memory that’s going to live rent-free in my mind for eternity. I could feel every hard inch of him pressed against me. Every. Inch. That towel was thin.
I briefly consider calling Zara for help, but that would mean my brother finding out about my recent nuptials, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that.
I’m not even sure I’m ready to tell my parents.
But it’s a little too late for that now, as we’re heading down the PCH toward Malibu for Sunday dinner.
“You look nice,” Hollis says, breaking the ten-minute-long silent streak we’ve got going.
“Thank you,” I answer, brushing an imaginary piece of lint off my black jeans. I paired it with an off-the-shoulder sweater. It’s nicer than I usually wear for Sunday dinner, but I am hoping it might distract from the obvious awkwardness Hollis and I have between us.
Thanks, partially due to me. Okay, mostly due to me.
After our little “rule talk,” I felt better about the situation. I put myself first and took steps to protect my heart and maybe even our friendship as well.
I woke up the next morning feeling optimistic.
Maybe this crazy idea we came up with could actually work, and I could be platonically married to my superhot friend for three months while he helps me save my family business.
Then I went to work and resumed my deep dive into the bar’s finances. That’s when I realized just how fucked we were.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I don’t even realize the car has stopped. I look up to find Hollis staring at me.
“We’re here.”
“Oh.” I see the familiar walkway to my parents’ house just beyond his shoulders. “Sorry. Guess I spaced out for a bit.”
He opens his mouth to say something, but decides against it. We both get out, and I walk over to the other side of the car where he’s leaning against the driver’s door, waiting.
He’s dressed in dark khakis that are doing all sorts of amazing things for his ass.
The fitted black Henley with the rolled-up sleeves is a nice touch too.
His curly hair is a little wild, probably in need of a trim, but I love it like this.
I have to fight the urge to reach up and run my hands through it, reminding myself that’s usually not something friends do.
“Wait a second,” he says, reaching for my hand.
“What’s up?” I ask, trying to come off as casual.
“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay before we go in there. That we’re okay.”
I attempt a smile. “Yeah, why?”
“Pres, come on. You’ve been avoiding me for days.”
“I have not,” I argue, trying to tug my hand away, but he just pulls me closer. “I’ve just been busy.”
“Okay, then let me help.”
I glare at him. “No.”
“No? Why?”
“I’m just not ready for help,” I answer defensively, trying to focus on anything but him. My mom’s roses look particularly nice this year…
“Pres.” He gazes into my eyes in a way only he can. In a way that seems to reach into my soul and tug at my heartstrings, begging me to answer back.
“Fine,” I relent with a sigh. “I have been avoiding you.”
“I know that,” he says smugly. “Why?”
“Because I realized the money problem at the bar isn’t completely Jace’s fault, okay?
” I throw my hands up in frustration. “I knew we weren’t doing well, but I thought I could handle it.
I pushed extra money into bands and events, expecting it all to pay off.
But I risked way too much, and now with all the money and stock Jace stole… ”
His jaw tightens, and I wait for it. I wait for the insults or the insinuations that I’m in over my head. But they never come. “What can I do to help?” he simply says.
I stand there stunned. “What?”
“I said I would help, and I meant it. What do you need me to do?”
It’s such a simple response, but so powerful. He doesn’t offer any unwanted opinions, doesn’t drown me in false sympathy, or try to bulldoze me and take over everything like most men do. He just offers a hand.
“Right now, if you could help me convince my parents we’re head over heels for each other, that’d be great.”
A sly smirk peeks out of the corner of his mouth. “All right, but I may need to bend that rule of yours.”
“Why?”
“Because if we’re going to convince anyone, we need to loosen up around each other, Pres. And we need to do it fast.”
“Okay.”
His expression shifts, and he licks his lips. Is he nervous? “And since you’ve been avoiding me all week, we haven’t exactly had a chance to work our way up to anything. So I might have to resort to something drastic.”
My stomach flutters with anticipation. “Like what?”
“Like this,” he says, right before he grabs me around the waist, pulls me close, and kisses me.
I let out a tiny gasp of surprise as his mouth closes over mine, and then I’m completely lost to it. The feeling of his lips against mine. The swirling desire grows deep in my belly. The sexy groan he lets out as he slides a hand down to cup my ass.
So this is what it feels like to kiss Hollis Beck? It’s electric and consuming and slightly…familiar?
In one quick motion, he lifts me up and turns so I’m pressed against the side of the car. My fingers sink into his hair, finally touching those soft red curls of his.
Just as my brain is starting to short-circuit and my libido is primed and ready to take over, I hear the sound of someone gasp.
I open my eyes, and standing there behind us is my mom.
Her gaze falls on Hollis, and her eyes widen. “Hi, Mom,” I say awkwardly. “Um…surprise!”