3. Present Day – Christmas Eve
3
PRESENT DAY – CHRISTMAS EVE
JOSIE
B eing near Scott is almost unbearable. Seeing him again, talking with him, makes the usual dull pang of loss grab my stomach like it did at the hospital. Twisting it and yanking it into my throat so it’s hard to breathe. How I’m supposed to be friends with this guy, I don’t know.
I sink the shot Chunk just poured me, forcing it past the suffocating yearning that has gripped my chest, and scan the barn for anything, anyone, that can help. Earlier, Ella asked if I wanted backup, but I insisted I wanted to see Scott without her. And she believed me.
Why did she have to listen and give me the space I told her I needed?
I don’t need space. Just like I don’t need another friend.
I need a bodyguard, someone to protect me from myself. Someone to stop me from coveting a man who doesn’t want me back.
Bad Josie.
I reframe my thoughts. It’s just the sex I miss. No … crave.
The blisteringly hot sex where he dominated me in the sweetest possible way. Made me feel a zing I’ve never felt before. Made me feel like I could be myself. Like he wanted me to be myself.
Gah! I haven’t known him long enough to be so attached.
It’s his loss, I retell myself. I need to move on and find that spark with someone else.
My gaze returns to the drinks table and I force a curve to my lips. One thing Ella got right tonight was introducing me to Chunk. Built like a freaking shed, he’d make a fine bodyguard.
Before I know it, Chunk pours out more shots and beckons some other people to join us. This is exactly what I need: mingling with a rabble of people I don’t know, all of us downing various spirits.
Scott’s still here but our stilted — awkward as hell — conversation has been abandoned.
Chunk’s taken me under his wing, including me in the fun, and I’m grateful, even though I’m sure Ella and Nate must have asked him to before they disappeared. His large hand moves over the bare skin on my shoulders as I sink another tequila, a gentle scratch of calluses as he smoothes my tense muscles.
With a blur of movement, Scott swipes at what looks like whiskey, and catches my eye.
Before I can think about it, Chunk leans in close and his words tickle my ear as he whispers, ‘You trying to drink me under the table?’
I giggle from where his breath hits a sensitive spot. Maybe those shots are starting to work. I cock an eyebrow at him. ‘I’m sure I could give you a run for your money.’
What am I saying? No I couldn’t! I’m a tiny woman and he is a mountain. Okay I’m not tiny; I’m petite and curvy. But despite my assets, I expect I weigh less than one of his thighs.
‘Please don’t.’ His voice is kind, rumbling quietly up close to me again. ‘I’d hate for you to pass out before the games.’
‘ Games? ’ Now I am really interested.
He winks, and then bellows to the group, ‘Gotta line your stomachs, people.’
Chunk grabs some bowls of crisps from the table nearby and starts passing them around.
The man has a point. I follow his lead to the snack table and take in the spread. There are nibbles, dips, a cheeseboard even. I start slicing up some cheddar and pop a cube in my mouth. Chunk plucks a grape off the board, offering it to my lips with a bone melting smile.
I tongue the sweet fruit from his fingers and he waggles his brows. ‘I totally know what the first game’s gonna be.’