Best Friends Don't Kiss(62)
I take in the way the cold air has tinted her cheeks pink and the way her lips look full and lush and the way the sun bounces off the ice and makes her eyes appear even bluer.
Could she be any more beautiful?
My gaze flits from her eyes to her lips again, but this time, it just stays there, fixated on that perfect mouth of hers. Fuck me. That mouth.
“You okay?”
“Huh?” I question, blinking several times to try to make sense of her words.
“Are you okay?”
Fuck. What in the hell was I just doing?
Was I going to kiss her? Right here? In the middle of the fucking skating rink?
Yeah, dude. That’s exactly what you were going to do.
I push out my thoughts and force a smile to my lips. “I’m good. Ready to keep going?”
“Only if you still promise not to let go.”
“That’s an easy promise to make, Ace.”
As we skate around the rink, Ava’s hands still intertwined with mine, I can’t shake the feeling that something has shifted…changed.
No, buddy. Nothing has changed. You’re just finally starting to realize how you really feel about her…
December 23rd
Luke
“Okay, what on earth did you get delivered to my parents’ house this morning?” Ava asks as I pull into a parking spot in front of Lakewood’s biggest indoor mall.
At a little before nine this morning, we snuck out of her parents’ house, promptly avoiding the planned Santa-themed breakfast on her dad’s itinerary, so we could finish up some last-minute Christmas shopping.
“There was a delivery this morning?” I cut the engine and shrug. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play coy with me.” With her small hand to my bicep, she gives me a shove. “I saw the package. The big package. I also saw you sign for it and ask my mom if you could store it in the basement.”
“You know what?” I question and tap my chin. “You’re right. A package did arrive this morning, and guess what?”
Her eyes light up, and she rubs her palms together in anticipation. “What?”
“You’ll get to find out what’s inside on Christmas morning.”
“Luke.” Her shoulders sag. “You are so annoying right now.” A deep sigh escapes her lungs, and she crosses her arms over her chest, acting like a petulant child. A really fucking cute child, but a child, nonetheless.
“And you are so impatient,” I tease her, mimicking her voice. “Anyway, do you want to sit in the car and bicker with me, or do you want to go inside that big giant mall and do some Christmas shopping?”
She glares at me, and I nudge her gently with my elbow. “Oh, come on, Ace. I know you are damn near bursting with excitement over the prospect of shopping. Especially, Christmas shopping. It’s one of your favorite things in the whole fucking world.”
She rolls her eyes heavenward, but also, for the briefest of seconds, a smile sparkles across her heart-shaped mouth. But it’s gone between one blink and the next, a scowl taking its place.
The dramatics of it all make me smirk.
Is it just me, or is someone in need of some holiday spirit?
Eventually, she gets out of the passenger seat and stomps her black boots across the pavement, away from the car and toward the mall’s entrance, completely leaving me in the dust.
On a soft chuckle, I follow her lead, jogging to catch up with her, and I don’t hesitate to wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her closer to me. “You mad at me?”
“Yes,” she says, flashing an irritated look in my direction.
“What can I do that will make you forgive me, even though I have no idea why I need to ask for forgiveness…”
When she doesn’t offer a response, her eyes still facing forward as we step out of the cold Vermont air and into the warmth of the indoor mall, I glance around the first few stores for something involving holiday sweet treats.
If there is one way to Ava Lucie’s heart, it’s sugar.
Great American Cookies spotted, I tell her a little white lie on the spot. “Hey, mind waiting right here while I run to the bathroom?”
Ava just shrugs. “Sure.”
“But stay right here, okay?” I say, playfully holding on to both of her shoulders and swaying her back and forth. “Don’t move a single inch.”
She almost cracks a grin. It’s right there, wanting to make itself known, but Ava bites it back by digging her teeth into her bottom lip. “Just go to the damn bathroom.”
“Be right back.” I wink and head toward my fake destination. With a quick glance over my shoulder, I see that Ava has now busied herself with her phone, and I make a beeline for the cookie mecca.
Five minutes later, I make my way back over to her, a bag of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in one hand and a cup of hot cocoa in the other.
“You still mad at me, Ace?” I ask, but she’s too focused on her phone to notice what’s in my hands.
“Uh-huh,” she mutters, locks the screen of her cell, and shoves it back into her purse to meet my eyes.
Instantly, she spots the bag of cookies and cocoa.
“What about now?” I grin, and when she goes to yank the bag of cookies out of my hand, I hold them high above her head. “Ah, ah, little diva. First, you have to stop being such a grinch and forgive me.”