I should be in sweats, settling in for some college football games, but instead, I’m waiting for Summer to get here so we can go to her parents’ house for turkey flautas. But I’m not even upset about it. I’m kind of looking forward to hanging out with the Stanworth family.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this?” I’ve asked Justin this question a billion times since last night when I agreed to be his holiday stand-in.
“Dude, I already told you. I’m more than okay with it. You’re saving me by going to Summer’s family party. Like, honestly, I can’t thank you enough.” His smile reaches his eyes. “And when work calms down, we should go snowboarding or something. Make a day of it. Hang out like we used to.”
“That would be awesome.” It’s the entire reason I’m here.
“You’ll have to go easy on me, though, or else I won’t be able to keep up with you.”
“Nah, you’ve got skills.”
“Not like you.”
There’s a knock at the door. It’s Summer, but I don’t move to get up. It’s not my house, and she’s not my girlfriend to greet.
“Can you grab that?” Justin’s eyes drop to his computer.
“Sure.” I stand, walking to the door. I open just as she lifts her hand to knock again.
“Oh.” Her eyes widen, and I wonder if her surprise is from the door opening when she was about to knock or from the fact that I answered instead of Justin.
She’s in bright-red pants with a hot-pink sweater under her black coat. The bright colors suit her, matching her bold lipstick and wavy short hair. It all just works for me, which is probably a really bad thing.
“Come in.” I hold the door open for her. “Unless you want to leave right now.”
“No.” She points inside. “I’ll say hi to Justin before we go.”
“Yeah, of course.”
She walks past, and it’s like her intoxicating smell is working overtime tonight, teasing me with its goodness. And the worst part is, I don’t even know what the scent is. Like if I could say, ‘That’s coconut. I love coconut. That’s why I like how Summer smells,’then it would have nothing to do with her, and I’d feel better about myself.
“Hey, Sum Sum.” Justin waves from the couch without even turning his neck to see her.
“Hi!” She walks over to him, leaning down to kiss his cheek.
Is he going to say what I can’t—that she looks amazing? That her bold choice of colors is cute and flirty? That her bright red lipstick makes her blue eyes pop? That she smells incredible? I wait for it, but Justin lets me down by not saying anything.
Summer takes a seat on the other end of the couch. “How are the Black Friday sales coming?”
“So good. Way better than we even anticipated.”
“That’s because people love your blankets.” She brushes her hand over the back of his neck, combing her red fingernails through his hair.
I linger by the kitchen, acting like I have something else to do while I wait. It’s weird if I just sit and watch them interact. Maybe I should pull out my phone. Yeah, that’s a good idea. I reach into my back pocket for the device, opening my email app. The lack of activity in my inbox has me peeking at them once again.
“We’re going to be crazy busy the next few weeks getting these orders out before Christmas.”
Her lips lift as if she’s happy, but everything else about her expression dims. “I bet.”
“That’s why Caleb is here.” He turns over his shoulder to me, adding a smile. “To keep you from feeling neglected.”
I lift my lips in fake happiness, like Summer did two seconds earlier.
Keep her from feeling neglected?
That sounds like it entails much more than just attending a family party.
“Well, babe”—Justin leans into her—“I’ll see you when you get home, and maybe we can watch a movie or something.”
