“Nope. No one is interested in me like that.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“Then I guess you’ll have to conduct a survey,” I challenged.
He sighed, glancing at me again. “It’s good to see you. I mean, it’s good to see everyone here.”
“I thought you came back for Thanksgiving.”
“I did. I just mean … I’m used to you here—with my sister. So, it’s good. Like everyone is here.”
“Yeah, I’m … I’m glad to be here too,” I said, relaxing further into the cushions.
I must’ve been more tired than I realized as the movie went on.
Blinking my eyes open, it took me a second to realize where I was. I wasn’t back at school or in Gina’s bed. I tried to sit up, but was quickly halted. “Oh.”
His hand held me against his chest. “You’re fine.”
“Sorry,” I said.
All around me was warm. The blankets from over the top of the couch had been draped over top of my body and, in relation, Josh’s. And I had fallen asleep on Josh’s chest. His arms cradled around me, keeping us in place as I arched my neck back to see his dark lashes softly blink against his cheeks.
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“I fell asleep too,” he said, and I could hear the slight scratchiness to his voice. His hand, too, kept me in place before his thumb started to stroke back and forth on my upper arm.
I couldn’t help myself as I let my eyes slip closed before popping right back open, trying to stay awake while relishing in the feeling. Josh was holding me, and I fit perfectly into the curve of his shoulder.
“It’s all right.”
“I should go back upstairs,” I said, but didn’t move.
“Don’t you want to go back and find out how the movie ends?”
I stared at him for a second before I nodded. “Yeah, okay.”
“I won’t let you fall asleep this time.”
The thing about the Hutton house, being the one all the friends filtered through, was that games were inevitable. And once cheap alcohol entered the mix, it became a free-for-all of nostalgia-fueled competitiveness.
Gina had the brilliant idea of throwing a holiday party at home while her parents were down the block at their own gathering. The plan? Re-create childhood chaos, but with more wine and fewer broken bones. Though, honestly, the way everyone was moving through the house, it didn’t feel that far off from the old days. Sleepovers, tree climbing, and that one infamous game of manhunt that had earned Nick a cast and a lifetime of glory.
We’d already played a chaotic round of charades and half watched a holiday movie before someone inevitably suggested hide-and-seek. It was an old favorite. Everyone grabbed a partner without hesitation—except Gina. She latched on to the nearest person, and it wasn’t me.
Before I could even blink, Josh was at my side.
“Come on,” he muttered, grabbing my hand and tugging me along. “Clock’s ticking.”
He didn’t wait for a response—he never did, not when his competitive streak kicked in. I remembered it well. Apparently, it hadn’t dulled over the years, and if I was honest, being around him brought out a streak of my own. All night, we’d challenged each other. A rematch at tipsy checkers. Charades so intense that Gina nearly choked while laughing. And now this.
He pulled me into the laundry room, both of us laughing as he shut the door quietly behind us. The warmth from thedryer and the buzz of peppermint schnapps made everything feel electric.
“Shh,” Josh warned with a grin. One hand held my arm as he tried to wedge us deeper into the narrow corner. “You’re not going to make me lose this.”
He pushed me back gently, his hand brushing over my stomach as he tried to make space. It was cramped. Close. But somehow, it didn’t feel uncomfortable.
It felt like … we fit.
