“My stomach’s a little off.” Mostly from how near he’s sitting. And how amazing he smells. And how he keeps looking at me like he’s thinking things he shouldn’t.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s nothing. I drank too much coffee.” Which is technically accurate. I had four cups before noon and two more after, but the fluttering in my stomach is all from him.
“I have some gummies,” he says, nudging my elbow with his. “It might help.”
I laugh. “Yeah, they’ll fix my stomach and completely wreck my brain. Very helpful.”
He flashes a crooked grin. “That wrecked feeling? It’s definitely underrated.”
“You’re such a bad influence.”
His grin turns wolfish, spiking my heart rate. “You have no idea.” He lowers his marshmallow toward the flames, but almost instantly holds it too close for too long. It catches fire, flames engulfing the white area. “Dammit!” He jerks the stick back,waving it until the blackened marshmallow extinguishes with a sorry puff of smoke.
I reach over without thinking. “Give it to me.”
He hands the stick over, eyebrow raised, as I pull off the burnt blob and toss it into the fire. Once the bag returns to me, I grab a fresh marshmallow and push it onto the stick, angling it perfectly over the embers. I keep it at the proper distance above the flame to achieve the perfect golden-brown shade.
“You always do this,” he murmurs, watching me.
“What?”
“Make it better.”
My heart gives a painful thump. “You’re hopeless with fire,” I tease, trying to sound normal. “You’re just impatient, always roasting it too fast.”
“What can I say? I like instant gratification.”
“Of course you do.” I pass him the stick. When our fingers meet, the air thickens and the space between us feels different. It may have been an inconsequential touch, but it lingers in all the right places.
Jordan glances down at the marshmallow, then pulls it off the stick and pops it into his mouth. “Perfect,” he says around the soft mouthful. “You always get it exactly right.”
I ignore the way that makes my stomach flip. “That’s because I know what I’m doing.”
Travis clears his throat dramatically. “Before I forget, I want to invite you all to our Christmas party two weeks from tonight.”
“But what about our firepit hangout?” Willow moans. “You couldn’t have picked another night?”
“Hey, you know we live in Maine, right?” Travis asks. “Our firepit nights are limited anyway, and we’ve been fortunate the snow and extreme cold have held off this long.”
Jordan holds up a hand. “Whoa. Wait a sec. Can we rewind to the part where Travis invited us all to a party at his house?”
“Right?” Drew asks. “I thought I was hearing things.”
“Nina, who is this imposter beside you, and what have you done with our brother?” Reed asks.
Travis shakes his head. “Don’t make me regret telling you.”
Nina laughs, looping her arm through his and snuggling closer to him. “Wethought it would be fun to host a party since we both love Christmas.”
“Since when does the Grinch love Christmas?” Jordan asks, making us all laugh.
“Cut your brother some slack,” I tell Jordan. “He’s got a new reason to want to celebrate.”
“Yeah, a hot-as-fuck one,” Willow adds.
Travis nods. “I can’t argue with that.”
