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“Like can’t stop thinking about him,” CJ says.“Totally gone for a guy whose name she doesn’t know.”
The guy who was dressed…
“I know his name.”Liv’s voice is muffled by her hands.“It’s Luke.”
Luke.The guy who was dressed like Santa.
Me.Liv’s obsessed withme.
“Wait, what?”Darby asks at the same time Gabe says, “Dude, aren’t you—ouch!What was that for?”
He contorts himself to rub his shin under the table where I’ve just kicked him.
“Sorry,” I grind out.“Leg cramp.Needed to stretch.”
Zero subtlety there, but what I really need is for both of them to shut the fuck up while I figure out how to handle eighteen different emotions at once.Elation.Horror.Fuck-yeahsmugness.More horror.Oh god.
Gabe and Darby are staring at me in confusion and amusement, but all I can feel is my heartbeat throbbing in my ears as I turn to Liv with no idea what to say or how to say it.
“Liv, I… I, uh?—”
“We are not.Talking.About.This,” she grinds out.Her face is still buried in her hands, so she’s missing the circus act happening around her.
“You sure about that?Tell us more about Luke,” Gabe says with a grin, swiveling his legs to the side so they’re out of kicking range.I’m forced to settle on a silent, wide-eyed message for him toshutttttt the fuckkkkkk uuppppp.
When Liv finally lifts her head, her face is so red I can feel the heat radiating off her soft skin.I know it’s soft because I brushed my fingers over it when I was snake-hips Santa and was allowed to touch her.
Snake-hips Santa.Fuck, that’s a good nickname.
I have to tell her.I can’t be her buddy Jonesy while I keep her in the dark about this.And I have no idea how she’s gonna take it.
Oh my god, this is bad.This is incredible.This issobad.
“Okay!”Liv claps her hands to get the table’s attention.“To those of you who don’t know me, I’m not usually like this.I don’t get wild crushes on strangers!Yes, Luke Lawless has the most perfect body I’ve ever seen, and he moved it in ways that didn’t seem human and that I thought about for days afterward, but it was a one-time thing, and I’m done.”
“No more visits to the Crimson Lounge, huh?”Gabe’s lips twitch as his eyes flick to me.
“No,” she says.“It’s never happening again, and I’m going to change the passwords to all of CJ’s streaming services as punishment for bringing this up in front of new people.”
CJ shrugs unapologetically.“Sorry, love.”
“So that’s that!”Liv declares, holding her hands out in front of her like a crossing guard stopping traffic.“In a few weeks, I’ll have my dream job at ThinkOutLoud Marketing in Boston, and I’ll never think about snake-hips Santa again.Putting it behind me!Now, can somebody please change the subject?”
I run shaky fingers over my jaw.Change the subject?I want to hear more about the effects my perfect body has on Liv.I want to heareverything.Does this mean she’s touched herself while thinking about me?Did she end up tossing and turning in bed after watching me dance, and did she slide her fingers into her panties to find herself drenched?If so, did she draw it out, teasing herself to make the pleasure last as long as possible?Or did she work herself so hard and fast that she had to press her face into the pillow to keep her roommate from hearing her come?All because of me.
Well.Because ofhim.I’ve never felt more split between my two selves than I do right now, when the girl I’m crazy about has me friend-zoned but thinks Luke’s her perfect guy.
Luke.Me.Him.Us.
Fuck, this is confusing.
“Ummmm…” Darby’s sympathetic gaze lands on me briefly before she looks past me in search of a new topic.“Why is there zero Christmas in here?”
Liv laughs softly, gratefully.“Right?That’s what I asked Jonesy.”She nudges me with her shoulder, all buddy-buddy, and I force a smile.
“Since I’ve been here, nobody’s bothered to decorate.”
Liv shakes her head.“What a missed opportunity.”
