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“I don’t!”CJ leaps to her feet.“You’re telling me that ridiculously hot man is namedHollis?”
“And get this.His family calls him Holly,” I say as I set my empty plate on the table, glancing down at what I’m wearing.I’m not Verdant dressy or Crimson Lounge fancy, but my jeans and sweater are cute enough for a guy I’m mad at, right?
“They’re here!”Darby announces, and for some reason, this gets us all to run to the front window like little kids, crowding around the Christmas tree CJ and I decorated last weekend.
“God, my man is hot,” Birdy sighs.
“He is!”CJ says.“He’s totally…” Her voice trails off with a croak and she takes a step back from the window.
“You okay?”I ask.
“Wyatt Jones is walking up my driveway,” she says in a funny, faraway voice.“Why thefuckis Wyatt Jones walking up my driveway?”
“Who, Hollis’ brother?”My answer comes out like a question, and CJ spins to face me, her eyes wide.
“Jonesy’s brother isWyatt Jones?”
I’ve never seen my best friend this rattled, ever, but before I can drag any details out of her, the front door opens to reveal a grinning Gabe.
“Any sexy ladies in the house?”
Darby runs into his arms with a squeal, and Birdy does the same when Sebastian walks in behind him, sporting the same thick brown hair as his sister.
Behind him is Hollis, who enters the house cautiously, his eyes locking on me the second he’s inside.I’m sure I’m about to say something profound and witty, something that’ll make it be not weird and awful between us, but CJ beats me to the punch.
“No.”She storms up to the man who just crossed the threshold.“Get out, Wyatt.”
Hollis’ brother stops dead in his tracks, his face blank for a moment before his lips pull into a sneer.“Charlotte Jane.What a surprise to see you in a house.”
She crosses her arms over her chest.“Where else would I be?”
“I honestly never gave it much thought,” he says in a bored voice.“Hiding in a Venus flytrap?Or at the center of a labyrinth?”He snaps his fingers.“No, I’ve got it.On a rock, luring unsuspecting sailors to their death.”
He’s smiling now, showing all his teeth, and CJ trembles in fury.“Getout!”she says again, this time putting her hands on his midsection and shoving.He winces and takes a step back, and Hollis springs into action, putting himself between CJ and his brother.
“As curious as I am about what’s going on here,” he says with his bright Jonesy smile, “can Wy stay if he promises to be on his best behavior?I swear he’s housebroken.”
“No!”CJ shouts as I say, “Of course he can.”
I wrap my arm around my friend’s waist and drag her away.“Why don’t you go check on the pigs in a blanket?”I say brightly.
“Pigs in a blanket?”Gabe’s head snaps up from where he’s been whispering with Darby.
“Pigs in a blanket,” Darby confirms as she herds everyone into the living room, including a mulishly silent CJ and a wary-looking Wyatt.It leaves me and Hollis alone in the front hallway.
“Hi,” he says quietly, his warm brown eyes drinking me in.
“Hi.”His cheeks are pink, maybe from alcohol or maybe from the night air.God, I wish it was from seeing me.You know, hisfriend.
He shrugs out of his coat, revealing the shirt underneath, and all other thoughts flee.“What on earth are you wearing?”
He plucks at the front of the eye-searingly green fabric.“Hot, right?”
“Santa,” I say inanely as I take in the buff, golf club-wielding Saint Nick plastered across his torso.Flustered at the even tangential reminder of my encounter with Luke, I start to turn away, but Hollis stops me with a hand on my arm, then lets me go immediately, like my skin is lava.
“I want to apologize for earlier,” he says, his expression as serious as I’ve ever seen it.“There were a million better ways I could’ve handled it, and instead, I said and did things that hurt your feelings.Christ, Liv, it’s the last thing I’d ever want to do.But I did, and I’m so sorry.”
He doesn’t demand my forgiveness.He doesn’t even ask for it.He just looks at me with those melting brown eyes, oozing sincerity and remorse.It doesn’t change anything, obviously, but it’s at least nice to hear the words.
