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“Or maybe you invite your hot neighbor and see if he’d like to go?”
I glance back at Avery, and she wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.
“Like on a date?” I scrunch my nose.
Visions of Briggs and me sitting in the dark at a tiny two-top table at a restaurant with a red-and-white-plaid tablecloth, a candle, and Italian music in the background have me shuddering. He would hate that just as much as I would.
“Semantics.” She shrugs her shoulders.
Then my vision changes to a large comfy booth with bright lighting, gorgeous blue-and-white Italian plates, and a bottle of limoncello on the table. That he might go for, but then the fog clears because what am I thinking? Briggs and I will never go on a date. We aren’t like that. At all.
But what are we?
We were enemies, sort of.
Then we were cordial to each other, and he was kind of nice.
And now we’re what, friends? Friendly? Acquaintances? I wouldn’t call us business partners, but we did kind of make a deal.
“Speaking of my hot, annoying neighbor, I have a bit of random news to share.”
“Ooo, gossip. I love it,” Avery calls from behind. The trail has narrowed, and we’re in a line instead of walking next to each other. She has to be in the middle so I can see if there are any uneven areas, and Juliet is behind in case she needs to catch her.
“Well, I wouldn’t call it gossip if it happened to me.”
“Now I’m even more curious.”
Nerves creep into my stomach. Why am I nervous about telling them this? It’s not like it needs to be a secret, and nothing happened, and no salacious acts occurred. Although, I haven’t forgotten the way he looked sitting on the edge of my bed in just his underwear. His size alone swallowed up space and air in the room, and I didn’t hate having the heat pour off him as he slept. A few times, I did wonder what would happen if I made a move. But then I laughed to myself and eventually fell asleep.
“This past Saturday, Briggs showed up at my door at midnight.”
Avery gasps.
“What for?” Juliet calls from the back.
“He wanted to sleep with me.”
The noise behind me ceases. Both girls have stopped walking, and I turn to find them looking at me, jaws dropped. A blush burns through my cheeks at how that sounded.
“No! Not like sex, just sleep. Next to me. In my bed.”
Oh my God.
“He spent the night at your house?” Avery asks, her brows pulled down in confusion.
“Yes! He showed up wearing business attire and demanded we go to bed. He stripped off his clothes, climbed right in, and went to sleep. It was so out of character for him I didn’t even know what to think. I just let it happen.”
“But you never let people sleep with you. Even me. If we’re on the road, you all demand your own bed.”
“I know! But there he was. He took off his clothes, and I became tongue-tied. I’m twenty-nine years old, and I’ve seen plenty of men undressed for one reason or another, but with him, I didn’t know what to do with myself.”
“Describe. In detail,” Juliet says, taking a step forward.
“I don’t know. He’s a tall, lean but muscular, somehow tanned even though I’ve never seen him outside shirtless, bearded, mountain man. If his shirts were plaid, he’d remind me of a hot lumberjack.”
“But you said he was in business attire.”
“Yes, and that almost makes it worse. At least in jeans and an orchard shirt, he looks like he belongs here. Toss on a pair of tailored slacks and a button-down, and he looks like he belongs in my world, which is something I’ve always said I never wanted. You should have seen him,” I groan.
