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I wanted Nicholas Cooper to be mine.

“Hey! Are you two all right?” Francis’ voice now filled the cave, his footsteps getting closer and closer. “I saw your snowmobile out this way and just wanted to make sure—Oh!”

“We’re good.” Nicholas didn’t move away from me, his frame still pressed against mine. “Thanks for checking in on us, though.”

Francis looked between the both of us, seeming amused by the sight, even though I could feel my cheeks burning red. It was one thing to catch two people making out, it was another thing to catch them when one of them definitely still had a just-had-an-orgasm glow on their face.

“No problem,” Francis eventually replied, with a bright smile. “You know, when I was in high school my girlfriend and I used to come up here all the time. I even tried to get one of those gems out of the cave for her?—”

“I remember that.” Nicholas laughed. “Such a bad idea. You nicked yourself with that makeshift pickaxe you came up here with.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Francis waved away the memory. “At least, my fiancé is happy with the rock I got her. I told you about that, right? The big engagement?”

“Shit, man. Congratulations!” Nicholas smiled back at him. “I’m really happy for you. She seems like a great catch.”

“Thanks.” Francis started to move back toward the cave’s entrance. “All right, then. I’ll let you two get back to it. Should I tell Tyler and George not to wait up?”

“Yeah. I think that’d be for the best,” Nicholas replied.

And with that, Francis offered us an enthusiastic thumbs up…

Before he disappeared on the other side of the cave, the last sound we heard was his snowmobile revving up and soon fading off in the distance.

10

NICHOLAS

“Here. One for you and one for me.”

Parker’s voice was singsong as he slid a homemade apple cider across the kitchen island. “Think of it as a thank you for taking me snowmobiling today.”

I smiled over at him before I took the mug into my grip. “What did you think I was going to do? Leave you here all alone?”

“Hey, I just appreciate the invitation,” he replied. “Especially since it was you and your friends. Some guys are weird about that.”

“Weird about what? You hanging out with their friends?”

“Weird about inviting me to hang out with their friends,” he corrected, his expression shifting into one a lot more somber. “That’s kind of a serious thing to a lot of people. And… admittedly… I haven’t been the best about getting serious with a lot of people. Not romantically, at least.”

“Not the serious type?”

“Life is too short.” He beamed over at me before he took a sip of his cider. “And there’s way too much good TV, nowadays. You can never keep up with all the best shows if you’re going on dates, falling in love, moving in with someone, planning an extravagant wedding, adopting a puppy together, et cetera.”

“Very funny, Parker.” I playfully rolled my eyes, even as a tinge of concern made its way through me. I knew Parker liked to use humor to cope with more serious discussions, but I didn’t like that he was doing it now, that he was doing it with me.

I’d thought we were a lot closer than that.

But how could we be?

It wasn’t like we’d known each other for very long, despite the way being around Parker made me feel. Besides, maybe it was a good thing that Parker was trying to keep me at an arm’s length, that way it wouldn’t hurt as much when it was time for him to head home, when it was time for me to snap out of it and remember that I was the one who suggested we kept things practical in the first place.

“Seriously, though,” Parker continued, his voice low. “I really appreciate you letting me tag along. It’s always been hard for me, coming into a new situation and feeling like an outsider.”

“Wait. You? Feel like an outsider?” I quirked an eyebrow over at him. “But you’re such an extrovert?—”

“True but that doesn’t mean I feel like I really belong a lot of places.” Parker let out a harsh laugh. “It just means that I’m super loud and opinionated. And I probably drive a lot of people crazy, but the ones who stick around for the Parker show tend to enjoy it for the most part.”

Just then, a small smile came across his face.

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