Page 108 of Unexpected

And with no other words, we walked the rest of the way up the stairs and entered the house.

The inside of the house was warm, and the scent of delicious food immediately wafted into the entryway from the kitchen at the back of the house. Following the smell was the jovial sound of raised voices and laughter also coming from the living room area. It was inviting to walk into, but it did only a little to relieve my anxiety about walking into a room of Luke and Josh’s friends.

“Hazel!” Josh appeared at the end of the entryway and entrance to the living room as he bellowed my name. He threw his arms wide and made his way to me. His arms wrapped around me, the dish of cobbler awkward between us, but he didn’t seem to care. “We’re so glad you’re here. Oh, what is this?”

He pulled the dish from my hands and lifted the foil to see the contents. “Shit, this looks so good!”

“It’s apple cobbler. I hope it tastes as good as it looks,” I said.

“I’m sure it will,” he smiled at me, his genuine Josh smile that lit up his entire face and the room around him. “Hey, guys! Hazel brought cobbler!” Josh yelled to the people gathered as he headed to the kitchen with the dish.

Luke slid his fingers between my own and squeezed them in silent reassurance before he led us both into the living room. “Everyone, I’m sure y’all remember Hazel,” he said when we walked into the room.

The fireplace was roaring and heating the space and music filtered from the TV speakers as five faces scattered throughout the room said their polite hellos and watched me.

“Hi,” I said with a small wave. My fingers tensed around Luke’s, but he drew soothing circles on the back of my hand before lifting it and kissing my knuckles. He gave me a crooked smile when he dropped our hands back between us, and I gawked at him. We obviously weren’t wasting any time letting everyone know exactly where we stood. Not that I minded, but I also didn’t know what Luke had actually told them.

Had he told them we were friends or more than that?

Before I had even a second to overthink it, a tall blond guy with a smile as wide as Josh’s stepped up beside me. In his hands was a glass that was filled to the brim with what I was assuming was a hot toddy, given the heavenly cinnamon scent and the yellowish coloring.

“I’m James,” the man—James, apparently—said as he stuck out his hand. I released my tight grip on my purse so I could properly introduce myself.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said politely.

“And I’m Reed,” a deep voice bellowed from the opposite direction. I turned just in time to see a man with boyish brown hair stride over to us and elbow Luke out of the way.

He stopped just in front of me, and I shook his offered hand.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said again, but with a laugh this time. The joy radiated off him and was highly contagious. Reed also looked like he hadn’t missed a day at the gym. Ever.

“Oh, we’ve met. I still think about that last party when you—” Luke cut him off by punching Reed in the arm and leveling him with a look.

I was utterly mortified, and I could feel the blush blanket my face and neck.

“What?” Reed barked at Luke, not even flinching at Luke’s murderous gaze. “It was the most memorable part of that night!”

A hand clamped over Reed’s mouth before he could say anything else. It was a perfectly manicured hand with deep-green nail polish, and I was forever grateful for it inserting itself into the situation.

The owner of the hand was a woman about my height with long, blonde hair pulled to the top of her head in an effortless bun. Her dark-rimmed glasses drew attention to her sapphire-blue eyes.

Were all of Luke’s friends attractive? Did he only surround himself with attractive people?

“Seriously, Reed. She just got here. Let’s try not to make her uncomfortable just yet.” Her tone was serious, but she ended with a beautiful smile. Reed rolled his eyes.

“I’m Amanda and ignore him. He gets off on being the clown of our group sometimes.” She went past the handshake and instead wrapped her arms around me in a friendly hug. “It’s so good to see you again,” she said into my ear and my skin pricked with awareness at the sincerity in her voice. I knew I was going to like her.

She pulled away and gave me another friendly smile before she motioned behind her.

“And the quiet one on the couch is Devon,” she gave him a wink and he huffed and shook his head as he stood.

“Nice to see you again, Hazel,” he said. I was immediately jealous of his dark-red hair that seemed so effortlessly tousled. He gave me a shy smile, but he also had kind eyes.

“What do you want to drink?” Amanda queried from next to me with a little bounce in her step. “I made hot toddies since it’s fucking freezing outside.”

“That sounds amazing,” I smiled.

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” she said, holding up a finger.

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