Page 68 of Yours and Mine (Friends with Benefits)

“Carter, you gotta try this,” I said, carrying the tray full of fresh cupcakes toward him. The construction crew was putting up the framing today. The sun was wringing the last beads of sweat from the men. I’d finally got a tan on my legs as well; working in Carter’s garden had definitely helped.

“New recipe?”

“Sort of. Marge loves black forest cake, but there isn’t a black forest cupcake at the bakery, so I just made one up.”

He took a bite, cutting halfway through the cupcake, moaning as if he’d just eaten the most delicious food ever.

“Jo, you know how much I love your cupcakes.” He winked. “But this one’s the best one yet.”

I’d also been using Carter as my test dummy, making him eat anything new that I baked. “Oh, my God, the cherries inside are perfect. How did you make this frosting?”

I saw my father watching us out of the corner of his eye and shaking his head.

“Wait, are you playing with me again?”

He’d done it before when I misjudged the amount of nutmeg for my pumpkin spice recipe. Carter hadn’t wanted to be rude and had gulped down the most disgusting muffins I ever made.

“No, I’m serious. I wouldn’t dare play with your cupcakes.”

I smacked him in his arm. “Carter! You’re so annoying sometimes.”

“Just sometimes? Man, I must be slipping.”

“You have some…” I pointed to the corner of my mouth to indicate the cream he had left on his, but that only confused him. I reached toward him and wiped it off with my thumb, and then licked it off. I mean, it’d be a waste of cream if I didn’t. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t done that to me before. Carter froze, and I wondered why. His mouth opened slowly as he pointed to something behind me.

When I turned, it felt like everything went into slow motion, and at first I thought I was dreaming. In fact, when I laid my eyes on Nick, I barely recognized him. A black duffle bag was draped over his wide shoulders. His crew cut had grown out to a more pleasant length. I scanned the rest of his rough yet lean body in awe. Even his face was chiseled. Everywhere I looked, Nick was full of pure muscle. There were muscles upon muscles, layers of lean tissue in places I didn’t know could have been beefed up — ever. The gray t-shirt he wore barely fit him, the limits of its seams tested around every curve.

Holy shit!

“Surprise!”

I dropped the remaining cupcakes I was holding into Carter’s hands, which were thankfully ready to catch anything I threw at him, and jumped into Nick’s arms. He spun me around in a circle, pressing his hot lips to mine, holding me as easily as a feather. The pure strength emanating from him was so intense that I had to pull away, let him set me down, and look him over again, because I still couldn’t believe that this was my Nick. My soul felt like it had just been given a new life.

“You’re home, you’re really home. Dad, Marge, Nick is back!” I just couldn’t stop screaming and crying and laughing all at the same time. “What are you doing here? You’re not supposed to be back until next week. We had a party planned out and everything.”

“We’ll talk about that later. I got a chance to leave early and thought I’d surprise you.”

“You did!”

Oh, my God, did he ever!

“Welcome back, Nick.” My father broke away from the construction work, shook Nick’s hand, and then hugged him, patting him on the back in that feral way only men knew. Carter was next, greeting his best friend. They exchanged a few quiet words I couldn’t hear, and I wondered what it was about. Marge wiped her hands on her apron and ran out to embrace her son. All the while, I couldn’t stop staring at this new man who’d come back into my life. There was so much commotion around Nick’s surprising arrival that I felt a little dizzy. As if sensing it, Nick was at my side in a second.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, just a little overwhelmed. We weren’t expecting you until next week, and now here you are. There’s so much I want to tell you.” My heart was misbehaving in my chest and my mind was still spinning.

“And there’s so much that I want to tell you as well. Looks like we’ll have to get through a family reunion first before I can have you alone.”

Alone.I couldn’t wait to be alone with him. Part of me felt like I’d have to get to know this new man all over again, and I was excited to do so, but when I watched him talk to his mom, Carter, and my dad, I knew that my Nick was back. In a different body perhaps, but back.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Jo.” Carter waved at me and I waved back. “Don’t worry about a new cupcake in the morning. I’m pretty sure you’ll have a busy night.” He winked, and my cheeks heated. I wished he wouldn’t say things like that in front of my father and Marge.

I prayed that Nick and I would have a busy night, but given that we were about to spend our first night in the same house as our parents, I wasn’t sure how we’d make it work.

Since the construction stopped for the day, we went inside and I helped Marge set the table for dinner. We had spaghetti. I watched Nick eat one plate, and then get seconds and thirds. I wasn’t sure where he was fitting all the food, but apparently the new body needed more fuel than the old one.

When evening came, I realized that I’d been using Nick’s room. When I got up from the table and went upstairs to move my things to the guest room, I startled when Nick walked in.

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