Page 8 of The Mistletoe Trap
“I’ve enjoyed chatting with him here and there and thought that maybe I should meet him sometime.”
The abruptness with which Gavin snagged her arm and stopped caused a record-screech sound in her head. “Why?”
Julie shrugged a shoulder. “He’s got a good sense of humor, and I like that I can tease him without him getting all hurt. Plus there’s the whole smokin’ hot thing.”
“He’s also a huge player.”
“I know, and that’s okay. Not to mention, someone could say the same thing about you.”
“Considering I haven’t had sex for the better part of a year, I doubt that.”
Julie’s mouth dropped. “You haven’t had sex in a year?” Her voice came out shrill and too loud, and she grimaced as their parents turned around.
Please say they didn’t hear that, please say they didn’t hear that.Given that they’d been having their own conversation and had gained ten yards or so since Gavin had pulled her to a stop, the odds weren’t too high.
“Are you two coming, or what?” Mom hollered, and Julie glanced at Gavin. Their eyes locked, and she couldn’t help herself.
“Apparently not, if you haven’t had sex in a year and I’ve also been in a drought,” she whispered with a snicker. “No coming for us.”
Gavin shook his head, but the corners of his lips twisted up. Then he ran his hand over his mouth and raised his voice. “Yeah, Julie’s just a little, uh, frustrated. Short legs and all, it’s hard for her to keep up with me. Not to mention, she hasn’t had my endurance training.”
“Jackass,” she whispered, and he reached out and tugged on her ponytail.
The rest of her froze as a tingle zipped across her scalp. For the record, the tingles didn’t have anything to do with Gavin. She merely had a sensitive scalp, and she also kinda had this thing about having her hair being pulled.
And he’d pulled her hair, so… She stifled the shiver that attempted to travel down her spine and tucked her fingers into the straps of her cat backpack. Evidently she was so sexually deprived that a little hair pulling sent all the wrong signals through her body. The fact that she never could bring herself to ask for hair play and only knew she liked it because of her college boyfriend had also amped up her reaction.
Yeah, that was definitely it.
The hint of panic led her to do the super mature thing and say, “Beat you there.”
Chapter Three
Gavin assumed theBeat you therecomment was intended as a challenge to race him to the car. Without waiting for him to accept, Julie bolted, and Gavin scanned the cars. Once he’d spotted the familiar ski racks on top of the gray 4Runner his dad drove, Gavin sprinted toward it like he had five seconds left in the game, a handful of defenders on his tail, and the only thing that would secure the win was his reaching the end zone first.
He wove around cars, brushing the side mirror on a truck with large profile tires, and sliding across a hood, just to prove a partially torn shoulder ligament wouldn’t slow him down. Only when he’d slammed his hand into the cold metal of the SUV did he fleetingly wonder if Julie meant she’d beat him at having sex.
They’d issued plenty of challenges in their day, but they’d never gone the R-rated route. Curiosity drifted to the surface. Perhaps she’d finally managed to loosen her grip on a few of those good-girl limitations that’d held her back before.
The ride home flew right by, with a lot of yammering from everyone but Julie. A little odd, considering she was usually a total chatterbox. He preferred it that way, honestly. There wasn’t anywhat are you thinking,where is this going,andwhy don’t you ever share your feelings with me?
He’d never understood why so many people—women, especially—asked for his personal thoughts and emotions to be shared all the time. There was a reason why they were called personal.
But he digressed. If there was ever an awkward silence, Julie would fill it with even more awkward stories.
Before he could contemplate her silence during the ride too much, they were stepping into the foyer of his childhood home. A big-ass Christmas tree with twinkling lights and a blinding amount of glittery ornaments greeted them, along with the scent of pine, cinnamon, and peppermint, and three sets of grandparents.
Gavin hugged Grandpa and Granny Frost first, smiling at their banter about watching him on TV and how proud they were. Also, was he dating anyone, and the Stangs were gonna win the Super Bowl this year, right?
Both pairs of Julie’s grandparents crowded in for their turn, echoing the questions in rapid succession.
He answered honestly—he didn’t have time for dating right now, they had a good shot at making it to the Super Bowl, and he certainly hoped so. But he remained mum on his fears over whether or not he’d be playing.
It’s just a minor tear. That tendon’s still on there, so surely my body’s already hard at work mending itself.
Wasn’t that what pain meant? That the body was signaling it needed help at the site of the injury so every organ and cell would chip in? If so, he’d gladly welcome the throbbing ache.
Just as he’d finished making the rounds, the front door swung open, revealing the one person he was about to ask after.
