Page 4 of Holiday Friend Zones
I frowned and remembered where she had said her parents lived.“You’re right.It’s just beyond my parents’ place, so you should make it as long as you head out early.”
“Thanks for the permission.Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.I know how to drive up there.I wish there was an easier way to fly, but in the end, you’re just circling the area and it takes longer.”
“Exactly,” I said, sliding my hands into my pockets.
“Oh look, we snagged another,” a voice said.
“And they’re not related,” a deeper voice called out.
I frowned as everyone stared at us before a creeping sensation slid up my neck.
I looked down at Posy, who at first went pale before her cheeks pinkened, and I couldn’t help but look up.
“You really put mistletoe at a family party?”I asked, with a sigh.
“That was Riley, blame her!”a woman called out, and I just shook my head and looked down at Posy.
“I’ll create a distraction if you want to run for it.”
She rolled her eyes.“Just kiss me, already.I believe they’re already starting to chant.”
“Kiss!Kiss!Kiss!Kiss!”
I sighed, annoyed, and yet, maybe not.This was just a fun thing to do.We could still remain friends afterwards, and it wouldn’t be weird.So when I lowered my face to hers, and she went up to her tiptoes, I tried to look as if this were a natural thing.As if we’d done it a thousand times.Her lips brushed against mine softly, and I wanted to lean forward and ask for more.But then she was two steps away, eyes wide, as everybody moved forward, giving me hugs or tapping me on the back, laughing it off as if I hadn’t just kissed the woman that I called friend, and the woman who I wanted more than anything.
But I was thirty-nine years old.It wasn’t as if kissing a woman was new to me.
But this wasn’t like one of those movies where mistletoe grew out of the ceiling and suddenly light burst around you and that kiss turned into something more.A deep and abiding connection that changed the game.
Instead, she had kissed the side of my mouth, mostly my big beard, and then stepped away as if I had shocked her.
And now I couldn’t find her in the crowd.
That was for the best.I would say goodbye to her on my way out, if I could find her, and we would remain friends.Because Posy needed friends.And as I watched all of the people in my life fall in love and start families, the one thing that I desperately wanted to do, I figured it was time to maybe take a step back and figure out exactly how to survive in a world where everybody was moving along, I wasn’t.
I stayed at the party for another couple of hours, only having one beer and switching to sparkling water soon after, and honestly had a great time.I grabbed my jacket from the coat room and shivered my way down to my truck, grateful that this property was on so much land that they had enough space for all of the vehicles.The Montgomerys did not play when it came to drinking and driving, so there were already rideshares and a rented bus to get people about.
I saluted to Crew and Aria as they made their way out, and was two cars away from my truck when I saw a familiar beat-up sedan.
The engine whirled for a moment, then choked, whirled again, and choked once more.And then nothing.
I moved forward, cursing under my breath as I tapped the window.
Posy’s scream would’ve fit in any horror movie, and I winced.
“You okay?”I asked through the window.
She gestured for me to move back as she opened the door and stomped her feet when she got out.
“Sorry for screaming.It’s dark, and well, you could have been an ax murderer.”
“I promise I left my ax at home.”I pause.“Or maybe in the back of the truck.I don’t really remember.I would ask if your car’s okay, but we both heard what was going on.”
She sighed.“I don’t know cars, but it sounds like something is wrong.I know that there’s got to be a mechanic in that house, because there’re so many people and it just makes sense statistically, but I’m cold, and now I have no idea how I’m going to get to my parents’ house.I just had this car looked at.”
I looked down at the sedan, at its worn tires, and shook my head.“I thought you were getting a new car, Posy.”
“I was.And then I needed a new water heater.And part of a new roof when the tornadoes that Colorado said they never get came in.So insurance gave me the runaround.I was planning on buying a car in the new year, that way I could get last year’s model and save some money, but that doesn’t really help me right now because I’m cold, and now I’m going to have to cancel going to my parents’.”
