Page 121 of Holiday Friend Zones
“Share the couch.”
Before I can argue, he wedges himself between me and the back of the couch.I scoot to the edge, protesting, “Two people cannot fit like this.”
“It’s working fine.”He slides his arm under the crook of my neck and hooks it around me.“Alright, English countryside.Christmas.What else is this movie about?”
“You could just… stay awake and watch it.”
“Doubtful.It’s already lulling me to sleep.”
As the credits roll across the screen, Eli softly snores behind me.Five minutes into the movie, he was out.“Eli?”My voice is barely a whisper.I’m not even sure what I’m asking for.I turn my head to peer over my shoulder.
“Hmm?”His breath brushes my cheek, warm and unsteady.His lips skim the edge of my jaw as his arm tightens around me.My pulse trips over itself.Then his hips shift.
Oh.OH!
Heat scorches up my spine as his erection presses against my lower back.
“What’s… happening?”I whisper.
He freezes.His eyelids drift open.Dark, steely blue irises stare back at me.Electricity crackles through the air, sharp and impossible to ignore.Up until recently, I never thought of Eli as anything but my best friend.The boy who taught me to drive a stick, who bandaged my skinned knees, who sat on the phone with me until dawn the night my college boyfriend dumped me.Right now, though?Right now, I want to know what it feels like to be wanted by him.
Slowly, his grip on my waist loosens.“Shit,” he mutters, voice hoarse.He jolts off the couch.
And yeah—there it is.Very, very obvious.My gaze darts down before I can stop myself.
“I told you I’d fall asleep,” he blurts, already retreating around the end of the couch.“I’m gonna… go to bed.”
The spare room door shuts with a click.
I stare at the TV, heart hammering, mind spinning.He wanted to kiss me.He wanted me.One time I could chalk up to heat of the moment.Twice?That’s something more.And I am done living in the land of what-ifs.I shove the blanket off my lap and pad quietly to his door.I debate whether to knock or barge in.It’s technically his house, which means I should respect the whole boundaries thing.I knock.There’s a shuffle on the other side, and then the door creaks open.Eli fills the frame, forearm braced against the jamb, his chest bare and broad, all lean muscle and ridiculous confidence, except he’s clearly not even trying.He’s still wearing the sweatpants, except now they’re even lower on his hips.
My gaze betrays me, sliding down and back up again.Good lord.
He clears his throat.“Yes?”
Right.Talking.I came here to talk, not ogle.“I knocked,” I mumble, trying to herd my thoughts into a single-file line.They stampede in every direction instead.Don’t get distracted.Don’t get distracted.
“Why didn’t you kiss me?”I hold up my thumb and forefinger, barely an inch apart.“We werethisclose.Twice now.And you didn’t.Why?”
He rubs the back of his neck, clearly caught off guard.“Um…”
“No lies,” I say softly.“Not after all these years.We owe each other more than that.”
His gaze drops to the floor.“You really want to know?”
“I asked the question, didn’t I?”
“If I kissed you…” His voice dips low, rough.“I don’t think I’d be able to stop.”
My pulse bangs against my ribs like it’s demanding a way out.Hedoeswant to.He didn’t pull away because he wasn’t interested, he pulled away because he wastoointerested.I step closer to him and rest my hands against his warm skin.The light dusting of hair tickles my fingertips.His heartbeat pounds steady beneath them.I rise on my toes and brush my lips against his—soft, tentative, every ounce of friendship and love and unspoken longing finally spilling over.
When I pull back a fraction, my voice wobbles.“And?”I don’t even know what I’m asking.If he felt anything?Nothing at all?
He cups my cheeks and slams his lips to mine.It’s hot, consuming, years of pent-up energy breaking loose in a rush.I gasp against his mouth, my fingers clutching at his shoulders as he pulls me flush against him.My thoughts scatter—Christmas lights shorting out, fireworks crackling, a symphony at full crescendo.It’s all too much and exactly right.
His laugh rumbles low when I push him back into the room, guiding him down to the edge of the cot.It creaks in protest from our weight, but we don’t care.I straddle his lap, and his hands find my waist, steady and strong, pulling me closer.I rock my hips, grinding my pussy against his hard erection.He deepens the kiss until there’s nothing left but the two of us, tangled and breathless, teetering on the edge of something that will change everything.
SEVEN
