Page 16 of Into the Woods

I’d met Alex once, and only for a few minutes. Dark blond hair, cool gray eyes, and a build like a lacrosse player—muscular, but on the lean side. It wasn’t enough to get a full impression of him, but he was definitely good looking.

But the guy next to him in the photo with light brown hair, artfully mussed, and soulful gray eyes was most definitely not a troll. In fact, if anything, he made Alex look like a troll. He looked like he belonged on stage with a band, crooning about heartbreak and love under a spotlight as thousands of women—and men—sang along.

Cami grinned at me as she snagged her phone. “See? The Lambert-Durand brothers do not have any complaints in the looks department.” She pressed a dramatic hand to her chest. “The Lord truly blessed those men.”

“How can a guy like that need help getting a date?” Maybe it was their last name that turned women off? Lambert-Durand sounded like an eighties band.

“The way Alex tells it, Eric is super smart and went to a lot of elite European boarding schools, but they were all boys only. He was always super focused on school and never had a chance to date. He’s, like, a genius or something. Honestly, I think Alex is kinda jealous of his little brother, but that’s just between us.”

“Oh.” I licked my lips, a nervous habit I’d never been able to break and also the reason I always carried lip balm in my purse.

Looking entirely too smug, she swiped the champagne bottle from me. “I haven’t actually met Eric yet, but Alex said his dad is worried that Eric is too serious, so he asked Alex to help get him out of the house. You know how I told you that Alex works for his father’s investment firm?”

I nodded, vaguely recalling that detail.

“Eric runs a shipping business that their late mother’s family owned. Like, he’s a twenty-three-year-old CEO of a million-dollar corporation,” she gushed. “How insane is that?”

So, let’s recap:

Broody guy who made my lady bits sit up and take notice? Check.

Early twenties and running a multi-million-dollar company? Check.

I definitely had a type.

But there was one major difference between Eric and Court: Eric wasn’t Court. Which meant I might have a shot at my heart not getting broken yet again.

Sighing, I slumped. “Fine.”

Cami brightened. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” I allowed myself a laugh, happy to see one of my favorite humans in the world beaming at me.

Setting the bottle aside, she clapped her hands. “Oh, yay! B, this is going to be epic. We’re going to have so much fun. We need to shop.”

I glanced across the room at my closet. “I have plenty of stuff here to wear.”

Standing up with more grace and fluidity than a human should possess, Cami shot me a disbelieving look. “Okay, then, fine. I can shop and you can… watch.”

“How generous of you,” I drawled, even as I got to my feet.

With a squeal, she threw her arms around my neck. “Do you know how much I’ve missed you?”

“You realize I follow you on Instagram, right? I’ve spent the last year watching you live it up with your dance friends and freaking models,” I pointed out even as I hugged her back.

“But none of them are you,” she replied. “It’s hard having a friendship with any of the other dancers when I’m pretty sure they’d smear oil on the stage just so I’d break a leg.”

“Seriously?” I gaped at her.

She let out a humorless laugh. “Honestly, before I met Alex, I didn’t have much of a social life.”

She’d told me as much when we’d texted, but a text didn’t capture the loneliness or longing on her face. A tight band wrapped around my chest, making it hard to breathe.

I’d spent the past few months in a whirlwind of chaos and, as a result, I’d kinda iced Cami out when it sounded like she could’ve really used a friend. I couldn’t change the past but, moving forward, I could be the cousin and friend she’d always been to me.

“New plan,” I suggested, going to my desk and picking up my purse. “How about if we go out for dinner and you tell me all about Alex?”

She gave me a suspicious look. “And shopping?”

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