Page 27 of Pick Me This Time

“No,” I said quickly. “A fire over there is perfect for what we’re cooking. We can just put the grate over it on some bricks.”

Retreating before I literally tripped over my own feet while swooning about his eyes, I headed back into the kitchen and braced my palms against the counter. After inhaling and exhaling slowly a few times, I finally started kneading the dough, getting it ready to rise again one final time. Then I pulled the chopping board and the knife closer.

Sterling had gathered some wood for the fire, but as he was building it, he suddenly stopped and wiped his brow. Then he reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it off. My gaze was glued to his abdomen as he revealed it inch by inch, and heat filled my cheeks.

My lips parted, my mouth drying up. Despite our jokes about him not playing football anymore, I had to admit that he looked just as good to me as he had back in the day. Better even.

His body was as defined as ever, ropes of muscle running along his back and arms, wrapping around to the perfectly sculpted ladder of abs and a narrow V at his hips. No longer tanned from spending a lot of time in the sun, his skin was smooth and clean from his recent shower.

Between that and the way he looked, I wanted to lick him. To taste his skin and feel all those strong edges against my tongue. Aware that I was getting more than a little heated, I squeezed my thighs together, relieved that Eric and Jake still hadn’t returned from checking out the boat.

Sterling leaned over to place another log on his fire, the muscles in his arms rippling as he balanced it at the top of the pile.

“You’re drooling,” Rachel said and I jumped, completely startled by her presence.

My gaze finally jerked away from Sterling’s body and it landed smack on her amused face. She stood only a few feet away from me, her arms loosely crossed and laughter shimmering in her eyes.

“Wipe your mouth before your brother sees you,” she suggested with a knowing smile spreading on her lips. She glanced at the fire pit, taking in Sterling without his shirt before she turned back to me. “I can’t say I blame you for the bulging eyes and the puddle of drool, but seriously, Eric will pitch a fit, and Jake and I haven’t quite forgiven him for ditching our wedding yet either.”

“I know. I wasn’t drooling,” I lied, finally getting started on the salad I’d meant to make as soon as I’d come back inside.

Eric and Jake returned and admired the fire that was just getting going. Rachel took out some beers for them and came back to the kitchen. The guys took seats around the flickering flames, and with them safely out of earshot, I decided to level with my friend.

“Look, I know that Eric would lose his mind and I realize you and Jake are still angry at him. You have every reason to be, but I just…”

I trailed off, not quite knowing how to describe it.

My friend nodded, understanding in her eyes as she glanced at her husband. “You like him.”

I shook my head, then shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t know. I think it’s more that I’m intrigued by him. I don’t know him well enough to like him. In fact, until yesterday, I was convinced that I very much disliked him.”

“What happened between yesterday and now?”

I inhaled a deep breath and I told her about our encounter at the bakery. When I was done telling her what had happened, I let my gaze drift back to him. “I guess I just feel a little strange around him, and he acts weird to me too.”

“This feels like something I should already know, but did something happen between you two before he left?” she asked, her head cocking before she added the tomatoes she’d sliced to the bowl.

“Nothing like what you’re thinking,” I said, watching him laugh with his old friends as the fire roared and the sun set over the lake. “There was a moment, though.”

“A moment?” She tossed a little piece of tomato at me. “How did I not know that there was a moment?”

I tossed it right back at her, shaking my head but feeling a silly, girly smile on my lips. “Do you remember that party we went to with them just after their graduation?”

“When you threw a drink in Fiona’s face?” She scoffed. “Of course, I remember that. It was epic. The ultimate movie moment of the nerdy girl standing up to the bitchy cheerleader, and then the bitchy cheerleader’s hot, popular boyfriend running after the nerdy girl instead?” She brought a hand to her heart. “I’ll keep that moment in here forever.”

I rolled my eyes at her and laughed. “That’s the night it happened. When he walked me home, I thought he was going to kiss me at the door. I don’t know why I thought he would. I was just Eric’s shy, geeky little sister back then, but it felt like he was about to.”

“Maybe he wanted to,” she said, her eyes wide and earnest on mine. “It’s not impossible, Daphne. You’ve always been beautiful, and smart, and amazing. You might not know why he would want to, but I don’t know why he wouldn’t.”

I pursed my lips at her. “Thanks, but you don’t need to give me a pep talk. The fact is that he didn’t kiss me even if I thought he was going to.”

“Did you want him to?”

I hesitated for a beat before I nodded. “I had such a crush on him. I dreamed about him looking at me like that for years, and then, bam! It was happening. Fiona was mean. I threw that drink at her. He came after me and insisted on walking me home. We talked all the way and then, when we said good night, he kind of just stared at me for a moment. He even leaned in a little bit.”

Rachel giggled. “I think he wanted to, and who knows? Maybe now that he’s back, he finally will.”

I scoffed. “I doubt it. Think about it, Rach. I’ve never lived anywhere but my hometown. I make coffee for a living and I still hang out with all the same people I’ve been hanging out with since high school. He lives in New York. He has a full life. A high-powered career. It’s just not going to happen.”

She frowned at me, shaking her head as she stood and picked up the paper plates and cutlery we had ready. “If you ask me, he seems lonely. I wouldn’t jump to conclusions about his life if I was you, babe. Now help me bring all this stuff out to the firepit. They’re going to start roasting those hot dogs any minute and we need to be ready. This baby is hungry and her mama gets hangry if she’s not fed quickly when she gets like this.”