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“Me too.” Diane looked thrilled that Cameron was there, and Holly couldn’t blame her. Holly would be thrilled too, if it weren’t for Aimee. Eric winked in her direction, and she looked down at the counter with hot cheeks. How was she going to hold him off for a whole week?
12
Eric
Eric awoke the next morning and stretched. Diane’s parents had been so accommodating since the moment he and Cameron had walked in, minus the five-minute grill her father had given them. But despite being in the same house as Holly, he hadn’t been alone with her since those few seconds in the hallway. She’d kept Diane at her side all day, and her bedroom was on the bottom floor, a dozen stairs or more away from his.
It was maddening.
Even though it was only seven, he pulled himself out of bed, grabbed what he needed for a shower and went into the nearest bathroom. By the time he was clean and dressed, Holly was in the kitchen. He watched her from around the corner, not wanting to startle her while she was over the stove. She hummed to herself as she moved around the kitchen. She wore jean overalls and a white T-shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, something he only saw around the apartment. If only she could feel comfortable in her own skin, see herself the way he did. Since the night of the dance, something in his brain had clicked. Before he’d always noticed her scars. But after seeing her with makeup, it was as if he could see the real person behind the loose, scarred skin.
How was that even possible? The mind worked crazy things, but . . . No, there it was, the scarred tissue on her face and neck. And then when he looked at her eyes, it disappeared. And when he saw it, it was just a piece of her, like a freckle or a mole. Or as if she always wore glasses. Something that was just a part of her that he now looked past.
“Morning, beautiful,” he said, coming toward her.
She shook the spatula at him. “You should’ve slept in. Jack and Susie are at work, and Diane doesn’t wake up until ten if you let her sleep in.”
“She must’ve told Cameron not to wake up early too.” He stood and joined her at her side. It was so tempting to wrap his arms around her waist, but until she was comfortable, he was giving her space to figure things out.
“Need help?”
She smiled and gestured to the fridge. “Sure. Cut up some fruit for us to sprinkle over the crepes.”
“Yes, boss.”
“So, tell me about your family,” he asked. “I think I need to know more, and you need to know more about me. You know, just because we are getting to be closer friends.”
“Right. Well, I don’t know how much you already know.”
“That you moved in with Diane.”
“I’ve lived with her since high school. My dad moved us around a lot in the military, but Las Vegas was our last stop. That’s when he kind of gave up and started drinking more. One day, he got really drunk, and while I was cooking over an open flame, caused a fire.”
“And what about your mom? Why did you come to Diana’s house?”
Holly shrugged. “I guess you could say my mom’s been emotionally detached from me for a while. When the accident happened, it was the last straw. My parents weren’t abusive, they just neglected me. When Diane’s parents offered to adopt me, pay for medical Herberts and the surgeries I needed, I think it was a huge burden off my parents’ shoulders. Plus, they kind of got in trouble with the law over everything. I heard later on that my mom decided to leave my dad and moved somewhere in Idaho, though I could be wrong about that since she told me goodbye in a note on an index card.”
Holly flipped a crepe and swiped at her face with her hand. “Jack and Susie have been my parents ever since. I may still call them by their first names, but we love each other like family.”
Eric was close enough that he reached for a side pocket in her overalls and tugged softly. “I can’t believe someone would treat you like that. You’ve really had it tough the last few years.”
He dropped his head and kept his attention on the tile floor. Her story squeezed at his heart, and he couldn’t bear to look her in the eye.
“I’m all right, Eric. I’m happy now. I have a best friend as a sister and my favorite guy in the world is visiting for Christmas break.”
He lifted his chin. She was smiling as she took the crepe off the burner and turned off the stove.
“Yeah?” he said.
“Yeah. I never realized it before, but you’re kind of my best friend. Best guy friend, at least. I’ve grown closer to you in the last few weeks, but the two of us have always gotten along great.”
He nodded. “You know that’s not enough for me, right? That I want more with you?”
“Yes, but I also love Aimee, and I don’t want to ruin a friendship or a relationship with you by moving too fast. Other than Diane, Aimee is my only other best friend in the world.”
Now that the burner was off and the spatula was on the counter, he gently tugged on her jeans pocket until she fell against him. He slid his arms around her back. “Okay, then we’ll take it slow. Best friends to lovers, right?”
Once stiff, she relaxed in his arms, even linked her hands behind his neck. “All right. We can take it slow.”
