—
Somewhere between the three slices of pizza I ate and the end of my favorite movie, I’d dozed off. The stiffness of my neck woke me and I winced as I readjusted. I arched my back into a stretch trying to alleviate the tension in my body. A pillow I didn’t recall grabbing had been wedged under my head, but I still felt crammed in a tiny space.
I shifted, still half asleep, but then froze as everything came into focus. My head rested half on the pillow, half on Colby’s hip, and my hand—well, it had probably started on his thigh but was now, thanks to all my squirming, basically working its way over his crotch. Nothing but a thin layer of gray sweatpants between my fingers and…Shit. I prayed that he was sleeping and the soft snoring in the distance belonged to him, but judging by his rigid posture and what sounded like the beginning of a stifled groan, he was wide awake.
I yanked my hand back and attempted to sit up, but quickly realized I was too wedged between his body and the couch to not replace my hand on his thigh to free myself.
Once finally in a sitting position, I mumbled an apology.
His eyes were dark, but he went for a casual shrug. “Don’t worry about it. I fell asleep too. Hell, Landon’s snoring away over there. Guess we were all exhausted after last night.”
My gaze fell to his lap. Didn’t look like every part of him was quite as relaxed as he tried to play off.
“Or maybe it was your chick flick,” he teased.
My gaze snapped up. “Uh, yeah, guess I’ve seen it one too many times. And all that pizza made me sleepy.”
“Me too.” He finally shifted to grab the remote, and not so casually readjusted his sweatpants. “Want to see if something else is on?”
My face warmed, but not from embarrassment. It was the knowledge that Colby was turned on and now I was too. “Grandma’s probably wondering where I am. Maybe I should head home.”
“Oh, yeah, of course. I can drive you.” He didn’t move from the couch. “Want to go right now?”
My gaze started to drift down, yet again, and I quickly snapped it back to the TV. “Um, whenever you’re ready.”
“We can go now.” He glanced at me and paused.
My face grew even warmer.
His gaze lowered to my mouth, then swung to the kitchen table before making its way back to me. He bolted upright, shifting his body away from me. Then he grabbed his keys off the table.
Now the reddening of my face came from embarrassment. Here I’d thought the table reminded him of our night together, but in reality, he’d been looking for his keys.
I stood and followed him to where I’d set my bag. As I reached for it, I noticed a pile of mail with an invitation to Grandma’s party opened and sitting right on top.
“Oh.” I picked it up. “Are you going to make it?”
“Uh—” He scratched his head. “Wasn’t sure if I was invited.”
I half laughed, half stared at him in confusion. “I’m holding your invitation right here.”
He slid his baseball cap on, then readjusted it. “It was only addressed to Landon.” His eyes flicked in my direction.
“Oh.” I flipped over the envelope, tucked around the invitation. And sure enough only one name had been printed across the envelope. Why would Luis do that? “It was meant for both of you. Just a typo from the printer.” I smiled. “You know Grandma would be mad if you didn’t show up.”
His smile finally broke. “Yeah, she would be. And nobody wants the wrath of Diaz women to come down on them.”
“Exactly. So I better see you there. Your whole family.”
“We wouldn’t miss it.”
I glanced back at the invitation, noting the date was next Saturday. Guess it was time to message Luis for details, since he clearly had no plans to contact me.
“Everything okay?” Colby asked.
I thought about sharing how Dad had gone over my head in the planning, but feared he might think that was the reason he didn’t get invited. So instead I smiled. “Just a little bittersweet, I guess. I’m gonna miss Grandma when I move.”
“She’ll miss you too.” He smiled. “We all will.” I stared up at him, and he quickly added. “But I’d be happy to take her to visit you. Anytime.”
“Thanks.”
“That’s what friends are for.” He nudged my arm then headed to the door.
My heart fell like lead in my chest.
Friends.
Chapter 16
It had been almost a week since I’d seen Colby or Landon. But we’d messaged back and forth about Grandma’s party. Probably because they needed clarification considering how very not Grandma the entire occasion seemed. After multiple attempts to reach out to Luis, I’d finally gotten the details. Dad had rented out the only “nice” restaurant in town for a private event. While it wasn’t formal, it was expected that we’d be dressed up. Which was question number one from Colby. It was also a surprise party, and my job to get her there. Question number two from Colby, whose mom almost spoiled the surprise when she ran into Grandma at the grocery store.