Best Friends Don't Kiss

by Max Monroe

  Her dad, her mom, and her sisters and their significant others are here. And everyone appears to be completely competent in the skill of ice-skating.

  Everyone besides Ava.

  “She’s horrible!” Guy yells across the rink. “Never managed to get it down!”

  “Mind your business, Dad!”

  Guy just chuckles, and I take mercy on Ava, holding out both of my hands toward her.

  “I got you.”

  “No.” She shakes her head. “I’m fine right here. Promise. I’ll just stand here and watch you guys have fun.”

  “Ace, don’t you trust me?” I question, and she rolls her eyes.

  “It’s not about trust, Luke. It’s about the fact that I am incapable of doing anything else but holding on to the wall and slowly skating around the rink. That’s it. That’s all I can do without falling on my ass.”

  “C’mon,” I say, voice gentle. “I promise I won’t let you fall.”

  She snorts at that. “I don’t think you realize how big of a promise that actually is.”

  “I do,” I retort and smile at her. “Just come on and let me help you get more comfortable on the ice. I swear, I’m a fantastic teacher.”

  She quirks a brow.

  But I don’t let up, keeping both of my hands stretched out toward her.

  Eventually, on a sigh, she releases her death grip from the wall and puts her hands in mine. And slowly, very slowly, I ease us out into the middle of the rink, carefully weaving in and out of the other skaters.

  “Oh no!” she whisper-yells as she falters a little, her left skate nearly slipping out from under her. But I steady her by quickly wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her close to my chest.

  “See? I got you, Ace.”

  She stares up at me with those big blue eyes of hers, and for the briefest of moments, it feels like everything just…stops. The world. Time. The people skating around us.

  And all I’m capable of doing is searching her eyes, my gaze occasionally flitting down to her lips.

  I take in the way the cold air has tinted her cheeks pink and the way her lips look full and lush and the way the sun bounces off the ice and makes her eyes appear even bluer.

  Could she be any more beautiful?

  My gaze flits from her eyes to her lips again, but this time, it just stays there, fixated on that perfect mouth of hers. Fuck me. That mouth.

  “You okay?”

  “Huh?” I question, blinking several times to try to make sense of her words.

  “Are you okay?”

  Fuck. What in the hell was I just doing?

  Was I going to kiss her? Right here? In the middle of the fucking skating rink?

  Yeah, dude. That’s exactly what you were going to do.

  I push out my thoughts and force a smile to my lips. “I’m good. Ready to keep going?”

  “Only if you still promise not to let go.”

  “That’s an easy promise to make, Ace.”

  As we skate around the rink, Ava’s hands still intertwined with mine, I can’t shake the feeling that something has shifted…changed.

  No, buddy. Nothing has changed. You’re just finally starting to realize how you really feel about her…

  December 23rd

  Luke

  “Okay, what on earth did you get delivered to my parents’ house this morning?” Ava asks as I pull into a parking spot in front of Lakewood’s biggest indoor mall.

  At a little before nine this morning, we snuck out of her parents’ house, promptly avoiding the planned Santa-themed breakfast on her dad’s itinerary, so we could finish up some last-minute Christmas shopping.

  “There was a delivery this morning?” I cut the engine and shrug. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t play coy with me.” With her small hand to my bicep, she gives me a shove. “I saw the package. The big package. I also saw you sign for it and ask my mom if you could store it in the basement.”

  “You know what?” I question and tap my chin. “You’re right. A package did arrive this morning, and guess what?”

  Her eyes light up, and she rubs her palms together in anticipation. “What?”

  “You’ll get to find out what’s inside on Christmas morning.”

  “Luke.” Her shoulders sag. “You are so annoying right now.” A deep sigh escapes her lungs, and she crosses her arms over her chest, acting like a petulant child. A really fucking cute child, but a child, nonetheless.

  “And you are so impatient,” I tease her, mimicking her voice. “Anyway, do you want to sit in the car and bicker with me, or do you want to go inside that big giant mall and do some Christmas shopping?”

  She glares at me, and I nudge her gently with my elbow. “Oh, come on, Ace. I know you are damn near bursting with excitement over the prospect of shopping. Especially, Christmas shopping. It’s one of your favorite things in the whole fucking world.”

  She rolls her eyes heavenward, but also, for the briefest of seconds, a smile sparkles across her heart-shaped mouth. But it’s gone between one blink and the next, a scowl taking its place.

  The dramatics of it all make me smirk.

  Is it just me, or is someone in need of some holiday spirit?

  Eventually, she gets out of the passenger seat and stomps her black boots across the pavement, away from the car and toward the mall’s entrance, completely leaving me in the dust.

  On a soft chuckle, I follow her lead, jogging to catch up with her, and I don’t hesitate to wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her closer to me. “You mad at me?”

  “Yes,” she says, flashing an irritated look in my direction.

  “What can I do that will make you forgive me, even though I have no idea why I need to ask for forgiveness…”

  When she doesn’t offer a response, her eyes still facing forward as we step out of the cold Vermont air and into the warmth of the indoor mall, I glance around the first few stores for something involving holiday sweet treats.

  If there is one way to Ava Lucie’s heart, it’s sugar.

  Great American Cookies spotted, I tell her a little white lie on the spot. “Hey, mind waiting right here while I run to the bathroom?”

  Ava just shrugs. “Sure.”

  “But stay right here, okay?” I say, playfully holding on to both of her shoulders and swaying her back and forth. “Don’t move a single inch.”

  She almost cracks a grin. It’s right there, wanting to make itself known, but Ava bites it back by digging her teeth into her bottom lip. “Just go to the damn bathroom.”

  “Be right back.” I wink and head toward my fake destination. With a quick glance over my shoulder, I see that Ava has now busied herself with her phone, and I make a beeline for the cookie mecca.

  Five minutes later, I make my way back over to her, a bag of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies in one hand and a cup of hot cocoa in the other.

  “You still mad at me, Ace?” I ask, but she’s too focused on her phone to notice what’s in my hands.

  “Uh-huh,” she mutters, locks the screen of her cell, and shoves it back into her purse to meet my eyes.

  Instantly, she spots the bag of cookies and cocoa.

  “What about now?” I grin, and when she goes to yank the bag of cookies out of my hand, I hold them high above her head. “Ah, ah, little diva. First, you have to stop being such a grinch and forgive me.”

  “I’m not a grinch,” she retorts, and I shake my head.

  “Oh, but you most certainly are. If you scowl any harder at me, I fear your gorgeous face might crack like an eggshell.”

  That urges a laugh from her lips. “Fine. Okay. You’re right.”

  I hand the bag of cookies to her, but before she reaches inside, she looks up at me with big, apologetic sapphire eyes.

  “I’m sorry for being such a whiny baby. Do you forgive me?”

  I tap my cheek. “One tiny kiss and you’re officially forgiven.”

  F
ully prepared for her to get grumpy with me again, I’m shocked when Ava stands up on her tippy-toes and presses a kiss to my cheek. Her lips are silk and velvet against my skin, and for the second time in the past twenty-four hours, my mind starts to wander. To places it shouldn’t.

  All revolving around Ava’s perfect lips.

  Completely oblivious to the inappropriate—insanely dirty—places my mind has taken me, she pulls a cookie out of the bag and takes a bite, and I have to watch silently on as her tongue sneaks out to lick melted chocolate off her bottom lip.

  Fuck me.

  It’s heaven. It’s hell. And it just keeps going.

  Another bite. Another fucking lip lick. This time, her tongue sliding around both lips before she bites into her bottom lip when a crumb falls from the cookie and toward her white blouse.

  “Whoops.” She reaches out to catch it, but she misses.

  Of course, she fucking misses.

  The damn crumb comes to a stop just above the hint of cleavage peeking out from her shirt. And my eyes can’t help themselves, moving down-down-down until they lock onto the soft curves of her perfect, full, perky breasts.

  Fuck. What is wrong with me?

  Pretty sure it’s very simple, man. You’re finally fucking realizing that you’re crazy attracted to your best friend.

  Ava swipes the cookie crumb off her skin with one index finger and slides that very finger into her mouth to suck off the melted chocolate.

  Oh, for fuck’s sake, is she purposely trying to make me go insane right now?

  No joke. This might be the most painful thing I have ever witnessed in my life.

  But I just stand there, watching Ava eat that fucking cookie and feeling like either my head or my goddamn balls are going to explode.

  That is so wrong, dude. You shouldn’t be that fucking turned on by watching someone eat a cookie.

  My mind is right. But my body gives zero fucks.

  Finally understanding her flight reaction in emergent situations, I gently grab her by the elbow and get us moving. “Where…uh…where’s our first stop?”

  “Not sure.” Ava shrugs, still finishing off that goddamn cookie. “How about Bath & Body Works?”

  “Sounds fantastic.” Anything but standing around and watching you eat cookies and dropping crumbs onto your perfect tits and licking fucking chocolate off your lips. Anything but that is the best idea ever.

  She looks up at me like I’ve grown two heads. “You want to go into Bath & Body Works?”

  “Yep. Sounds great.”

  Her face turns into a puzzle. “Are you feeling okay?”

  “Feeling great,” I respond, my voice probably far too excitable, but fuck, I’m only a man. A man who apparently gets turned on by watching his best friend eat chocolate chip cookies.

  She’s not buying it, the look of downright confusion is still apparent on her face, but the good news is she’s finished eating that fucking cookie that apparently was made by Satan himself and sent to earth to destroy me.

  Fucking hell.

  Thankfully, though, I spot something in a store window before we reach Bath & Body Works and pull us to a stop.

  “What are you doing?”

  “We need to go in there.” I nod toward the store, and Ava furrows her brow, reading the name of it.

  “Green Thumb? That’s a plant store…”

  “I know.” I grin. “Come on.”

  She follows me without complaint, and within thirty seconds, I have the one item that caught my eye clutched in my hand.

  Ava looks at it. Then looks at me. Then looks back at it. “Why are you holding a cactus?”

  “Because this is the perfect plant for you,” I respond, smiling down at the baby green cactus. It sits in a tiny terracotta pot with a red velvet bow wrapped around the edge. “Cactuses can survive any-fucking-thing, Ace. You barely need to water them.”

  “But Teddy 12 has been doing so well,” She retorts and puts a hand to her hip. “He’s been living for, like, three years straight.”

  Because of me.

  I am literally the only one keeping that green bastard alive.

  Yeah, and since you’re going to be leaving for Houston soon, it won’t be long before Teddy 12 kicks the bucket.

  The mere thought makes my chest tighten with discomfort.

  Who is going to keep Ava’s plant alive when I’m gone?

  Who is going to be there for her when she’s freaking out about something or when she’s upset about something or when she just needs someone to watch fucking Golden Girls with at midnight because she can’t fall asleep?

  It’s nearly too much to bear, but somehow, I manage to swallow it down, all the questions, all the worries, all the discomfort about leaving Ava behind in New York, and force myself to focus on the here and now. The present. And not worry about the fact that I still haven’t told her about NASA.

  Trust me, I know. I’m a fucking asshole coward.

  “I think it’s time for Teddy 12 to have a friend, though,” I suggest, and she mulls it over for a moment, even reaching out to take the cactus into her own hands.

  She inspects it carefully, turning it from one side to the other. “You know, he probably does get lonely sometimes…” She pauses and smiles up at me. “You think we can get him on the plane without too much trouble?”

  I nod.

  “Okay,” she says, and her responding smile is magnificent. “You’ve convinced me. Let’s bring Tom home.”

  Tom.

  Figures it took her all of two minutes before naming the prickly bastard.

  Yeah, and it’s shit like this that you love about her the most.

  Ava

  “For two people who don’t really like to drink, we sure end up at bars a lot, huh?” Luke whispers into my ear as he opens the door to The Pub, a staple in my hometown.

  I grin up at him as he places a hand to the small of my back and guides us inside. A rush of warm air hits me in the face, unthawing my cheeks and nose and ears from the blistery air.

  Any day now, it’s going to snow. I just know it. Vermont will have a Christmas that’s so white, even Bing Crosby would be jealous.

  “There they are.” I spot my sisters, Em and Kate, standing in the back corner, drinks in hand and music urging their bodies to move to the beat. Landon and Zach, their respective men, stand beside them, drinks also in their hands and chatting animatedly with each other.

  Luke leads the way, and even through the thickness of my winter coat, I can feel the warmth of his hand pressing gently against my lower back.

  But I try not to think too much about it. Or how acutely aware I am of it.

  Uh-huh. Keep telling yourself that.

  “Ava! Luke!” Em is the first one to see us. A lazy smile spreads across her face, and she awkwardly wraps us both into a hug, one arm on my shoulder and one arm pulling Luke into the mix.

  “Yay! You guys finally made it!” Kate is next, joining in on the group hug, the force of her giddy presence pushing my face to smash into Luke’s.

  I burst into laughter, and he just grins at me out of the corner of his eye, his cheek literally smushed against mine.

  “I think we’re behind in the drink department, Ace,” he whispers toward me once we’re released from the jaws-of-life hug

  “You guys definitely are,” Zach comments and reaches out to shake Luke’s hand and offer me a friendly hug.

  “Hey, guys.” Landon does the same.

  “So, how was shopping?” Em asks, taking a sip from her red wine with already red-stained lips. My guess is that my sis is on glass number three for the night.

  “Horrible,” Luke teases, and I nudge him in the stomach with my elbow.

  “It was not that bad.”

  “Nah, it wasn’t that bad.” He smirks. “We just hit every store in the mall. Twice.”

  “You’re such a drama queen.” I snort. “You had fun.”

  “You’re right. I did.” He wraps his arm around my sho
ulder and presses a kiss to my forehead. I falter a little when his lips touch my skin but remind myself this is part of the game. This is why he’s here. To make everyone believe he’s my boyfriend.

  It’s actually a good thing that he’s able to do boyfriend-y things like that with a naturalness that keeps surprising even me. It’s good that, to an outsider, it seems like we’ve been in a relationship for years. Like we’re always this way. Touchy-feely, affectionate, in love.

  Too bad, deep down, you’re starting to wish it wasn’t just an act…

  Internally, I shake off my insane thoughts, shrug off my winter coat and hang it on the back of a chair, and proceed to tell Kate and Em a little more about my shopping trip, while Luke heads to the bar and grabs us a drink.

  All in all, it was a successful trip. I was able to get our mom and two aunts Coach totes. Ones that should be perfect for their Bruce dog-park days. You know, the ones where they spend most of their time taking unsolicited pictures of strangers.

  I got Guy Lucie—the man, the myth, the holiday legend—a few new Christmas decorations to add to his collection. Ones I’m certain he doesn’t have yet.

  I found the perfect white silk robe that I had embroidered with Bride on the back for Kate to wear while she’s getting ready on her wedding day. And I got Em a gift card to finally get her eyelashes done. It’s something she’s been talking about for the last year and still hasn’t done it. Now, she won’t have an excuse.

  Of course, those last two gifts aren’t mentioned.

  “What did you end up getting Luke?” Kate asks.

  I shrug, and a giggle pops from my lips. “Something I hope he’ll like. I’ll be honest, men are not easy to buy for.”

  Em laughs. “I can vouch for that, sis. Every year it’s a struggle to find Landon something.”

  Frankly, Luke was my biggest challenge while shopping. I had no idea what to get him, and I’m still wondering if it’s too simple, but when I came up with the idea, it just felt…right.

  Now, I guess I have to wait until Christmas for him to open it…

  “What are you ladies giggling about?” Luke asks, a handsome smile kissing his lips.

  “Something that is none of your business,” I retort and take one of the glasses of Coca-Cola from his hands.