The Problem With Cupid (Holiday Romance Book 2)

by Robin Daniels

  Abby was already sitting across from Garland, so I said, “Let’s leave it like it is. Abby and Garland can be a team, and I’ll play with you.”

  “Bad call,” Garland retorted. “We’re going to smoke you.”

  I pulled the game box in front of me, took the lid off, and started handing out pads of paper. “Isn’t it a little early for trash talk?”

  He grabbed the container of word cues from my hand. “It’s never too early when I’m playing against you.”

  “Oh, it’s on now.” I looked at Sam. “Are you ready to hand them a butt whoopin’?”

  She grinned. “I was born ready.”

  Turns out Abby and Garland weren’t a great partnership. I assumed they’d be on the same page. I guess acting alike and thinking alike weren’t mutually exclusive. Both of them were lousy artists—Abby especially—but that wasn’t the biggest problem. They never drew their picture in a way that the other could decipher it.

  The game came to a halt when Abby picked the word egg. It should have been easy enough. She tried to draw an egg frying in a pan. The image looked like a bunch of squiggly circles, but I knew right away what it was. Garland took like ten seconds to figure it out.

  After the round was over, they argued about what would have been a more obvious drawing. Garland insisted she should’ve done a chicken laying an egg. Abby adamantly disagreed. That spurned a five-minute debate on how certain words should be drawn. I think they were actually enjoying the argument, so I didn’t try to jump in. But in listening, I made an interesting discovery. If Abby and I had been partnered, we would have blown Garland and Sam out of the water.

  Sam got up, walked to the game cabinet, and returned with a deck of cards. She slammed them down on the table, not hard, but hard enough to stop the debate. “All right, children. Pictionary time is over.”

  “What?” Garland screeched.

  “Yeah, we were winning,” Abby added. Sadly, that was true. She and Garland were bad as a team. Sam and I were downright awful.

  “Anything but cards,” he whined.

  Abby grinned. “Evan told me about your mad card skills.”

  He threw his hands in the air. “Card games are like the only thing I’m truly horrible at. I don’t know how it’s possible, but I lose every single time.”

  “In that case, we should definitely play cards.” Sam snickered. “What about Hearts? That one’s fun.”

  “No! I constantly get stuck with the queen of spades. And when I try to shoot the moon, I’m always one card short. Hearts is the worst.”

  “Let’s vote,” I said. “All in favor of playing Hearts, raise your hand.” Three hands shot up. “Looks like you’re outvoted.” Garland grumpily folded his arms over his chest.

  “Come on,” Abby pleaded as she scooted into the chair next to him. “What if we make a deal? A game of Hearts in exchange for a game of Twister.” Garland mulled it over before agreeing. He stuck his hand out and made her shake on it.

  Thirty minutes later, Garland was having the game of his life. “I thought you said you sucked at cards.” Sam’s tone was oozing accusation.

  “Normally I do. I don’t know what’s happening. Maybe you guys are good luck.” He had this look on his face. Something fishy was going on. I observed him closely over the next few rounds, and that’s when I saw it.

  “Hey! You’re cheating.” I pointed at his hand, which was resting upward on Abby’s knee.

  “What?” His eyes got wide, and he bit his cheeks to keep from smiling. “How dare you suggest I’m cheating.”

  “Ah!” I huffed. “How dare you cheat.” I glared at Abby. “And how dare you help him.” She folded her hands together, rolled her eyes up toward the ceiling, and started to whistle.

  Sam gave me a curious look. “What are they doing?”

  “She’s been passing him cards under the table.”

  Sam nodded in understanding. “Which is why he’s on fire and she’s been doing so poorly.” She chucked all the cards in her hand at Abby and Garland. They howled with laughter. “I’m not playing with you two anymore.”

  Garland got a naughty twinkle in his eye and rubbed his hands together greedily. “Well, I guess if we’re done here, we can get started on that game of Twister.” He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

  Just then, a guy who lived a few doors down from us walked in with two of his buddies. He took one look at our setup and frowned. “Hey, Evan.”

  “What’s up, John?”

  “We wanted to watch a movie. Is that going to screw up what you’re doing?”

  “No. We’re being kind of loud, though. I’m more worried it’ll bother you.”

  He pursed his lips in thought. “I rented House of Evil, but the TV in my room is small. Any chance you guys want to put the games away and join us? Then we don’t have to worry about the lights and the noise.”

  I looked at the girls. “It’s up to the ladies.”

  Sam nodded eagerly. “I love horror movies.”

  Abby seemed less enthusiastic. “I’ll probably have nightmares for a week, but if everyone else wants to...”

  “I’m down,” Garland said.

  I turned back to John. “Looks like you have company.”

  “Sweet.” John grinned. “Thanks, man.” He and his friends went to get the movie started while we cleaned up the games. When we were finished, I hit the lights.

  There was a couch, a love seat, and an oversize chair with an ottoman by the television. John and his friends had been kind enough to take the couch. The love seat was big enough for two people, but the chair could only handle it if the users didn’t mind getting extra cozy.

  The four of us stared at each other, the unspoken question of where to sit and whom to sit with hanging in the air. My first thought was to arrange it so that Abby and Garland had to sit together. When her eyes met mine, though, I saw apprehension. She and Garland seemed to be having fun, but she and I knew each other better. There was no question that she’d be more comfortable squishing up next to me.

  Abby spoke first. “I don’t think Evan and Garland will fit in that chair together.”

  Sam giggled. “I’d like to see them try.”

  “No way!” Garland blanched and made a face at me. “I love you, man, but not enough to let you sit on my lap.”

  “Honestly, I’m not sure I’d fit with him, either,” Sam pondered out loud. “I think the only way Garland’s sharing that chair is if he sits with Abby.”

  It was dark, but not dark enough to miss it when Abby stiffened and all the color drained from her face. I had to rescue her before she fainted—or worse. I motioned between her and Sam. “You two could sit together in the chair while Garland and I take the love seat.”

  “Don’t be silly.” Sam wrote me off and grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the chair. “We can share. I don’t mind.”

  Garland looked at Abby and shrugged. “I guess that leaves us the love seat.” Her smile held a sense of both hesitance and relief.

  Abby relaxed once the movie started. At one point Garland had his arm on the back of the couch behind her, but she never leaned into him. For a while they both had their legs up on the cushions, sharing the same space. Sadly, I didn’t see any gratuitous toe touching or footsie playing. There wasn’t a single indicator that they were interested in getting close.

  Sam, on the other hand, snuggled right up to me. She kind of had to, because the only comfortable way to sit was if I put my arm around her. That naturally lent to her leaning against my shoulder. I got nervous when she stretched her legs out on the ottoman and repeatedly brushed her foot across my ankle. “Don’t worry,” she whispered. “It’s all for show.”

  “Got it,” I whispered back, even though it didn’t feel that way.

  I caught Abby watching us. She smiled at me, but the action seemed forced. Almost like she was disappointed, which made me disappointed. Sam was pretty, she smelled good, her hair was soft against my cheek. But Abby was fun, comfortable
, and we would have fit together perfectly in this chair. Plus, I had this instinctive drive to protect her. And every time she jumped at something scary, it felt wrong to have Sam’s face buried in my chest instead of hers.

  Abby and I had planned to shop for dance decorations on a Friday after our student government meeting. “How are we supposed to pay for everything?” she asked Trent.

  “Either you have to find a store that’ll take a purchase order from the school so we can bill them directly, or you need to make a list of everything you want and price it out. I’ll meet with Larissa, and after she approves it, I can get the council’s credit card for you.”

  Abby turned to me and frowned. “That seems like a big hassle. Maybe we should skip going out and just buy everything online.”

  Trent nodded. “That’s definitely the easiest way to go.”

  Yeah, we’d skip going out—over my dead body.

  It’d been three weeks since our not a date night, and the four of us had been hanging out a lot. The girls ate dinner with us every day. We’d played more cards, watched more movies. Had multiple study sessions that usually turned into goofing off.

  Abby had warmed up to Garland, and he’d been a lot flirtier with her. Though I think some of that was influenced by Sam getting flirtier and touchier with me. She said it was for keeping up appearances. I wasn’t always sure I believed her. It was starting to feel too much like we were a couple, only without all the handholding and kissing.

  I know pairing off was originally the point, but that meant I’d been getting less time alone with Abby. I missed it. Today was supposed to be just me and her, bumming around town together. I’d really been looking forward to it.

  “It’s still a good idea to go look at stuff,” I pressed. “Even if we don’t buy anything, we can do a price comparison.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right,” Abby admitted. Thank the stars.

  “Just let me know what you decide to do,” Trent said.

  “We will.”

  He walked away to help the other girls with something, and Abby started collecting her things. She reached for her coat and teased, “Aren’t you going to help me today?”

  “No!” I scoffed. “I’m sick of you mocking me every time I try.”

  “I do not.” She huffed as she slipped the coat on.

  “Here, I’ll help you with this.” I took the beanie out of her pocket and pulled it over her head so far that it covered her eyes.

  “Hey—” She started to complain, but I cut her off by grabbing her scarf and wrapping it over her mouth. I chuckled while she slid the cap up and yanked the scarf down. “Are you done? Or do you plan to give me a mitten wedgie next?”

  I scratched my chin. “Hmm, a mitten wedgie. That sounds like a good idea.” Abby stepped back cautiously. I lunged for her hands, but she skirted around the table. We stared at each other, me ready to pounce and her prepared to dart away. It was a stalemate. “Don’t worry; I’m not going to chase you down right now. I’ll get you when you least expect it.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “And I’ll constantly be on guard.”

  She kept well ahead of me when we left the building, occasionally looking over her shoulder to check for safety. It made me chuckle every time. Her quasi-frightened expression was priceless. After doing that about half a dozen times, I snuck up behind her and grabbed the handle on top of her bag, yanking her back.

  “Woah!” She slipped on a patch of ice, but I caught her on the way down. She landed in my arms as if I’d dipped her on the dance floor. “Are you trying to kill me?” she asked. Her glare wasn’t nearly as evil as she wanted it to be.

  I grinned. “No. I was sweeping you off your feet. Can’t you tell the difference?”

  “Ha-ha.” Abby deadpanned. “I thought Garland was supposed to be the comedian.”

  “I have my moments.” I purred.

  She giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck, trying to pull herself upright. Something strange came over me. I knew I should set her on her feet, but I didn’t want to. Her soft, pink lips were close enough that I could smell her bubble gum. My heart raced. I glanced at her mouth and thought about kissing her. How she probably tasted as sweet as she smelled. How it would be so easy to close the gap between us and brush my lips against hers.

  But acting on my random impulse was guaranteed to end poorly. The first rule of being just friends with a girl is that you can’t kiss her. No matter how tempting it is. Especially when you’re trying to hook her up with your roommate.

  “Are you planning to stand me up or carry me home?” Her voice was wispy and her breathing shallow. Her face held a glow that was different than normal. I knew I shouldn’t read into it. She was probably just cold.

  I shook my head of the fog and smiled. “I’m carrying you home, duh.” I kept one arm behind her back, slid the other under her knees, and scooped her up. It was like curling a feather, even with her bag on.

  She squealed and slapped me on the shoulder. “Are you crazy? I was joking!”

  “If you don’t want me to drop you, I suggest you stop wiggling. The sidewalk is icy.”

  “Or you could put me down.” She laughed. “You’re going to slip and fall on your butt.”

  “Whatever. You’re a lightweight. I could jog you all the way to the dorm and not even break a sweat.”

  “Please don’t,” she begged. I took a few steps. She fisted my sleeve and buried her face in my chest.

  “You don’t think I’m strong enough?”

  “No!” Her muffled yell vibrated through my jacket. Then she tipped her head up and smirked. “Maybe if you were Garland…”

  “What?” I growled in mock outrage, then switched directions toward a big pile of snow.

  “Don’t you dare,” Abby warned. She wiggled frantically, trying to escape.

  “I’m sure Garland wouldn’t throw you in the snow. But I’m not Garland…” I swung my arms, and she clung to me for dear life. A guy who liked a girl might not make good on the threat. But we were only friends, so I didn’t see anything wrong with it.

  I released my grip, and she yelped. However, being the smart cookie that she is, Abby grabbed my hood on the way down, causing me to fall as well. We landed with a thud, a foot deep in the snow. She was completely trapped beneath me, laughing hysterically. When I tried to push myself up, my hands sank deeper into the pile. We bumped noses first. Our mouths quickly followed.

  “Uh…my arms are stuck,” I mumbled against her lips before craning my neck to keep our faces apart. I’d wanted to kiss her a minute ago, but it was nearly impossible to resist now. She clamped her mouth shut and continued to giggle. Laughter rumbled in my chest as I tried to move. Another bit of snow gave out beneath my fingers. “I’m serious. It’s like quicksand. The more I wiggle, the deeper I sink. Ugh, and now my neck is cramping.” I had to relax it for a second, which put us nose to nose again.

  “What am I supposed to do about it? I’m pinned.” Her lips brushed mine when she answered. I could taste her bubblegum, and it was utter torture. Heat coursed through me. If we stayed like this much longer, I might be able to melt the snow around us.

  “Unless you want to stay in this ice cocoon for a while and make out, you’re going to have to give me a push.”

  “I’m not sure I can get my arms between us,” she replied.

  When people kiss, they close their eyes for a reason. Technically we weren’t kissing, so both of us had our eyes open. It should have been awkward staring at each other from three inches away, but it wasn’t. Her cheeks were tight from trying to hold back her laughter. They were rosier than I’d ever seen them, and her eyes were twinkling. My resolve was weakening.

  I shrugged the best I could. “I guess we’ll have to make out, then.”

  She shimmied her arms upward. “I’m trying, I’m trying.”

  “Well, try harder.” I knew I shouldn’t kiss her. Once I did, I couldn’t take it back. And I’d grown too attached to screw up our frien
dship. But with every movement her lips made against mine, I lost a little more control.

  I tilted my head to the side when she spoke again. “Almost there.” The new position wasn’t any better. In fact, her warm breath hitting my cheek and tickling my neck sent a shiver down my spine.

  “You’ve got five seconds,” I growled softly. I started counting aloud and decided that if she couldn’t put some distance between us by the time I got to one, I was just going to go for it.

  Her hands finally slid against my chest and she shoved. “You’re too heavy.” She grunted.

  I reared back. It took all the neck strength I had. “Are you calling me fat?”

  “No!” She moaned. Her body shook. “Stop making me laugh.”

  I broke down for a moment and nipped at her nose. Then I quickly slammed my eyes shut. You couldn’t kiss what you couldn’t see. Right? “We’ll do it together,” I said. “On three. One, two, three.” We both pushed as hard as we could, and I was dislodged enough to roll away.

  “Ah, sweet relief.” I sighed dramatically as I stared at the sky.

  Her snarky voice called out from deep within the body-size crater next to me. “Geez, it wasn’t that bad.”

  No, it was that good. It was amazing. I’d roll right back on her if she asked me to. I turned to my side and peered down at her. “Well, because I’m so fat it was a lot of work to keep my large body from squashing you.”

  She gave me a stern look. “I didn’t say that.”

  “You didn’t have to,” I replied flippantly and maneuvered myself to my feet.

  “Are you going to help me up?” She lifted an arm.

  I pursed my lips. “Nah,” I said, and started to walk away.

  “Evan!” Abby yelled. I came back chuckling and lowered my hand. She took it. I pulled her out, then swiped the snow off her bag as she brushed it off her legs and butt. “Great, it looks like I wet myself.”

  “Did you?” I raised my eyebrows. That’s when she lunged at me. I took off running. She might have caught me, except her shoes didn’t have the traction mine did.

  “Get back here, you coward!” she yelled.

  “No way!” I yelled back. “I don’t trust you not to maim me.” I grinned wickedly at her but slowed to a stop.