Between Friends

by Sandra Marie

  She eased her eyes open, one first then the other. She blinked against the blueish, black light around them, focusing on the bright stars that glowed above them. Her brow furrowed, and she sat up, taking in her foreign surroundings.

  Stadium chairs ran on either side of where they lay, and a podium sat up at the front of a circular room. It took her a minute to realize the stars were projections—the room was far too warm for the ceiling to be non-existent.

  “Are we at a planetarium?” she asked, turning to Tommy leaning on one arm while the other still lay between their bodies.

  “Bought out the room just for you.” His smug, adorable grin lit up the room, and she eased down on her back, resting her head on the pillow.

  “How’d you manage that?” she asked, hardly believing him. She did his finances, after all.

  He hesitated before answering, scratching the top of his wild hair. “Good ol’ Dad.”

  She raised a brow. “You asked for the plane and this?”

  He nodded, his eyes on the stars above them. “He knows the guy who does the presentations. Asked for a favor.”

  “Paid for a favor?” she clarified.

  “Maybe.”

  She shook her head, her gaze moving to the gorgeous constellations. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  Tommy never asked for anything from his father. All he wanted from him was time, and it was a very rare gift. She couldn’t imagine the conversation he must’ve had, and she suddenly felt overwhelmingly humbled and unworthy.

  Tommy simply lifted a shoulder. “It was no big.”

  “Yes, it was.” She was not going to let him downplay this. “Thank you.”

  His knuckles brushed hers once again, and she held her breath. The stars above her blurred, and she counted the beats of her heart. His pinky reached out first, wrapping around hers. Jitters ran up and down her skin, and she couldn’t get her fingers to make the next move.

  So they sat with only their pinkies laced, and it was the most intense touch she’d felt in her entire life.

  “Did you really watch A Walk to Remember?” she said after a minute of tension-filled silence. Her voice was breathy and cut through the air like a knife.

  “Oh yeah,” he said, a grin teasing the corner of his mouth. “More than once.”

  “No you didn’t.”

  He nodded, turning his head to her. She faced him as well, preferring this view than the stars anyway. “It was my favorite.”

  “No.”

  “Bawled like a damn baby.”

  “Both times?” she teased. He took his hand out from under his head and held up four fingers.

  “Try all four times. You caught me the last time.”

  She snorted, covering her ugly laughter with her free hand. “Damn that Nicholas Sparks.”

  “You should thank the guy,” he said. Was he scooting in closer? His face seemed inches from hers, and her breath was turning to dust in her lungs.

  “Why is that?”

  “He inspired this smooth move…” He gestured to the ceiling, and she followed his gaze. The stars started to swirl, slowly at first and then faster. A bundle of constellations collected, then burst outward in bright colors. Pinks, blues, reds, yellows… A grin slipped on her face and wouldn’t leave. Her pinky held onto Tommy’s, and she found the strength to tuck her ring finger around his.

  The pink stars all gathered together, spelling her name in the faux sky. The blues found each other next, then the yellows, greens, and reds. Under her name, the stars shone the sentence: Isn’t Tommy the best? Laughter burst from her gut, and it was only then she realized a tear had sneaked down her cheek.

  “Humility isn’t your best quality.”

  “I have plenty of others worth sticking around for,” he said, and his words, though a joke, fell like a brick between them. She hoped this night wasn’t just to keep her in Seattle. She knew he didn’t want her to go, but that motivation cheapened the night for her.

  No, she refused to believe that was what the night was for him. He’d offered before he knew about the interview, and she wanted to believe he was doing this for her because he was her friend. Because he loved her like no one else did. Even if it wasn’t in the way she wanted.

  His middle finger laced around hers, and she forgot what she was worrying about.

  The colors changed, and she focused on the swirling stars as they formed more pictures. Whoever Tommy had running the show was good. The stars collected into a dancing couple who moved across the ceiling to soft music playing from the podium. When they met the edge, they burst apart, making a couple of butterflies, one blue, one pink, that danced and flew together to the music. Rae rested her head on Tommy’s shoulder, smiling when he tucked her against him. His pointer finger found hers, and they were finally holding hands, colors dancing over their bodies.

  Damn it, he was a romance god, and her heart had no chance.

  Like he knew what she was thinking, he squeezed her hand. “I’m good, huh?”

  “Until you start talking.”

  His body moved against hers with his laughter, and she loved that she could feel his amusement. “This isn’t the last stop for the night.”

  She frowned. “We can’t stay here for a while?” It was nice here, holding his hand, resting on his shoulder. She wanted to package up this feeling, take it out whenever she needed it.

  “What’s a while?” he asked.

  “Forever.”

  “Then no.”

  “Twenty minutes then.”

  He pressed an unexpected kiss to the top of her head, and too buzzed to believe that it actually happened, she stayed stone still. “We can do twenty minutes,” he said in his usual friendly banter. She batted down all the Cupids running rampant in her heart, smacking them until they died. Love was not on the menu tonight, no matter how much Tommy was killing it in the romance department.

  “You remember our trip to Disney?” Tommy asked, still resting his head on top of Rae’s as they lay watching the stars.

  “Most of it,” she joked. There’d been one day Rae had been so exhausted she slept through it all while Tommy went solo on every ride he could. “Why do you ask?”

  “Just thinking about how fun that was.” Truth be told, that trip was among his all-time favorite adventures. He’d gotten a motorcycle and hooked Rae into coming with him on the impromptu trip. She took off without hesitation, leaving her job behind. They spent a week and a half in Cali, teasing each other about ditching their real lives for a life in Disney. After they ran out of money, Tommy sold the bike for plane tickets home, and that was when they’d dreamed up Tommy’s Tats.

  It was his favorite adventure to date, but after tonight, he wondered if a new adventure was shoving its way into first place. Rae asked to stay here forever, and he was tempted to cave and grant that wish.

  “Feel like living there?” she asked, like she’d read his mind.

  “Or here.”

  “Hmm.” She sighed against him, her breath washing over the tattoos on his arm, soaking into the material of his t-shirt. Her hand in his felt so natural, like they’d been holding hands for a million years. If he kept hold, would she stay? Would she realize how much he needed her?

  The stars stopped dancing, returning to their normal constellations. Rae let out a tiny whine at the end of the show, and a pride monster chuckled inside him, smiling like a fool at how happy he’d made her.

  “Can we start it over?” She lifted her head and rested her chin on his chest. Her blue eyes beamed in the dark of the room, and a vision of her laying on him like this in his own bed hit him like an unexpected tidal wave. Her cherry lips glistened, and thoughts of how they’d taste flipped through his head like an old movie reel. She was probably a good kisser; Rae was good at everything—making him laugh, saving their business, adapting to all his spontaneity… Kissing her would be an adventure all in itself.

  His amusement slowly warped into panic. He was so unsure of his feelings toward h
er, and kissing her could royally blow up in his face. He imagined it driving her further away, emotionally and physically.

  He gave her a semi-smile, easing to a seated position. She naturally spread the distance between them to give him room.

  “Twenty minutes are up.” Could she feel how close he was to breaking all their rules? How close he was to risking the only thing he didn’t want to?

  Her bottom lip jutted out, and he tore his eyes away from that lip and all the thoughts it conjured. “Boo,” she said.

  “This wasn’t the only ace up my sleeve.” He smirked over his shoulder, then pushed to his feet. He helped her up, reluctantly dropping her hand when she was standing.

  “Can I keep my eyes open at least?” She hitched her hip, her dress swaying. He cracked his fingers, keeping them busy so they didn’t suddenly pull her to him, run up and down her sides, and tickle all the spots he knew would get her to double giggle and snort.

  “No blindfold needed this time,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t give away the chaos erupting in his head. They headed outside, Tommy helping her into her coat before they exited the front doors of the planetarium. He’d have to give his dad a million thank yous for helping him pull this off.

  As they stepped onto the parking lot, snow floated down from the cloudy night sky, shimmering in the street lights.

  “Oh my gosh…” she said in a hushed whisper.

  “You wanted snow, right?”

  A tiny squeal escaped her lips, and her eyes fluttered closed. She spread her arms open wide and spun in the small flurry.

  “Where are we?” she asked, letting her gaze fall to him.

  “Weather called for light snowfall in Spokane.”

  A laugh popped from her mouth. “Explains the flight.”

  “Told you I’d call Harry Potter.”

  She shook her head, closing the distance between them. Snowflakes clung to her short red hair, giving her a snowbitten, sexy look he couldn’t help but smile at.

  “What are you smiling at, dork?” she said, swiping at her cheeks. “Do have something on my face?”

  He eyed the almost empty street. A few houses were lined up on the opposite side, porch and street lights providing the ambiance. He stretched his hand out to hers.

  “Let’s dance,” he said.

  “Really?” she said through a snort, crossing her arms and giving his upturned palm the eyebrow.

  “That’s romantic as hell,” he argued.

  “Do you even know how?”

  “How hard is it to rock back and forth?”

  She bit a smile before finally relenting. Her hand slapped against his, and he led her to the middle of the street. The snow had peppered her hair and the apples of her cheeks and clung to her eyelashes. He swung her under his arm, and his playfulness was rewarded with that ridiculous laugh of hers.

  “Did you watch The Notebook, too?” she asked, settling into his arms. His hand pressed into the bulk of her coat at the small of her back, and she slid her fingers up his shoulder. Even with all the layers, every touch went straight to his pounding heart.

  “I purposely avoided Mr. Sparks after A Walk to Remember made me man-cry.”

  “So you’re dancing in the middle of the street just because?”

  He grinned, sweeping her under his arm again and then pulling her to his chest. “You deserve a slow dance in the snow on Valentine’s Day.”

  “Even if it’s just with you.”

  A sharp breath slipped through his teeth, and he grasped at his chest, pretending she’d broken him. She batted at the back of his head, but then her teasing fingers turned into a soothing caress. Her nails stretched into his hair, goosebumps erupted all down his back, and his head fell forward, landing against hers.

  “You’re playing with my off switch,” he said. A smile lit up her face, and she tugged at the ends of his hair.

  “It’s my secret weapon when your smart mouth starts going.”

  “You called me smart.”

  “Freudian slip.”

  He let her have the last word, and leaned back, playfully spinning her around. Her sneakers slipped in the increasing snow as she came back into his arms. He’d better keep it slow—didn’t want her ripping that amazing dress with a surprise tumble.

  He eased his steps, moving them in a slow paced square-like dance he’d seen in movies. He had no clue how to dance, but he knew how to hold her. He’d held her so many times, wrestled with her, teased her, hugged her… How had he not noticed how fulfilling all of those things were until she threatened him with the idea of not being around anymore?

  His fingers curled into her coat, and he tucked his face into her neck, afraid to let her go. He couldn’t let her go.

  The scent of peaches wafted through the air.

  “You smell like peaches,” he said into her neck.

  “You’ve told me that before.” Her shoulder moved with her silent laughter, and he held her even tighter.

  “I kinda love peaches.”

  She was quiet. Were they moving? No… they’d stopped dancing. Now they simply held each other in the falling snow.

  “I know,” she whispered. Tommy pulled their joined hands into their chests and sighed. He needed to lighten the mood or he’d end up kissing her, or dropping to his knees and begging her to stay. He took in a deep breath, exaggerating the sound like he was sniffing her out like a dog. He wriggled his nose up and down her neck until she lifted her shoulder and squealed.

  “Stop it, weirdo,” she laughed. “Your nose is freezing.”

  “Warm it up,” he said, trying to push his face farther into her neck. She squirmed in his hold, spinning around and slip-sliding all over the wet asphalt. If he was trying to stop himself from kissing her, it was backfiring. The back of Rae’s neck was just as tempting with all that ink.

  “Hey wait,” she said as he continued to tickle her. “Really wait a minute.”

  “Raising a white flag?”

  She nodded at the house across the street. “Look.”

  “What am I looking at?”

  Her hand left his around her waist, and she pointed at a figure in the darkness. Tommy squinted against the snowfall, his eyes adjusting. An older man slowly made his way through the snow with a shovel, scooping up piles and sending them into his yard. At the rate he was going, he’d be out all night.

  Rae met his eyes over her shoulder, and in the light and the snow, he’d never seen her so beautiful.

  “Do we have time to help him?”

  “You want to shovel snow?”

  Her gaze swiveled to the old man. “It won’t take us long. Are we on a schedule or anything?”

  Even if they were, Tommy would’ve given in in a second. He quirked a grin and grabbed her hand. “I wanna see you shoveling in that dress and sneakers.”

  She playfully pinched his wrist, but her smile was genuine and excited to be helping out. They crossed the not-too-busy street, approaching the older man.

  “Excuse me,” Rae said. “Do you have another shovel?”

  The old man raised his head. “I’m sorry?” he said, propping up on the shovel. He shook in the cold, his shoulders hunched. He stood about a foot shorter than Tommy, and his face shone with the wisdom of someone who’d carried a lifetime of burdens.

  “We’d like to shovel your walk for you,” Tommy said.

  The man eyed the tattoo peeking from the neck of Rae’s coat and shook his head. “I’m all right.”

  Rae looked at Tommy, and he saw the stubborn set of her jaw. This man had no idea who he’d just said no to, and Tommy held back a laugh.

  “You know, I’m not afraid to ask your neighbors for a shovel,” she said, stuffing her hands into her coat pockets. She swayed back and forth innocently, but there was nothing innocent about her threat to provide a helping hand. “Or we can hit a store. There’s one around the corner, I think, right?” She looked to him for backup, and Tommy complied, nodding, even though he had no clue.


  She faced the old man who was now smiling at her. “So… maybe make it easier on us and you, since I’m going to shovel this walk even if I don’t have a shovel to do so.”

  The old man let out a laugh, coughing slightly. “Been a while since someone fought me on it.” He pushed out the handle to his shovel. “Have at it. But if my wife asks, you tell her I did most of the work.”

  Rae saluted and took the shovel. The man trudged up to his open garage, waving for Tommy to follow him. He fiddled around in the corner, procuring another shovel. It was beat up, the handle worn, and a small hole formed near the plastic edge, but it would do.

  “Thank you,” Tommy said, Rae now at the bottom of the driveway already at work. “She wouldn’t have let it go.”

  The old man lifted his brow. “Sounds like my wife. I’d say hold onto that one, but look at what my wife did to me.” He gestured to his wrinkles and gray hair poking from his hat, and Tommy let out a bolting laugh. Ending up like him didn’t sound so bad, and living with Rae for the rest of his days wasn’t painful to think about either.

  The old man headed inside, and Tommy started at the top of the drive, ready to meet Rae halfway.

  “If anyone asks, I didn’t plan this.”

  She flung a pile of snow into the yard. “Helping an old man out on Valentine’s Day? That’s romantic.”

  “It’s not in any of the movies I’ve seen.”

  “Well, they should put it in one.”

  The shovels scraped against the concrete, and Tommy raced across the drive to beat Rae to the middle. She picked up her pace as soon as she’d caught on to his plan.

  “You are leaving so much snow behind!” She pointed to the mess he was making with the holey shovel.

  “My shovel is defective.”

  “I think it’s user error.”

  He scooped up a pile and flung it her direction. Her mouth dropped open with a cute pop. “You will regret that move, Thomas Varner.”

  They both rushed to get more snow in their shovels, and Tommy flung it over without a second thought. Snow flew his direction as well, and he dodged, slipping on the wet concrete. The icy flakes melted on his skin and slid down his collar. Adrenaline pumped through him, and he skidded to the yard where the thicker snow was and started piling it into balls. Rae scooped up another shovel full, holding it off to the side.