A CHRISTMAS PROPOSAL: Best Friend to Lovers Romance

by Lindsey Hart

CHAPTER 5

  Cam

  The next morning, sleep deprived and out of sorts after spending a restless, tortured night staring at the wall, Cam jumped at Jason’s suggestion that they organize a touch football game.

  Jocelyn and Frank both feigned disappointment that their children would choose to go out rather than socialize with them, but Cam could tell they weren’t serious. It was one of the only times their old friends from school came together and saw one another again. Most people came home for the holidays since their families still lived in Cedar Creek.

  “I’ll call and text everyone,” Jason promised as he shoved back from the chair.

  Dale’s eyes tracked to Cam for a second before they landed on Lana. He’d been eyeing her up all through breakfast. Cam’s hand itched to smack that smug, far too handsome look off of Dale’s face. He shook his head, resolving to take out his annoyance on the football game.

  His skin prickled and itched and he knew that the chaffing had nothing to do with Dale himself. In a roundabout way, he guessed he could blame the guy for it. It wasn’t entirely Dale’s fault that Cam and Lana had been thrust together, so very close, the night before. He’d battled his body’s longings the entire night. It took all he could not to spin around and stare at Lana as she slept. Of course, he’d wanted to do far worse. He nearly groaned at the hard surge of animalistic need that took hold of him.

  Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. Don’t think about it. He chanted the words like a mantra. Finally, he shoved back his chair.

  “Thank you very much for breakfast, Jocelyn. It was excellent, as always.”

  Lana’s mother flushed with pleasure. The pink blush looked pretty on her cheeks. Even in middle age, Lana’s mother was still a beautiful woman. Lana had inherited her mother’s shining blue eyes and small bones. Combined with the blonde hair and height her father had given her, it was a killer combination.

  Don’t think about it.

  Lana shoved back her chair and thanked her mom shortly after he did. Unfortunately, she followed him out of the room.

  He needed a breather, just a second to clear his head and collected his thoughts. He felt like a fog had replaced his brain inside his skull.

  “I’m coming too,” Lana insisted. “I assume it’s not just going to be all guys.”

  Cam sighed. “I don’t know. This is your brother and Dale we’re talking about.”

  “I’m sure they’ll round up everyone who’s here.”

  “I’m sure,” Cam responded with zero confidence.

  It turned out, he was right. Gathered in the school yard at the old football field, the worn, faded brown grass and the old, rusty goalposts, was an assortment of guys. They ranged in age from twenty-five to thirty-three. Most of them knew Jason or Cam somehow and were more than willing to come out for a rousing game of football. It was almost like the good old days.

  “I’m the only girl here,” Lana hissed to her brother after she and Cam arrived.

  Jason pulled away from the rest of the ten odd guys assembled. He raised a brow. “I never invited you along. You came of your own accord.”

  “You could have invited girls too.”

  “No thanks,” Dale chimed in from behind Jason.

  That urge to wipe the smug look off the guy’s face was back. His blonde hair had been pulled back in a ponytail at his neck. He hadn’t shaved and his square jaw was set in a determined, heart-crushing smile.

  Cam glanced over at Lana, but she didn’t even seem to notice Dale.

  “Well I’m playing,” she said stubbornly. She planted her hands on her hips. “I’ll quarterback or something.”

  “You mean cheerlead?” Dale scoffed.

  “Shut up, Dale,” Lana and Jason ground out at the same time.

  Cam resisted the urge to laugh. So far Lana was holding her own just fine. “I second that. Lana can be our quarterback. I, for one, remember that she used to have a pretty good arm.”

  “For a girl,” Dale sneered.

  “Dale!” Jason ground out. “You can be on the opposite team if you have so little faith in my sister. I’ll be on their team. Who else is with me?”

  Cam was secretly proud of Jason. He was even prouder of the two other guys who raised their hands and stepped forward. That left Dale sneering with the rest of them, who looked uncertain. The last thing they wanted to be drawn into was a squabble.

  By the time they actually organized, and the game started, the hard feelings were forgotten. The laughter and shouts filling the football field, the good-natured taunts and plays being discussed took forefront.

  Lana stood in the middle of their little huddle, holding the ball. “Here’s the thing,” she confessed, sapphire eyes swiveling from face to face. “I don’t have an idea what I’m doing. I just throw it to whoever is open, right?”

  “That’s the idea,” Cam laughed. “This is just for fun. No pressure.”

  “Oh, the pressure is on alright,” Jason said jokingly. “We have to beat Dale now.”

  “That, I can easily do,” Lana responded confidently. She shrugged her pretty shoulders. “Okay, so the play is throw to someone open. Got it.”

  They broke their huddle on that note and got down to business. They lined up, Lana behind them. As soon as the play started, she retreated, circling back. She was lithe and fast and no one got to her. Cam didn’t fully have time to watch what was going on behind him. He managed to get open, behind Dave, who was on Dale’s team. He waved towards Lana, catching her eye.

  She drew back her arm and threw. The ball spiraled in a perfect arc, right into Cam’s hands. He would have cheered her, if he’d had a minute to do so. He was so damn proud of her that his heart nearly burst.

  He reacted purely on instinct. He ducked his head, tucked the ball into his arm and ran. He dodged past Shane and Troy and was almost home free, running towards the brown crunchy end zone. He was almost there, could taste the touchdown and the celebration, Lana’s cry of delight, when a freight train blindsided him out of nowhere.

  CHAPTER 6

  Lana

  Cam lay on the ground, choking and gagging, trying to force air into his obviously burning lungs. Dale rose above him, a triumphant smirk on his face, which at the moment looked anything but handsome to Lana.

  She let out a cry of outrage and charged up the field along with the rest of the guys present, on their team or not.

  “Dale!” Jason grabbed his best friend roughly by the shoulder. “What the hell man? This is touch football. That doesn’t mean lay the guy out cold!”

  “Sorry, I guess I forgot. You know, back in the day because Cam never played football and we did.”

  “Shut the fuck up,” Jason mumbled before he punched Dale hard enough in the shoulder to actually hurt. He shook his head, disgusted.

  Lana, privately proud of her brother, bent over Cam. The only thing she would have changed was that his punch to the shoulder should have been right to the center of Dale’s face. Her own hands itched to do some damage in the form of a hard slap.

  “Cam?” Lana placed her hand on Cam’s shoulder. The warmth of his skin burned right through his long-sleeved cotton shirt. He moaned as he turned onto his back, still trying to gasp some air into his lungs. “Are you okay?”

  Another round of gasping ensued until finally a breath actually sounded like it hit home. Cam’s chest expanded and contracted as he took another breath then another.

  Dark eyes met Lana’s and he offered a shaky smile she was sure he didn’t truly feel. Her heart did a strange turn over in her chest. Her eyes flew to Cam’s face, to his strong lips, parted to force in long pulls of breath.

  The urge to press her lips to his was almost overwhelming. She sat back on her heels, stunned at the ferocity of the urge. A hot shiver of desire rocked her body. She realized her hand was still on Cam’s shoulder. The contact reverberated up her arm, right through her shoulder and melted into her chest. A deep headiness formed in her stomach and spread lower. She f
elt that rich heaviness in places she had no business feeling.

  Face on fire, sure she was red as a beet, she pulled back. She stood slowly, shaking her head against the strange fog that had invaded her brain.

  Whatever she’d felt the night before, the sleepless, horribly long night with Cam in bed beside her clearly hadn’t left. It was back and in a big way. An undeniable way that she could no longer ignore.

  If he’d turned over in bed the night before and pressed a kiss to her lips that he actually meant, that wasn’t just for the benefit of her ridiculous plan to get Dale to notice her, she wouldn’t have resisted.

  I would have welcomed it. That and anything else Cam chose to do.

  Confused, Lana stepped back and gave her brother room. Jason offered his hand and helped pull Cam to his feet.

  “You okay man?”

  “I’m fine,” Cam assured them. “Nothing broken.” He shook himself out, giving himself a mental once-over, just to check.

  Lana couldn’t help notice the broad set of his shoulders, the trim waist, the way his jeans clung to his hips and cupped his ass just right.

  God. What a thought. Cam is my best friend. I saw him wet his pants on the first day of kindergarten.

  Except that was a long time ago. And they weren’t children any longer.

  “Good to go?”

  “Yeah.”

  “We get to count that as our touchdown since you cheated,” Jason spat.

  Dale shook his head. “Whatever. We’ll get it back.”

  “Put your money where your mouth is.” Jason picked up the forgotten football and slammed it into Dale’s chest. “Your play.”

  The game continued on from there. Jason had two touchdowns. Cam had another. Dale’s team scored only one. They were soundly beat. No one seemed to be bothered by it as the group disbanded except Dale himself.

  Lana noticed the sharp glances he kept sending Cam as they walked home. She didn’t like it. The urge to defend Cam against whatever the hell Dale had going on, whatever grudge it was, pressed on her. She barely managed to restrain herself from saying something harsh.

  Just as they were rounding the bend towards her parent’s house, she finally realized what it was.

  Dale was jealous. Of Cam.

  Which meant, that at last, he’d finally noticed her.

  The realization should have made her heart pound hard. Her pulse race, her breathing short. It should have at the very least, brought a small smile to her face.

  She didn’t feel anything. Her heart didn’t flutter. Her pulse didn’t race. If anything, she felt… repulsed. Angry. Defensive and protective of Cam, a man who had done nothing to deserve the cheap shot Dale had handed out earlier that morning.

  She was just glad Cam hadn’t been hurt. If he had, she knew it would have been her fault. She was the one who suggested the crazy scheme where Cam pretended to be her boyfriend.

  Except I’m not sure that I want to pretend anymore.

  Cam didn’t know that. She was walking right beside him and when she reached out and silently slipped her hand through his, his head cranked to the side and his eyes met hers. It was a second before he relaxed, but his dark gaze lingered, burning through her, eating her up inside.

  Her legs felt a little shaky as the slow heat from Cam’s hand in hers traveled through her body. Shaky wasn’t exactly the right word. She felt a little like her insides had turned to water. Her chest squeezed tight, compressing her lungs. It was as hard for her to force out a breath as it had been for Cam after he’d been hit by Dale.

  He kept his hand in hers, his long, strong fingers threaded through her small ones, as they walked up to her parent’s house.

  I wish it wasn’t so close. She wasn’t ready for that gentle, warm touch to end.

  She turned her head to the side, just enough to study Cam out of the corner of her eye. His shirt was plastered to his chest, soaked with the sweat of exertion. It outlined, in full definition, a hard, naturally athletic build; broad, powerful shoulders, streamlined torso, and a trim waist. She wished the shirt was short sleeve so she could admire the shape of his biceps, the lean forearms, the veins that she knew stuck out, blue and rigid, just below the surface.

  Cam hadn’t been a jock in high school. Neither of them had really played sports, other than in gym class. She’d always played volleyball, but Cam hadn’t really stuck to anything. He preferred reading, going for walks with her, hanging out underneath the bleachers outside the football field. He’d talk with her for hours. She’d never been into girly things. She much preferred his companionship over the girls in her class who were into boys and makeup and dating.

  Sometimes her mom would drive them into the city to go swimming together or to the library. They saw concerts, went to the symphony once, even the damn ballet. Whatever she wanted, Cam went along for the ride.

  She’d never realized just how naturally athletic he was. He was good at football, yet he’d never played. Why? Because I wasn’t into it?

  She figured that thought was pretty vain. He just hadn’t wanted to. It had nothing to do with her.

  All too soon they reached the front door of her parent’s house. Dale and Jason disappeared inside. She lingered for a second, holding Cam back. He turned, raised a brow and stared gently down into her face.

  Something passed between them, something silent and unspoken, but she was sure he felt it too. The animal magnetism of attraction, the draw towards a person she’d always noticed but never noticed, always loved, but never really loved.

  “Cam?” Lana whispered. Her hand moved, without her actually telling it to. She raised it and gently caressed his warm, smooth cheek.

  He jolted at the touch and she dropped her hand away. His fingers unwound from hers. “I think we should go inside,” he mumbled before he turned and retreated.

  “Yeah,” Lana responded to the air and the wide-open front door. Towards no one at all. “Good idea” She slowly stepped inside, her world tilting strangely, everything she thought she knew completely upended.

  The only thing she knew for a fact was that she no longer cared a whit about Dale. It would suit her just fine if he wasn’t with them for Christmas. Her stomach cramped with awareness as she also realized that it wasn’t quite Christmas yet, which meant she still had a few days with Cam. He was her best friend, had been for years and years. Except now, for the first time in her life, she wasn’t quite sure she wanted him to be just that.

  Dale had noticed her. He was jealous. Her crazy plan had actually worked. Oddly enough, it wasn’t his eyes, his touch, his company she longed for anymore. It was the very man her family already thought she had.

  CHAPTER 7

  Cam

  After Christmas eve dinner, Frank unfortunately invited all the men to the living room. There was a small bar in the corner, an ancient thing that was built right into the house itself. It extended from one corner of the wall to the other. He started pouring drinks, good scotch whiskey, and he kept it flowing.

  Cam hadn’t had a drink in the four years that he was gone. As the only doctor in the area, he was always on call. He couldn’t take a chance that one night, after a few drinks, there wouldn’t be some kind of emergency that he wasn’t level-headed and sober enough to combat.

  “Your glass is empty, Cam. Let me get you another.”

  Frank rose from his overstuffed easy chair, reached for Cam’s glass before he could stop him and took it to the bar. Cam nearly groaned as a far too liberal amount of whiskey was splashed in. His glass was returned to him, almost half full.

  “Thanks,” he forced out. His head was already spinning.

  He brought the glass to his lips and took a long pull. A glance towards the other two men, Dale and Jason, showed that they didn’t mind in the least, the copious amount of alcohol being served to them every few minutes. The only thing Cam didn’t mind about Dale getting drunk was that it oddly enough, shut him up. The fucking annoying stories about his lawyering and his high school
glory days finally petered out. Or maybe he’d just come to the end and had nothing else to say.

  He was talking quietly to Jason. The men were seated on opposite ends of the couch and mercifully the conversation didn’t carry across the coffee table to the loveseat Cam was parked on.

  He imagined, by the set of their faces, they were discussing women. They had that hungry, animalistic look in their eyes that drink sometimes brought out in men. Jason wasn’t a bad guy by himself. Cam actually liked Lana’s brother just fine, at least when Dale wasn’t around to encourage him into baser conversations and to steer him wrong.

  Cam was only suckered into drinking in the first place because he was hoping to take the edge off of yet another night spent in the same bed with Lana.

  How the hell am I going to endure this? He knew it would be beyond any torture he’d faced in his life. He figured a couple shots would soften him up, dull his spiraling thoughts and his body’s heady reaction. He’d numbed himself alright. He was nearly at the point of oblivion. A couple more drinks and he wouldn’t get to bed at all. He’d just pass right out on the couch, sitting upright, mouth hanging open, probably drooling and snoring.

  What a tale that would be for Dale to tell in the morning.

  Cam slammed back the remainder of the whiskey. He briefly wondered if it was a bad sign that the alcohol no longer burned a hot trail to his stomach. He hardly felt it at all.

  “Would you like another?” Frank was eager to be a good host. Always ready to pour. He himself wasn’t consuming drinks at the same rate.

  “No, thanks though.”

  “Oh, come on. Don’t be shy. It’s Christmas after all.”

  “Really, I’m good. I think I’ve had enough for now.”

  Dale’s scornful stare came to rest on Cam. “Can’t hold your whiskey?” He eyed Cam up and down and Cam was surprised to see a hint of jealousy in those cold blue eyes.

  He nearly spat something rather uncharitable back but swallowed it at the last second.