Melt My Heart Page 12

“Freshman year?” I ask, meeting his gaze head-on. “You’ve liked me since freshman year?”

  His smile is warm as he runs a hand through my hair. “Eighth grade, actually. When you came back from summer camp and you’d somehow grown several inches taller than me and tackled me to the ground like living apart from me for a couple of weeks was the worst thing ever to happen. I realized then that those weeks were some of the worst for me.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “I never wanted to spend another day without you even if you only ever viewed me as your dorky friend.”

  Okay. Now my head might explode. All these years, I’ve been trying to hide my feelings and the whole freaking time he felt the same way?

  I punch him on the shoulder. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Ian laughs. “Cause he’s a chicken s—”

  I whirl on him. “And you! You’ve been torturing me all these years when you could have just come out and said it?”

  He throws his hands up in surrender when he sees my face. “Hey, I tried being subtle, but you weren’t getting it. Cole threatened to end my life when I started being forceful. So, I had to be creative.”

  “Unbelievable,” I mutter, some of my irritation dissipating when Cole’s lips land on the crook of my neck.

  “I couldn’t risk losing you. Not after my mom left,” he whispers so only I can hear. “I decided I would keep it to myself. Bury it. But then I saw that jerk kissing you, and no amount of self-compartmentalizing worked.”

  “So, you went full-on caveman?”

  Cole’s eyebrows jump in surprise. “Yeah. I guess I did. I wish I could say I was sorry for it but…” He rubs his nose against mine.

  I wish I was sorry for it too. The whole caveman thing has never been my style, but if he hadn’t lost his cool, I never would have found out about Hudson’s ulterior motives or dared to tell Cole how I feel.

  “Are you two lovebirds gonna spend all day out here making googly eyes? We gotta go pack.”

  Cole pulls away from me long enough to give his friend a dirty look. “We’ll be right there.”

  Ian huffs something, his feet crunching on snow as he heads back toward the lodge.

  “So…eighth grade, huh?”

  Cole bobs a shoulder and pulls me in close. “What can I say? I’d be crazy not to fall for you.”

  I sigh as I wrap my arms around his neck, my fingers playing with the curls that poke out from under his beanie. “And then we both played dumb and ran from our feelings for years. Years we could not have been in misery.”

  “Then I guess we have a lot of making up to do.”

  Cole captures my lips with his before I respond. My heart thunders in my chest, still not used to this reality. Cole Reed, my best friend, is my boyfriend.

  Never in a million years did I see this trip playing out the way it did.

  Cole and I hop off the ugly bus, and right away, I spot my dad’s truck idling by the curb. I glance down at Cole’s and my intertwined fingers and pull him to a stop.

  Forget about telling Eva. It slipped my mind that we have to break this to our parents.

  “My dad, he…” I trail off, flicking my gaze to his truck again. “He might freak.”

  Cole is officially the first boy I’ve ever brought home. Sure, Dad’s known him forever, but I’m still his little girl.

  “Don’t worry.” Cole gives my hand a squeeze as he adjusts the two bags on his other shoulder.

  Before I can protest again, Cole drags me toward doom. I don’t know how he’s so confident. My dad isn’t a fan of the whole dating thing. The one time he caught wind of my date for freshman homecoming, I was worried the vein in his forehead might explode.

  Can’t wait to see how he reacts to me dating the boy who has slept over at our house more times than I can count.

  My dad smiles when I open the door and reaches for the bags Cole slides across the bench seat. When everything is stored in the back seat, his gaze glides down, focusing on where Cole is still gripping my hand.

  “So…this happened, huh?”

  Cole beams, and I swallow down a lump in my throat. “Daddy, Cole and I are…well…we’re…”

  “Together,” Cole finishes when I can’t seem to get the words out.

  My dad whistles. “‘Bout time.”

  I stand there, slack-jawed as Cole laughs. Did everyone know about our hidden feelings? Maybe they weren’t so hidden after all.

  “So…you’re okay with this?”

  “Pumpkin, I couldn’t have picked a better boy for you. But I’m not the one who’s gonna need convincing. I’m assuming you still have to tell Eva who is at our house already, by the way. She can’t wait to see you guys. Though that might change after…” He trails off, gesturing to our entwined hands.

  “It will be fine,” Cole says and plants a kiss on my knuckles.

  How is it he’s so calm about all this while I’m over here about to combust from pent-up nerves?

  I drop his hand and hop into the truck, letting out a sigh of relief from the warmth pumping out from the vents. It’s short-lived because the second we pull away from the curb, I’m hit with another burst of terror. This might not go as smoothly as it did with my dad.

  The drive home is so fast I’m positive Dad must have installed a turbo engine while I was gone. Both of them are all relaxed, talking about how awesome the slopes were and how the Utes destroyed some rival team. While they yammer on, I can’t stop fidgeting. At one point, Cole reaches over and places a hand on my knee, which has been bouncing since we pulled out of the parking lot.

  All too soon, Dad parks in the driveway. Eva’s Bronco is parked next to our mailbox, confirming that yes, she is here waiting. Even all the Christmas cheer radiating from the lights sparkling in the dimming daylight and the ten inflatables that decorate our yard can’t fill me with warmth.

  “Come on.” Cole tugs on my hand, as he steps out of the truck.

  Dad already left us and is heading up the stairs. The second he opens the door, Eva will rush out. I drop Cole’s hand then wince at my callous reaction. To my surprise, he doesn’t seem offended by my reaction. Instead, he smiles.

  “Come on, chicken. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can enjoy the holiday break with my new girlfriend.”

  Okay, him calling me his girlfriend did the trick and lessened some of my fear. Good timing, too, because when I turn toward my house, Eva bursts through the door and barrels right toward us.

  “I missed you guys!” she yells seconds before slamming into me and almost sending us to the ground.

  I manage to stay upright with the help of Cole and return her hug, squeezing her as tight as I can. “We missed you too.”

  “So, how was it?” She pulls back, her gaze flickering between Cole and me. “I didn’t get as many updates as I was promised. Actually—” her eyes narrow, “—I didn’t get any updates after Cole told me you went on a date with some random dude. And scenery photos don’t count as an update, so don’t even try.”

  I shoot a panicked look to the side where Cole is standing. “Um… yeah…that guy was a jerk. He had some bet he’d get to sleep with me. I found out. So that’s over.”

  “What?” Her eyes widen. “Did you kick his butt? Can I kick his butt?” She slices a glance at Cole. “Please tell me someone kicked his butt.”

  “Well,” I laugh. “Cole tried to fight him.”

  “Cole won,” he says and reaches for my hand.

  It’s clear to me he means a lot more than the ten-second scuffle between Hudson and him.

  Eva freezes, her eyes locked on Cole’s and my entwined hands. “What’s happening?”

  “Um…yeah…we…sorta… We’re—”

  “Together.” Cole finishes, putting me out of my misery.

  “Together,” Eva echoes.

  Crap. I think we broke her.

  No sooner do those words enter my head than Eva snaps out of it and punches Cole in the arm.

  “Ow.” He rubs the spot w
ith his free hand. “What was that for?”

  “Because this didn’t happen overnight.” She glares at me, the dark liner rimming her eyes makes her appear so much more intimidating. “Which means both of you have been keeping secrets from me.”

  “Not intentionally,” I say. “But we have been lying to yourselves.” I glance at Cole, who smiles at me, his eyes all warm and sparkling. “I think it’s impossible to pretend now. So I hope you can be happy for us.”

  “Well, I guess if you’re happy, I can be happy too. And I suppose it won’t matter much what I think in a few months, anyway. Just try to keep the gross stuff to yourself.”

  I let go of Cole and pull her in for a bear hug. “It will always matter what you think. You’re part of the reason I didn’t go for it a long time ago. The three of us are a package deal. I didn’t want to disturb that.”

  “And the mushy stuff…”

  I laugh, ruffling her hair. “We’ll keep that as G-rated as possible when you’re around.”

  “Then I suppose you have my blessings.” She steps back, attempting to fix the hair I knocked from her braid. “But don’t expect me to take sides when this fails miserably. I mean, this is Cole. Cole. You do realize that, right?”

  I can’t help but beam when I meet his gaze. “Yeah, I do.”

  “Okay. This is entering mushy territory. Let’s go inside and drink some eggnog, and you can tell me all about this trip that would have been a million times better if I was there.”

  Cole snags my hand, and together all three of us walk up the front steps of my house as Cole dives into how terrible of a ski student I am. While my mom and dad are in the kitchen finishing dinner, the three of us sit on the couch and discuss all the stuff that went on at the lodge, including how Cole almost broke his arm the second day when he tried a trick jump, and how I tweaked my ankle.

  The house is warm and smells like cinnamon. My two best friends are right by my side. I’ve somehow survived the trip up to the lodge with minimal physical damage. And I got the guy of my dreams who just so happens to be one of my best friends.

  I’m not gonna lie. This is the best Christmas present I could have ever wished for.

  One year later.

  “You’re doing so much better,” Cole says as he helps me stand. He’s been out here trying to teach me how to ski all afternoon. He didn’t bother putting his own skis on, knowing we’d probably never make it up the mountain.

  If this is better, I don’t want to know what he thinks about where I started.

  “She looks drunk,” Eva says as she slides to a stop next to us. “Does love make you blind or something? You shouldn’t lie to the girl.”

  “Mean.” I slug her in the arm the second I’m standing, but she only laughs.

  Leave it to these two to pick the lodge as the place they want to stay for winter break. Our families are back home, preparing for our annual Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow. This is thankfully our last night here. I managed not to break or sprain anything this year, so I’m ready to quit before the universe gets other ideas.

  I’m still looking forward to soaking in as much Eva time as possible, though.

  She ended up getting accepted to UCLA, fulfilling her dreams. In September, she headed off to California while Cole and I stayed here. She’s studying art and for the first time in her life, gets along with her professors. Might even make straight A’s. As happy as I am, I do miss the stuffing out of her. This is the first time we’ve all been together in person since she left.

  But I don’t want to spend our break this way.

  “Can we go inside for cocoa now?” I ask as I stab the snow with the poles. “We leave in an hour. I don’t want to be a Popsicle the whole drive home.”

  Cole leans in and plants a quick kiss on my shivering lips. “Cocoa, it is.”

  Eva stands behind us, making over-the-top gagging noises. She says she’s happy for us but never lets a moment go by where she’s not reminding us how gross it is for her two best friends to kiss.

  Most of the time, we’re good about keeping the PDA to a minimum, but since coming up here was her idea, I’m in the mood to make her suffer.

  I grab Cole by his jacket, letting my poles drop to the fluffy snow, and pull him in until his sparkling eyes are all out of focus. Then I lay a kiss on him, making sure he knows it’s not just for show. And how can it be? Kissing Cole is better than chocolate and coffee combined. I’d spend my life attached to these lips if I could.

  “Okay. Okay. Let’s get cocoa. Just for the love of God, stop doing that.”

  When I pull back, Eva is off to the side, shielding her eyes. “You’d think after a year you two would be sick of each other.”

  “Never,” Cole expresses my exact thoughts.

  I’ll never be sick of this funny, handsome, sweet caring man.

  “I’ll spend the rest of my life loving him if he’ll let me.” When I gaze into his eyes, my words reflect at me.

  “Wow.” Eva runs a hand down her pink—yes pink—braid. “I never thought all those mushy romantic movie plots you made me sit through were even remotely plausible. Yet, here we are. Two best friends madly and grossly in love.”

  “You’re just mad he got to me first.” I wink at her, and she rolls her eyes in response. One of these days a love bug is gonna bite her. I can’t wait to be there to rub it in her face.

  “Enough disgusting mushy stuff. Let’s talk Christmas presents.” Eva rubs her hands together and grins. “I didn’t buy either of you anything. So your present is me. You’re welcome.”

  “Is there a return receipt?” Cole asks and wins a punch on the arm from Eva.

  “Hardy-har-har.” She scoops up her poles and unclips her snowboard. “Let’s go inside and warm up. An hour isn’t nearly enough time to teach Miss Ungraceful to stay upright. How do you not fall down more?” she calls the last bit over her shoulder as she heads to the lodge.

  “Has she gotten way more cynical since moving to California?” I ask.

  “No. I think we were used to it. I pray for California. Wait till they find out what’s moved to their state.” He reaches up and tugs on the end of my knit beanie. “I have an early Christmas present I want to give you tonight.”

  “We agreed to save money to buy stuff for the apartment.”

  He grins, and I swear there’s a spark of mischief in his eyes. “I know. But I’ve never been one to follow the rules.”

  I bend over to pick up my discarded poles. “And look what it got you.” I motion down the length of my body, making him laugh.

  “Are you guys coming or what?” Eva yells from the side door.

  “Coming,” Cole and I say together.

  “Oh, God, they’re talking in unison now,” Eva mumbles as the door shuts.

  Cole chuckles as he slings an arm over my shoulders. “Part of me wants to lay it on thick just to drive her insane.”

  “Don’t. She might stab you with a fork again.”

  His eyes go wide. “I knew you knew.”

  I shrug as I prop open the door. “She begged me to pretend it didn’t happen so you wouldn’t get her in trouble. What can I say? I liked her better than you at the time.”

  “Oh, take it back.” He reaches for me, but I giggle and let the door shut.

  Before I have the chance to move, the door flies open, and Cole has me pinned to the wall. People are giving us weird looks. I’m pretty sure my squeal of surprise scared the hell out of a kid passing by, but Cole doesn’t seem to notice any of that.

  Only me.

  Most of the time, it’s as if he can see only me. Even when we’re in a crowded room like now.

  “People are staring,” I say.

  “Let them.” He brushes a strand of hair out of my face. “I’m not moving from this spot until you admit that you do and have always loved me more.”

  I squish my mouth to the side, pretending to think. “I mean, it’s like seventy-thirty in Eva’s favor.”

  His fingers dig
into my side, forcing another squeal out of me as I struggle slip free. “Admit it.”

  “Fine. Fine.” He stops tickling me but hovers close in case he needs to attack again. “Sixty-forty.”

  He reaches for me again, but his attack is cut short when Eva whacks him over the head. “Suck it up, Reed. Even though you’re her boyfriend, she’s always liked me best.”

  He rolls his eyes and steps away. “Fine, I concede for now. My Christmas present might change her mind, though.” With those parting words, he leaves Eva and me in the hallway.

  “I’m glad you’re back.”

  “Don’t get attached. I head back in a week.” She reaches down and helps me gather up the ski stuff I dropped during the tickle attack. “You guys should come out to UCLA for spring break. Some sunshine might do you good.”

  “I think we can swing that.”

  “I do miss you.” She bumps me with her hip as we set all the rented equipment on the counter.

  When we’re done, I rest against the wall and watch as Cole fills up three cups with cocoa. “I miss you like crazy too. Nothing is the same around here without you.”

  “Yeah,” she laughs. “You know, it’s funny. When you guys first hooked up, I thought it was going to be super weird. Like it was going to ruin our whole friendship. But now it’s weird to think about when you weren’t together.”

  “You were just feeling all that hot, pent-up attraction.”

  “Gross,” she deadpans as Cole returns with our cocoa.

  “What are we talking about?” he asks.

  “That you guys are disgusting together, and I regret coming here.” She takes a sip of her cocoa as she walks away. “Later, losers. Gonna go pack.” She throws a peace sign over her head as she rounds the corner, making us laugh.

  “Come on. We need to pack too if we’re gonna make it back by dinner.”

  “And my present,” I add as we walk to the elevator.

  Cole chuckles, pressing the button. “For someone who was against it, you sure are eager.”

  “What can I say? I’m a sucker for presents.”

  “And I’m a sucker for you.”