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“You’d be surprised.” My voice dropped low, my teasing turning into flirting real fast. I didn’t even mean to, but it happened, and the air thickened between us. Her proposal from earlier jumped to the front of my mind, and all the reasons I wanted to say no disappeared.

Her lips parted, and her gaze heated, her hands coming up to my best as she swallowed hard. “I’m really proud of you. It might sound cheesy, but I’m seriously so fucking proud of you, and I want you to know that. You say you could be more like me, but I disagree. I wish I could be more like you.”

That was not what I expected. Her hands remained on me, her fingers digging into my pecs as I slid my hands down her sides. Her words hit me like a train, almost toppling me over. Hearing her say I made her proud had me smiling wide. “Thank you, J. That was awful sweet of you.”

“Me and sweet don’t go in the same sentence.”

“I know. You’re a black cat, but that was a sweet thing to say, and I’m thankful for it. I needed that little boost.” I kissed her forehead, only lingering for a second, before I sighed. “We should do this thing, huh? Get it over with?”

“One hour. We placate your parents for one hour, get some meaty steak and potatoes, then we escape to the hotel.”

I wanted to ask what we’d do then but wasn’t a fool. I knew we’d have to talk about her proposal and what that meant, and I wasn’t sure I was in the right headspace for that. Not after spending time with my divorcing parents.

“How is your junior year going, Jordan?” my dad asked her after his third glass of wine.

It’d been over an hour, and we were still here. The food took a long time, and while it was good, I was worried my parents’ good behavior would expire. I couldn’t fucking relax for one second.

“It’s been interesting. My best friend moved in with me after years of dreaming about it. You remember Logan. She’s dating Hawthorne now, and that’s fun. But junior year is good.”

“You have an internship coming up, right?” my mom asked, also on her third glass of wine. My parents weren’t drinkers really, so I wasn’t sure if she was doing so just to get through dinner or if it was a new habit they picked up.

But it made my nerves worse.

“I do, yes. How did you know?”

“Preston mentioned it sometime in August, I think.” My mom narrowed her eyes at me. “Back when you picked up my calls.”

Here we go.

“Julie, don’t start. He has his own life now. He’s busy having fun.”

“Sure, but I miss our FaceTime calls. I liked hearing about the shenanigans you got into with Jordan and Logan.”

“Oh, I can provide a quick update on all the shenanigans if you’d like. A recap of sorts.” Jordan winked at my mom, instantly calming the brewing storm. “Let’s see, we did mud wrestling, the naked party, game night, video games, parties, oh, a few classes here and there…”

The tension diffused, and both my parents laughed.

She continued, going into detail about some of the dumb shit we did, and I eventually relaxed into my chair.

Jordan was a fucking rockstar, taking charge of the conversation and keeping it light.

She balanced the art of not making it horrible small talk but avoiding any topics that could be problematic. Fuck, this girl was incredible.

“Jesus, you guys are something else.” My dad chuckled hard and stared at me with pride. “I’m glad you’re having fun, Preston. Even with your discipline with hockey, it makes me real happy to see you enjoy your college years. When you go to the pros, you won’t have that fun at first.”

“Thanks, Dad,” I said, blushing. “Jordan is a huge part of it.” I ignored the last part of his sentence. Filed that away with just another thing to think about later. Wasn’t sure if pros was an option or if that was what I wanted.

“I can see that.” My dad beamed at her. “Glad you two have each other.”

Would that change if we had sex? My mind immediately went there. She could have sex with people and feel nothing. I wasn’t sure I was wired that way. Was giving into this chemistry worth losing my best friend?

“It’s nice having Preston as a best friend. Not sure what I’d do without him. This guy has saved me more times than I can count. The other night, he saved me from the worst date ever…”

She told the story, and both my parents looked at me with concern. I knew those expressions, and I avoided them and chose to play with my leftover salad. It didn’t have enough croutons, so I didn’t eat it, but it was better than answering their obvious question. Do you love Jordan?

Yes. I did. Of course I did, but no I couldn’t do shit about it. I yawned just as Jordan placed her hand on my forearm. “We should head back, yeah? You seem tired.”

“Yeah. I am.” I was also full, confused, and exhausted from worrying about a verbal war breaking out.

“Honey, you two head back to the hotel. Your father and I can stay here and finish the bottle.” My mom stared at my dad, this time without fury. “We have stuff we could talk about.”

“Yeah, we do,” my dad said softly. His tone was weird. Strange. Gross, even.

“Oh-kay, yeah, we’re leaving.” Jordan tugged me up and handed me my jacket. “Thank you both so much for dinner.”

“You’re welcome. Get back safely.”

Jordan called an Uber, and we headed downstairs, not saying a word. When we got to the foyer, she burst out laughing. “My god, your parents are gonna hate fuck.”

“Gah!” I covered my ears with my hands, blanching. “Jordan, no.”

“They totally are. The wine helped.” She snickered but stopped when she saw my face. “Sorry, sorry, sorry. I’ll stop.”

“Please. Yes, shut it.”

She pressed her lips together, the humor still on her face as I glared at her. She sobered up, a more serious look taking over when she grabbed my hands. “What would make you feel better tonight? Seriously, whatever you want, I’ll do.”

Oh, I know what I want.

Clearing my throat, I kept my inside thoughts inside. “A distraction. I just want a distraction.”

“Well that, Charming, is my middle name.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me, and a twinkle formed in her eye. She had no idea she already was a disruption for me. “You name the place, and I’ll figure out a game. Hotel room or bar?”

“Bar,” I croaked out. I still wasn’t ready to answer the friends with bennies question, and us being alone in the room would cloud my judgement.

“Bar it is, my guy. Follow me.”