Page 26 of The Girlfriend Goal

Winter break loomed like a power play I couldn't kill. Two weeks without seeing Rachel stretched ahead, an impossibility I refused to accept. We'd been doing our casual thing for weeks now, and the thought of fourteen days without her presence made my chest tight.

"You're moping again," Matt observed from his spot on the couch, where he was definitely not texting Jared despite the dopey smile on his face.

"I don't mope," I said, checking my phone for the dozenth time. Rachel had been weirdly quiet about her break plans, deflecting whenever I brought it up.

"You've been staring at that same page in your textbook for twenty minutes," Matt pointed out. "Either you've suddenly developed the ability to absorb information through osmosis, or you're moping about your 'casual' girlfriend going home for break."

"She's not going home," I said without thinking, then immediately regretted it when Matt perked up.

"Oh? And how do you know that?"

I shrugged. "She mentioned staying on campus. Budget stuff."

The truth was more complicated. Rachel had let it slip during one of our post-hookup conversations—those dangerous moments when her walls came down and she shared pieces of herself she'd normally guard.

Her family couldn't afford her flight home, and she was too proud to admit it to them.

The thought of her spending break alone in her empty apartment made something fierce and protective rise in my chest.

"So invite her to Vermont," Matt said, like it was obvious.

"To your family's ski cabin?"

"Why not? I'm already dragging Jared along." He grinned at my shocked expression. "What? We're friends. Friends go on ski trips together."

"Friends," I repeated skeptically.

"Shut up." But he was smiling. "Look, it's perfect. Four friends, hanging out, definitely no romantic undertones whatsoever. Very casual."

The idea took root immediately. Rachel couldn't object to a group trip, right? It wasn't like I was asking her to meet my family or anything serious. Just friends hanging out in a winter cabin. Friends who happened to have seen each other naked. Repeatedly.

"She'll never agree to it," I said, but I was already planning my approach.