“Then I’ll just dump you,” Forest chuckles.
Remembering the beer in my hand, I take a sip. My gaze locks on Forest’s again. It’s not like it would be a hardship to pretend with him. Forest has stunning gray eyes, and with his muscled body, tanned skin, and dark chocolate hair, even I’d have to be blind to not see how hot he is. The only reason I haven’t fallen for him is that our friendship means everything to me.
“We’ll have to put rules in place,” I say. “I don’t want it to affect our friendship.”
“Rule one,” Forest instantly begins, “I do the dumping.”
I let out a burst of laughter. “Okay. What else do you have?”
He thinks for a couple of minutes. “Obviously, no tongue.”
I let out a burst of awkward laughter. “That’s a given.”
“Damn,” Forest mutters, shaking his head. It looks like he’s starting to second guess this deal, but then he says, “You know we’ll have to practice this shit to make it look real?”
“What?” I ask, frowning. “Kissing?”
Forest nods as he leans back against the side of the car. “We probably looked like two frozen idiots back there.”
I pull a disgruntled face, and remembering the tingles I felt, I mutter, “We weren’t that bad.”
“If you say so,” he teases me, then his expression grows serious again. “What are your rules?”
“Obviously, it can’t affect our friendship.”
Forest’s gaze narrows on me for a moment, but then he nods.
A grin begins to grow around my mouth. “I’m high maintenance.”
“Yeah,” he chuckles, “trust me, I know.”
Shrugging, I say, “I can’t think of any rules.”
“God, you guys are really going to do this?” Carla suddenly asks next to us, almost giving me a heart attack. “Cause if that’s the case, I’m setting up a contract. We’re putting this in black and white, so if things go to shit, I’m not caught in the middle.”
“The middle of what?” I ask. Even though I’m closer with Forest than Carla, her opinion is important to me. I’d never place her in an uncomfortable position.
Carla ticks everything off on her fingers as she states, “I won’t play messenger between the two of you when this bites you in the ass. I won’t choose between the two of you. I won’t listen to whatever problems you have with each other. I’m freaking Switzerland.”
“Okay,” Forest agrees. “Not that any of those things will happen.”
“We love you too much to put you in that position. Don’t worry,” I say, and hooking my arm through Carla’s, we begin to walk back to the bonfire. “I need something stronger than a beer.”
Chapter 2
FOREST
It’s been one hell of a long night. I let out a patient sigh after tucking Carla in her bed, then I go to pull Aria up where she’s barely managing to sit on the edge of the mattress.
“Come on. Time to sleep,” I say as I pull her up against my body.
“Don’t wanna,” she mumbles.
I manage to guide her into the hallway of Carla’s cottage, which is in the backyard of her parents’ mansion. Thank God for small mercies because if Uncle Julian saw how drunk the two girls got tonight, it would be my ass on the line.
Aria begins to pull against my hold on her shoulders. “I’m not tired. Let’s stay up and play truth or dare.”
“You know all my secrets, and you’ve had more than enough to drink,” I mutter as I steer her toward the closest guest room. I’ll be staying in the other, and right now, I just want to shower the stink from the bonfire off of me and crawl between the covers.
Walking into the room, I get Aria to sit on the side of the bed. Crouching, I pull off her heels and toss them to the side.
“Why can’t I attract the right guy?” she mumbles.
“You’ll meet him one day,” I answer automatically.
“Yeah, but why do I only attract assholes and shy guys? Either the guy only wants to get in my pants, or he has no clue how to even kiss me. It’s always so awkward. There’s never any sparks.” She falls back on the mattress, her lashes low over her eyes as she stares at me. “I bet you know what to do between the sheets. Right? Why can’t I meet someone like you?”
I let out a chuckle. “I’m one of a kind.” Placing my knee on the mattress, I push an arm under Aria and shift her up to the pillows.
She turns onto her side and tucks her one hand under a pillow. “You know, when we kissed earlier, and you framed my face?”
“Yeah,” I murmur as I sit down.
“That was more romantic than anything any guy has ever done with me. They either slobber all over me, or they try and eat my damn lips.” Aria sits back up and crossing her legs, she gives me a serious look. “You should give lessons.”