Chapter 1
Summer
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask Nick.
We are running around in the field between his house and mine, but he stops and looks at me funny.
"I'm going to marry you," he says.
"Why would you do that?" I ask, rolling my eyes.
I mean, we are only ten years old. Marriage is for old people. I have things to do with my life.
"Because you make my heart race, and my dad says Mom makes his heart race, and that's love." He has this determined look in his eyes.
"Your heart is racing because we were just running around. Now stop being a sap already." I take off running again.
My phone starts ringing, breaking me from my daydream. Nick is my best friend. We grew up together, but lately, that same memory keeps popping into my head the more distance there is between us.
Speaking of Nick, he’s the one calling me.
"Hi," I answer.
"Hey, how’s the weather up there?" He asks like he always does. It's like he needs a way to break the ice before we start talking.
I currently live in Memphis, Tennessee and he is in Jacksonville, Florida, so the weather can be nice, hot, and sunny there and cloudy and cold here.
"We have some sun today, actually it's been great for getting some writing done," I tell him. "I was thinking of walking downtown later and see what blues music I can find."
I'm writing for a woman's magazine and have the luxury of working from home so I can live anywhere. Which has been nice because I've moved around a lot since graduating college. No place has felt like home.
"Well, you are coming down for Tony's wedding, right?" He wants to know.
Ahhh yes. Our friend Tony from high school is getting married next week there in Jacksonville. Tony is a good guy. He was shy but seems to have grown out of it because he's finally getting married to an amazing girl.
They decided to have a Valentine’s Day wedding and asked all the girls to wear shades of red and pink and all the guys to wear black or white. It will be so cheesy but it’s for Tony, so I’ll go.
"Yeah, I’ll be down. I need to book a room," I say.
I know what’s coming next. He will offer me his guest room, but his girlfriend Ashley isn't my biggest fan. To put it bluntly, she doesn't like me, and she isn't afraid to let me know it, even if she hides it from Nick, so I plan to steer clear of her at all costs.
"No, you can stay here," he says.
"Nick, no. I... "
"No, listen, Ashley and I broke up and all her stuff is gone. It will be just you and me."
I hesitate because as his friend I know I should say things like 'oh no I'm so sorry' and 'what happened,' but inside I'm just doing a jig that she is gone. He can do so much better than her.
Nick chuckles. "She broke up with me, but thanks for asking."
I sigh, "I never liked her." I say honestly.
"I know. So, this is settled, right? You’re going to stay with me. We can catch up and go to the wedding together. Then we can watch everyone get drunk and make fools out of themselves. The food will be good and there will be cake. We can be each other’s Valentine’s, and do all the cheesy stuff together. Stay a few extra days and we can hit the beach, catch up. What do you say?"
A few days on the beach sounds amazing and I would like to catch up with him more than just the quick phone calls we have been having.
"Okay, I’ll be there," I say.
We hang up and I stare at my half-finished article on the best makeup to prevent your skin from breaking out. The research I did for this piece on the ingredients in makeup makes me never want to use it again for the rest of my life.
I flip over my post on twenty gifts for your best friend. This one is pretty easy as I just have to sort through the folder with hundreds of gift ideas from our sponsors, come up with a list, and explain why they make good gifts. But even this simple article can't hold my attention.
Nick may be my best friend, but I haven't spent a night at his place since high school when my parents went on a twenty-year anniversary vacation and his parents let me stay with them. That was almost seven years ago.
I have to be overthinking this. So, I call my friend Maddie, who lives a few floors down, and she is up here in minutes. I relate the whole story to her as I pack.
"Okay, so you’re going to stay at a friend’s house and you get your best friend as your Valentine. What’s the big deal?"
I pull up Nick's most recent social media picture and show her.
"Wow." That is all she says as she drools over the photo.
Nick has always been handsome. It's why the girls wanted him in school and hated me just for being friends with him.
Now though, Nick has muscles that he isn't afraid to show off, and a nice tan from the Florida sun. His dark brown hair is long enough to run your fingers through, and he wears a beard that makes him sexy as hell.
"That is not my Nick," I tell her.
"When was the last time you saw him in person?"
"A little over two years ago, before he started dating Ashley.”
"And nothing more friendly has happened between you guys?"
"Nope. The girls in school hated me for being his friend. Hell, his ex-hated me for being his friend, but we never exchanged more than a friendly hug."
"I don't know how you did it." She says, eyeing Nick up again.
"He didn't look like that back then."
"Well, just follow his lead. Remember, he is just a friend. He is the same guy, I assume, from the last time you saw him. I don't see the problem here," she says.
The problem is the massive crush I've had on this guy since high school and it doesn’t help that just his voice turns me on.
