More than Once

12

She turned to face me and flashed a big smile, wiping at her eyes. “Enough about that. It’s Christmas Eve and I’m done being upset. How was your day?”

Even though she didn’t want to talk about it, I could tell things with Matt were strained lately. From my bedroom I could often hear them fighting, but I wasn’t sure what about if it wasn’t me. But with our parents waiting and Christmas Eve dinner about to start, this wasn’t the time to talk about it. Instead, I’d do my sisterly duty and distract her with how much worse my own life was—one of our favorite pastimes.

“My day was s**t,” I said. “Don’t tell Mom and Dad, but I got fired.”

“Oh, Becca. What happened?”

“The usual. I mouthed off to my manager ‘cause I can’t seem to stay out of trouble for five minutes.”

“That’s why I love you.” She gave me a quick squeeze, and I hugged her back hard, trying to give her strength. Or maybe I needed some of her strength.

“That’s not even the worst of it. Brett dumped me, too.”

“What? No! I really thought this one might be a keeper.”

“Turns out he didn’t feel that way about me. He said I wasn’t the type of girl his parents would want him to date or some bullshit.”

“What a butthole,” my sister said, the closest she ever came to swearing. She wrapped an arm around me. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. He was boring anyway.” I leaned against her, and we stared out the window, at the snow dancing through the air and all the shining, decorated houses. “But um… I sort of ran into that guy I told you about. Andy.”

She squealed, making me jump. “The Comic-Con hook-up? Who you had the best s*x of your life with? No freaking way!”

“That’s him. And, uh, he’s coming to dinner tonight.”

“Oh my gosh, this is the best news I’ve heard all day.” She clapped her hands together in a way that reminded me so much of our mom. “I always knew the two of you would find each other again. And on Christmas Eve? It’s so romantic!”

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s not get carried away here. Besides, he’s just doing me a favor. He’s going to pretend to be Brett.”

“Um, why?”

“Because that’s who Mom and Dad are expecting tonight—my perfect boyfriend. Then they’ll see that I’ve changed and will help me go back to college.”

She stared at me for a heartbeat, and then she dissolved into giggles. “You can’t be serious.”

I crossed my arms, giving her a stern look, but secretly I was glad to see her laughing, even if it was at my expense. “Completely. Why is this so funny?”

“What happens if you and Andy start dating for real? Are you going to call him Brett forever? Will your kids call him that, too?” She kept giggling, covering her mouth, but her entire body shook as she tried to hold it in.

“Not going to happen. Neither one of us wants anything serious. There will be no dating and definitely no kids.” I paused, remembering our deal. “Actually, I did agree to go on a date with him.” At that, she started giggling again and I quickly said, “But just one date and that’s it!”

“Mmhmm. Keep telling yourself that.”

“Look, can I count on you to go along with this or not? At least for tonight?”

“You can always count on me, Becca.” She held out her pinky and I shook it with my own. “Sisters first and forever.”

“Thanks. And when Christmas is over, I want you to tell me what’s going on with you and Matt.”

“I will. I promise.”

My phone beeped, letting me know I had a text. I checked it and cringed, my stomach twisting painfully. Kyle.

First Jared, now his brother? My phone only showed the first part of the text in my notifications. Becca, call us ASAP. We need…

“What’s that?” my sister asked. “Is it Andy?”

“No.” I swiped the message away without reading the rest of it. Whatever it was, I couldn’t get involved with them again. It hurt too much to think about my former band, and I’d spent the last few months trying to move past that life. “It’s nothing.”

The doorbell rang, and Trish jumped to her feet with another squeal. “He’s here! Are you ready?”

Outside the window, I saw Andrew’s silver Audi parked in front of the house. I sucked in a deep breath. “Ready.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

ANDREW

I watched the snow quickly covering up my windshield, wondering what I’d gotten myself into. Sure, being alone on Christmas Eve sucked, but pretending to be Becca’s boyfriend could only lead to trouble.

What was I thinking asking her out on a date? I wasn’t ready for a relationship, not in the slightest, but the question had just slipped out of my mouth, like I’d been possessed or something. Luckily, she seemed to feel the same about keeping things casual. We could go on a few dates and have a good time without it leading to anything serious, right? And if she only wanted to be friends in the end that would be fine, although I couldn’t deny I was hoping for a repeat of our night together at some point. Now that I’d found Becca a second time, all I could think about was getting her alone and naked again.

The clock ticked over to 6:03 and I shoved those thoughts to the back of my head. If I waited any longer, I would be late, and that would leave a bad impression on her parents. Had to be the perfect boyfriend and all.