Page 10 of Enemies to Lovers

Joy laughs, pulling her Rudolph nose off. “You guys want food before the white elephant?”

“Yes,” I say in a rush. After all that, I’m starved.

Logan plucks his nose off as well. “I’ll find us a table before things get crowded.”

“I’ll grab you food.” I know what he likes, and he prefers not to stand in a potluck line, anyway.

Miles whispers something in Joy’s ear, then stalks off to the bathroom. Joy follows me to the buffet line and hands me a plate. I don’t waste any time piling it up with ham and cheesy potatoes.

“You having fun?”

“Hell yeah.” I plop a roll onto my plate. “It’s always fun to see Miles get all grumpy.”

Her shoulders shake with silent laughter, then she checks to see we’re out of earshot before asking me point blank. “You like him, don’t you?”

Heat blazes through my cheeks. “It’s obvious, huh?”

“To me.” She scoops a hefty portion of potatoes on her plate. “There are a lot of girls who like Miles.”

“Oh, I’m aware.” Growing up with him allowed me a front-row seat to all the fawning, and I am no exception. I thought I was less obvious about it, but guess not. I lean in to Joy. “Be honest… do I have a shot? Because it’s been… well, a lot of years, and I’m afraid of making a move.”

She purses her lips, and I get my answer straight away.

“Yeah, I was afraid of that.” I mean, if I was his type, he’d have asked me out in the last twenty years, surely.

“No, no… my face was not…” She sighs and checks on the guys again. “Miles is just… shy.”

I snort. “Not sure if that’s the word I’d use.”

She laughs with me, then bumps my shoulder. “Maybe I’ll try to nudge him in your direction. He does talk about you a lot.”

My heart pitter patters. So he does notice me. “Don’t pull my leg.”

“I’m not. He’s very… passionate when he brings you up.”

Officially the best day ever. I want more details, but my mouth I tell myself not to push it. It’s not like we’re besties gossiping.

I find Logan sitting at the very far table—of course—and I put his plate in front of him. He gives me a grateful grin for the chocolate cupcake I got him. After a few minutes of chatting with Joy, Miles joins us with a hefty portion of cheesy potatoes on his plate. I bite away a grin as he stabs his food.

“Bitter?” I whisper tease to him. He narrows his eyes at me and doesn’t answer. “Oh come on…” I boldly pinch him above the elbow, my newfound courage brought on by mine and Joy’s conversation. “You had fun. Admit it.”

He sighs and tilts his head, his hair falling over his forehead. He finally meets my eyes, and amusement turns the corners of his mouth. “Well, it was nice beating you at that puzzle.”

I nudge him with my shoulder, and the most beautiful laugh in existence falls from his lips.

If that was the only prize I got for winning, I’d gladly take it.

“Scootch, please. I need cuddles.” Sammie pushes on my shoulder, squishing me right up to the arm of the couch. Sammie plops on the middle cushion, wrapping her arms around Hershey, who is determined to think she’s a lap dog.

“Comfy?” I tease my sister. I’m smashed in a too-small space, but she nods without a regretful bone in her body.

“Who won last week?” Paxton asks, slumping into the seat on the other side of Sammie with a giant bowl of popcorn. Some kernels fall out and land on the floor. Emerson, my youngest sister, picks them up and gives them to Hershey.

“Ransom,” I answer, patting my lab and then grabbing the remote. I pull upForged in Fireand wait for the rest of our Sunday Binge crew to come into the family room.

Our whole family is close and got even closer when my parents split. Mom and Dad acted as if they were just waiting for the day Emerson was old enough so they could up and leave. It crippled our relationship—one that hasn’t and probably won’t heal for a while.

Hunter, my oldest brother, became a second dad to us. As soon as I was able, I applied for a mortgage on this house and offered the extra rooms to my sisters. To keep us together, I started a Sunday dinner thing that morphed into a bet.

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