Page 88 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

“Here.” We dried our boots off before I followed him to the kitchen. A big paper bag sat on the counter and he nudged it toward me. “Got you something.”

I shot him a curious look. “You did?”

“Mhm. Open it.” His expression warmed.

I smiled and peeked in the bag before pulling out a yellow raincoat. It was bright, cheerful, and ridiculous. It was like out of a kids’ book except it looked like it fit me.

“You can’t wear that puffy coat all winter here,” he said, leaning on the counter. “You need a good raincoat.”

“Holden,” I murmured. I didn’t know what to say.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I can return it if you don’t like it.”

“No.” I smiled at him. “I love it. I’m just surprised.”

“Try it on.”

He watched me with his arms folded across his chest as I undid the zipper and pulled it on. It came to just above my knees and fit perfect across the shoulders. He stepped forward and pulled the hood up. I studied his face as he did the snaps up under my chin.

This guy. There was a balloon inside my chest, about to pop. I swallowed.

He reached back into the bag and pulled a shoebox out, flipped it open, and put a brown Blundstone boot on the floor.

“You got me boots?” I repeated.

“You can’t wear sneakers in the rain, your feet will get all wet.” He crouched down and his hand brushed the back of my calf so I could step into them. I set my hands on his shoulders as he helped me into the boots. My throat squeezed at the strange intimacy of this moment.

“How did you know what size?”

“I looked inside your sneaker.” He straightened up. “They feel okay?”

I nodded, staring at him in confusion. “You bought this stuff for me?”

He pulled the string on the hood with a little smile on his face. “Yep.”

“Like, you went to a store in town?”

His brow wrinkled. “Mhm.”

My heart squeezed up into my throat. Faster than I could react, tears stung my eyes and spilled over. Holden’s face fell. He stooped and his hands came to my shoulders.

“What’s wrong?” His eyes searched mine and concern creased his brow.

I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his chest. “Thank you.”

I listened to a low hum of approval in his chest. His hand brushed across my back in slow circles. He pulled my hood down and dropped a quick kiss onto the top of my head and my heart flip-flopped. I inhaled his intoxicating smell before I made myself pull back.

Holding him like this was pushing the friends-with-benefits boundary, no matter how good it felt.

“Ready to knock down a wall?” His voice was low and he watched me with an unreadable expression.

I skated my hands over my new raincoat and a grin twisted onto my mouth. “I want to try out my new stuff. Do you think we could take the day off? We can do the demo tomorrow if you’re worried about the schedule.”

He shook his head and warmth filled his eyes. “The schedule is fine. Let’s test out your new boots.”

33

Sadie

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