Page 58 of Holiday Hook Up

She smiled and hung her coat back up. “Okay. I’ll hitch a ride home with Emma and Jason. Be safe.”

Her concerned words touched his heart. “I’ll text you when I’m home.” He put his hand on the door, but hesitated, not wanting to leave without addressing what almost finally happened.

Go on.Tell her how you feel.

“Do you need something, Adam?”

He turned around. “I had a really good time tonight.”

“Me, too.”

He smiled and put his hand back on the door. That was not exactly telling her how he felt. They’d had the same exchange at the Majestic Theater. Though, this time it was him running out.

“LB.” Without thinking how she might react, he spun back around. “This thing between us, it’s real, right? I mean . . . um . . . the thing is . . . we were about to kiss.”

Oh, God. Did he really ask her if they were about to kiss back there? He might as well turn in his man card.

She moved her hair to the side. “Maybe we could try again soon?”

Yes!“I’d like that,” he managed to spit out without stammering like an idiot.

“Good,” she repeated. “But maybe we can take things slow.”

Slow? How much slower could they take it? “Yeah. Definitely.” He didn’t want to sound overeager. His phone buzzed again, and he held it up. “It’s the station letting me know the address.”

“You don’t have to go to the firehouse?”

“No. The truck’s already on its way. They keep gear in the truck for all us volunteers. All I need to do is show up and do whatever it is they tell me.” He scrolled through the text.

“Anyone we know?”

He looked down at his screen. Oh, God. Itwassomeone they both knew. The familiar house number caused a rush of panic to shoot through him. Not wanting to alarm Bethany, he said, “It’s a small place across town. I’m sure it’s nothing. The firetruck’s already there. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Adam.”

“Bye, LB.” He stepped out into the cold. Once out of sight, he raced to the truck and jumped in. At the speed he flew through town, it took him no time to pull into his former house, praying Rachel was okay.

Bethany walked backover to the fireplace, wrapping her arms around her middle. Adam was right. This life was wonderful.

Could they be on their way to exploring a wonderful life together as a couple?

Whoa. Take your own suggestion just now and slow down.

Before anything started between them, she’d have to tell him everything. Maybe the First Kiss Ball was the place to do it. It would at least give her a couple more days to rehearse what she was going to say in front of her bathroom mirror.

Perhaps once he’d learned the truth, he’d laugh it off and admit that he’d always wanted to kiss her, too.

Then he’d take her into his arms and their lips would finally touch again. When they did, that second kiss between them was going to be every bit as magical as the first.

That thought brought on a big smile. She grabbed the fire poker and poked the log until it started to crackle.

“For the love of God!” came Abby’s voice from the second floor. “Brandon, stop opening it up.”

Josh and Caitlin busted out of the kitchen, both looking a little disheveled.

“What’s going on?” Caitlin asked, raking her hand through her long, messy locks while Josh buttoned up his shirt.

“I don’t know.” Bethany put down the poker and crossed the room. “Abby, are you okay?” she yelled her question from the foot of the stairs, turning her back so the couple could button everything they needed to.

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