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When Alex bumps into his childhood crush, she’s hesitant to rekindle their relationship. So he suggests a game: They’d go on ten dates…without sex.
EXCERPT:
“I need a Halloween costume.”
She freezes mid-step and stares at me like I’ve said something insanely ridiculous. “Did you say Halloween?”
“Yes.”
“The holiday that falls on October thirty-first each year?”
I frown. “Yes, that’s the one.”
“The one that’s two months away?”
Yes, this is the Halloween I’m speaking of. Not sure why she needs so much clarification. Last time I checked, that particular holiday hasn’t changed in, well, not in my lifetime at least. And considering we look to be about the same age, I’d say not in hers either.
“That’s two months away,” she repeats, still staring at me like I’ve lost my marbles. “I haven’t even begun to set up my Halloween displays. My costumes left over from last year are still in storage, and the new ones I ordered won’t be here for at least two weeks. It’s still summer, for Christ’s sake.”
My gaze bounces around the shop again. “There are a ton of costumes here.”
“Yes, but they aren’t Halloween costumes.”
Something about this exchange feels a lot like dèjá vu. As if someone snapped their fingers and took me back to my childhood. There was this girl who lived next door to me. Her name was Victoria, and we were polar opposites. I said tomahto, she said tomato, and we’d argue until I got sick of it and let her have her way. She’d never let me have the last word…ever.
“Wait—Victoria Ruben?”
She looks up sharply.
“Vicks?” I give the rainbow hair a cursory glance and then dismiss it. Hair could easily be altered. But eyes…those vivid green eyes had always felt as though they were staring into my soul whenever they looked at me. Considering we lived next door to each other for ten years, that happened a lot.
“Ugh. No one has called me Vicks VapoRub in a decade, at least. Not since middle school.” She narrows her eyes and studies me until the light pops on over her head. Not literally, of course, but her face brightens with recognition after a few moments.
“Alex? Holy cripes, Alex Darling? Well, aren’t you a blast from my past. How the hell are you?” She grasps my bicep and gives it a squeeze, then leaves her hand there while staring at my shirtsleeve. “Wow.”
“Wow what?” I glance down at her hand now roaming my arm and shoulder, almost like she’s giving me a massage. It feels kind of good. Must to her, too, if the state of her nipples is any indication.
“You’ve filled out. I mean, you’re still on the skinny side and, not surprisingly, tall as all get out, but damn.”
While Victoria, er, Tori’s childhood nickname had been based around her name, mine were all about my stature. Bean Pole, Daddy Long Legs, Gandalf, Q-Tip. I’ve heard them all—and I’m pretty sure Victoria came up with every single one of them.
“So have you,” I retort, and then snap my mouth shut because where the hell did my filter run off to?
She glances down at her perky nips and chuckles. “Yeah, they tend to do that when I rub buff guys’ arms.”
Unlike me, Vicks never had a filter.