Chapter 6

December 18th

2:15 p.m.

Savage Boxing Gym was quiet. In one corner, Seth was sparring with another guy in the boxing ring, and there were two guys in the weights area taking turns to spot each other on the bench, but other than that, there was no one else around. I did my best to ignore the feeling of disappointment that was rising inside me.

Annoyingly, I found myself humming along to today's festive song—"DJ Play a Christmas Song" by Cher. I guess I had to thank-slash-berate my older sister for my new and unwelcome familiarity with the song, since it seemed to be her current favourite Christmas tune. Entering the changing rooms and encountering blissful silence, I shed my everyday clothes, pulling on shorts and a sleeveless workout top. After throwing my bag into the closest locker and lacing up my trainers, I made my way back to the gym floor.

I was so lost in thought that I was walking on autopilot, and all the breath was knocked from my lungs when I suddenly bumped into a very hot, very hard, and very delicious body.

"Fuck. Sorry. Didn't see you there," I mumbled, feeling my cheeks heat as I lifted my head to meet Ryan's gorgeous hazel eyes.

He shifted on his feet, tearing his gaze away from me, his eyes going to the ceiling and then back to my face. "My fault." Was it my imagination, or had his voice dropped an octave or two?

His gaze flicked back to the ceiling, and I followed its trajectory, my mouth going dry as soon as I saw what had caught his attention.

Above our heads, taped to a metal pipe that ran across the room, was a sprig of mistletoe.

I was…discombobulated. That was the only word I had. Swiping my tongue across my lips, I tried and failed to get some moisture in my mouth.

"Mistletoe." Ryan's voice held a hoarseness to it that hadn't been there a minute earlier. "We, uh?—"

"We should respect traditions." Fuck, where was this coming from? My palms were sweaty, and my heart was beating faster as I avoided his gaze, instead concentrating on a loose thread on the hem of my sleeveless T-shirt.

"We should?" Ryan cleared his throat. "Yeah. I mean, yeah. We should. It's probably bad luck to ignore it."

A tiny smile tugged at my lips, and my heart leapt, even as I told myself to calm down. "It probably is," I agreed. "We can't afford to jinx anything this close to Christmas."

"Okay." When had he moved closer? His breath was hitting my lips, and our bodies would be touching if either of us took another step forwards. "Sam?"

The way he said my name made me fucking melt. "Yeah?" I raised my gaze to his, and my heart stuttered.

Slowly, carefully, he angled his head, brushing his lips across mine in the softest, sweetest kiss I'd ever had in my life.

It was over as quickly as it had begun, but the entire duration of my time in the gym, I couldn't stop my eyes from going to wherever he was, from my fingers going to my mouth where his lips had touched mine, from my mind replaying our kiss over and over again.

Did it mean anything?

Was my imagination running away with me?

I had to know.

Gathering every bit of courage I possessed, I approached him as I was making my way back to the changing rooms after my workout. "Hey, Ryan?"

His head shot up as he lost interest in the weights rack he was standing in front of, his entire focus going to me. "Yeah?"

"Would you…what would you say if I suggested us having another drink? Maybe a less—a less awkward one? Moving forwards?"

"You want to try that again?" Although his brows lifted, he gave me a crooked smile.

"I do." Injecting as much determination as I could into my voice, I held his gaze. "A proper fresh start. Now we've cleared the air, I'd like…I'd really like another chance to see if we can salvage something." Shit, my voice had cracked at the end.

His gaze softened, and he moved the tiniest bit closer. I could feel the rise and fall of his chest against mine. "We can do more than salvage something. You were my best friend in the entire fucking world once, and I—" He broke off, lifting his hand to cup my jaw. As he stared at his hand with a slightly disbelieving look, like it wasn't attached to him, his thumb stroked across my skin. Shivers ran through my body at his touch, and I sucked in a breath as he finally continued his aborted sentence. "I think I'd like to be your friend again."

As soon as he'd spoken those words, his hand dropped and his cheeks flushed, but he didn't move away from me.

"O-okay. Uh, how about Saturday? The twenty-third? I'll be finished with all my uni work until the new year, and the gym closes for Christmas on Friday, too, right? So you'll be ready to celebrate by Saturday." It was so hard to get the words out as they caught in my throat, and I sucked in a desperate breath, getting a lungful of sweat and spice and something that was all man and all Ryan, and I wanted to inhale it forever.

"Saturday? It's only Monday—I mean, yeah, Saturday's fine. Eight-ish? Same place as before?" He took a step back from me with a casual nod of his head, and I couldn't decide if I was relieved or disappointed, although I could at least breathe again.

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Eight. Yeah, that sounds good to me. See you there."

Then, I made my way to the changing rooms, doing my best to ignore the impulse to look back at him. It might have been my imagination, but it felt like we'd turned a corner ever since we'd cleared the air at the pub. And today… That kiss.

I knew it would replay in my mind constantly until I saw him on Saturday.