Noelle sits up, leaving my side suddenly cold as she reaches forward. She pulls a candy cane, and a smeared line of red decorates the end of it.
She throws her hands up. “Team red. Woo!”
Giggling at her ridiculous excitement, I grab on to a candy cane.Please be red. Please be red.
Nancy must see it before I do. As I slide the candy out of her hand, she calls out, “First member of the green team!”
Dammit.
I smile as happily as I can, and thankfully, Nancy quickly turns to Ben. I zone out of the conversation the second Noelle’s warm breath hits my ear.
“You are so going down,” she taunts me, whispering to me.
My cheeks instantly flush, but I try not to physically react. She pulls back just enough for me to turn and look at her. As I turn my head, I realize she is much closer than I thought. My nose grazes hers, and I pull back just a few inches.
My eyelids flutter as my gaze drops to her lips. I’m aware of how slow my breathing has become, how I became hyperaware of her slightest movements. Which makes it impossible to miss the most delicate lift of her lips and the widening of her pupils.
I might be imagining things. I could totally just be convincing myself of this. But then her lips part, and I feel the energy between us tighten. I have an active imagination, but I knowthatwas real.
Ben’s voice cuts through the ringing silence in my ears, and it takes me a second to process what he said. “Should we tell them that we can see them?”
Nancy shushes him.
Oh my God. Her entire family is watching us right now.
Red floods my cheeks and runs rampant down my neck and chest. I fly back, putting as much space between Noelle and me as I possibly can on the couch. I have never been so embarrassed in my life.
“Oh my God,” I mumble to myself.
Suddenly, everyone bursts out in laughter. Which seems to spread like wildfire between them. Finding the courage to look toward Noelle, I see the sweetest smile on her bright red face.
And I have absolutely no idea what to make of what just happened. Did we just get caught up in the moment of our fake relationship?
Ben waves his hands, calming the group down. “I was just teasing you both.” He chuckles. “I’m sorry, but you should have seen your reactions. It was the ultimate hand-stuck-in-a-cookie-jar face. You both turned tomato red. It was quite entertaining on our end.” He laughs again.
Noelle winds her arm back and launches her candy cane at him. “You’re a jerk.” Her grin betrays her menacing tone. “What team are you on, Ben? I’m just going to target you.”
He raises his candy cane with victory. “Team red.”
“I don’t care. I’m going after you anyway,” Noelle says snarkily as she shrugs.
Ben throws his hands out in frustration. “You can’t just make up the rules, Noelle.”
She scoffs. “Fine, then switch teams.”
He groans. “The whole point of drawing teams is to have it be random.”
“Who made that rule?” Noelle asks with no inflection in her tone.
I have a feeling that she is setting him up right now.
Ben shakes his head with a knowing look in his eyes. “I did when I came up with the rules.”
Noelle clears her throat. “But did you not just state—and I quote—‘You can’t just make up the rules,’ Ben?”
His nostrils flare. “When I created the tradition—”
“It’s a yes or no question,” Noelle interrupts him.
