“Ah. You have wanderlust.” There was a decisive tone to her voice, like she was delivering a diagnosis. She grabbed the bottle from him. “Well, thanks for the kiss. Good luck with youradventures.” She saidadventureslike it was a curse. And then she sailed out of the kitchen, leaving him with half a hard-on and her salty-sweet taste on his lips, questioning his own convictions.
Chapter Two
11 1/2 months later…
December 16th
“We should go to the party.”
Jess looked up from the fundraiser plans spread out on the desk before her. Naomi Simpson, her bestie and one of the counselors at Starlight House, a group home for at-risk adolescent girls, bustled into the little office. Her smile was wide, and her usually cool-toned brown skin was flushed.
“What party?”
“The one your friend Rhianne is throwing tonight.” Naomi perched on the edge of the desk, her butt wrinkling some of the papers.
Jess couldn’t say anything, since technically it was Naomi’s desk and Naomi’s office, and Jess was just a volunteer here. The room was small, but it had a window and a shelf overflowing with plants. Jess preferred working in here to the plain, boring conference room, but even that would have been preferable to what Naomi proposed.
“Oh. That party.” Rhianne Davis was another pro onThe Dance Offand one of Jess’s closest friends from the reality dance competition show. “It’s a sexy ugly sweater party, and you know how I feel about gimmicky holiday shit. Besides, I’m not going out tonight. I have a date.”
Naomi huffed. “Jess, you can’t date a cable box, and even your DVR deserves a night off.”
“Dating is overrated.” Especially in Los Angeles.
“You’re too young to be so jaded.” At thirty, Naomi was like Jess’s California big sister. Except she was closer to the older woman than she was to her own real sister, Jaina, who was the same age as Naomi but lived in Texas.
“You need to play a little more,” Naomi went on. “Have some fun. Go out. WheneverThe Dance Off’s season ends, it’s like you shut down.”
“That makes me sound like a robot,” Jess grumbled.
“If the cyborg shoe fits…” Naomi shrugged. “All work and no play makes Jess Davenport a big ol’ curmudgeon.”
Jess slapped a hand on the papers. “Are you calling me a Scrooge?”
“Maybe.”
Jess couldn’t argue. Maybe she did become a homebody during the off-season. Aside from leading fundraising efforts and dance classes for Starlight House—and catching up on her DVR—there was no hustling, no partying, and definitely no dating in her schedule. Trying to find a boyfriend in Los Angeles was a hot mess of games and ghosting, and she was fucking tired of it.
As a counselor, it was possible Naomi had picked up on Jess’s mood. If Jess were being honest, she had been feeling a little stuck lately. Work was the only thing in her life going right, but she had no idea what her next steps were. Or should be. Or even what she wanted them to be. Aside from working onThe Dance Offand volunteering at Starlight, she just wanted to chill. And that did not include ugly sweaters, sexy or otherwise.
But Naomi wanted to go to the party, and since Rhianne was Jess’s friend and coworker, that meant Jess had to take her.
“Fine,” she said with a sigh, shuffling her papers into a folder. “We’ll go.”
Naomi cheered and pumped her fist. “Lucky for you, I have a plethora of Christmas junk we can wear.”
Jess hid her face behind the folder. “Oh,joy.”
A few hours later, dressed in a green t-shirt with “Lit As a Christmas Tree” emblazoned across the chest, Jess showed up at Rhianne’s craftsman-style house with Naomi at her side.
Naomi had not been kidding about her Christmas t-shirt collection. Jess had vetoed a red tee with “Ho³” on it, and another that showed a plate of cookies with the words, “I Put Out For Santa.” You thought you knew a person, and then you found out they hadthatin their closet.
Naomi had opted for a red tee that said, “Naughty Girls Get More Presents,” and added a Santa hat over her long box braids. Yeah, she looked cute, but Jess had drawn the line at the sparkly plush antlers Naomi tried to push on her.
Oh, lord. Speaking of antlers…
Rhianne rushed over to greet them, her dark auburn curls floating around her like a wispy cloud. “Jess! I’m so glad you could make it,” she gushed, the words extra charming in her Australian accent. Her rosy skin glowed with excitement, alcohol, and a fair helping of glitter smeared on her cheekbones.
“Um…thanks…”Look away look away look—
