“These are gonna cost you,” I told Jones and Ryker with a laugh and hugged them back.
Jones pulled out his wallet and slapped some cash on the table. “I’ll order a round of hugs for all of us,” he said and gestured to our group of friends.
Karla squealed and ran into my arms, laughing as if she was doing something mischievous. Ryan shook his head and chuckled as he watched his daughter. He waited for his turn for a hug.
Sam was the last to hug me. He had to go on his tiptoes to wrap his arms around me, which only made me realize how small the man was compared to the rest of us. He returned to Ryker’s side and tucked himself under his fiancé’s arm, like it was his protective blanket. The look they shared was filled with nothing but love.
I’d been skeptical when Ryker first told us he was pretending to be engaged to Sam to land an apartment, but maybe my friend knew exactly what he was doing. He’d wound up finding himself an amazing partner and getting himself engagedfor real.
Jones wasn’t too far from getting hitched, either. He found a home with Ryan and Karla, and I’d never seen him happier.
I had a sneaking suspicion that Clay was the next one of us to get matched up. It obviously wasn’t going to be me, considering the one person I wanted was the one I could never have.
I glanced at the man in question again. A line of women had formed to hug him.
I couldn’t control the intense jealousy of Clay being physical with someone he was actually attracted to.
He probably liked their softness, which was a stark contrast to my body. I was muscular and hard like Clay was. That was something I couldn’t change.
It was only after another three more women hugged Clay that I finally noticed how stiff his actions were. I was so focused on stewing the sourness that settled in my stomach that it took me this long to realize how uncomfortable Clay looked.
I instantly headed toward him. Right then, it didn’t matter how I was feeling. All that mattered was making sure Clay was okay.
Chapter Twelve
CLAY
I had no idea what I was getting into when I signed up to volunteer at the hugging booth. I didn’tdohugs, not unless I was the one initiating them. But the idea of Dan being so close to all these people without me there didn’t sit well with me.
I knew I couldn’t stop him from doing this, especially when he roped Frederick into it as well, so my next best idea was to do it with him.
It was okay at first. I didn’t mind hugging the kids so much, but then came the horde of women trying to get their hands on me. Their enthusiasm had quickly muted any joy I had from interacting with the excited kids, and their perfume was giving me a migraine, which only made me even more tense than I already was.
I tried to act natural and keep my professional smile, since I’d already committed to this and I didn’t break my promises, but I was quickly losing steam.
No matter how quick the hugs were, they felt like ants crawling on my skin, piling up until there wasn’t a single inch of me that hadn’t felt invaded.
I had to force myself not to push the next person off me.
For the kids.
I tried to remind myself, but my resolve was quickly fading. My smile felt stiff and more forced than anything else. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone told me I was grimacing at the crowd now.
It all came to a head when a man came to the front of the line. He was big, bigger than me. Flashes of another man reaching out for me had me clenching my fists to the side. The one in front of me was nothing like the monster I’d defeated in my dreams, but my guard went up anyway.
I just had to stand there and take it.
It’s for the kids, I told myself again.
I squeezed my eyes shut, thinking the eventual contact wouldn’t devastate me as much if I couldn’t see him.
“Can I have this one?”
The hug I dreaded never came, and instead, Dan’s voice sounded. I opened my eyes to see him donning that charming smile of his as he hugged the man who was supposed to be hugging me.
“Sorry for cutting in. I was dying for a hug,” Dan said with a wink to the man. The stranger was soenamored with Dan he was stumbling out of the tent with a loopy smile.
“There are plenty more hugs to go around,” Dan called, and smoothly took my place.
