The Next Day (Foothills Book 2) by Carrie Thorne (christmas read aloud TXT) 📕

Sometimes Freya forgot she’d only known Sophie a few weeks. They’d instantly hit it off in the weeks before Pippa’s wedding, and Freya had been grateful when Sophie had asked her to be her roommate while Freya settled back in the States and Sophie tried to not jump headfirst into things with Asher.

“I’ve been engaged three times.”

Sophie winced. “Oh my.”

“You know I’m a sucker for good chemistry. So much so, that, well, I get caught up in the romance of it all. And then I realize there’s nothing more than good sex and end up disappointed when the rest doesn’t follow and he wasn’t what I thought he was and I’ve lost a little more of myself.”

“I see. So you’re looking for someone you don’t have good chemistry with?”

“Exactly. Like a long-term friend with benefits that I can settle down with and we can have babies together and joint checking accounts… but without that intensity that is too easy to lose yourself in.”

“But you just met Zane, what, a week ago?”

“We’re beyond the met stage already. Once when we helped him with his boxes. Then Asher sent him to save me from the scary gunshots and, well, within twenty minutes of seeing him up close for the first time, I was already making out with him. We’ve had our first fight, and our second, and kissed and made up.”

“Wow, you do move fast.”

“Only when the chemistry is so freaking overwhelming. Whenever I’m within a ten-foot radius of that man, I can’t keep my mouth off him.”

“Dinner tonight should be interesting then,” Sophie snickered, sporting a wicked grin.

“You didn’t.”

“You’ll have chaperones. Asher and I will be there.” Before Freya could whimper and whine, Sophie changed the subject.

Freya filled her in about the neighbors. Sophie seethed like she did, throwing out suggestions on how they could smuggle the woman out of there. Shaking her head, Freya said, “She has to figure it out on her own. Zane pretty much offered to kick his ass whenever she is ready, and I let her know I’m a nice person that would be happy to help.” She drained the last of the beer. “I’ve never been in anything even close to what our neighbor woman is going through, but I understand getting lost in someone, and no one can tell you what a mistake you're making.”

Rising from the bench, Sophie turned and pulled Freya up. “So you are preemptively avoiding Zane because you are too attracted to him.”

“Yes. He’s even got that brooding thing down, and I’ve always wanted to explore the tortured hero type.” She found herself grinning at the absurdity of it. Sophie took her empty bottle while Freya gathered her completed work and the easel.

As they wandered back into the house, Freya was welcomed by the scent of roasted vegetables and sausage keeping warm in the oven. She nearly drooled at the scent. “Remind me again how I got so lucky as to live here with you?”

Sophie grinned as she pulled a serving dish from the cupboard. “Because if you didn’t live here, Asher would, and we’re not ready for that.”

She quickly stashed her art supplies in her bedroom, then hopped on a stool and considered that one for a moment. “We can be mutual buffers then. You keep me from sleeping with our garage neighbor, and I’ll keep you from moving too fast with Asher?”

“Like a virgin alarm from Spaceballs? Or you could get a chastity belt. That Mel Brooks was on to something,” Sophie chuckled as she got another round of beers out of the fridge.

“I’d use the words virgin or chaste lightly.” Just as the words were out of her mouth, the front door swung open and Asher and Zane strolled in. Zane faltered as he saw her, his gaze darkening, but the corner of his lips turned up somewhere between a dare and smug satisfaction.

A foolish flutter zinged through her, vibrating until the rush of warmth flooded everywhere, including her cheeks. Hopping up, she grabbed another pair of beers and glasses from the cupboard.

Asher didn’t pause, heading straight for Sophie and pinning her against the cabinets, lips locked before they even said a word to each other.

Turning away, Freya tried to give them a little privacy. After all, they hadn’t seen each other in at least twelve hours. She grinned at their joy, indulging in the niggling jealousy that teased in her belly.

Moving to her side, Zane popped the tops of the beers and started pouring. As Freya took the first sip, already buzzed from the beer she’d downed a little too quickly on a pouty and empty stomach, she let out a soft moan as the suds coated her throat.

Zane took a testing sip from his glass, watching her reaction over the rim. “Good?”

She nodded. “Really good. I’m trying to figure out where Sophie got these.”

While Zane seemed to ignore her, that mysterious smile resting on his face as he wandered to look out the window, Asher reached around her and snagged the beer she’d poured for him. He took a big sip and raved, “Damn, Zane. This might be my new favorite.”

Freya watched Zane’s reaction. “You made this?”

He nodded. She wanted to flick him on the forehead to get him to use his words.

Asher answered for him, “We got really bored one weekend a few years ago, so the three of us decided to see who could brew the best beer.”

“Zane won?” Sophie asked as she set dinner on the table. Freya grabbed a stack of plates to pitch in.

Zane shrugged, “We messed up the first batch and were all too chickenshit to try it, convinced we’d poison ourselves. The other two slackers were too lazy to try again, but we had so