The weekend had finally hit, and I had this Saturday afternoon to myself, with her. Fuck, I’d looked forward to this day the whole week. You’re too into this, jackass.

“You ready to go?” I called out and adjusted the strap of my Canon. The snow had officially stopped, and today was the perfect day for a stroll through the park. There’d be people building snowmen and kids screeching as they pummeled each other with snowballs. Christmas shoppers all up and down the street, carrying their packages.

“One second,” Erika called back, “just getting my coat.” She emerged a second later, in a red coat with a pair of matching gloves. “Festive, don’t you think?”

I shrugged. I’d never been huge on Christmas. My parents had made a big deal of it growing up, but it was more about family fights and drunken nights than actually being together and enjoying the holiday.

“Well, I like it,” Erika said, and spun in a circle. The coat lifted slightly and I caught a glimpse of her ass in her black, skinny jeans. “It’s about time you decorate this house, too. It’s sparse, and since I’m going to be here, I’ve taken it upon myself to Christmas-fy your apartment.”

“Oh god,” I replied. “Do I even want to know what that means?”

“Tinsel.” Erika’s eyes shone. “Santa Claus statuettes. Lights. Fake snow. A Christmas tree and ornaments.”

I lifted two fingers and faked warding her off. “You don’t think the decorations at St. Katherine’s provide enough festive cheer?”

“Not nearly,” Erika replied and sauntered closer. God, she was beautiful. “And, unfortunately for you, I’m one of those super annoying overenthusiastic Christmas people. It’s about to get snowy up in the penthouse suite.”

I laughed. “Fine, we’ll stop for whatever you need after the park. Let’s head out.”

Erika paused and considered my camera. “What’s this?” she asked.

“This? Well, Erika, this is a camera. Some say it can capture images. Pictures, if you will.”

She thwacked me on the arm, playfully. “You know what I mean. Why do you have it?”

“Just something I like to do in my spare time,” I replied. “It’s always been a hobby of mine.”

“I had no idea,” Erika said.

We set off down the hall and into the elevator, then left my heated apartment behind. We made our way through the lobby, greeted the doorman, then stepped out into the cold. The concrete was wet from the recent snow—the sidewalk in front of my building had already been cleared of it—and I took Erika’s arm, guided her forward a few steps.

We hailed a cab together then clambered in, our noses prickling with cold—hers red, once again, like Rudolph the Reindeer. She peered out the window at the decorations, and I directed the driver to the park entrance I thought would provide the best photo ops.

A couple minutes later, we stopped, I paid the driver, and we got out on West 81^st Street and trudged through the gate, closest to the Great Lawn. The pathway lay thick with snow, and the trees, spindly and leafless, were covered in a layer themselves. Erika peered around grinning. “This is amazing,” she said.

“Never had a Christmas in the big city?”

“Never,” she replied. “And I loved Chicago, but this is… It’s magical. It’s everything I could have wanted.”

I lifted the camera, slowed, and snapped a candid pic of her, her blonde locks peeking out from underneath the beanie she’d tugged on, her cheeks pink against the cold.

“Come on,” I said, “you’ve got to see the Great Lawn, and then there’s ice skating on the—”

“Marc?” Erika said, and looked past me. She waved a gloved hand. “Oh my god, it is. It’s Marc! Bro!”

My stomach shriveled up with guilt. Fuck, this was bad. I turned on the spot and watched him approach. I’d totally forgotten he was back this weekend and that he’d wanted to hang out. I’d been so wrapped up in my feelings for his sister. Feelings? What the fuck.

Marc and Jess made their way over, boots crunching in the snow, and stopped just in front of us. Erika embraced Jess in a warm hug, and Marc dragged me into one too, thumped me on the back.

“Hey, man,” he said. “You throw away your phone?”

“Shit, sorry. Things have been a little crazy lately,” I replied.

Marc’s gaze immediately flitted to Erika. “How so?”

“Work.” What else could I say? Tell him I’d slept with his sister? That I’d broken the one rule he’d set out for me regarding our friendship? Yeah, that wasn’t about to happen. Not until I was sure what I wanted out of this.

“I can’t believe you’re back,” Erika said, then punched her brother on the arm. “Why didn’t you call me, asshole? I told you, I want all the news about the trip. We’re freezing our butts off in New York, and you got to summer it up in the Caribbean.”

Marc shrugged, then lifted a finger and swished it first at me, then at Erika. “What’s going on here?” he asked. “You two usually take a stroll together on a Saturday afternoon?”

Erika laughed. “Yeah, right,” she replied. “I’m staying with Noah while my apartment is being repaired.”

“What?”

“Yeah,” she said and quickly relayed the events of the other night, thankfully without mentioning the sweaty dancing in the salsa club I’d taken her to. “So, Luna’s spending Christmas with her mom and dad and staying there until the water damage is repaired and the pipes are friggin’ replaced or whatever, and I had nowhere to go. Noah was kind enough to offer me a place to stay.”

Marc raised an eyebrow. “Really? I had no idea you two were so close.”

“We’re not,” I said. “We just happen to work together.”

If anything, that made my buddy’s eyebrows climb higher. “You do? How the hell did that happen?”

“Coincidence,” I put in and left it at that. That was all anyone needed to know. “So, how was the honeymoon, man? Did you guys have a blast?”

“It was great,” he said, and Jessie immediately launched into a tale about something funny that had happened during a scuba-diving trip. Erika listened, and laughed, but Marc continued frowning at me. “Walk with me, Noah,” he said, under his breath.

We detached from the women and walked a short way ahead, me holding the camera to keep it from bouncing, and cursing my stupid ass for not having called him first. What were the fucking chances we’d run into each other here? Pretty good, since Marc and Jess lived nearby, and they frequented the park. Jesus Christ, I was an asshole.

“What’s going on, Noah?” Marc asked.

“Huh?”

“Dude, what are you doing out here, laughing and snapping pictures of my sister, a couple days before Christmas? And why the hell are you living with her?” Marc asked. “You need to tell me something? You better not need to tell me something. You know how I feel about—”

“I know, dude, relax.” But I gritted my teeth, regardless. Marc was right, of course. I wasn’t cut out for anything more than casual sex, and Erika deserved better than that. “We’re just chilling, having fun. We were cooped up in the apartment, and she suggested checking out the park. She wants to get Christmas decorations too.”

Marc smirked at that. “Sounds like Erika. She’s always been crazy about this holiday.”

“Right,” I said. “Dude, you know how I feel about your sister. She’s always been more of an irritation than anything else, but I’m trying to be the good guy here. Turn over a new leaf, you know?” This sucked balls. What was worse, most of what I’d said was true.

Erika had always irritated me. But it was because I couldn’t handle how much I wanted her. Offering her a place to stay had been the good-guy thing to do, but I was driven by an ulterior motive. Having her closer. Having her smell in my apartment, the scent of her perfume, the laughter when she found something funny on the TV. It was like being home. Except in one where a fight wasn’t about to break out at any given moment.

Marc halted near one of the benches along the side of the walkway. He studied the snow that coated the slats, shaking his head. “You’re right, dude. Guess I just didn’t expect it from you. You’ve always hated having her around.”

“I’m thirty-five,” I replied. “It’s about time I learn to control my temper and work through my, uh, problems.”

“Fine,” Marc said, but turned toward me, folded his arms. “You gotta promise me you won’t touch her, Noah.”

“I already did that, remember?” This grated me so fucking hard. I was a shitty friend. An asshole.

“I know, but I want to hear it again. I don’t want to see my little sister get her heart—”

“Marc,” Jess called out and waved from down the walkway. “Come on, honey, let’s hit the road. I’ve still got Christmas shopping to do.”

“Shit,” Marc muttered. He hated shopping as much as I did. “Shit.”

“Good luck with that.” I chuckled and pounded him on the back, then strode back to Erika, my guts churning. She waited for me, her head tilted to one side, plush lips parted slightly.

“What was that about?” Erika asked.

“Nothin’,” I replied. “Just friends catching up. You ready to go? There’s more park to explore, and we’ve got to get those decorations, right?”

“Right!” Erika said and immediately set off. Marc and Jess were still ahead of us, so I slowed down, forcing her to match my pace. What a shitfest. What an ultimate fucking shitfest. All I wanted was time alone with Erika. Time to touch her, to make her mine again, to challenge everything we’d already established.

Instead, I’d run into the one person I didn’t want to piss off. My best friend. My married best friend, who was the only guy I knew in a successful relationship.

“Noah,” Erika said, and stopped. “Are you all right?” Her green eyes were glassy, her nose still pretty in pink. So fucking perfect.

“Fine,” I said. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“Just a feeling,” she replied, and shrugged her shoulders, the material of her coat swishing. “I don’t want to force you to do this, if you don’t want to. I can carry on alone.”

I glanced up the path, found Marc and Jess had left, probably through one of the other gates. I hooked my arm around Erika’s waist and pulled her into a hug that was far from friendly. I pressed her body against mine, kissed her cheek. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be, gorgeous,” I whispered. “Now, let’s cut the emotional crap and go do the Christmas bullshit instead.”