We both speed-walked to the window and looked outside.

  “It’s so pretty,” I breathed out, and he agreed.

  “We’re gonna freeze though,” he added.

  I frowned. I wasn’t built for snow.

  “Let’s go see if they’re up,” I suggested, meaning Danika and Chance. I hoped they were awake and not still in some sort of food coma from last night.

  “I have a better idea.” He playfully smacked my butt, and as much as I wanted to have sex, I wanted to go explore more. But I couldn’t tell Mac that and hurt his precious ego.

  “After we see the sights. I promise.”

  He shook his head. “Go see if they’re up. I’ll be right out.”

  Mac didn’t have to tell me twice. I practically threw the door open and ran out into the living room.

  “Yay! You’re up!” I shouted when I saw Danika standing in the kitchen, holding her head between her hands.

  “Don’t yell,” she said.

  I groaned out loud. “No, you cannot have a hangover. Not today of all days.” I was going to be so upset if Danika felt bad all day and didn’t enjoy being out and about.

  “I’ll be fine. I just need some caffeine.”

  As if on cue, the coffeepot gurgled to life and started brewing.

  “Did you take anything?” I pushed, wanting her to be in perfect health for our first day of exploring.

  “I just did.” She leveled me with a look. “Sunny, it’s okay. I just have a little headache.”

  “Did you see the snow?” I clapped, and she blew out a breath like the weather annoyed her. Or maybe it was the clapping.

  “Ugh. No. How bad is it?” she asked as she made her way toward the balcony door, opening it and stepping outside as a gush of cold air whooshed inside. She looked down and around before giving herself a nod. “It’s not much. We should be fine,” she said as she stepped back indoors. “Tell me you brought sensible walking shoes, or our first stop will be at a store.”

  “I brought some Adidas and a pair of Madden boots,” I said, hoping that was good enough. I didn’t own anything other than them and a bunch of sandals and flip-flops.

  Danika pivoted her head from side to side like she was hitting an imaginary ping-pong while she thought. “Wear the boots. But if your feet start hurting, let me know.”

  “Okay.”

  “Is there anything you want to see?” Danika asked as she sat back down in one of the barstools after pouring out four mugs of coffee even though neither boy had come out of their rooms yet.

  “I thought you were going to show me everything.” I started to pout as I pulled out the stool next to her and sat just as both guys walked out, fully dressed and ready for the day. It wasn’t fair that it took guys ten seconds to get ready when us girls had to adjust our whole appearance before we could even leave the house.

  “I am,” she reassured my overactive brain. “But I was just wondering if there was anywhere that was a must-see on your list.”

  “Morning,” Chance said as he planted a kiss on Danika’s cheek and stood across the counter from us. He reached for one of the mugs, poured something weird and green in it, stirred, and took a sip.

  “I want one too,” Mac said as he kissed the side of my head before joining Chance at his side of the kitchen instead of sitting down.

  “What are you girls talking about?” Chance asked, and Danika told him that we were trying to plan the day.

  I interrupted, “I want to see Central Park. And what’s that famous hotel that’s in all the old movies?”

  “The Plaza?” she asked.

  I snapped my fingers excitedly. “Yes! The Plaza. And, um ...” I paused, trying to think of where else we could go, but I was drawing a blank.

  Mac leaned across the counter between us. “Not to be a downer or anything, but I’d really like to go to the 9/11 Memorial. If no one else wants to go, I can go alone,” he started.

  I swallowed hard as the images from that day flooded my mind. None of us were old enough to remember when it had happened, but every year on the anniversary, the same horrifying pictures and videos were repeatedly shown that it felt like we had been.

  “I want to go,” I said.

  “Me too,” Chance agreed. “I haven’t been yet.”

  Danika looked sad, and I wondered if her dad had known anyone who died that day or not. “Of course we’ll go. It’s important. You should see it.”

  “Not today though,” Mac interjected. “Just at some point before we leave, okay?”

  “Is that big tree up yet?” I asked, meaning the one they showed on television every year.

  “The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree?” Danika asked, shaking her head. “It doesn’t go up until December. But I think Macy’s decorated their Christmas windows already. You have to see them. You’ll love them, Sunny. I wonder what the theme is this year,” she kept talking to herself, and I found myself getting emotional.

  New York was filled with so many familiar things that had been made famous by television shows and movies, and now, I’d get to see them all in real life. It was surreal even if I wasn’t sure exactly why, and I wondered if this was how people felt about Los Angeles when they visited for the first time.

  “We should eat something light here. Then, we can walk over to Central Park. That could take hours. We can go into The Plaza Food Hall for lunch. And then we can swing by Times Square and the Macy’s windows. How’s that sound?” Chance asked, sounding like a New York native already.

  “I forgot about Times Square,” I said, smacking my hand on top of the counter like a little kid. “How could I forget about that?”

  “Go get dressed. Wear layers, Sunny. I have a jacket for you. Maybe two pairs of socks,” Danika directed. Clearly, she was feeling better already.

  “Two pairs of socks?” I complained. I’d never worn two pairs of socks in my life. What if my shoes don’t fit over them?

  “Trust me,” Danika said. “Your toes will thank me.”

  I got ready in record time, not wanting to waste a single minute of daylight. My head was spinning as Mac walked into the master bathroom, where I was finishing up the last of my makeup.

  “It’s freezing outside, babe.”

  “You came in here to tell me that?” I asked him with a smirk because we’d already been told how cold it was. Or at least how cold it could be. Multiple times before we arrived.

  “Yes. And to see if you were almost ready.”

  “I’ve been in here for, like, ten minutes.”

  “I know, but”—he looked at me in the mirror and bit his bottom lip—“I just want to get out of this apartment and go see everything.”

  I smiled big before turning around and wrapping my arms around his massive shoulders. “I love that you’re as excited as I am.”

  “I totally am.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my lips before smacking me hard on the ass. “Now, hurry up, gorgeous. Let’s go see the city.”

  I swore we walked by ten pizza places on our way to Central Park, each one claiming to be the best. I had no idea what the difference was between them; they all looked the same to me. Mac and I walked hand in glove-covered hand behind Danika and Chance, who led the way. The air was crisp and cold, but the wind made it bitter. Thank God Danika had had an extra beanie and scarf for me to wear. And the two pairs of socks? She had been absolutely right.

  I was grateful when the wind finally died down. It made the cold bearable.

  Central Park was absolutely enormous. I knew that people always said it was big and that they had concerts there and stuff, but I’d had no idea it was as large as it was. It was so much more than any park I’d ever been to back home. Whenever I thought of that word, I imagined a playground and basically an oversize lawn in my mind. This was like a hundred of those. Maybe more. And apparently, we hadn’t even walked half the length of it, and I’d already seen a zoo, a couple of lakes, multiple baseball fields, and an ice-skating rink! I thought I could spend the entire day walking around Central Park and still not see it all.

  Mac grabbed and kissed my frozen lips constantly, spinning me around and dipping me like we were dancing. He made Central Park romantic. I thought we were both swept up in the magic of it all. The holiday, the snow, adventuring together.

  “Come on, you two,” Chance yelled, and I realized that we’d fallen back pretty far from the two of them.

  Mac pulled my hand as we ran to catch up, making sure not to slip on any ice or snow.

  “If you two don’t stop kissing every five seconds, we’ll never see anything,” Danika scolded us like a pair of naughty teenagers.

  I offered a nonchalant shrug. “Probably not gonna happen.”

  “Definitely not gonna happen,” Mac agreed as he kissed me again.

  A burst of snow exploded around our faces, and I realized that Chance had tossed a snowball at Mac’s head.

  “Better run, Carter!” Mac shouted as he bent down to make a snowball the size of a freaking beach ball and threw it with both hands.

  Chance easily maneuvered out of the way, and Mac saw the error of his ways.

  He quickly made a new, much smaller ball of snow and threw it like a freaking Major League pitcher. It hit Chance right in the back as he tried to move to miss it but was struck anyway.

  “Damn, that hurt,” Chance said, throwing a snowball back at Mac but aiming for his pants.

  “Hey! No hitting the goods,” I demanded as Danika and I watched them and took pictures with our cell phones.

  “Sorry, Sunny,” Chance apologized as the guys chased each other around like they’d done in the apartment the first night.

  “Is this what it’s like to live with boys?” I asked.

  Danika let out a stifled laugh as she looked around at the small crowd forming, watching them. “How would I know?”

  “Can we please go now?” I yelled, hoping they’d stop running around long enough to realize that they were creating a scene.

  Both of them stopped, snowballs in hand as they looked at one another with matching mischievous grins.

  “Oh no,” Danika yelled and put her hands up. She realized what they were doing before I had a chance to put it together.

  “Don’t you dare.” I started backing away from Mac, who was walking toward me way too quickly.

  The two of them smashed their last remaining snowballs on top of my and Danika’s heads at the same time, the snow falling all around our faces and sticking in our hair.

  “Sleep with one eye open, hotshot.” Danika glared at Chance, who was now begging for her forgiveness behind eyes filled with laughter.

  He wasn’t sorry, and we all knew it.

  Mac didn’t even pretend to apologize as we continued walking. We stepped out of the trees, and the most stunning building was right in front of us.

  “Is that ...” I started to ask, but I wasn’t sure.

  “The Plaza,” Danika said with a smile. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

  “It’s unreal,” I said, staring at it.

  I wasn’t sure how to explain it in words, even to myself in my head, so I pulled out my phone and took a few pictures. But none of them did the structure any justice at all.

  “How do people take pictures that make it look as amazing as it really is?” I asked no one in particular as I took turns between staring at the picture on my phone and at the building in real life.

  “Wait till you see the inside,” Chance added.

  “What are we waiting for?” Mac asked. “I’m starving. You sure they have food here?”

  “There’s a whole food hall downstairs,” Chance said.

  “Like a food court?” I asked, and Danika shook her head.

  “Not really. It’s not like something you’d find in a mall. It’s more like Harrods in London,” she explained, and I chuckled.

  “Oh yeah, of course. Harrods. In London,” I mimicked, bringing out the fake accent again.

  “Sorry,” she complained. “I just don’t know how else to explain it. You’ll see.”

  The Plaza Food Hall wasn’t at all like a mall, even though there were various shops there. It was definitely more upscale, and you could either dine in or do your shopping for that night’s meals. It was incredible. I ate cheese I’d never heard of before and had fresh pasta made from scratch, which was unlike anything you could buy at the grocery store.

  The woman had told me, “No preservatives,” since it didn’t need to last on a store shelf, I guessed.

  There were insanely fancy desserts that looked almost too pretty to eat. But I ate them anyway. And even they tasted expensive.

  “This is how the other half lives,” I said as I bit into a dark chocolate cupcake and moaned.

  “It’s definitely pricey but also worth it,” Mac said, pulling out his dad’s credit card once again to pay for the cupcakes and macaroons.

  “Worth it ’cause you’re not paying?” I teased, and he leaned down to lick the chocolate off my lips.

  “No. Worth it because it tastes amazing.”

  I nodded in agreement, and Danika asked if I wanted to see parts of the hotel that we could access. That was a definite yes, so off we went, upstairs to see whatever the staff would let us look at. And it was beyond my wildest imagination. Crystal chandeliers, marble columns, gold leaf highlights, murals on the walls, and fresh rose arrangements everywhere. The Plaza screamed class and European style. I wasn’t sure we had anything even remotely like it back in LA. If we did, I’d never seen it before.

  When we finally walked outside, the sun was setting, and the wind had picked up again. The last thing I wanted to do was walk more, but I wasn’t going to mention it. We’d spent so much time doing so little, but somehow, I still felt fulfilled.

  “Should we see the Macy’s windows or Times Square?” Chance asked Danika, and she placed a finger against her lips, as if pondering.

  “I think we should visit Times Square tomorrow. Windows tonight,” she suggested, and we all agreed.

  We waited in line to see them. Apparently, it got more crowded once it was dark, but Danika said there was most likely a line all day. But I didn’t care because just like everything else I’d seen today in this magical city, they were marvelous. The theme was all about believing in the magic of Santa. Each window had a different word and an intricate scene that went along with it. I couldn’t even begin to guess how many hours had gone into creating each display, but it seemed worth it when I saw the sheer amount of people waiting just to look at them. And they all seemed so happy.

  “I can’t believe they do this every year.” I nudged Mac’s shoulder, and he held me tighter as he pointed out one of the elves moving in the background.

  “What a cool job, right?”

  “Can you imagine creating this much joy for people year after year?”

  “Nope. I’m nowhere near that creative,” he said, and I laughed. I wasn’t either.

  After we looked at all the windows, the temperature continued to drop, and my feet were sore from standing all day long—and not because my boots were bad. I knew my feet would have hurt no matter what I was wearing on them.

  “You guys ready to go home or ...” Danika asked, stopping at the end of the question because I knew she didn’t want to make us leave if we weren’t ready.

  “I’d love to take a hot bath,” I said, and she oohed at me.

  “Yes! That sounds so good. And we can grab a pie on the way home for later,” she said.

  I threw my head back. “A pie?”

  “Pizza. She means, a pizza,” Chance interpreted, and I nodded even though I wasn’t even remotely hungry.

  “We still have a fridge full of leftovers,” I said, reminding everyone about all the turkey sandwiches waiting for us at home.

  “True,” Chance said. “Maybe pizza tomorrow,” he suggested instead.

  Danika agreed, “That’s better anyway. Tomorrow, I’ll introduce you both to the best pizza you’ve ever eaten. You’ll never be the same.”

  I couldn’t wait. It was our last full day in the city, but I tried not to think about it because I didn’t want to be sad. We definitely hadn’t booked a long enough trip.

  Next time.

  NYC is for Lovers

  Mac

  When Danika suggested taking a cab back to the apartment, I almost bit her head off with my enthusiasm. The idea of traipsing around any-fucking-more made me want to curl up in a ball and die. Not that the entire day hadn’t been unbelievable. This city was a fucking gem. I loved it. But I was tired of walking around in it.

  And I wasn’t the only one. Everyone was exhausted.

  Whether it was the number of miles we’d hiked throughout the day, the cold, or a combination of the two, the four of us could barely keep our eyes open past nine as we sat on the couch, trying to watch a movie. We called it a night and headed to our rooms to crash and do it all over again tomorrow.

  Once again, I was too tired to do much else but sleep. My girl was going to start thinking I didn’t love her. And I did, by the way. I knew it. Hell, I’d known it. But I still hadn’t said it.

  I’d started falling for her that night on the phone last year. But I fell even more the night of the party, where she defended me more than once, stood up for me, and showed me that she had my back when people were trying to stomp all over it. And I’d been falling more and more every day since.

  I couldn’t imagine not having her in my life. It would be like trying to live without the sun—no pun intended.

  As I held her in my arms, her tiny body tucked up against mine, I fought the urge to confess my feelings. I planned on telling her. I’d been planning on telling her since the minute we stepped into the airport back in LA. But I wanted the perfect moment.

  The next morning, I woke up, and my arm was numb. Freaking out, I looked down and noticed Sunny fast asleep, her head using my bicep as a pillow. I slowly pulled it out from under her, not wanting to wake her up but needing to get some blood flow circulating. The tingles started immediately, followed by the flutter of my girl’s eyelids.

  “Morning,” she said.

  I leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek. “Morning.”