Notes: After breaking everyone's hearts in the last chapter, I thought I would give you some semi-fluffy feels here.
Kristoff popped the tab off his beer and took a big swig of it. As much as he enjoyed being out with Sven, he couldn't really do it without getting drunk. Sven was great, but far more enjoyable after he had put down a beer or two.
"Man, I'm still sorry that we booked the cottage for that girl," Sven said and leaned back against the bar in his basement. Kristoff had helped him renovate it the summer before, and they preferred spending their time with the large leather armchairs and 72 in flat screen, instead of going out for overpriced drinks on tap at some random bar.
Kristoff shrugged and leaned against the bar next to Sven. "It's all right, everyone makes mistakes. It worked out fine, right? So it wasn't a big deal."
"Not a big deal?" Sven asked, his eyebrows raised in amusement. "That first message you left me on my cell phone had my ears blistering. You used swear words I didn't even know existed before that call."
"Well, I was looking forward to having the place to myself. The McAllister project left me half dead. I needed to recharge my batteries and I didn't really think I could do that with an attractive, talkative, red-head underfoot," Kristoff said and shrugged again. Man… had he been wrong.
Sven gave him a sly look and nudged him in the side with his elbow. "I still can't believe you hooked up with some random chick that rented the cottage. It doesn't sound like the Kristoff I know."
Kristoff rolled his eyes and made his way to one of the leather recliners on the other side of the room. When they had redone the entire basement prior to Sven's wedding, it was so he could have his own "man cave" to retreat to when he needed it. After having lived with a woman for two weeks, Kristoff still wasn't sure what the big deal was. Anna had never made him feel like he needed to escape from her into some kind of testosterone fueled haven. Honestly, he wished he could have spent more time with her. It had been almost a week and he wasn't sure if he had ever missed anyone so much in his life. She had been the very best part of his vacation. Who was he kidding? She had been his vacation.
"So, has she called you yet?" Sven asked him, crossing the room to sit in the recliner next to his.
"I never should have told you that I gave her my phone number," Kristoff grumbled, taking another swig of his beer.
"That doesn't answer the question," Sven pressed.
"No, she hasn't called, all right?" Kristoff said in frustration and rubbed his hand over his face.
He had been asking himself why she hadn't called him from pretty much the moment he left the cottage. He thought they had a real connection, something so mind blowing that it would be wrong not to see where it could go. Had he been wrong? Had Anna just been using him to get over her douche bag of an ex-boyfriend? It didn't seem like something she would do, but what did he know? He had only spent two weeks with Anna. He didn't know anything.
"Why don't you call her?" Sven asked him, leaning forward in his seat eagerly, his eyes wide with excitement. "Girls like that romantic crap. You look her up, go to her house with flowers… she's yours."
"I want her to call me," Kristoff snapped at his friend. "Okay? I want to know that she misses me as much as I miss her. But it's been a week and no phone call. Obviously she forgot about me as soon as she left the driveway."
Sven was quiet for a moment, a rare thing for him, and he stared at Kristoff intently. When he finally spoke, all humor was gone from his voice. "Are you in love with her?"
Kristoff's heart thumped painfully in his chest, the beat growing rapid at the word "love." "Of course I'm not in love with her," he said quickly and tried to force a laugh. "I only knew her for two weeks."
But Sven's question loomed large in his mind and made him wonder if it was possible. Could he really be in love with Anna? Sure, she was great in bed, the most amazing girl he had ever been with. And she made him laugh… and smile, and pissed him off and made him ache because he missed sleeping with her curled in his arms. Did all of that equal love? Could he really have fallen for a girl he had barely known?
"I'm not in love with her," he said again, this time more firmly. He couldn't be in love with a girl who wouldn't even call him after what they had shared together. "I can't be."
Sven's mouth fell open. "You are in love with her!" He started laughing and pointing at Kristoff in excitement. "You actually fell in love with that cute red-headed artist!"
Kristoff groaned and put his head in his palms, wincing as the beer can hit his temple. How had he gotten into this mess? And more importantly, why wasn't he more upset with himself for actually falling in love with Anna Frederickson?