“I’m a closeted Christmas fan.”
Nate was already having difficulty in keeping a straight face.
“What does that entail?”
“Lusting after every type of Christmas decoration but playing it cool in front of others.”
“Huh. And how’s that working for ya?”
“Not very good. Every year it’s a struggle not to turn my personal space into Santa’s
workshop.”
Nate was laughing openly now.
“You think I’m joking? Because I’m very serious right now.”
“I’m sure you are. In fact,” he said, an idea popping in his mind, “Christmas holidays are around the corner, why don’t we do something fun and you can imbue me with some holiday cheer.”
She was silent for a while which made Nate chance a look at her.
Madison was looking at him as if he’d invented chocolate.
See? Chest full of helium.
“We can do that,” she said in a timid voice that made him tighten his hands on the steering wheel to stop himself from reaching out for her.
Because apparently, he wanted to do that all the time now. Find excuses to touch her for no reason. Like wanting to brush aside the tendrils of hair that escaped her ponytail.
Or to hug her to his side and kiss her temple when he’d seen that forlorn look in her eyes while she’d been telling him about using books to cast away loneliness.
Nate never wanted to see that look on her face again.
“Okay then, it’s a plan,” he said, just as they were pulling up in Johnny’s driveway.
They climbed out of the car, and as Madison rounded the car to reach his side, he couldn’t help but take in her appearance one more time.
He swallowed thickly, making himself walk to her without letting his gaze roam her face and body like he felt powerless not to. The last thing he wanted was make her uncomfortable. And for all of his thoughts, he hadn’t even told her how beautiful she looked.
Swearing softly under his breath, he joined Madison at the front, and they made their way to the door. The loud music was bleeding through the walls so they decided to just let themselves in.
Nate was assaulted by sounds and smells he had admittedly forgotten after so many years of not attending high-school parties. There had probably been a time when he’d even enjoyed this whole shin-ding; people crowding him left and right, some slapping his shoulder, some slipping him cheap beer they should not have been drinking, girls flirting with him, usually because of his popularity.
Now he could take it or leave it.
Looking down to see how Madison was faring, he found her with an expression of awe, intrigue and mild disgust.
Nate was already chuckling while he hung her coat and his jacket by the door on the existing pile. His height allowed him to make his way easily through the crowd, scanning the faces around him for the guys that should be around there somewhere. Glancing to his left, he placed his hand lightly at Madison’s lower back, so as not to lose her in the sea of people. At least, that’s what he told himself.
He leaned in closer to her ear.
“Is this everything you’ve ever dreamed of?” He could barely contain his amusement. Her look of shock was killing him. He saw her cheeks reddening before rising up on her toes towards him almost shouting to be heard.
“Well, it’s certainly interesting.”
Nate grinned at her. “Just interesting?”
“I’m sorry, what? I’m already on my way to permanent deafness.”
