Turns out, this was no fling.
Sure, Bryce and I still had mind-blowing sex, but we'd done a lot more thanthat. We'd gone sledding and ice-skating. We'd watched old movies and chatted late into the night. We'd cuddled and kissed and laughed so much that my stomach literally ached.
I'd also been spending a ton of time on the other side of the fence, where the Christmas village was looking more Christmassy every day. The original restaurant was now completely gone, and much of the old concrete had been ripped up and replaced with festive paving stones winding their way through the lot.
Eventually, the lot itself would be populated with small house-like structures where local shopkeepers would be able to sell their wares over the holidays.
Until then, the only shopkeeper was me because Bryce had suggested that I park my coffee truck at the job site rather than trying my luck at other afternoon places that weren't nearly as busy.
Now I had plenty of business – and plenty of Bryce.
Next to me, he was back to staring at the thing in the box. "So you're not gonna tell me?"
"Nope." I gave him a playful elbow to the ribs. "Not until you guess."
"Alright," he said. "It's a Gremlin –afterthe microwave."
With a laugh, I asked, "You mean a little monster, like in the movie?"
"Well, I wasn't talking about the car."
I didn't get it. "What car?"
He turned to look at me. "You don't know?"
I shook my head. "Know what?"
"There used to be a car called a Gremlin."
"Sounds classy," I said.
"Yeah, real classy. It was my first car – ugliest thing you ever saw. The rust-bucket was older than me." He turned and pointed to the thing in the box. "Come to think of it, that looks older than me, too."
I laughed. "Well it's not."
He reached up to stroke the stubble on his chin. "Alright, so if it's not a monster, and it's not a car, I'm guessing it's a…" He turned to look at me. "Wait, how many times do I have to guess?"
"Before I tell you?" I smiled. "One more time."
He smiled back. "What do I get if I win?"
"The same thing you get if you lose."
"Oh, yeah? What's that?"
I gave a playful toss of my hair. "Me."
His gaze lit with interest. "Nowthat'sa prize."
Part of me didn't believe it, but he looked so sincere, I decided to take him at his word. I'd been doing that more often lately, and it felt better than I ever would have guessed.
When Bryce returned his attention to the box, I asked, "Do you want a hint?"
"I think I need one."
"It's something you eat."
He drew back. "No way."
