She paused, staring up at me. I couldn’t blame her for forgetting. She had a lot on her mind right now.
I ran a hand along my jaw. “Just that family thing Ruby brought up the other day. It’s a silly tradition. You don’t have to come if you don’t want?—”
“Yes! Tonight? I totally forgot that it’s already Friday. I wouldn’t miss it.” She beamed up at me and my heart practically cartwheeled. “Sorry, was that too eager?”
I chuckled. “I like your eagerness.” I gave her one last lingering kiss on her forehead before she rushed out the door, running late as usual.
Lateness used to drive me insane. It still did with most people, but not so much with her. Maybe it was because I knew that she wasn’t being disrespectful. She had terrible time management skills, and doing daily tasks like having more than a bowl of cereal for breakfast seemed to overwhelm her. Maybe it was because we were still in the early days, but I found everything about her endearing.
And I was so fucking glad she wanted to spend tonight with my family. They were a lot. Suffocating, even. I was well aware. It was something my ex used to bring up often. I hadn’t wanted to scare Hazel off, but she’d seemed to genuinely embrace them right off the bat.
I was already mentally calculating where this was headed. I liked relationships. I craved exclusivity and emotional closeness.It had been a while since I’d experienced it, and I knew I wanted it with her.
Everything in my gut told me she was falling for me too.
We still needed to talk, though. Discuss some foundational stuff. I wanted her to be my girlfriend, and I hoped we could establish that sooner rather than later.
Tonight, if possible.
She made me excited about life again. It might be time for her to move back into her apartment, but I didn’t love the idea. I liked having her under the same roof as me, knowing she was safe. Knowing her schedule. I liked just popping back from an errand and having her already curled up on the couch.
Hazel made this place feel like home. It never had, before her.
It freaked me out a little, but not enough to back away. At this point, it was full steam ahead. Hopefully she felt the same way.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Hazel
“I still can’t believeyour family picks out a Christmas tree the weekbeforeThanksgiving.”
Reid tugged my beanie on so that it fit more snugly around my ears. It was flurrying outside, but barely.
“Mom likes to have the tree up before, so when we have the big dinner it’s in the background and the house is all decorated.”
“I love that,” I said, as we milled about in the parking lot waiting for the rest of his family to arrive.
The Christmas tree lot was thirty minutes away from his house in a more rural area. There was a surprising number of people here for what I deemed to be far too early to buy anything Christmas-related. The entire place was surrounded by thousands of twinkle lights, and trees of all different shapes and sizes were lined up in rows. Apparently, there were different breeds of Christmas trees. I had no idea, but Reid made sure to educate me.
There were also a few stands selling trinkets and ornaments, along with hot chocolate and spiced nuts. The smells teased me.
“Reid?” I asked, batting my eyelashes.
“Yes?”
“Will you buy me a hot chocolate?”
He laughed, shaking his head before throwing an arm around my shoulders and steering me toward the stand. Honestly, I barely even needed a hot drink. I was already glowing just being here with him tonight. He wanted me here. With him. With his family. Luck hadn’t been on my side lately, but I felt it right now.
“Did you and your Gran have a tradition around getting a tree?” he asked.
“Nope. This is my first time coming to one of these things.” I thought back to all of the Christmases Gran and I had shared together. Cozy evenings spent underneath handmade crocheted blankets. Buying a ham that was ridiculously big for two people, but we both loved having leftovers for days. Opening our presents for each other on Christmas Eve because we couldn’t wait until morning. This would be my first without her, and the weight of that was starting to creep up on me. As if sensing my shift, Reid held me tighter.
“What did you do, then?”
“It probably will not shock you to find out that we had a silver artificial tree, likely from the 1940s, that we put up every year the week before Christmas.”
“There’s no way that doesn’t have lead in it.”
