He stares at his fork and draws in a ragged breath. “I didn’t even buy a yearbook last year. It was right after she died, and I didn’t care about anything related to school. Now I regret it. There were a bunch of pictures of her in it, and now I don’t get to have a copy of them. I talked to the school and they didn’t have any extra copies.”
He sighs. “I would give anything to have her sub for my class and embarrass me again.”
My heart aches for him. “What are you doing for Christmas?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Nothing.”
“You should come over. We’ll have dinner at my place. My mom won’t mind.”
He lifts an eyebrow. “You sure?”
I nod eagerly. “Why don’t you bring your famous deep dish pizza and I’ll make dessert and we can just have a fun night of it? You shouldn’t be alone on Christmas.”
Connor reaches across the table and takes my hand. “Okay,” he says, intertwining his fingers into mine. “That would be fun.”
Chapter Thirteen
It’s the first day of Christmas break from school, and I’m with Connor at eight in the morning. I shove my hands in front of the heater vent in his truck as he pulls away from my apartment. “So why did I agree to let you pick me up this early?” I ask, giving him a crooked smile.
Christmas is two days away and we’ve been hanging out at school and texting every day since we started writing the Santa letters. It only makes sense that he’d want to hang out on the first day of break, but not so freaking early. “It’s like the law of high schoolers that you should sleep in any time there’s a day off school.”
He laughs. “Because we have to get there right when they open so we can get the best selection.”
“What are you talking about?” I say. “Getwhere? What selection?”
His sneaky grin is even cuter than his normal grin, if that’s possible. “See this is why it has to be a secret. If you know the destination you’ll probably try to stop me.”
I sit up straight and narrow my eyes. “What are you doing?”
He shrugs, trying to act casual. “Connor!” I say, feeling a little bit of panic rising in my chest. Surely he wouldn’t do anything embarrassing… but I don’t know why he’s being sneaky. I’ve been hoping he’d ask me on our first official date soon, but I can’t imagine that happening so early in the morning. “Please tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s for Max,” he says. “We’re almost there. You’ll see.”
A few minutes later, we pull into the county animal shelter. “A dog,” I say, turning to Connor. “You want to get my brother a dog? I thought we discussed this already.”
He parks the truck and takes my hand. “My dad said your mom is officially getting the job. And that was the only thing stopping Max from being able to get a dog so…” he bites his lip and his eyes sparkle in anticipation. “So let’s get him a dog. It’ll be the best Christmas ever.”
“My mom might get pissed,” I say.
He shakes his head, his teeth digging a little deeper into his bottom lip. “I don’t think she will.”
“What do you mean by that?” I say
He takes a breath, his hesitation making me nervous. “What do you mean by that?” I say again.
“Well…” He tilts his head. “I might have already talked to your mom.”
“What!”
He laughs and squeezes my hand. “She said Max can have a dog.”
My eyes nearly pop out of my own head. “When did you talk to my mom?”
“The other day when I dropped you off at home,” he says. “I was walking back to my truck and she stopped me. She was in that rec center building and I guess she saw me drop you off. She asked if I was dating you since we spend all this time together… I told her about the Santa letters and how you were helping me.”
“Oh my god…” I say, feeling my cheeks blush. “I can’t believe my mom talked to you.”
He nods. “She’s really nice. Then I told her how I wanted to buy Max a dog, and I said it would help me win some brownie points with you if I made your brother’s Christmas wish come true and… well…” He shrugs. “Your mom told me I should go for it.”
