And there’s… love.
“Do you have any ideas about what you want to get your mom?” he asks, wrapping his thick arm around my neck and pulling me closer.
“My seatbelt,” I say in protest, because it’s tightening along my chest as he hugs me.
“Fine.” He pouts and lets me go.
We arrive at the local shopping centre, and my mood begins to lift. The town always does a great job of decorating during the holiday season and Christmas lights make me happy. There are dozens of lighted garlands wrapped around each light pole, and festive holiday branch arrangements in the planters instead of the dying azaleas and zinnias planted in them during the summer.
“Let’s try the store on Blue Hill Road,” I tell Freak.
“Cool.”
Freak slings his arm around my neck as we walk down the main street, but then stops to talk to an older lady who follows CGU football and recognizes him. While he’s chatting, I step away and stare into the shop window of a floral boutique when suddenly I feel a pair of hands grab me around my waist.
“Hey, beautiful.”
The next thing I know, Aaron is being slung to the ground by one very angry Freak and an entire block of Christmas shoppers are gawking at us.
“Keep your hands to your fucking self!”
Aaron’s face must have slid against the concrete walkway because it’s bleeding. Immediately, my nursing instincts kick in, and I bend down to inspect the wound.
“Let me see.”
A small crowd forms around us.
“Get up, Willow,” Freak says from behind in a dark voice that I barely recognize.
“I just want to see if there’s any gravel–“
“I said get up!”
I turn my head slowly and look up at him like he’s lost his damn mind.
“Who are you talking to like that?”
The fury on his face is unrecognizable as he stares down at Aaron with pure rage. I’ve never seen him like this.
“Calm down,” I tell him. “You’re making a scene.”
“He’s just mad because I know the truth,” Aaron says as he stands to face Freak.
I look between the two of them.
What is the story with them?
“What truth?”
Willow
The crowd disperses once they see that Aaron is okay and that there’s no more drama to witness, but the two cousins continue to have a silent face off. We’ll be here all day if I don’t put an end to it.
“I can see that no one’s going to answer my question and I don’t know what the problem is, but why don’t you discuss it privately another time?”
There’s still little movement from either of them, so I wrap my arms around Freak’s waist and tilt my head up to hopefully get his attention.
“Let’s enjoy our day together, Jackson. We don’t get many.”
