“Huh?” His confused face was the cutest thing.
“Listen, I’m the last person who would judge you for what you like. I say more power to you… I mean, as long as you're not fucking, like, sheep or something. Wait, you’re not fucking sheep, are you?”
“The fuck are you talkin’ about?”
“Bears? There are bears here, right? Like the real kind, in the wild. Is it bears? One, that’s messed up. And two, that’s scary. They could kill you. How would you even—nope, don’t want to know.”
“I don’t fuck bears,” he said a little too loudly.
I ducked my head and covered my mouth as a giggle escaped. Half the restaurant was now looking our way. Killjoy’s face turned a shade of red that couldn’t have been healthy. He abruptly stood, reaching for his wallet in his back pocket. He tossed down some bills before turning and storming out of the diner.
“Crap,” I muttered under my breath. I hadn’t meant for it to escalate like that.
I grabbed one more bite of pie before I snatched up our gear, making sure not to forget my elf hat. Then I was running after him, tossing out a few apologies along the way.
The cold hit me instantly the moment I stepped outside. This was what I had wanted, but as I struggled to get myarms inside my coat and juggle holding onto his, I kind of was rethinking the whole snowy Christmas thing.
Killjoy was halfway down the block and nearly to his truck.
He wouldn’t leave me, would he?
“Wait!” I yelled, but he kept walking. “I like tentacles!”
He stopped, and so did the couple who were walking between us. I could feel their eyes on me as I hurried past them, but I didn’t care.
All that mattered was getting to Killjoy and fixing my fuck-up.
I shuffled as fast as I could to him, surprised when he turned to face me. The snow had started to fall while we were eating, but luckily it wasn’t coming down heavily.
“I like tentacles,” I said again as I stood in front of him.
“Yeah, doesn’t surprise me,” he shot back. His hands were shoved into his pockets, shoulders hunched like he would rather die than admit the cold was getting to him. “You forget I saw your dildo stash? I saw that big curling one. Don’t forget something like that.”
My head fell back as I let out a loud laugh.
When I looked at him again, it was like time stood still.
Our eyes were locked, the snow fell between us, and we were so close we might have been breathing each other’s air.
I cleared my throat. “Here,” I said, holding his jacket open so he could slide his arms in.
Which he didn’t do. But he did take it from me, and I didn’t miss the way his body gave a little shiver right before he zipped it up and shoved his hands into the pockets. I couldn’t say what compelled me, but I didn’t stop my hands from reaching out and rubbing up and down his arms like I could make some kind of heat with friction. Like that would somehow warm him up.
“You were going to leave me,” I stated, because I was sure that if he’d gotten in that truck, he would have driven off without looking back.
His tongue darted out to lick his bottom lip. His brow held a deep concentration line in the middle.
“I don’t know what to do with you,” he said, and he stared down at me like he was releasing a big secret. “But I know I wouldn’t have left you. I couldn’t.” He huffed out a sigh. “It’s like I can’t turn my fuckin’ back on you for some damn reason.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. Still, he could read it clear as day on my face. And I knew this because of the way he rolled his eyes.
“Don’t hold back, Danny,” he told me. His hand slipped out of his pocket, and for a second, I thought he was going to reach for me. But then he rubbed it over his beard, and I tried not too look disappointed when he let his arm drop heavily at his side. “No one should ever hold you back, least of all yourself.”
I smiled. The cold hurt my teeth, but I didn’t stop.
Then his eyes were on my mouth.
It was so clear the thoughts running through his head. Oh, I wanted him to kiss me. I was thirsty for it. Like I’d never been before. I had no clue whythis manof all men happened to be the one getting to me, making me weak in the knees and pushing me not to give up on him, but it was. The universe had to be fucking with me. But… maybe I didn’t mind so much. And the fact that he was hot didn’t hurt.
