Tate glances at me expectantly, allowing me to go first.
“Can I have a hot chocolate?” I say, smiling up at her.
Her eyes crinkle in the corners as she nods, jotting it down, before looking over at Tate. I’m not at all surprised when he orders the same, but I take my bottom lip between my teeth to keep the snicker from coming out. Not athim, but at the fact that he’s just so…
“I’ll be right back with those drinks.”
Maybe it’s best not to finish that thought.
“Thank you,” I tell her just before she walks away.
Tate pulls his glasses from the bridge of his nose once she’s gone, holding them up to inspect them in the light, and I watch in silent amusement as he rubs them some more with his sleeve. The way his face opens up without them on always baffles me; it’s like I can really observe him without anything in the way. His features are so soft, but so sharp at the same time.
“So, you don’t have any siblings?” I ask, distracting myself. “No one to see at all for Christmas?”
Tate shakes his head, putting his glasses back on. “No, I’m an only child.”
“Where are you from?”
“I was born in Seattle.”
I raise a brow. “So, you’re across the country from your home, too?”
He nods, finally relaxing a bit as he leans forward to rest his elbows on the table between us. The proximity has me instinctively settling back further into my seat, and I don’t know why. It’s not like he’s intimidating; he’s the least intimidatingperson I’ve ever met. But I think that, maybe, I’m just a little intimidated by how attractive I find him.
Why do I keep thinking about this?
Stop it.
“I’m from San Diego,” I tell him. “It’ll be much warmer there than it is here.”
“Doyouhave any siblings?”
I nod. “I have two twin brothers. I’m the youngest.”
Mateo and Maverick. My older brothers are the bane of my existence and two of the people I love most in this world. They’re equally as likable as they are annoying, at least to me, but that’s the way it goes being the youngest sister. Despite all that, we’d turn the world upside down for each other.
“What’s that like?” he asks.
“Fun…and irritating, at times,” I say, “I’m always protected but always hovered over. What more could I ask for?”
The waitress comes back with our hot chocolates, taking our order that consists of a large chicken tender and French fries basket that we decide to share because, as hungry as I am, I’m also tired. I normally can’t eat a whole meal when I’m feeling this exhausted.
When the waitress is gone again, Tate peeks up at me sheepishly, his tongue darting out to wet his lips.
“Does your family know I’m coming?”
I shrug. “No, but they’re the nicest people on the planet. Too nice. You’ll see, you’ll probably want to leave as soon as you get there.”
“That sounds…nice, actually.”
Shit.
He doesn’t have any family at all, so of course it would be nice for him to celebrate Christmas with one as big as mine.
I wince. “I’m sorry.”
His dark eyes widen as he shakes his head. “Don’t be.”
