Christ.
I hated watching Elle pull out a ball ornament with freaking Santa Claus on it. Every time she brought the damn decoration a step closer, I took one back, but the dang woman circled me like a hawk locked in on its prey. She was eager for an answer, and I had to push down my distaste.
I picked a pineapple right off the cheese and watched her while I ate it.
“If you like pineapple pizza, then that’s what I like too,” I blurted out.
Immediately, Elle blushed. Fuck.Why did I say that?
I like nothing about little Elle, but goddamn when she went rosy red, she did something to me. My heart skipped abeat, maybe two, and hammered loudly in my ears. Jesus. I wanted the annoying sound to stop, but she kept staring at me with her cinnamon eyes swirling with fucking desire and passion for me.
No. Nope. There was no way in hell Elle would ever want me.
Faith came back into the room, and she made munching sounds of delight as she ate her fruity pizza. Elle blinked several times. I took another bite to get rid of the memory of what her lips tasted like, but I went to clear my throat too soon. A pineapple lodged in my throat, forcing an imminent cough so I wouldn’t choke.
I swallowed hard, and the fruit went straight down. “I mean, if Faith enjoys it, then I do too.”
Elle wandered over toward the tree and hung up the ornament. She took another bite of her pizza, chewing slowly. Her mind reeled as she stared at me and she swallowed. She walked back for another decoration and handed one to her eager daughter. Faith went to the tree and hung the red ball with too much fucking glitter up on a branch.
“So, you do like pineapples on your pizza.” Elle narrowed her eyes.
“I like you... I mean...” I pretended to cough and rambled on to fix my damn mistake. “I like Faith. Your daughter is cool.”
Smooth. Real smooth. Idiot. What the fuck?
“I like you too, Mr. Timber.” Faith smiled up at me and handed me a fucking angel on a shitty thread. “Go hangthis up on the tree.”
I followed the kid’s orders, even though my mind despised the idea. I wanted to groan, to throw the fucking ornament right into the fire, but Faith made my bitter heart twinge. She lit a warmth in me I didn’t want to ignite, but it was too fucking late. I should’ve let the spark go days ago instead of adding to the flame. The fucking fire wouldn’t burn out, especially with her mother around, who only added gasoline to it.
Elle stayed silent while I quickly hung the angel on a branch, and it almost fell onto the carpet.There.Enough of the bullshit.
I spun around, only to find Faith behind me with another fucking ornament. This time, a snowflake with white glitter on cheap plastic. I wanted to snap the piece in two, but I plastered a grin on my face and hurriedly placed it on a new branch.
To save myself, I went to grab another piece of pineapple pizza. I needed fuel to endure the battle raging inside of me, and this fruity shit wasn’t bad after all. The sweetness helped kill my bitterness while I took another chintzy decoration and put it on the evergreen.
“Here...” Elle passed me some silver tinsel shit. “I think you’ll be good at this.”
“What the fuck is it?” I scrunched up my face.
“Language,” Elle hissed at me.
“Right. Sorry. What is thisstuff”—I emphasized the word because she’d smack me if I cursed again—“you wantme to put up?”
“It’s an icicle tree tinsel. You throw it onto the tree.” Elle grabbed some of the shimmering crap out of my hand, and her touch made my skin tingle. “Like this.”
Elle tossed the tinsel onto the branches of the evergreen. A simple technique I could do easily. I’d leave the organization of the decorations for the girls to enjoy.
In a matter of one minute, I wasn’t sour anymore. The edginess inside eased up, and tossing the tinsel on the tree made me...happy. Excitement filled me while I worked around Faith and Elle as they hung up their beloved decorations. I’d accidentally bump into Elle, and her cheeks would turn rosy. The sound of her laughter would stoke the blaze inside of me even brighter, keeping me warmer than a goddamn fire.
This classic Christmas bullshit was fucking fun when I got into the swing of it. I’d never known the joy one could experience during the festive season and always figured the holidays weren’t for me, but Elle had proven me wrong. Maybe there was hope for me, and I didn’t have to be a miserable fuck all year round.
We wrapped the lights around the evergreen, and everything was complete except for one last piece. The tree topper. Probably a fucking boring angel.
Faith came over with her hands behind her back.
“What do you have there, kid? A fu—” Elle cleared her throat and shot me a warning glare. “I mean... Is this a magic trick?”
“Yep!” Faith declared and revealed a green star tree topper. “Ta-da!”
