Daisy
Zeke reached for his helmet and held it out to me. I took it with shaking hands and walked toward the bike. It was massive, just like Zeke, and the sleek black matte suited him perfectly.
I placed the helmet on my head and looked over at Zeke staring me down.
“You going to help me?” I put a hand on my hip and waited.
He didn’t say a word, just picked me up and placed me on the seat. I bunched my dress up to where it was comfortable and Zeke grabbed my clutch, putting it in a pocket on the side of the bike, then he mounted it himself.
“Ah!” I yelped as he righted the bike and kicked up the kick stand. I wrapped my arms around his waist in a death grip. One of his hands came to rest on mine and before the roar of the engine started, I swore I heard him say “I’ve got you, star.”
We winded up the road, past Percy, who was still waiting outside of Delilah’s, now accompanied by Jameson. They wouldn’t even give Zeke’s motorcycle a second glance, not thinking I would be riding on it, so I knew I was safe from another bad date my mother set me up on.
But this time, I was safe with Zeke.
And we were going to his place to decorate a Christmas tree.
I had no idea how we had gotten from angry sex in his garage earlier to now decorating for Christmas and me riding on his bike with him.
It didn’t take long before he pulled off a side road, winded up one of the small mountains in our town, and then was making his way down a one-way paved road that blossomed into an opening to reveal a large cabin.
Zeke parked in front of it and I took my helmet off, sitting it on the handlebars, and he went to lift me from the seat.
“Is this your place?”
“It is.”
He took my hand just as a car pulled up behind us, assuming it was the guys from the Christmas tree tent delivering Zeke’s tree. I followed Zeke up the stairs toward the front door that he held open for me. I let myself in as he waited for the man to help get the tree in. I walked around the living room, not seeing much personal items there.
The house had the essentials. A television, a couch, and a coffee table. Other than that it had nothing else. No photos, no trinkets. Nothing that made it feel like a home. So when the large tree came through the front door, I couldn’t help but smile. I knew this wasn’t something Zeke did. He wasn’t one for the extras. So why had he purchased a Christmas tree and wanted me to help him decorate?
“In the corner, Martin.”
Zeke pointed to where the man could set up the base with one of his helpers and stand the tree up. Once they had it up and left, that was when Zeke finally made his way over to me, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear. His hand rested against my cheek and just when I thought he was going to kiss me, he pulled away and walked over to a closet.
He pulled out two boxes and brought them over to the tree.
“Think we can pull this off in one night?” His smile was something I was still getting used to, so when I stood there for too long staring at it, he coughed and brought me back to his question.
“Yeah, no problem.”
I walked over to where he was hunched over, pulling different items from the boxes. I grabbed for the silver ribbon first, wanting to get it on the tree, so we would know where to place the ornaments.
“So,” I mustered up the courage to ask him about the tree. “Why are you buying a tree two days before Christmas and just now deciding to decorate?”
I didn’t look behind me to see any reaction from him, just kept placing the ribbon along the tree. When I got to a point I could no longer reach high enough, Zeke came up behind me. He took the ribbon out of my hands and finished placing it on the rest of the tree. He then spun me around and lifted my chin so I was looking at him.
“I stopped celebrating after you left.”
“What?” My eyes met his and they started to water. I had done more than just break this man’s heart, I had destroyed the world he had lived in. He stopped celebrating Christmas because of me and that felt so much worse than thinking he just hated me. “Why?”
He leaned down toward me, just a breath away.
“Because my Christmas star left me.”
I closed my eyes and didn’t know a tear was slipping down my face until Zeke’s lips pressed to my cheek to try to make it go away. But it didn’t help, it just made the waterworks unleash. This man was showing me compassion and all I ever did was run.
“I didn’t have a choice.” I opened my eyes back up to look at a confused Zeke. “My parents told me that the only way I could go to college was if I cut all ties with you. I had no other way of getting in. I barely passed high school and had no real experience in the world, so college was where I knew I was going to get it.”
