“I got ready on my own. No big deal.” We’d reached the car, and I busied myself climbing inside, hiding my face with my hair as I buckled my seat belt. It’d been a very big deal.
Tyler started guiding the car through the streets and toward the gentle incline of Cliff Road. “Maybe they didn’t know you wanted to hang out with them.”
I snorted.
“Seriously. You should tell them. It’s the same deal as flirting—you have to let other people know you like them.”
“Look at you, psychoanalyzing me one semester out of college.” I shook my head, silent for a minute, then I sighed. “Maybe you’re right. But I feel pathetic, asking people to do things. What if they think I’m a loser?”
“Then you don’t want to hang out with them in the first place, and you’ll find better people.” His voice softened. “Hey, look. They should be flattered you want to hang out with them. It’s flattering when someone expresses interest in you.”
“Maybe.” I glanced over at him, hesitant to pry but deeplycurious. “What about you? Do you have a lot of good friends in college?”
His mouth twisted, and he made the turnoff toward Golden Doors sharply. “Quantity over quality. I haven’t had a best friend since I was ten.”
“Oh.” I gnawed on my lip. “Because... people were mean to you? And then you never let anyone get super close?”
“Now who’s psychoanalyzing who?” He pulled up in front of Golden Doors. “I’ve never thought about dating the way you put it earlier,” he said slowly. “About your partner being your best friend. I mean, obviously everyone says that all the time. But I didn’t consider what it would be like.”
“I don’t think your partnerneedsto be your best friend,” I said. “Or not your only good friend, because that’s probably codependent. But I think it would be really nice.”
“Hmm.” He nodded toward the house. “You feeling ready for this?”
I took a deep breath. I didn’t want to climb out of the warm, safe bubble of his car. “Not really. But I’m going to do it anyway.”
“You’re going to do great. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow?”
He looked amused. “My moms’ Christmas Eve party?”
Oh, right.I opened the door, letting in a rush of cold air. “See you then.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
In the hour before the Danzigers arrived, Golden Doors maintained a heightened level of stress as Barbanels darted about, putting last touches on charcuterie boards and wiping down counters. In the great room, an aunt and uncle were talking in strident tones about health care with Grandpa, who looked bored and somewhat disdainful. Four of the younger cousins lay on the floor, working on a thousand-piece puzzle and determinedly ignoring Uncle Gerald as he vacuumed up crushed Cheerios around them.
I escaped to Grandma’s sunroom, where she was arranging the last few bouquets. “Hi, Grandma.”
She looked up. “Good. I can use another pair of hands.”
I held lilies and roses as she measured stems and compared colors; I stripped off thorns and leaves from lower stems.
“I hear you’ve been spending time with the Nelson boy.”
Sometimes I thought gossip ran through my family’s veins instead of blood. “Not ‘spending time’ in any real way.”
“Why not? You liked him so much when you were younger.”
“When we werekids.”
“He’s always been such a sweet boy. So friendly. When I was your age, I was swooning over Roger Klein.” Her gaze softened. “He was a real charmer.”
I shot her a startled glance. I’d known Grandpa dated before Grandma, but I’d had no idea she’d done the same. “Who was he?”
“He went to Columbia for law, and we used to go into the same deli at the same time every Tuesday.” She smiled a small, private smile.
“What happened?”
