Before Patricia and Julia got inside, Ryan climbed through the back between the two captain chairs to get to the third row. Once everyone was inside, I shut the doors and got into the driver’s seat.
All the way to the Starbuck’s, the ladies spoke about the stores and deals and the order in which we needed to stop at them. Ryan piped in with also wanting to get the coupon so he could buy the remote control droid.
The drive-thru line at Starbucks was huge with lots of shoppers out, so I parked the SUV, left it running, and went inside with Ryan. It gave me a few moments to be alone with him. Inside the store was also busy, but nothing like the drive-thru was. Ryan kept fidgeting and leaning from side to side or standing on his tiptoes as he tried to gain sight of the bakery display case.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” I asked him.
“The bear cookie.”
“The bear cookie? I’m not familiar with the bear cookie.”
“It’s because you’re not wearing anything holiday or festive. It’s a requirement to even know about the bear cookie,” he flatly said. I knew he was being playful.
“Enlighten me on the bear cookie details.” I skimmed the display to see if I could spot what he was talking about.
“The bear is white—”
“A polar bear?”
“Yes!” he excitedly said and pointed at me.
“It has white chocolate on it, and the bear wears a different colored holiday scarf.”
Once we were next in line, Ryan spotted the polar bear cookies on the top shelf. We ordered all the drinks and then Ryan added a polar bear cookie.
“You do realize you ate a cookie before your breakfast. Going for two before lunch?”
“Yes, and this will be my post breakfast cookie. I’m shopping today. I need my energy,” he reminded me as we moved to the side to wait for the drinks.
Overhead, a rendition of “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” played through the speakers. Ryan sang quietly beside me. Hearing Ryan sing a holiday song not only made me smile, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I absolutely loved this lighthearted side of him. “Something, something, something, and something in the yellow snow.”
“I love your versions of songs.”
“My versions? They’re the same as the real versions, just with my voice.”
“Mhmm. I’m not sure I heard all the ‘somethings’ you sang in the actual version.”
“Listen harder next time,” he teased. His grin drew my eyes to his dimple.
“I also don’t recall yellow snow being in the song.”
“It’s also there. I’m pretty sure it’s there.”
I couldn’t stop myself from laughing out loud at his lyrics and explanation.
“I’m pretty sure I need to start making sure I wake you up every morning like I did this morning.” His cheeks quickly reddened. “It seems to put an extra spring in your step and makes your smile even more captivating,” I murmured so only he could hear.
“Knowing that I’m important to you and that you want me puts an extra spring in my step.”
Ryan’s words made my heart clench. I was grateful for moments like this with him and to hear him say things like this. He was unsettled last night after seeing all of my cousins were married and had kids of their own. Marriage and kids were never a path I wanted to go down. I had everything I wanted with Ryan.
