“You said your mom backed you into a corner,” I said. “Would that, umm. I only heard half of the conversation, but what Ididhear was…”
“That I am expected home for Christmas, yes. Along with you, unfortunately. I’d rather been looking forward to spending Christmas here again. I had so many half-considered plans to occupy us.”
I didn’t have anywhere to go for Christmas since my dad died just a handful of months before I met Kit. I’d never told him in so many words, but meeting him while everyone else was still treating me like glass had made a huge difference to my life.
He’dmade a huge difference to my life.
We’d spent Christmas together that first year, and it’d been quiet. I was still grieving, and Kit was homesick, and all we’d done was order takeout and watch Christmas movies on the couch together. Then it’d snowed the next day and we’d gone for a long walk, just keeping each other company while we had the streets more or less to ourselves.
Not a magical Christmas by Hallmark standards, but it’d been magical to me. Ever since, justbeingwith Kit had been a little magical. Making him smile and laugh and listening to stories about his work day or growing up in London, they’d all been magical, precious moments since then.
“Ice skating in the park?” I teased, and then remembered the little fantasy I’d dreamed up earlier and had to sip my coffee to hide my blush at the thought.
“Something like that,” Kit smiled wryly. “I would much rather have spent the season with you than my certifiably insane family.”
“Well...”
This was a bad idea. This was aterribleidea.
But I wanted to spend Christmas with Kit, too. And he’d done so much for me.
And I really,reallydidn’t hate the idea of being his boyfriend. Even if we were only faking it.
“If I heard right, Iwasinvited.”
Kit looked up at me cautiously over the rim of his coffee cup.
“You were,” he said.
“What if I went?” I asked in a rush before I could think better of it.
It was still a dumb idea, but this was Kit. I would’ve done a lot of dumb things for him. He was my best friend in the whole world.
“Home with you, I mean,” I added. “It’s just an idea, you can say no, but... I don’t have anything better to do for Christmas, and you know how work basically shuts down over the holidays. I could get the time off, we’ve got a new hire. And then at least you wouldn’t have to face them alone?”
Kit hugged his coffee close to his chest, looking down into the cup. “And, umm. In this scenario... would you, umm. Would we be maintaining the fiction that we were, umm...”
“Boyfriends?”
Kit nodded, pink to the tips of his ears.
“Yeah, I guess.” I shrugged. “That’s what your parents think, no point ruining their Christmas. Besides, I think I’d like being your boyfriend.”
Oh no. Did I just say that out loud? Stupid nervous mouth.
Kit took a breath to say something, but then frowned and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“I have to take this,” he said, standing. “Can I, umm. Are you quite sure? That you’d like to come home with me?”
I glanced at Kit’s phone, and then his face, and came to a decision.
“Yeah,” I said. “I’d like to.”
The relief that rolled off him made me feel like I’d made the right choice.
“You have no idea how happy that makes me,” Kit said, answering his phone with a relieved smile and stepping outside.
I waited until the coffee shop door jingled closed behind him before whipping my own phone out.
