He ripped into the hot chocolate packet and dumped it in the mug before giving it a stir. “I have marshmallows and whipped cream, too.”
Okay. Maybe not.
“I can think of some other things we could do with whipped cream.”
Ryan grinned. “You and your filthy mind.”
I cocked my head. “Am I wrong?”
“You’re not wrong,” he said with a laugh as my stomach growled. He pecked my lips. “But let’s get you fed.”
We reconvened on the couch with plates of freezer-aisle pierogies and mugs of hot chocolate, even though the temperatures were still balmy outside.
It had already started to get chilly at night, which meant the daytime temperatures were about to take a dive. Usually, this would be the time of year when I charted a course for somewhere warmer to spend the next three months.
But all I could think about was cuddling up next to Ryan while snow fell outside. Spending the holidays with him. Making messes while baking Christmas cookies. Lazy mornings and late nights.
Life never stopped for me. My job traveled wherever I was. I was always chasing the next story. I was always thinking about what was next.
But for the last few months, all I had thought about was what the next day with him would bring.
Ryan tapped his pierogi to mine in a sort of cheers before taking a bite. We sat in companionable silence, snacking in the candlelight.
This was the kind of romance that I wrote. The mundane, small-town love that felt like a hug. Whitney and Wander liked the gorey, danger-filled stuff. But that wasn’t for me. I wanted pierogies and hot chocolate. I wanted bookshop adventures and quiet moments under a tree.
I could chase that kind of calm all I wanted, but Ryan’s life was in the city.
Was it, though?He lived with his mom in Queens, but he traveled for speaking engagements and conferences.
Certainly, he had something to get back to when our twelfth week together was over. We had been avoiding talking about it altogether, but the conversation was inevitable.
“You’re staring at that pierogi like it did you wrong,” Ryan said, startling me out of my racing thoughts.
“What?” I said as I blinked back to the present.
He chuckled as he leaned forward to set his mug on the coffee table. “Penny for your thoughts?”
I let out a slow breath and tried to center myself. Why the hell had I been thinking about a future with Ryan Ford?
I couldn’t stand him. Right?
But even I knew that was a lie.
At what point had my favorite person to loathe become my favorite person?
“My thoughts are much more expensive than that.”
“Trust me, I know.” He draped his arm around my shoulders. “Name your price.”
I looked up from the half-eaten pierogi. “What?”
His eyes were warm and tender. “Name your price. Whatever’s on your mind, I want to know what it is.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead.
I hesitated. I had been playing my cards so close to the vest. This arrangement wasn’t supposed to become anything, but I wasn’t delusional enough to deny it, either.
I knew a good thing when I saw it, and Ryan Ford was the best thing.
There was something to be said about enemies to lovers trope. I loved crafting two characters who saw the worst in each other, but chose to love each other anyway.
