“Merry Christmas,” the girl said in a sing song voice before hurrying off after her parents.
“Our first kiss. It took a few years.” Glen was back to joking. That was usually how he handled things.
“Yup. Was it all you wanted it to be?”
Glen shook his head. “No.”
I tried not to let his words get to me. I looked off. “Good, I wouldn’t want you getting too attached.”
“I mean I wish it could have been more.”
“Oh.” That changed things. “You mean you didn’t want to make out in front of a ten-year-old?”
He laughed. “Not on my to-do list.” He opened his mouth like he was going to say more, but then he stopped.
“What?”
“What are your plans for the rest of the night?”
“Nothing really.”
“Any interest in watching a movie or something?”
“That depends. What type?”
“We can watch a Christmas one. It’s too cold to hang out here much longer, but I don’t really want to turn in yet.”
“Ok. Let me just tell my dad where I’m going.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll do it. My parents are with your family. I think everyone went to see that show over at Vail Village tonight.”
“Oh. Okay.”
He stood up and offered his arm. “Our movie awaits.”
There was something different about walking with Glen after that kiss. I knew it didn’t mean anything to him, but I’d felt something I wasn’t sure I wanted to feel.
“You still with me?” he asked as he opened the door to the main lobby of the building both of our families had rented condos in. We’d been spending Christmas week at the same place for years.
“Yeah, sorry.”
We walked through the busy lobby, past the families chatting over by the fireplace. I didn’t know what was bugging Glen, but he obviously wasn’t in the mood to hang out with family either. I figured his reason didn’t matter. At least I had some good company.
We took the elevator up, and he opened the door to his condo. He gestured for me to enter.
“Thanks.” I glanced around to make sure he was right about no one else being home. His family was nice, but I wasn’t in the mood to talk to them, especially after that kiss.
“Let’s make this authentic. I’ll pour us some egg nog. You flip through the stations and find something Christmassy.”
I walked over to the large picture windows and looked out. It was dark, but I could still make out the shadow of the mountain. “Do you have Christmas cookies too? I mean if we’re going all authentic.”
“I do.” He headed into the kitchen. “Be right back.”
After taking a seat on the plush couch, I slipped off my boots and curled my feet up under me. His condo was a mirror image of the one I was staying in down the hall. Even the furnishings were all the same. I’d just settled on Miracle on 34th Street, the original, when he walked back in balancing two glasses of egg nog and a plate of perfectly frosted cookies. “Refreshments have arrived.”
He flipped the switch on the gas fireplace and turned off all but one lamp. “Now we’ve got the atmosphere. Let me grab a blanket though. It’s cold in here.”
Glen returned a minute later with a blanket and sat down next to me. He put his arm around my shoulder. “Now we’re set.”
“Ice skating, hot cocoa, and now this? I’m starting to worry about you, Glen.”
“You forgot the mistletoe kiss.” He laid the blanket out over both of us. “You know I paid that little girl to do that.”
“Oh yeah? What are child actors charging these days?”
He grinned. “You don’t want to know.”
I picked up my glass of egg nog, and Glen lightly tapped his glass against mine. “To our own version of Christmas Eve.”
“Yes. To new traditions.” I snuggled into his side. Friends could snuggle. They could also kiss under mistletoe I reminded myself. The egg nog was strong, really strong, so I tried to drink it slowly.
We watched a few minutes of the movie, but before long Glen’s commentary about the film took over, and neither us were really watching it. I turned around so I could look at him better. “This was really nice. I kind of needed it tonight. I’m glad we ran into each other.”
“We didn’t run into each other.” He leaned back against the arm of the couch, stretching out his long legs alongside my body.
“We didn’t?”
“No. You stopped in time.”
I smiled. “Oh yes, physically we didn’t.”
“You’ve gotten even prettier.” He watched me as he sipped his egg nog. “You’re probably one of those girls that’s going to be even hotter in your twenties and thirties. You’ll age well.”
“Oh yeah? You know a lot about women in their twenties and thirties?” I set down my glass on the coffee table.
“I’m just saying, you get prettier every year.” His eyes fixed on mine.
I could feel blood rushing to my face. “Well you get more attractive too.”
“I do?” He sat up and grabbed me around my waist. He lay back down, pulling me with him.
“Yeah, you do. I don’t know if it’s going to continue into your thirties though. I can’t tell.”
He laughed. “You’ll have to tell me then.”
“You think we’ll still know each other then? I mean you’re only nineteen now.”
“We will.” He slipped his hand underneath the hem of my sweater and ran two fingers over my skin. “I know we will. That’s the best part of only seeing each other once a year. There’s no reason for us to start hating each other.”
“That’s a good point.” I closed my eyes, his fingers were cool from holding the cold eggnog, and they felt good as he brushed them against my skin again and again.
“You’re going to have to be careful next year. When you start school.”
“Why?” I asked carefully. I didn’t want to do anything that stopped him from touching me. His fingers had moved up slightly higher, and he was continuing the back and forth motion.
“Because of what you look like. Guys are going to want to take advantage of you. You need to be smart.”
“I can handle guys.”
“Can you?” His hand moved up even higher, and I took in a deep breath. I wasn’t sure what game he was playing, but I liked it. The problem is I wanted more.