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“Gideon.” Her pragmatic tone was just this side of scolding. “Paul Frost is a tree you can’t climb.” “Not planning on trying,” I lied. I’d blaze his Yule in a heartbeat if I thought he was interested, but he was most decidedly not.
Sometimes hoping hurt and rolling with the punches was the only way to avoid hitting the floor.
He was such a catch. And him being oblivious somehow made him all the hotter.
His enthusiasm was maybe the best thing about him, and I hoped he never changed one bossy trait. The world needed more Gideon. And maybe I did too.
I was happy. So happy I wasn’t sure I could survive it.
He deserved someone watching out for him, someone to leave a light on, and if he’d let it be me, well, I liked that.
Standing next to me, he kissed me tenderly and so carefully that I had to work to avoid swooning like a Victorian virgin.
Accidental dating? Was that even a thing? Maybe we could make it one.
He even tasted like Christmas—rum and spice and sweet, a memory in the making—and I couldn’t get enough.
“I want to be the one to light you up,”
Brandon damn well better name a phenomenon for him. He deserved it.
This. This right here was both the happiest and most wistful I’d ever been. I might not survive Paul Frost.
I wanted you there. For me. Because you being there makes everything better. I told you. I need you.”
He tasted familiar, like a memory I hadn’t known I’d had until our first kiss.
If he wanted to claim me, I’d happily let him.
For him, I’d gladly suffer any number of endings, if only for the chance to see him like this, body splayed out, every muscle straining toward me, head tipping back like he was waiting. Waiting for me.
I’m always saying everything important, I learned from my big brother.”
I’d do it all over again, fight to keep him, make all the same sacrifices, and more, and I’d do it without any thanks. But still, him saying it mattered.
I kept expecting him to realize he could do far better, but apparently, he’d chosen me, and now I wanted to hold him to it. I wasn’t letting him go.
I honestly wasn’t sure I could ever fully tell Gideon how much he meant to me. I tried. But there simply weren’t words for what it felt like having my heart returned to my chest, rediscovering that I hadn’t lost my capacity for joy after all.
