Page 51 of Paths

I allow myself to smile this time and my eyes get big. “Sorry.”

“Pick out two stockings, unless you’re inviting someone else to Christmas that I don’t know about.”

I shrug. “I was going to invite Foxy, but since you’ve invited yourself and there’s barely room for the two of us, I guess he’ll have to make other plans.”

“Does Foxy have family?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“Then Foxy’s not coming to our Walmart Christmas.” He gives me a squeeze before giving me a quick kiss. “Hurry up, it’s late and we still need to cut down a tree.”

He lets me go, but I don’t hurry. “I’m sure they have live trees outside. I doubt we’ll find a tree farm open this late.”

“We live in the middle of the forest, Maya. We don’t need a tree farm, but we will need one of those things to put the tree in.”

“A tree stand?” I grin.

“I told you I’ve been alone for the last five years, sorry I’m rusty on my Christmas lingo. Now, speed it up, we’ll need shit to put on the tree, too.”

“Got it.” I turn to pick out two stockings, which makes me immensely happy. “A tree thing and tree shit. I’m on it.”

*****

Grady –

I wasn’t lying when I said I’d been on my own the last five Christmases. I also haven’t given it much thought until we were standing there, but at that moment, I realized how alone I’ve been.

I chose to be, I even know I needed to be after all that happened with my dad. But the last few months have been nothing but a sucker punch to the gut, and Maya has been nothing but a light in my darkness. Because of her, I’ve been desperate for changes, and Christmas is going to be one of them.

“I can’t get warm.” She yawns, standing next to me as we both stare at the tree it took for-fucking-ever to find. I’ve never cut a tree down before, but for some reason when we were standing in the middle of all the Christmas shit, something came over me.

I’m not quite sure if testosterone took over, but standing in the middle of Walmart, I decided there was no fucking way she was having a tree unless I cut it down for her. Now, standing in her tiny rental, I can admit I should’ve reigned in my sudden surge of caveman tendencies and thought it through.

Once we got back from shopping, I drove straight to one of Crew’s barns and found a saw. We trudged through the freezing forest in search of a tree. This is when I started to see the flaw in my plan. I’m assuming Christmas tree farms are well organized and finding the perfect tree isn’t hard.

But in the dark of night with only a flashlight leading the way, it took forever. Maya laughed at me the whole time, and the longer we searched, the less picky we became.

Finally, after an hour of trudging through the forest with the cold sinking in, we settled on one.

I cut it down and dragged it back to her tiny house.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I look at the disaster in front of me. “I’ll get you another one.”

“No,” she says, rubbing her hands together to warm up. “It’s going to look better with lights and ornaments. What kind of tree do you think it is?”

I turn to look at her. “I’m not a forest ranger, but I’d say a fucking ugly one.”

She laughs. “It’s not ugly. A little sparse, maybe, but not ugly. There’s lots of room for the ornaments to hang, right? I think once we string the lights, it’ll be beautiful.”

My brows rise. “Beautiful?”

I shake my head and turn to her. It’s late, well into the morning hours, and she’s got to work tomorrow. She’s already changed into what she must sleep in. She’s in loose, soft pants cinched around her waist and a big hoodie. I can’t see one curve on her, but if there’s anything beautiful in the room, it’s definitely not the ugly-ass tree we just searched over an hour for.

“Yeah, beautiful,” she says, looking away from the ugliest tree on earth to face me. Her voice goes soft and low when she keeps on. “You make losing bets worth it, Grady Cain. This was only my second first date ever, but it was perfect. Thank you.”

Forgetting about the tree, I let that sink in at the same time I try not to think about her other first date, because the thought of that pisses me off.

Instead, I hook a finger in the neck of her hoodie and pull. “If you want to lose some more bets, I can make that happen.”

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