Page 64 of Stuck on the Slopes

“Good. If you’d gone another day I might have barged your door down.”

Juniper chuckled, glancing to his shoes. “As much as I’d have loved to see that, I won’t call your bluff.” He treated himself to another long inhale and exhale. Then, he reached into his back left pocket and pulled out a small chiffon bag cinched at the top with a tied ribbon. “In other news, I got you a little something. Happy Hanukkah.”

I smiled. “You didn’t have to get me anything. But thank you.”

“Well, I wanted to.” He handed me the bag, and as I took it, he said, “I tried Googling how to wish you a Happy Hanukkah in Hebrew, but I don’t think I got the pronunciation right.”

“Chag sameach. It works for most holidays.”

He repeated it twice, satisfied with his pronunciation on his second attempt as I opened the bag. I pulled out a pair of earrings I’d wager he got from Etsy. The design was of a cat holding onto a dreidel.

He said, “I read online that Hanukkah gifts are meant to be more small, thoughtful things, so I hope it’s appropriate.”

Clutching the earrings in my hand, I crossed the space between us, pulling him in for a tight hug. “Juniper, this is beyond thoughtful. Thank you.”

His body was stiff, but he eventually relaxed as he wrapped his arms around me. Juniper’s fingers tangled in my hair as he asked if I liked it.

“Juni, I love it.” I pulled away only to swap my current pair of earrings—menorahs—for the new ones. “These are so cute. You know me well. Do you want to come in? I was just about to light the candles, and Nora gifted me the best loaf of challah.”

“I’ve never celebrated Hanukkah.”

“First for everything, yeah?” I stepped to the side, leaving it up to Juniper, and to my delight, he crossed the threshold and closed the door behind him and Sasquatch.

“By the way, I saw your Halloween pictures. First, Edgar showed them to me in a BuzzFeed article, but then I went into the app myself.”

“BuzzFeed, huh?”

“You looked great. Not that you still don’t. The costume looked great on you, I mean.”

“Thanks! I think I still have it tucked away somewhere. Maybe next Halloween.” Even though I wasn’t even sure if it still fit, I winked. “I told you, nothing I can’t handle.”

Looking at him, I could see the realization all over his face with the way his eyes widened. “Wait, you did that on purpose?”

“Well, as you know because you were with me, I certainly didn’t dress up as a bunny this year.”

Juniper laughed once, and then it all came out as if some internal dam within him finally broke. “You saw them calling you a snow bunny, so you posted photos of yourself dressed like an actual bunny?”

I nodded and grabbed the matchbox, maintaining nonchalance. “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, right?”

Juniper walked over to me, cupped my face between his palms, and then closed the gap with a kiss. Relieved he’d come back around, I dropped the box of matches on the table, thankfully having not yet taken any of them out, and kissed him back. I could faintly taste spearmint on his breath, which provided a sweet chill. When he pulled away, he treated me to one of his rare, full smiles, goofy and love-drunk and maybe a teeny tiny bit high.

“Just when I think everything is going straight to Hell, you go ahead and take the reins.”

“Always a pleasure to.”

“Alright, so what’s Hanukkah all about? I’m admittedly uneducated.”

“Eight nights of praying over candles and then eating a bunch of fried food, which is ironic because I’m pretty sure IBS runs in our DNA.”

“Oh, that is cruel.”

“I made some latkes to go with dinner, and I’ve got more than enough sufganiyot for the two of us. You’re more than welcome to help yourself. But first, candles!”

“Let me know if I can help.”

“We got eight nights of this, so we can take turns.”

Juniper stood beside me as I sang the prayers, hoping my voice didn’t crack as I lit the center candle and then the first night’s. He smiled and wrapped his arm around me once I’d finished, pressing a quick kiss to my temple before we made our way to the kitchen to eat. As I sat across from him at the small dining room table, he groaned in delight at the taste of the latkes with applesauce then later the strawberry jam-stuffed pastries, and I couldn’t stop my smile. Juniper asked all sorts of questions about the holiday that I was more than happy to answer, grateful to share the night and its traditions with him.

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