Page 118 of Puck Me Secretly

Max went still. “Oh yeah?”

“But my dad wanted you instead.”

Our eyes met.

I could see the surprise in his eyes. “Really?”

I nodded. “Baxter pushed back too hard and I guess my dad decided he didn’t want to promote Baxter.”

“Wow.”

“I was supposed to be working in media, but my dad decided at the last minute to put me in this role. The thing is, my dad has never talked about this with me. Katrina told Calder, and he told me. My dad has always pretended that this was his dream for me.”

“Are you going to ask him?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

He nodded. “I get that.”

“Don’t take Baxter personally.”

Blue eyes met mine again. “You worry about me.”

I shrugged, not wanting to talk about my feelings. “So how come you didn’t want to go home for Christmas?”

“My family doesn’t celebrate Christmas.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just my mom and my uncle and usually my mom insists on working the Christmas shift.”

“Even if you come home?”

He studied his beer can. “Especially when I come home.”

“You don’t get along?”

His honest blues held mine. “It’s a work in progress, but my mom and I had a falling out years ago and she’s never gotten over it.”

“Do you talk to her?”

“I want to have a relationship with her, but she’s never forgiven me.”

“Max.”

He gave me an enigmatic smile. “It’s fine, but if I head home for the holidays, she stays at work. And then she doesn’t have any time off.”

“So, you stay away.”

“I stay away.”

My heart couldn’t even process what he had shared with me. All I knew is it made me sad. “I’m sorry.”

“It is what it is.” He sat up. “You finished with all this?”

“This was the best picnic ever.” It was the truth. This meal would make it into the top five of all meals in my life.

He leaned over and planted another kiss on my lips. “I’m glad you liked it.”

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