Page 15 of One Hundred Lights
“Congrats,” I whisper in her ear.
She turns her face up to me and our lips are mere inches away. I want nothing more than to bring our mouths together, to see if I can remember how it feels to kiss Britt, to test how soft her lips are, to see if I can taste the coffee we just drank.
She slides her arms down from my neck and leans back. I lean forward and kiss her forehead, pausing for a beat with my lips on her skin before releasing her from my embrace. She steps back and crosses her arms on her chest.
Did that cross a boundary? Probably. But I’m not sure I care anymore.
“Thank you for your help today.” Her voice is almost a whisper.
“I’m not done helping. Let’s count these puppies and make sure we don’t need anything else. When do we decorate?”
Her face contorts, going through several emotions, but landing on one that I can’t quite identify.
It’s a good one. That much I know.
“Friday afternoon?”
“Of course.” I’d do anything for her. I’ll take off the rest of the week if it means spending time with her again.
“We need a cart.”
“Let me get it. You count the goods.” I stride down the aisle to the front of the store with a bounce in my step. My heart is beating wildly and I feel Britt in every cell of my body.
A minute later, I race back to the aisle with a cart, pausing for a second to watch her touch the boxes, one by one. Her forehead crinkles, eyes laser focused. She turns and catches me watching her.
It doesn’t faze her. A giant smile crosses her face. “Eighty-seven boxes. This is it. We’re done!”
I grin at her, starting to understand how deep my feelings for this woman run. Something inside me shifts.
Ah, fuck.
We’re friends, and I’m attracted to her. That’s where it has to stop.
Even though we have all the boxes we need, I know we’re not done.
And I have a feeling we never will be.
7
BRITT
Friday, December 15
“Should we have picked up more lights?” I press my palms on either side of my face. Adrian and I stand at the entrance to the high school gym and survey our work.
Adrian laughs, an easy sound that envelops me like a warm blanket. I glance at him and smile.
“The taxpayers will be happy you didn’t spend more on decorations for this dance.” There’s a twinkle in his eyes when he meets my gaze.
Adrian’s wearing a thin t-shirt that hugs his CrossFit muscles and makes my insides turn to goo. No way he had planned to take two days off this week. I know that. He took them off to help me, not only spending most of the day hunting for lights on Wednesday but showing up four hours ago to prep the gym and string those lights around the large room.
Lights outline the windows and doors, then go up and over the pushed-in bleachers. There was even enough to adorn the activity tables: the photo booth with funny masks and a station with buckets of soft white balls for fake snowball fights. But with the afternoon sun streaming in the windows, it’s hard to tell just how magical the lights will look tonight.
The past few days have been the most fun I’ve had in months.
Even Jackson noticed. When he got home from school on Wednesday afternoon, he was like,What’s up with you, Mom? Why are you smiling?And in return, I smiled even broader.
Me being happy makes Jackson happy? Who knew?
