Page 80 of Infatuated as They Come
I frowned at her. “What?”
“Stay here. Close your eyes!”
“Wait—”
“Close them!” She grabbed my hands, placing them over my eyes. “Don’t peek!”
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll be one minute!”
I was tempted to look over my shoulder at her, the sound of her feet patting against the carpet in my ears, but I kept my eyes firmly shut, letting my hands fall down to the couch. I sat back against the soft cushions, hearing a tiny bit of commotion behind me. The fridge opening, plates clattering, Holly humming to herself.
“What are you doin’ back there?” I asked.
“Just wait a minute! I’m nearly—okay, you can look!”
Eyes finally opening, I saw Holly with a plated donut in one hand while her other grasped one of the many big heavy candles she had around the apartment.
“I know it’s not a cake,” she said. “And if we had cake in the fridge I’d use that, but donuts are just as good, right?”
I laughed lowly. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“It’s an éclair on a plate.” She lifted up a shoulder. “Not a big deal. You deserve a proper party and a cake, so this is just a little something until I give you that.”
Not a big deal. But it was. I didn’t get things. I didn’t get cake or donuts or candles or a “Happy birthday, son” or even a damn pat on the back, but the girl standing in front of me with that hopeful look in her pretty eyes was trying to push all those demons away.
“This candle’s getting kinda hot if you wanna blow it out,” she said sheepishly.
“Sorry.” I leaned forward, blowing out the orange candle, the gentle smell of cinnamon in the air. I watched as she set the candle and donut down on the coffee table, climbing back into my lap, and my hands quickly found her waist. “Thank you, sweetheart.”
“Happy birthday,” she whispered. “We can pretend it’s today.”
“What’s my star sign if it’s today?”
“Hm, Scorpio, I think.”
“Are we compatible?”
She pushed a hand through my hair and sighed dramatically. “I don’t know, but we’ll make it work.”
* * *
The first thing I saw when I woke up on Monday morning was Holly sitting on the bed next to me. Hair all sleek and polished, she was dressed up in some fancy, cream colored coat. And then I saw something behind her. Duffel bags. A lot of them.
“Good morning.” The words sounded so soft on her lips. “Did you sleep good?”
It had been a weird night. A weird weekend, actually. Holly had been swept up in school stuff, constantly with her head in a book or typing away at her laptop. But she had been distant too, taking phone calls outside of the apartment like she didn’t want me to listen to a word she—or whoever was on the other line—had to say, or snapping her laptop shut whenever I got too close.
Part of me thought it was because of everything that I had told her the other night. I wasn’t used to being open, but Holly had a way of making me feel like I was always taking the right steps when I did that. But her being all distant made me wonder if I had shared too much and scared her off. Maybe that combined with me being so damn focused on work all the time and then me hiding my birthday from her had done it.
“What’s with the bags?” I asked.
“You deserve to sleep in, but I needed you to get up eventually. I have to tell you something,” she said. “And I know you’re not gonna like what I’m about to say, but I need you to hear me out and not get mad.”
My heart dropped. “Holly… Look, I know I’ve been too busy with work since we got here… And I know I gotta stop doing that…”
“Yes, I agree.”
