Page 30 of Christmas in Comets Valley
“Tell me you didn’t come back for only your tablet this time.”
“No.” She shook her head with a laugh, taking a step closer to me. “I was actually thinking that maybe you could use a date, you know, to Sal’s for New Year’s Eve…”
I took a step closer to her and tucked a rogue piece of hair behind her ear.
“You’re sure about this?”
She nodded. “I don’t know the logistics… or how we’ll fit into each other’s lives, but I know that I love you.” Aera cut the final inches of distance between us by diving into my arms in one swift movement. “And I think that’s as good of a reason as any to—”
I cut her off, searing our lips together in an unbreakable, possessive kiss. It was then that I vowed to myself, if a day came where she doubted my love for her again, then I’d give her as much time as she needed to find her way back to me.
EPILOGUE
Aera
One year later
“We’re going to be late!”Elliot called up the stairs to the master bedroom, where I sat at my vanity, brushing on a final stroke of eyeshadow for good measure.
After a year of back and forth between Los Angeles and Comets, we spent the entire month of December christening as many rooms as possible in our freshly renovated home. Which was conveniently located on the same street as Juliet’s cottage.
Whenever we came back to town, it felt like we’d never left. This place was our break away from the chaos of city life and where our best memories from the last year had been made.
“Aera, seriously. We’re officially late!”
“Fashionably late, I hope?” I shot him a wink, waltzing down the steps in a gold ball gown I’d designed especially for this event.
“That’s an awful joke… every time you make it.” Taking my hand in his, Elliot placed a gentle kiss against the back of it, which made my heart somersault in my chest.
“You’re telling me it hasn’t grown on you even a little bit yet?”
“Not the slightest.” With a smirk on his lips, he placed a gentle kiss against my temple. “You ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
The only event better than the Comets Valley Christmas Eve Festival was Sal’s New Year’s Bash. Last year—no thanks to my then boyfriend—I was severely under dressed, so in typical fashion, I had no choice but to be best dressed this year.
It wasn’t a competition, but I was making it one for my own personal enjoyment.
Before walking out the door, Elliot wrapped my faux fur coat over my shoulders. And with his arm wrapped securely around me, we ambled through the still decorated streets taking time to admire our neighbor’s holiday cheer despite the chill that was settling into the depths of my bones.
Minutes later, a familiar bell I’d grown to know well over the last year chimed as Elliot swung open the door to Sal’s. Music exploded from the sound system and a crowd like I’d never seen before filled the room to max capacity.
Most surprising of all, every square inch of this place had been stripped of the Christmas decor and replaced with black and gold streamers strung across the ceiling, and matching balloons covered the floor.
Elliot rested a hand on my lower back as he showed our tickets to the bouncer—and by bouncer, I meant some high school kid dressed in a rented tux—at the entrance before leading us deeper into the room. Before we made it twenty steps inside, the bubbliest blonde I’d ever met plowed through swarms of people and dashed toward us with outstretched arms.
The one thing I loved most about Juliet was that, without fail, she was always the most vibrant person in the room. Even as she made her way over to Elliot and me, people's gazes were instantly drawn to her allure.
“You guys are just in time!” she squealed with delight, throwing her hands around both of our necks at once like we hadn’t all seen each other at Christmas dinner last week.
I shot Elliot a smug glare. “We’re late,” my ass.
“Actually, we have news to share with you…” I started.
“No way, I’ve got some news to share with you guys too!” Juliet’s entire face spread into a smile. “You guys go first.”
“We’re engaged.”
