Page 28 of Mistletoe Omega
He assisted me with stringing the lights on the tree, and then he went to get ready for work. He came out, his hair damp from his shower, wearing jeans and a red sweater. “What do you think of this Christmas cheer?” He smoothed his hand down his fuzzy top.
I grinned. “Where did you get that?”
“Patty gave it to me as a Secret Santa gift.”
“You opened it before Christmas?”
He frowned. “Was that wrong of me?”
“Usually you’d open gifts on Christmas day.”
“Oh, well.” He grimaced. “But then Christmas is over. Why would I want to wear a Christmas sweater after the big day?”
I laughed. “Good point.”
He winked, looking pleased. “See. You can still learn things from me too, old man.”
“Yep.” I hung a blue bulb ornament as I spoke. “Too bad you can’t decorate with me.”
He didn’t respond, and when I glanced at him, he had a line between his brows. “I’m sorry.”
“I just meant for you. Not for me.” My face warmed. I didn’t want to come off too clingy.
“I need all the shifts I can get.”
“Of course. I didn’t mean you shouldn’t go to work.” I was a little curious why he was taking so many extra shifts still. He’d implied he wasn’t in a big hurry to go to California anymore, so I wasn’t sure why he was trying to save up so much money.
“Tonight’s shift is shorter than usual. If you want to wait, I can help when I get home.”
“When do you get off?”
“Ten.”
I shrugged. “Sure. I’ll decorate a little, but I’ll wait for you to do most of it.”
Some tension left his jaw. “Okay. Cool.” He eyed the tree. “I like the idea that this is our tree.”
Shocked at his admission, I made sure not to react too much. “Me too.” Noticing the time, I set the box of ornaments I held down, and started to fish my keys from my pocket. “Ready to go?”
“Oh, you don’t have to drive me today. Kale said he’d give me a ride.”
I frowned. “Who?”
“He’s one of the cooks. He’s working the same shift as me today, so he offered to give me a ride to and from work.” He moved to the door.
I was surprised how much I hated the idea of that. I enjoyed taking Sam to work. I enjoyed everything I did with Sam. “Is this guy new?”
He hesitated by the door. “Yeah. Why?”
I shrugged. “I feel weird some stranger driving you around. How do you know he’s a good driver?”
He laughed awkwardly. “Well, I didn’t ask for a report from the DMV. But he seems like a responsible guy.”
I knew I needed to rein in whatever these weird emotions were. I was acting possessive. It was none of my business who drove him to work. “That’s great,” I forced out, trying to look pleasant.
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. I thought it would be nice to give you a break from carting my ass all over town.”
“You know I don’t mind.” I cleared my throat. “But, sure, yeah. Whatever. I’ll save on gas money, right?”
