Page 24 of Holiday Romance
At least I hope there isn’t.
“We’ll have to get normal food,” I say as we stop just inside the doors. Andrew pulls a thick green scarf from his bag and winds it around his neck. “Alongside fun food. I cleared out the freezer last night so do you want to stop somewhere on the way back, or I know a few places we can—”
“Hey lovebirds!”
I turn, startled, to see a red-faced man on the other side of the doors, sitting on a sturdy suitcase. He’s smiling at us and looks far too cheery for someone whose flight has probably just been canceled.
“Can I help you?” I ask, but he just points to the ceiling. I glance back at Andrew with an is-this-man-going-to-kill-us eyebrow raise, but he’s not looking at me. He’s looking up with a smile and I follow his gaze to a bundle of green leaves directly overhead.
“What’s that?” I ask, confused.
Andrew’s eyes drop to mine. “It’s mistletoe, you idiot.”
“That’s mistletoe?” No way. “It looks like spinach. Like a sprig of spinach.”
“How do you not know what—”
“I know what itis, I just haven’t seen it before. It’s not like I spend December looking up the whole time, is it?”
“You’re five foot nothing, you spend most of your life looking up.”
“I am five footthree, thank you very much. And I can see the world just fine from—”
“Don’t be such a grinch!” the man interrupts. “It’s tradition!”
“Keep your pants on!” I yell back. Andrew only laughs, but a couple of other people have stopped at the commotion and now suddenly we have an audience.
“These things are so dumb,” I mutter, trying not to meet anyone’s eye as Andrew pulls a matching bobble hat on over his hair. “And kind of creepy, don’t you think?”
“I plead the Fourth.”
“Fifth.”
“Whatever.”
Another couple moves past as we dawdle, glancing up as they see the mistletoe. Without even breaking their stride, they turn to each other and kiss, provoking a small cheer from the onlookers.
My mouth drops open as they move on as if nothing happened.
“Bad luck not to kiss,” the cheery man yells, turning his attention back to us.
“No, it’s not!” I exclaim. “You just made that up!”
Andrew shifts beside me, still looking amused. “Molly—”
“He made that up.”
“Just ignore him.”
“I can’t ignore him. He called me a grinch. Why does everybody always call me that?” I watch with increasing annoyance as an older duo raise another round of applause by locking lips right beside us. “That’s it. You have to kiss me.”
“You’re too competitive, you know that? Let’s just find our driver.”
I grab hold of his sleeve, that familiar need to prove myself to complete strangers giving me a blissful focus I haven’t had all day, and before I can think twice about what I’m doing, I slide a hand around the back of his neck and lift my face to his.
I wasn’t lying when I told Gabriela I hadn’t been with anyone since Brandon. But the thing is, I also hadn’t reallybeenwith Brandon either. Not for our last few weeks anyway. It had been one of those slow breakups, awkward and unsure, where every kiss became a question, where every touch could be our last. Until we stopped doing both altogether.
So, it might be because I’ve been so starved of human contact that the moment Andrew and I come together, things start to get… different.
