Page 39 of Catch Yourself a Snowmance
“In the hallway?” Noelle looks rightfully confused.
“No. No. Of course not.” My laughter is nervous, even to my own ears.
She stares at me, seeing right through me. “Is this about Carson?”
“What? No.”
“Lyss,” Noelle calls me by her pet name for me. “It’s me you’re talking to.”
“Okay, yes. But I’d rather not talk here. Liam and Carson are in the kitchen.”
“Ahhh. Okay. Come to my room after you get your water, okay? I was just looking for Liam so I could say goodnight.”
I smile at Noelle. She and Liam are perfect for one another. I don’t think she ever questioned him or his intentions once. Why am I so uncertain? Carson made me feel safe and comfortable all week. That hasn’t changed. Except he seemed to be questioning everything with Liam just now.
It’s getting later and I’m tired—not really optimal conditions for discernment.
I walk into the kitchen and both men’s heads turn quickly as if they’ve been caught red-handed.
“Alyssa!” Liam says with unnatural enthusiasm.
“Liam.” I walk to the counter and grab down a glass. Then I walk to the sink and fill it with water. The guys stand still, quietly watching me. I can nearly feel their eyes on me.
“Goodnight, guys,” I say without looking in their direction. “See you in the morning.”
“Goodnight,” Liam says at the same time as Carson says, “See you in the morning, Alyssa.”
I knock on Noelle’s door on my way down the hall and pop my head in.
“I’m too tired. Morning sheds new light on problems that seemed overwhelming at night.”
“Oooh. That’s Pinterest-worthy wisdom. It even rhymes.”
I chuckle softly. “Well, it’s true.”
I don’t mean to keep talking, but everything spills out.
“Nutshell, I kissed Carson. Actually, he kissed me. We’ve been connecting and ever since the kiss my head has been spinning with questions about where we stand and what comes next, which is exactly why I didn’t want to take a chance on him. But now I did. We did. Well, he did. And I did … Anyway, who knows. I’m too tired to make sense of it all. Oh, but he was saying something to Liam when you walked up about how he didn’t plan on a relationship and he doesn’t know.”
Noelle’s eyes are wide. I just backed up, pulled the lever and let the dump truck dump.
“He doesn’t know what?” she asks.
“I don’t know. That’s what I was trying to overhear when you came down the hall.”
“Sorry!”
“No problem. We’re adults. We can talk. If we can kiss, we’d better be able to talk. I’m sure we’ll iron this out in the morning.”
Noelle does a little bounce on her bed. “You and Carson! I thought so, but then I didn’t know. You looked so interested in one another all weekend. But you’ve both been pretty staunchly single for a while, so I didn’t want to hope too hard.”
“Well, don’t hope too hard now either. I don’t want to let you down.”
“Too late. I’m hoping hard. You two are adorable together. And I see the way he looks at you. He’s definitely interested.”
“Okay. Okay. Slow down. Let’s get some sleep.”
“Okay.” Noelle lets out another little squeal. “This would be so fun though … double dates …”
