Page 42 of Catch Yourself a Snowmance
“My stuff is still up there,” I tell Gage.
“No problem, man. We’ll toss everything in your bag for you. Just eat so we can all be ready to go.”
I sit at the island and take a sip of coffee. “Hey, Liam?” I ask.
“Yeah?”
“Do you have Alyssa’s number?”
“No. But Noelle does. I’ll ask her for it.”
“Thanks.”
I don’t even have her number. Is this what Prince Charming felt like when Cinderella ran off and left nothing but a glass slipper? I’ll comb the kingdom to find her, that’s for sure.
Chapter 12
Alyssa
"At Christmas, you tell the truth." - Love Actually
“Ishould have woken Carson up. Shouldn’t I? … Or maybe not. I mean, after he said those things to Liam …”
I’m blabbering to my friends about Carson on the drive from North Carolina back into Tennessee. We’re heading to my house, which apparently now has a hole in the roof.
“I think you did the right thing,” Stephanie says.
Her Kindle is tucked away, since my romantic mayhem is far more engaging than whatever she’s been reading.
“Yeah,” Tori says. “Let him come for you. If he’s interested, he’ll show up.”
“I think he’s interested,” Noelle says from her shotgun seat next to Jennifer.
“He sure seemed interested all weekend,” Jennifer says, glancing back at me in the rearview. “He was like this cute littlepuppy, looking around for you whenever the two of you weren’t together. It was far from subtle.” She pauses. “Yeah. He likes you.”
“I know he likes me. We spent a lot of time talking … and flirting. But was it one of those,I like her and now we’ve kissed, so I’m good? Or was it more like,I like her and I hope this builds into more?” I groan. “You see this?Thisis why I don’t date. Life is simpler without a man in it. I never spin out about how any of you feel about me.”
“Because we love you,” Stephanie says.
“Life is better with the right man,” Noelle says. She turns so she’s looking right at me from the front passenger seat. “Do you want my straight opinion?”
“You tell me? Do I want it?”
She smiles warmly. “You do. Falling for someone, or liking them, or starting to date … it’s all risky. We’re putting ourselves out there when we do. And that’s like setting your head on the chopping block hoping no one has a blade in hand. Each time we extend our emotions like that, we risk rejection. It’s far safer to stay out of the scene. But in the long run, if we’re going to find love—romantic love—we’re going to have to take some risks.”
Tori chimes in, “It’s the oldYou’ve got to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your princeanalogy.”
Noelle shakes her head. “Not necessarily. I never kissed a frog.”
“You had a hand-selected elf, who turned out to be amazing. He just showed up on your doorstep, thanks to us. That’s totally different.” I say.
“And you had a man you thought was the missing link come on a ski trip with you,” Noelle counters. “Maybe he’s no frog either. All I’m saying is, you’re going to have to take a risk if you want to see if something can develop with him.”
“And also, let him come for you,” Tori adds. “There’s no need for you to jump out there and declare your feelings for him. Any man who’s interested can come around and let you know he’s into you. If he doesn’t do that when he’s pursuing you, he’s for sure not going to do that if and when things get serious.”
“Agreed,” Stephanie says. “Let him come to you.”
“I second that,” Jennifer says. “Or … third. I third that.”
