Page 17 of A DIY Christmas Miracle
“But your father does?”
“Probably. He also thinks I should’ve made more out of myself than just becoming a high school teacher. He can’t grasp that I’m not interested in working at a college, teaching the same courses over and over again, dedicating my life to literary studies, or writing and researching about books hundreds of thousands of people have before me. It’s too…dry.”
“Mhmm.” I nodded to show I understood.
“Enough about me and the quarrels between me and my parents… I believe we were talking about what books we were reading. Your turn.”
My cheeks went up in flames again.
If it’d been up to me, Will could’ve kept talking for hours. He was easy to listen to — and I wasn’t just saying that because I loved him. His words had this melodic rhythm that made one cling to every word he said, and it was averypleasant voice at that. If he started narrating audiobooks, I’d buy every single one of them.
“I’m reading… one of my favorite Christmas stories. I’m sure you don’t know it…” I stammered, looking at my e-reader which’d switched to the screen saver. I’d refrained from bringing any physical copies with me, so no one would see the cuddling guys on the cover and immediately know that I was reading romances — and spicy ones at that —again.
“I read a lot of different genres. Maybe I do know it.” Obviously curious, he leaned in closer, watching me through his glasses. “So?”
At his expectant gaze, I couldn’t help but blurt out the title of the book.
“I don’t think I know that one,” Will confessed.
I just shrugged and refrained from giving him a synopsis. Under no circumstances would I tell him about the two protagonists being snowed in together, slowly growing closer until they realized how much they had in common and how much they appreciated the other one’s presence. I wouldn’t tell him how they ended up sharing a bed after the rest of one of the protagonists’ family arrived and how they woke up in each other’s arms the next morning… because those were the very things I wanted to experience with him. And I couldn’t risk him finding out about my plan. He’d think I was crazy and weird.
“It’s not really popular,” I said, shrugging before excusing myself to the bathroom in order to avoid further questions.
Phase 5:Let it snow. Oh let it snow,please!
Chapter 8
Eli
I was so warm.
It was probably the first thing I noticed upon waking up. Everything was warm and soft and cuddly andsocozy I desperately wanted to close my eyes and fall back asleep just to wake up this relaxed and content again.
However, the next thing I noticed was that, although I was warm and comfortable, I was all alone in bed. There was no arm wrapped around my stomach, nobody pulling me against them, and I wasn’t snuggled up to anyone’s chest. I was just surrounded by warm, soft blankets.
I opened my eyes and sighed.
I’d definitely hoped things would turn out differently.
I’d wanted to wake up in Will’s arms. Had hoped we’d unconsciously gravitate toward each other at night, just like it happened in my romance books.
But those were books, and this was reality. And in this reality, I slept like a rock and hardly even moved an inch. Unconsciously snuggling up to someone was something I’d never done. Will would have to be the cuddly one, but apparently, he wasn’t.
How unfortunate.
I’d hoped we could at least wake up and start the day together. That would’ve been nice, too. Watching him slowly gain consciousness, blinking sleepily against the light, and running his fingers through his sleep-tousled hair before blindly searching for his glasses.
Turning around in bed, I opened my eyes, hoping I might find Will next to me after all, but… the bed was empty.
A pang of disappointment hit me. Will wasn’t here. He’d gotten up all on his own and left me here.
My eyes were prickling, but I wouldn’t start crying now just because Will was an early riser. Nu-uh. I forbade it. I mean, it wasn’t as if we’d had a romantic date that ended with us in bed together and he’d fled the bed without a word the next morning.
We were friends that shared a bed because we wanted the luxury on our vacation and not a reminiscence of our teenage summer camp days.
Still, it’d have been nice to wake up next to him.
We could’ve strung up a quiet, whispered conversation that ended with us finding out we were snowed in.
