Page 53 of A DIY Christmas Miracle
“What the hell…” I whispered, staring at the dashboard for a second before leaning forward to check if any of the indicator lights were flashing.
Nothing.
“Could you fasten your seatbelt, please? I’m not comfortable driving without everyone wearing them.” Will was trying his best to sound completely unaffected and neutral, but he was a terrible actor. I couldhearthe stifled laughter in his voice. I couldseethe way his shoulders were already shaking from trying to contain said laughter, and I knew the way he snorted while exhaling through his nose wasn’t something he usually did, either.
“What’s going on?” I asked while fastening my seatbelt because yeah, Will was right about that. Afterward, I turned to Will, who was calmly steering his truck onto the road, and crossed my arms in front of my chest.
“We’re going home.”
“I can see that!” Was he fucking kidding me? “I thought the truck wasn’t starting.” Aha! Now I had him. There was the telltale blush creeping up his neck until his cheeks were flaming red. “Anything you want to tell me? Maybewhythe truck doesn’t appear to be broken after all?”
“Well…” Will said, giving me a quick sideways glance before focusing back on the road. He turned on the heat and the radio, obviously trying to stall. “You know… it’s… a… uhm… kind of a funny story?”
“I’m always up for listening to funny stories.”
“Don’t be mad at the others, okay?” He gave me a pleading look.
“Why would I be mad at the… wait a minute! Does Cassy have anything to do with this?”
She couldn’t, right? That little snake! She was my best friend, and as my best friend, she should be on my side, so whatever was going on, if she knew about it, she should’ve warned me. She’d had ample opportunities to do so.
“She did. And our friends really didn’t want to betray you or anything. Anyway, you had this plan about that snowstorm.”
Shit. She’d told him about that?
Wait a minute. Oh, no. Ohhellno! He’d said ‘they.’ Plural. The others knew? Likeeveryone? Including Will!
Oh my God, I wanted to die. Was Will driving too fast for me to take my chances and jump out of the car?
My cheeks were burning hot, and my stomach was tying itself into knots while the realization of my secret plan not being secret at all sent a wave of shame through my body.
I’d never be able to look any of them in the eye again.
“It was the night I supposedly turned you down,” Will said. “Everyone had been drinking and one thing led to another, and they told me about your plan. And… youdoknow it was a little crazy, don’t you?” A little crazy?A littlewasn’t that bad. It was far better than the completely unhinged I’d expected. “Then again, no one has ever even attempted doing anything like that for me and, while crazy, it was also kinda sweet? And since your plan to create a Christmas miracle of your own failed, I thought I’d come up withmyown.” Will looked at me apologetically, but after a second, a smile curled up the corners of his mouth. “I figured a snowstorm was a little risky, so I asked Josh for help…”
“You faked the truck breaking down!” I gaped at him. “How did you do that? I saw you trying to start it.”
Will laughed at my outburst, while I couldn’t decide whether to be mad that my friends had exposed my plan or melt into a puddle of goo because how fucking sweet and cute was Will? Not only had he not laughed at my stupid plan, but he came up with his own crazy plan. The difference being that his plan had actually worked.
“The key words here are spark plugs wires. Josh showed me how to disconnect them and the vehicle can’t start without them, so I disconnected them. Later, when I got our bags out of the car, I connected the wires.”
“You’re crazy.” Shaking my head, I laughed, but at the same time, I felt tears prickling and pooling in my eyes. How incredibly sweet could one person be? Blinking wildly, I tried getting the tears under control because I didn’t want to cry right now.
“I’m crazy? I’m not the one who tried to conjure up a snowstorm.”
“Hey! I didn’t want to conjure it up. According to the weather forecast, it should’ve happened.”
Will chuckled, grinning broadly at me. “Still, I’m not as crazy as you are.”
I wanted to contradict him but really couldn’t. He had a point. Not that I’d tell him that, but I could quietly agree. My plan had been crazy, but his had been… perfect. He’d tried to give me my own romance-worthy love story.
Yeah, I wouldn’t be able to let him go. Ever.
“Since we apparently don’t need to beg our friends to come pick us up or find a rental, we should have time for breakfast now, right? Can we stop by the diner?”
Will’s laughter was music to my ears.
“Anything you want, Eli. Anything you ever want.”
