Page 5 of Mr. Merry Ex-Mas
Matt laughs and pours one more shot. “You mean your ‘desperately trying not to be in love’language?”
“Excuse me. I’ll have you know I amverysuccessfully not in love with her.”
“You're so full of shit.”
I shrug, then do the third shot, the fire sitting low in my stomach. “I can’t help it if I remember everything she says, and still think about how good she looks when she’s mad.” I smile. “I pushed her buttons on purpose today to see what would happen.”
He scoffs. “Still trying to get a blow job after a fight, huh?”
I snicker. “I should have never told you that.” I spin the empty shot glass, and my mind reverts to every fight I picked on purpose just so she would show me some passion.
“Mhmm. Totally not in love. You sound like a movie side character who dies of unresolved tension.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re no help.”
“Listen, I’m the guy who watched his high-school sweetheart waltz back into his winerywith her fiancéto plantheirwedding and still managed to marry her, so if anyone gets being the side character at first, I do.”
“Yeah, well, Sadie’s not exactly giving me the green light. In fact, her words were ‘we’re not anything.’So, pretty sure she’s over me.”
“Maybe. Or maybe she’s scared you’re not joking this time.”
I pause, letting out a breath. “I wasn’t joking then.”
“I know you weren’t, but she didn't, and that was the problem. You’re not a kid, Danny. You don’t have to pull her ponytail to get her attention.”
“I did if I wanted a blow job.” I laugh, then sober. “She’s got this whole world mapped out—timelines, goals, perfect damn centerpieces. And I’m just…me.”
“Yeah, you’re you. The guy who’s funny, loyal, great with kids, and probably the only person on earth who could balance her out when she finally lets go.”
“You really think that?”
“Only because my fiancé tells me I have to be nice to you.” I flip him off, and he laughs. “But Sadie thinks that, too.She just doesn’t want to admit it, even if you're holding a lighter to her perfectly timed schedule.”
I huff a laugh and stand. “Thanks for the drink. And for the talk. I'll catch ya tomorrow.”
I walk out, remembering how it felt to have her hand pushed against my chest, kissing me like she didn’t want to want me but couldn't resist me either.
That was the night I realized I might actually love Sadie Johnson.
And today showed me I never stopped. Now, I just have to figure out how to get her to see what I’ve always known. We weren’t perfect on paper, and we definitely didn’t make sense together, but when it was just me and her with no schedule between us, we were something worth fighting for.
4
SADIE
“Maybe I should be the one on the ladder?”
“Are you saying women can’t do manual labor?”
“I never said that. In fact, I think you’re excellent at thejobsyou do.”
I ignore his little innuendo and continue weaving the string lights around the top of the wood beams as he hums “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” under his breath.
I grit my teeth and focus on the lights, not the humming. I don’t focus on the way his hands look, strong and wrapped around the legs of the ladder, and I definitely don’t focus on remembering how they used to feel wrapped aroundmylegs.
“You good up there?”
I reach for the last hook and yelp as the ladder shakes. “Danny! If I fall and break–”
