Page 39 of Christmas Crisis
“Hmm?”
I gulped down the emotions working their way up again. “After this Thursday, you’re off until New Year’s, correct?” I asked him.
His brows furrowed at my non sequitur. “Uh-huh. It might be Wednesday, actually. If we’re finished by then.”
I nodded. “Then, if you’re not opposed, I’d like to go to Coleman Creek. I know my sisters won’t be back until this weekend. But with everything going on, I just want to be someplace that feels like home.”
He huffed. “My apartment not cutting it?”
I answered seriously. “Honestly, your apartment would be my number two. Even more than my place in LA. I hope you know that.” Leo would always be home for me, but I didn’t want to put that on him.
“Thank you,” he said with equal sincerity.
“Will you come with me, Bear? Stay in Coleman Creek for the month? I know it might be asking a lot, but even so…”
He didn’t hesitate. “It’s not a thing. When your boss said to take a break from LA for December, I knew you wouldn’t want to stay in Tacoma the whole time, and being with you is necessary to sell our relationship. Things are going our way now, but it’s probably not a smart idea to take our foot off the gas.”
“Very true.”
“My parents and I were already planning to go to Coleman Creek for the holidays, so it’s really just a few weeks early for me.”
Relief flooded me at his quick agreement. “Great. So we’ll leave Thursday.” At that moment, our conversation reminded me of something else. “I just realized you never told me what your parents said when you called to tell them we were dating.”
Leo smirked. “They were thrilled. Like, genuinely and enthusiastically over-the-top happy.”
A knot formed in my gut. “As much as it helps that they buy our relationship, that sort of makes me feel icky. I hope they’re not too disappointed when we split up. Or come clean.”
He smiled sadly. “It’s okay. When it comes to my love life, they’re used to disappointments. At least it should be a nice Christmas.”
My heart flipped at the thought of spending the season on Leo’s arm. Marley was our family’s designated holiday fanatic, but I still loved the lights and decorations and food. I was a good vibes girl, and nothing said cheer and joy like Christmas.
“I’m excited you’re coming with me, Bear. We can do all the things. Drive around and see the window displays. Go to the official tree lighting. The Holiday Hoopla. You’ve already been to the high school talent show, but you might enjoy it more when James isn’t embarrassing himself singing.” I felt my spirits lifting as I imagined it.
He drew me into another hug, this one much less fraught. “Sounds like going to Coleman Creek is exactly what you need.”
“With you, Leo. What I need is to be in Coleman Creek with you.” At his questioning look, I hastily added, “Gotta remind the universe we’re dating, right?”
His lips flattened. “Right.”
13 MONTHS AGO - NOVEMBER
Driving north on I-5, Leo and Igot stuck in traffic in Central California of all places. Usually, that was a dependably smooth part of the drive. But thanks to road construction, we lumbered behind a line of semi-trucks.
We’d spent a fun couple of days together, once Leo got over the initial shock of seeing Stone in my kitchen. Given a do-over, that would not have been my choice for introducing them. I meant what I’d said. I hadn’t been hiding my relationship with Stone from Leo. It deserved an in-person conversation.
I explained to Leo how I'd met Stone on the beach and that we’d been dating under the radar for a few months. Because of what he’d seen when he showed up, I hadn’t needed to clarify that Stone and I were sleeping together. But I did not clue him in to the fact that the sex was…ahem…pretty mediocre. Decent, if I were being charitable.
Once he had the basics, Leo offered an acknowledging grunt and didn’t bring it up again. I knew he would, though. Just like when he told me about his asexuality. He had a process for working up to things before discussing them.
We’d spent his first day in Los Angeles touring the Science Center and Olivera Street, and the second day we went sideways of Disneyland to hit up California Adventure. The picture I grabbed of Leo having a discussion with Lightning McQueen in Cars Land was officially my new favorite.
Now, stuck behind the semis, Leo decided he’d stumbled upon the moment to speak his mind.
“Panda, I need to understand more about this Stone situation.”
I smiled, pulling my knee up onto the seat to rest my fist on it. “Only took you two days to get curious, huh? What more do you want to hear about?”
“I know you said that you guys agreed not to date publicly, since he’s acelebrity.” Leo took his hands off the steering wheel long enough to curl his fingers into air quotes. “I guess I’m just confirming that keeping things under wraps is really what you want.” He moved his head to look at me. “You deserve better than being someone’s secret.”
