Page 88 of All I Want Is Love
“Everyone loves Barkley,” Aspen says. “Unlike other pets in this room, he is easy to like.”
“Hey!” Robin complains. “No insults towards Francesco.”
Despite all his bravado, Aspen proves to be a huge softie, as usual. He has prepared a plate with fruits and leaves for Francesco, and a huge bone to gnaw on for Barkley.
“Say, are we expecting anyone else?” Soren asks, gesturing at the fifth set of cutlery.
“Oh, Michael will join us in the evening,” Aspen explains.
At that, Soren and I exchange a surprised glance. “Good thing we baked enough,” I say.
“Why did you invite him?” Soren asks, stunned.
“Sorry, we completely forgot to tell you,” Robin says. “It was very spontaneous. He called last night because he left his change of clothes at my place.”
“Robin and I were finalizing the preparations for today,” Aspen explains. “And then, we spontaneously invited him. He would have been alone for the whole holidays. His partner just dumped him. Damn, I wasn’t thinking… Is it a problem that we invited him?”
“It is, isn’t it?” Robin asks.
“Not really,” I say, to my surprise, really meaning it. Talking about my confused feelings towards Michael actually helped me put everything in perspective. “I’d hate for him to be alone on Christmas. He is a good person.”
“I don’t mind either,” Soren says. “Especially now that I know he is not going to take Leo back to the city.”
“Was that up for debate?” Aspen asks.
“Under what type of rock are you living?” Robin asks. “Michael came here to tell Leo that his name was cleared and offered him his job back. You were with us when we listened in on them!”
“Right, I forgot,” Aspen smiles at me. “I am glad he did that for you, but I am even gladder that you are going to stay here.”
“I am not going to move away anytime soon,” I reassure him. “Barkley needs me. And the town does too. Despite my best attempts, the festival was pure chaos. For next year, I’ll have more time to plan.”
“We still won the snowball fight,” Soren says. “And Aspen’s and Robin’s shop won best decoration.”
“Of course, we did!” Robin says. “Next year, the whole town is going to kill it.”
“East Sunhaven better be prepared,” I say.
Robin and Aspen leave to bring the rest of the lunch. It’s going to be a feast. Fortunately, I barely had breakfast and built up quite the hunger while ice skating.
“Are you really okay?” Soren asks me quietly. “With Michael coming?”
“Yes,” I reassure him. “It’s actually good for me to work on my anxiety and not connect him with everything that happened. He has always been a supportive friend.”
“Maybe he will hook up with Aspen or Robin now that he is single,” Soren jokes.
“Who knows? They both seem to find him hot,” I grin.
Soren chuckles. “I bet that’s the true reason they invited him. So much for their noble reasoning.”
We both laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Aspen asks us when he returns from the kitchen.
“Nothing,” I say. “We were just flirting.”
Aspen grimaces slightly at that and doesn’t enquire further. Once Robin is back with some wine, Aspen starts to load my plate full with food. I want to try everything, obviously, and he makes sure I get the best pieces.
Sometimes I feel like he spoils me too much, but at the same time, I am so happy that he does. I have never had anyone treat me with so much care before.
