by Lux Carmine
“Hey, can you come help me with something?” he asked as we both descended the stage stairs.
I glanced over my shoulder and stopped at the bottom to face him. He was glancing back at Santa and totally didn’t see me, until he ran right into me. He made a little noise of surprise and grabbed my shoulders to steady himself. My hands went to his waist and my breath caught in my throat as I stared up at him. We were in the kissing position. If he just lowered his head and I raised mine …
“Sorry about that. I thought I heard my name,” he said with an easy grin, lifting his hands from my shoulders as if I were a hot radiator.
I cleared my throat and nodded, taking a step back. “Yeah, sure. It’s cool. What did you want my help with?”
He shook his head and glanced down for a moment. “Right. Uh, I need to get a gift for my secret Santa.”
“Oh?” I narrowed my eyes at him, not at all convinced about his true intent. What if this was a trick? What if he was using me to help him pick out something for his mom … or worse—his girlfriend!
“Yeah.” He led me back to the break room.
“Is this something they do at Dunham Prep?”
He reached in his locker and pulled out a piece of pink paper from his neatly folded jeans’ pocket. He held it out to me and glanced around, as if worried someone was going to witness this exchange. “Um, yeah …” I took the paper and looked at him, wondering if he was lying. If he was, he would be an easy tell. He was looking everywhere but at me.
The paper was a little profile of a six-year-old girl. Clear as day were her likes and dislikes. A quick read and I learned this was for a local charity named Angel Santas. I folded up the paper and held it out to him. “This is sweet, Parker, but you don’t need my help. There is an explicit list.”
His eyes flew to my lips and his cheeks flushed as he opened the paper and read it over. “Oh,” he chuckled nervously. “There is. Yeah, I mean, of course.”
“Does your mommy usually do this for you?” I asked, grabbing my PBJ dinner from my locker.
“My mom—what? No!” He closed his locker and sat down at the table across from me, his hands on top of the paper as if he were afraid it was going to blow away. “Okay, fine. I didn’t need your help, I was just hoping that …”
I opened up the paper sack and pulled out my sandwich, apple slices, and Dr. Pepper. I met his gaze and waited for him to continue. “Hoping that what? You could rope me into helping you figure out ideas for your girlfriend too? Were you going to take me into the department store and see what caught my eye?”
He sat up straight and scoffed. “What? Do guys actually do that?”
I shrugged and took a bite of my dinner. It was not lost on me that he hadn’t denied involvement of a girlfriend. “Deflection, nice,” I said, nodding, set on ignoring him from this moment on.
“I wasn’t deflecting, I was …” He let out a pained groan and put his head down on the table. “I’m messing this all up.”
“If you wanted help picking out a gift for your girlfriend you just had to be honest. I probably would’ve helped.”
He picked his head up and scrunched his brow in confusion. “You would have?”
“Past tense. I’m not helping you now.”
“Because you have a boyfriend, and you understand how much help the opposite sex needs with gifts?”
The crack and fizz of my can opening filled the silence as I decided which way I wanted to play this. If I told him I had a boyfriend he might back off, but if I told him the truth I might look really lame. I went with a middle ground. “We broke up.”
More confusion. “What? Why?”
I raised my brows at his boldness. “Wow. Private.”
He lowered his eyes and swiveled the paper around under his hands. “Yeah, no, you’re right. Sorry. I just … any guy would be an idiot to break up with you.”
My heart thudded loudly in my chest. Was he into me? Or just being nice? “Who said he broke up with me?”
He nodded, easily accepting that. “That makes more sense. What kind of guy was he? A jock? A tall dark and handsome, solid C student? Or a more book-smart kind of guy?”
“What?” I kind of sputtered as he just described not only himself but his two friends as well.
He shrugged his shoulders innocently, sitting back in his seat. “I’m just wondering what your type is.”
“Why?”
He opened his mouth to respond but my phone cut him off. I sighed as I stood up from the table and moved across the break room to answer, my back to Parker. “Hello?”
“Sky!” I winced and pulled the phone from my ear as my little sister whined into my ear. “Santa won’t know where to put my presents!”
“Bella, he’ll know where to put them.”
“How?! We need socks or a Christmas tree!”
I closed my eyes tight and tried to calm myself before responding. Bella could stay up as late as she wanted tonight, it was Friday, so she wasn’t going to stop calling me if I didn’t pacify her. “Not yet. We’ll get stockings and a tree.”
She continued to cry. “You always tell me stuff like that, and don’t do it. Like Barbies and making cookies!”
I had no idea what she was talking about. I glanced at the break room clock, I had exactly five minutes left to finish up not only the phone call but my lame dinner. “Bella, I promise. I’ll get them. Stop crying and color me a picture, okay?”
“Tonight?”
I threw my head back and stared up at the ceiling. Why had I stepped up as a big sister and taken on more of a mommy role? My mother should be dealing with this tantrum and making these promises. “Yes …” I said softly, a trip to Walmart in my future.
“What?!”
“Yes! I’ll get you a tree and some stockings tonight!”
“… thank you, Sky.”
“Sure. I gotta go, Bella. Love you, bye.” I hung up the phone and let out a deep sigh.
“Do you need a ride?”
I screamed and whipped around, smacking Parker on his arm. “Why do you keep sneaking up on me like that?”
“Sorry,” he said, his grin said he wasn’t sorry at all. “I couldn’t help but overhear … you need to go get a tree for your …”
“My sister,” I said. I moved around him and grabbed up my half eaten dinner. Break time was over. I threw back one last gulp of Dr. Pepper and tossed the rest into the trash can.
“Your sister. That’s sweet,” he said, coming up beside me.
I looked up at him and shook my head. “I’ll figure it out, Parker, but thanks for the offer.”
When I moved to step away he grasped my elbow. His touch sent sparks throughout my body. I quickly pulled away and turned to face him. He looked unaffected. Of course.
“Come on. Consider it payback for my lame excuse to spend some more time with you.”
My heart pitter-pattered at his words. He wanted to spend more time with me? I couldn’t say no to that as much as my brain was telling me I should. “Fine. But you’re carrying the boxes to the car.”
Chapter 11
PARKER
I led Skylar to my car after our shift ended, a bright yellow Jeep with a black soft top. When we got to my parking space, her eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“This is your car?”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “Why?”
“It’s just not what I expected you to drive.” She tugged her hat off and climbed in the passenger seat.
I was a little wounded. I loved my Jeep. It felt like exactly the car for me, athletic, tough, and adventurous. Bright yellow, because it was outgoing and fun. It felt right. “Why not?”
“After seeing what Devin drives, I just figured you’d all have ridiculously expensive sports cars. That’s all.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, I guess,” I said, starting the car and giving her my best grin.
I pulled out of the mall lot and turned right, toward a cut-your-own Christmas tree l
ot that was not too far away.
“Oh,” Skylar said, pointing. “Walmart is the other way.”
I shrugged. “We’re not going to Walmart. I have a better idea.”
She bit her lip, leaving an indention where her teeth pressed in. “Okay.” There was a crease between her eyebrows, and I wanted to reach over and run my thumb across it, melt her worry away.
“It’ll be fun, trust me.”
She nodded, and reached for the stereo system. “I trust you.” Her smile was shy, and she didn’t meet my eyes when she spoke. “But how about some music?”
“Whatever you want.”
“How the heck do you control this thing?” She tapped buttons until she managed to turn on satellite radio.
“What would you like to listen to?” I leaned forward, not looking, and accidentally brushed her hand with my fingers. My eyes darted down when I touched her, a jolt of electricity shooting up my arm. We both yanked our hands back as if we’d been shocked.
“Anything except Christmas music.” She crossed her arms firmly over her chest and I wondered if she’d felt it too.
My lips quirked into a grin. “Get enough of it at work?”
Skylar rolled her hazel eyes as the sarcasm dripped from her tongue. “No, actually, I don’t. I just want to save up the specialness of it, you know?”
I chuckled as I turned the radio to my favorite country station and we listened until we pulled into the lot. “Here we are,” I announced. It was almost dark, but there were bright spotlights illuminating the field full of Christmas trees of all varieties. I pulled into a parking spot that probably wasn’t really designed to be a parking spot, next to a station wagon that didn’t look like it was going to make it out of the mud.
“Parker, I …” Skylar bit her lip again, and the urge to kiss her was almost unbearable. My heart pounded at the thought and my own lips tingled. I pressed myself back in my seat a little to keep from doing it. “This place is a little out of my budget.”
I relaxed a little. “Oh, that. Don’t worry about it. I told you I owe you for making up excuses and getting caught. I’ve got it.”
“Are you … are you sure?” She looked anything but sure. Her body seemed tense, her shoulders squared, her lips pressed into a straight line.
“Yeah, totally. Don’t worry about it.” I suspected the cost of a tree would hit Skylar a lot harder than it would hit me, and everyone deserved a great tree at Christmas, especially Skylar and her little sister.
There was a battle going on in her mind. It was fascinating to watch. Finally, she exhaled, and seemed to relax. Her shoulders dropped, and she turned to me. Her smile was genuine. “Thanks.”
I guided her to the little building where we picked up a saw and headed out into the field. As we wandered up and down the rows, snow started falling gently, just a few small flakes. I pointed out several trees that looked good. “How about this one?” I said every time. Every time, Skylar shut me down.
“Nope,” she’d say. “Too big.”
“C’mon, Sky, everyone should get a too-big Christmas tree at least once.” I felt like a kid in a candy store. I wanted her to have the very best tree on the lot. I wanted her Christmas to be perfect because … she deserved it. She worked hard, she was sincere and funny, and… so damn beautiful. There was something about Skylar that screamed, ‘Take care of me!’
After a while, she stopped in front of a tiny tree, barely up to my waist. “This one,” she said.
I laughed at the runt of a tree. “That tree’s hardly a tree. I don’t even think they’ll let you take one this small.”
“This one,” she repeated firmly.
“All right,” I said, tossing the saw to the ground close to the tree. I held my hands up in surrender. “Whatever you want.” The snow fell harder. In the glow of the spotlight, she looked even more beautiful than ever, snow on her hair and shoulders. A few flakes fell on her cheeks, and I reached over to brush them off.
Everything seemed to come together all at once. My stomach did a flip and my fingertips tingled. I leaned my head forward, and Sky took a small step closer to me. I closed my eyes, and leaned even closer, ready to kiss her.
Just before our lips touched, a dog barked loudly—it was close, and getting closer. We pulled apart a little, and Skylar turned her head quickly to catch sight of the intruder. As soon as she did, she screamed and stepped close in to me. I wrapped my arms around her on instinct and held her close.
The dog crashed into us and the momentum caused us to tumble to the ground. Skylar landed directly on top of me, breathing hard, her heart pounding as I held her. “Hey,” I said, hugging her tighter. “It’s okay.”
“Bear!” someone shouted from the darkness. The giant Lab rushed away.
“You’re okay,” I repeated.
“That was terrifying,” she confessed.
“You’re safe with me.” I lifted my head in a second attempt to kiss her. Just then, the dog named Bear barreled up on us and started licking both of us in the face, dancing around gleefully.
“Darn it, Bear! Come back here!”
This time the dog wasn’t leaving, though. I scrambled to sitting, gently turning so my body was between Skylar and the infiltrator. I pushed the dog away and we scrambled, to our feet just as the owners, a young couple, came to a stop near us.
“Gosh, I’m so sorry about that,” the woman said. “Bear! I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”
The man grabbed the dog’s collar and clipped a leash to it quickly. “We’re really sorry. Is everyone okay?”
“We’re great,” I said. “Skylar, you okay?”
She nodded but kept me between the dog and her. “I’m fine.” Her breath caught in her throat, and it almost sounded like she was trying not to cry.
“Sorry again,” the man said as the couple headed back in the direction they’d come.
Once they left, I turned to her again. “Hey, are you really okay?”
“I thought it was a literal bear,” she said, a shaky laugh escaping her. “I don’t really spend a lot of time in the woods.” She crossed her arms and took a step back. The moment was gone. I couldn’t help but feel more than a little disappointed. I had no idea when the moment would come along again. I pushed it aside and nodded to the lot.
“It’s okay. Let’s get you a tree and get you home.”
SKYLAR
I pulled my sleeves over my hands and stared at the empty leather seat Parker would soon be sitting in. He’d hauled the tree all the way back to his Jeep and was outside with the attendant strapping it on. He hadn’t blinked or hesitated at all when I’d told him that I couldn’t afford a live tree. Just because he’d paid, didn’t mean I had to let him pay for the whole thing. After all, I was planning on paying at least twenty bucks for a tabletop tree at Walmart.
I grabbed my backpack and pulled my wallet from an inner pocket. I unzipped it quickly and pulled out a twenty, then glanced around, trying to figure out where to stuff it. I decided on the glove box and had my hand inside of it when his door opened. I slammed it closed and zipped my book bag back up, flashing him an innocent smile when he slid into his seat. He was onto me, one of his eyebrows quirked up.
“What’s up?”
I shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Hmm.” He moved with ease across the space in the Jeep and popped the glove box open. He pulled out the crumpled twenty and held it up in front of me.
I shifted in my seat. “Weird.”
“You didn’t put this in there?”
I avoided his eyes, my lip puckered as I shook my head. “Nope.”
“Well, I don’t need it, so you can have it. We still need to pick up stockings and a Christmas tree stand.” He waited for me to take the bill.
“Finders keepers, Parker. Them’s the rules,” I said, pushing his hand away.
He smirked at me and nodded, as if he were confident now about what the rules of our game were. “All right. So where to now?”
/> “Um …” I swallowed back the lump in my throat and tried to ignore the pounding of my heart. I hadn’t really thought this all the way through. Just like Devin, he was going to know where I lived. I expelled a sigh of relief. He probably already knew and if he didn’t, he would soon enough. And maybe it would be enough to turn him off of me, just like it had done to Devin, who I hadn’t really spoken to since that night. “One fourteen, Sunnyside Drive.”
He put the address into his GPS and then sat back as he stared at the surrounding area on the screen. “That’s a trailer park.” He looked over to me with a frown, and my heart dropped into my stomach. I looked down and swallowed back the burn of tears. Before I could speak he said, “I thought we had to go get some other Christmas stuff first …”
I glanced up at him, surprised. “I don’t want to keep you out too late.” Nibbling at my lower lip, I reached down deep for an excuse to keep this trip as short as possible.
“It’s only nine-thirty.”
“Uh-huh.” I tugged on my sleeves and slunk down in my seat.
“You have some big plans that you need to be home for?”
“Uh-huh …”
He snorted. “You’re such a terrible liar.” The Jeep roared to life beneath our feet and half an hour later, we were walking out of Walmart with about six bags each. I’d tried really hard to put things back on the shelves at first, but seeing the excitement on Parker’s face whenever he picked decorations out was contagious, and soon we had a cart full of Christmas decor. I wasn’t even sure if all of it would be used, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him. Maybe I could have Bella gift some of it to the neighbors.
We sang loudly, the Christmas spirit was strong in his Jeep. When we arrived at my trailer, though, it was painfully obvious which one was mine. Our trailer lacked any sort of Christmas cheer.
“So …” Parker said, waiting for me to reach for my door.
“So …” I grabbed my book bag and turned to him. “The Christmas tree should go in the living room. But … my dad might be asleep in his chair. So … maybe just …”