Page 24 of Merry Kissmas

“Let’s go, guys.Wait until you see how your villa is decorated.”Mom follows the path before I can ask her what she means.

Pierce props his skis on his shoulder, and I try really hard not to find that appealing.I mean, it’s just skis.He wheels one of his suitcases while my mom has another one, and I have mine.My parents brought the rest of my stuff, so I assume it’s in the villa.

We’re the last small building on the left-hand side.It’s outlined in colorful holiday lights, and there are stickers on the windows with Christmas sayings.

“It’s a code to unlock, so I’ll text it to you both so you’ll have it if you forget it,” my mom says.“Pierce, I’ll need your number.”

“Sure,” he says from behind me.

She enters the code, and the door unlocks, so she walks in first and flicks on the lights.“Isn’t it just so cute?”

I follow my mom, and she’s right, it is cute.And small.I’m not sure how Pierce and I are going to navigate our way around here without bumping into one another constantly.There’s no door between the couch and bedroom area.But there’s a fireplace and a small counter with a pod coffee maker and a whole tray of hot cocoa fixings.Freshly baked Christmas cookies are on a tray with “Welcome” iced on the middle one.

“Very nice.”If I wasn’t staying with Pierce, I might say I love it and what a great decision it was to come here this year.But I fixate on the couch and how close it is to the bed.

“Marvelous.”Pierce rests his skis along the wall in the corner behind the door.“This place is something, that’s for sure.Good job, Gwen.”He smiles at my mom, and she beams at his compliment.

I can’t help but enjoy that he’s buttering her up.She does a lot for us and deserves the praise for always taking care of our needs.

“Well, I’m glad you like it.I’m going to head over to the main lodge.”She walks toward the door.“I’ll send the code to Brynn, and we can exchange numbers up at the main lodge.”

Pierce shakes his head.“Brynn has my number, so she can forward it to me.No problem there.”

“She does?”Mom does a terrible job of hiding her smile.

I see her mind spinning with possibilities.“He just got it at the airport.I haven’t been hiding him in London for the past six years.We’ll be up soon.Thanks, Mom.”

She smiles and looks at me for a moment as if she’s relieved.Knowing her, she probably is.All three of her children are now here.“Don’t take too long.The babies are all out of whack, so we were thinking about playing a game and calling it a night.”

“I have to take a raincheck.With the time difference…” Pierce says.

Thank goodness he’s not going to tag along to every event we have.

“Oh, I understand.Abe and I went to Europe once, and it took forever to get over my jet lag.But I do hope you’ll join us tomorrow after you get some rest.”

She leaves and shuts the door.I remain near the bed while he stays by the sofa.

“Want to flip for it?”I open my purse to grab a coin.

“Give me some credit.You take the bed, and I’ll take the sofa bed.”

“If you’re sure.We could swap halfway through the week.”It’s my halfhearted attempt to meet him halfway.

He sits on the arm of the couch and stares at me, clasping his hands in his lap.“I understand that this isn’t ideal, but I don’t want us tiptoeing around one another for the next week.”

“There isn’t anything wrong,” I say, lying through my teeth.

“Okay, I don’t want to constantly feel as though I’m spoiling your holiday.”

I nod.He has a point.

“Truth?”I sigh.

He nods.“Please.”

“It hurt.It sucked when I walked into that classroom, and my stomach filled with an exhibit of butterflies seeing you in that first row.And when you didn’t smile, but I witnessed your smile actually fall, it cut me.I think I knew then, but once it was confirmed by Professor Jorgensen about you being the TA, I thought we’d have a conversation about what it meant.It was only one semester.”It feels good to finally get my feelings out there.

He pushes a hand through his dark hair.“I wish I had handled it differently, but Professor Jorgensen had a lot of control over where students ended up.I was afraid that if he found out, he wouldn’t believe that things happened before I knew you were a student.So I distanced myself completely.I’m sorry.”

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