Page 38 of My December Darling

She nods, her eyes glimmering from withheld laughter, and damn, I love being on the receiving end of her amusement.

“The guy who conned me out of a thousand dollars?” I pause for dramatic effect. “He couldn’t be more than thirteen years old.”

She finally cracks, and a soft laugh pours from her lips, feeding me in a way food never can. Catalina isn’t the type for loud belly laughs that leave someone’s stomach aching, but I’ve never heard a better sound than the one she makes because ofme.

12

CATALINA

My sister and I load up the dishwasher while Aiden and Luke hang out in the living room. At some point between helping my sister pack away the leftovers and scrubbing some burnt bits off the ceramic casserole dish, Aiden and Luke brought out the unopened Galactic Command Base LEGO set.

I sneak a few glances over my shoulder as they pull out the countless plastic bags full of pieces. The pile grows, along with the crease between Aiden’s brows as he picks up the thick builder’s manual. I’m tempted to grab it out of his hands, but I hold back solely because I don’t want to feed into my sister and Aiden’s attempt at keeping me here. It didn’t take me long to realize why they were trying to hype Luke up to me, and on more than one occasion I wanted to tell them it was pointless.

I can see with my own two eyes that Luke is exactly my type, and the LEGO set is the final nail in the coffin.

Aiden flips through the manual. “I was never into these things as a kid.”

“I heard you were too busy playing doctor with your sister’s stuffed animals to be bothered,” Luke replies.

My lips pinch together to muffle the sound of my laughter, and my sister doesn’t look any better off based on the way she presses her hand to her mouth.

Aiden and Luke keep taking jabs at each other while they organize all the plastic bags by number. They’ve been like this all night, making Gabriela and me laugh numerous times with the way they argue like brothers. It’s funny to watch, especially since I’ve never hung around Luke long enough to see him be more himself.

More…imperfect.

It’s obvious why my sister likes spending time with these two. At first, when she invited me over for dinner, I was skeptical as to why she wanted me to hang around the three of them, but now I understand that Gabriela is creating her own family with Aiden, and she would like me to be part of it, even if it means getting along with Luke.

Truth be told, it isn’t that much of a hardship. Luke has a way of making anyone feel comfortable in his presence, which was something I hadn’t cared to notice before because I was intent on focusing on the bad.

Easygoing?More like putting on a façade.

Polite?He must be faking niceties because our loved ones are getting married, not because he is actually a nice guy who wants to make people feel welcomed.

Friendly?No way he willingly wants to talk to me of all people. No one else bothers with me, so why would he try so hard?

The longer I think about how I’ve assumed the worst about Luke, the more ashamed I feel because it’s only taken a few genuine encounters to realize he really is the kind of guy who likes going out of his way to help others.

Some people really are undeniably good, and in a world like ours, we could use more of them.

“Cata!” Aiden calls from the living room.

“What?”

“Come over here.”

“In a sec.”

I’m about to start cleaning the sink, but my sister drags me along with her. “We can finish that later.”

“What is it?” I ask as Gabriela stops in front of Aiden and Luke, who are seated on the floor beside the coffee table covered with a bunch of plastic bags full of LEGO pieces.

“We need your help,” Aiden says.

“We?” Luke stares at him with an arched brow.

“Ineed your help.” Aiden groans, and I bite back a laugh. He is a worse actor than my sister, and that’s saying something. If I wasn’t excited by the idea of helping build the LEGO set, I’d be annoyed at Aiden’s obvious matchmaking attempt.

My fingers tremble with excitement, but I clench my hands to stop me from reaching out to offer my assistance.

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