Page 42 of My December Darling

She yawns as I pull out of the parking spot. My car might have a back-up camera, but that doesn’t stop me from placing my hand on the back of Catalina’s head rest and turning to look back. My fingers graze the nape of her neck in the process, earning a slight inhale from her and a little zap of electricity along the tips of my fingers.

Teasing Catalina might be my favorite kind of punishment yet, knowing I’m only tempting myself in the process.

The drive to her parents’ house isn’t a long one, so I decide to make the most of it since she has been in such a giving mood tonight.

“Have you made any progress on your maid of honor speech?”

She turns in her seat, stealing my attention away from the road for a second before I get a grip on myself and the steering wheel.

“Why are you asking?”

“Because I’m curious how long you plan on putting it off.”

She stares at me for a few blinks before speaking. “I’m not usually a procrastinator, but…” Her voice drifts off.

“What?”

“I’m not exactly good at sharing my feelings.”

“Really? I would’ve never noticed.”

She smacks my arm with a soft laugh.

“It’s not easy,” I say. “Took me far too long to write my best man speech if we’re being honest.”

“Ugh. At least you’re done! The idea of pouring my heart out…of trying to make peoplelaugh?” she says the last word with an endearing crinkling of her nose. “Safe to say I suck at that, so yeah, I’ve been putting it off for as long as humanly possible.”

“You know, I’m not one to brag?—”

She scoffs.

I grin. “But I’m pretty good at both of those things.”

“Of course you are,” she mutters under her breath.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You’re good ateverything.”

“No. Definitely not everything, but I’m flattered you think so highly of me.” My comment earns me a soft slap to the shoulder, followed by a tinkle of laughter from the woman beside me.

Joking about my perfectionism has become a defense mechanism because I’d rather make light of a subject that causes me discomfort than give people too much insight into why I act that way in the first place.

No one is perfect, but I spent far too long agonizing over being the best in every single way to please my parents, only to realize a little too late that I was hurting myself in the process. It took me a while to accept that messing up is a normal part of life, and I’m now a recovering perfectionist.

Catalina sighs. “Well, my mom couldn’t stop raving about your speech, so I know it’s good.”

“I could help you.” The words leave my mouth in a rush. “If you want me to, that is.”

“You’d help me?”

“Sure.”

“Why?”

I raise a brow. “Because you’re running out of time.”

“I still have two weeks.”

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