Page 72 of My December Darling

Aiden’s two siblings push their parents aside and hug me, making me feel more wanted in a single minute than I have by my parents all year.

Catalina disappears into the kitchen, leaving me to catch up with Aiden’s family while the Martinezes and Aiden’s dad prepare the table for dinner. We’re then all shuffled into the small dining room, where mismatched chairs were added to the table to make room for all the new guests.

Catalina is quiet throughout dinner, which isn’t unusual for her, although now I understand it comes from a place of shyness rather than a lack of care. I keep my thigh pressed to Catalina’s at all times, and she seems to slowly loosen up as the conversation flows to happy subjects like Aiden and Gabriela’s upcoming wedding.

“How’s the speech coming along, Catalina?” Aiden’s mom asks.

“Good.” She looks up from her plate. “Luke has been helping me out.”

“Oh really?” Aiden’s dad glances over at me.

“Yup,” I say with a tight throat.

“They’ve been working on it for over two weeks already,” Aiden adds.

“I’m happy you found the time with your busy schedules.” His mom grins.

“I’ve heard they’ve been working on it during their breaks at work,” Gaby says with a knowing smirk.

“I had no idea you all were so invested in my schedule.” Catalina’s cheeks flush.

“Oh, it’s not your schedule we care about.” Aiden’s mom waggles her brows.

Catalina wipes her face with a groan, making me laugh.

“I hope the Martinez family considers never inviting you troublemakers back for Christmas,” I tease to get some of the attention off Catalina.

“Why? Hoping you get to keep them all to yourself next year?” Aiden’s little shit of a brother asks.

“Max!” his mom whisper-shouts.

Max shrugs before inhaling a massive bite of pork.

If I’m invited back next year, I would make sure Max isn’t on the guest list because he’s on my shit list now. That much I can promise if Catalina and I are dating by next year. It’s a bigif, but one I’ll hold out hope for, so long as we survive a long-distance relationship.

Well, so long as I can get Catalina to agree to one first.

21

CATALINA

Once Aiden’s family and mine move from the dining area to the living room to exchange gifts, I head to my room and return to the kitchen where Luke is loading the dishwasher.

“I got you something.” I’m so nervous, I toss Luke’s present in the air, forcing him to catch it instead of handing it over to him like a normal person.

He stares at the gift like a ticking time bomb. “You got me a present?”

“Uh, yeah?” My idea sounded good in theory, which is why I drove to the closest big box store thirty minutes away to pick it up earlier today. The place looked like a post-apocalyptic movie, with endless barren shelves and a sad group of toys that didn’t make it onto anyone’s holiday wish list.

I was lucky to score the second-to-last item on the shelf, although it took me over twenty minutes to find it since a kid hid it in the wrong aisle, most likely in hopes of coming back to buy it later.

“I didn’t get you anything.” His brows pull together as he leans against the counter and holds the package in front of him.

“You made cookies.”

He scoffs. “That’s hardly a gift.”

“Mine can barely be considered one, so don’t feel bad.”

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