Page 19 of My December Darling

Burn, Aiden mouths before covering his smile with the back of his fist.

Asshole. “That’s a shame that adulthood killed your ability to have fun.”

Her cheeks flush. “I know how to have fun.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Her eyes narrow, and her lips part, only for her to be cut off by an announcement.

“Last call for gingerbread pieces before we run out.”

And like that, my opportunity to learn more about Catalina and her love for LEGOs is stolen away all too soon.

“I refuse to be made fun of for using this.” Catalina pushes the mini level in my direction.

I grab it from her and assess the angle of the slowly drooping roof. “There’s no place for pride here.”

“Trust me. I learned that lesson once I saw you refer to your phone for notes.”

“I spent time compiling tips and tricks for a reason.” And that reason is slipping through my fingers as a supporting wall begins to sag.

She hits me with an exasperated look. I sneak a quick glance in Aiden and Gabriela’s direction, where their gingerbread house is not only standing upright, but looking a lot more put together than ours.

Great. If Aiden wins this, I won’t let hear the end of it.

“Fuck.” I curse when both pieces of our roof slide further apart.

“This is supposed to be fun, they said. Just a friendly competition, they said,” she mutters quietly to herself beside me.

On cue, Aiden and Gabriela laugh when the walls of their house cave in.

“Whoops,” he says before kissing the tips of Gabriela’s icing-covered fingers.

It didn’t hit me until now that Aiden never gave a damn about a stupid competition. All he wanted was to have fun with his future wife, while I’ve been drilling Catalina with directions for the last twenty minutes.

Because this really had nothing to do with a bet at all, did it?

I screw my eyes shut.

My parents were the type to turn everything into a competition between myself and the always-rising bar they wanted me to hit. Their expectations only got worse over the years because they needed me to be the very best at everything.

I had to be the top student and make the most friends. Had to find the perfect balance between a full social calendar, extracurricular activities, and an overwhelming academic load because the only thing that mattered was having a competitive college application. Then, once I got a full ride to the undergrad school oftheirchoice like they had hoped, it was all about medical school and how to build myself up to be one of the most sought-after candidates.

I’ve spent my whole life competing against others, and while it helped me get to where I am now, it’s time to let it go.

Clearly Aiden doesn’t care anyway, so why should I?

One of the gingerbread walls falls when Catalina tries to glue a gumdrop to the window, and she winces.

“Sorry.” She scrambles to grab the bag of icing. “I’ll fix it.”

“It’s okay.” I clasp her wrist to stop her. Small goose bumps spread across her skin, and I find myself brushing my thumb over the curve of her wrist before reluctantly letting go.

She stares at me with wide eyes. “You just spent the last ten minutes creating interior support beams with tongue depressors and you thinkthisis fine?” She motions toward the rubble pile of gingerbread pieces.

My guardian angel must be a comedian, because the last two walls standing fall in quick succession.

I shrug. “It’s just a gingerbread house.”

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