Page 19 of A Very Grumpy New Year

“Yeah.”

He sounds so resigned, or maybe it’s determination that I hear. Either way, I get an anxious ball in my stomach as I stand and follow him to the front door. We both pull on our coats, boots, and winter gear and then head outside.

“What’s up?” I ask him as we head to the far end of the porch.

“I need to tell you something.”

I nod, watching him anxiously and waiting for him to go on.

“About last night…” he starts, and I swallow hard.

“It was nice,” I say and he nods animatedly.

“Yes, nice.”

His mouth opens and closes a few times and I bite back a smile at how out of his depth he looks.

“It was amazing.”

He nods again and I watch him swallow hard, his fingers stretching and then tightening into fists. He rolls his shoulders back and takes a deep breath, looking like he’s trying to psych himself up for something.

“Cora, I like you,” he says finally, and I blink.

“I like you too.”

“I more than like you. That doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel about you.”

“Okay…”

“I’m obsessed with you. I have been for months. Since you moved to town.”

“I—”

“I love you. So much. More than you know. More than is probably healthy.”

“Huxley,” I try again, but it seems like now he’s on a roll, like now the floodgates are open and he has to get it all out.

“I had your house condemned so that you would have to move in with me.”

“What!?”

“I moved out of the master bedroom so that you could have it because, fuck, I want you to be mine. I needed to see you in my bed, even if I wasn’t in it with you.”

“You had my house condemned?” I ask again, and he nods.

“It wasn’t safe for you to live there. I don’t regret it, and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I’m working on getting rid of that thing next,” he tells me, nodding behind me to my car.

“My car isn’t that bad!” I argue, and he glares at it.

“It’s the worst. I can’t stand it. Do you have any idea how many times I’ve followed you home or to town just to make sure that you got there safely? How many nights I’ve spent lying awake and wondering if you had made it home?”

“How were you going to get rid of it? Break something on that too?” I ask him, crossing my arms over my chest as I glare up at him.

“No, I wouldn’t need to do that. A strong wind comes through, and that thing will break down.”

“It’s not that bad!” I scream, and he shakes his head.

“It is. I’ve been toying with the idea of setting up a fake contest to have you win one, or buying another car for myself and then insisting that you use it because it’s safer in this weather.”

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