Page 13 of Blame It On the Secret Santa

“So you’ve just been storing it at your house, waiting for the day I fall on my ass and you have to come to my rescue?”

“No,” I replied with a chuckle. “But that would make quite the romance story, wouldn’t it?”

A faint blush flushed her cheeks red before she looked away.

“I had some groceries delivered earlier when we got here. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get to the store while you were sleeping, and I didn’t want to risk not having stuff you liked before the storm came. I wasn’t sure how long you would be here, but I wanted to make sure you had what you might need.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” Her voice was soft and sent a dagger straight into my heart.

“I know. I wanted to.” I swallowed the rest of the words in my throat, along with the emotion blooming inside my chest as I headed back into the kitchen to get it for her.

Nine

Cassidy

“Istill can’t believeyou learned to cook like this,” I said, blotting my mouth with a napkin as I tried to get the barbeque sauce off. Sean had made pulled pork smothered in a homemade barbeque sauce with mashed potatoes that were to die for. I couldn’t remember the last time I had tasted something so good.

“There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”

“I guess time will do that to people,” I commented before realizing the weight of my words.

While we had agreed to a temporary truce until the storm passed and I could go home, that didn’t mean I wanted to dig up the past. There were a lot of things that had gone unsaid over the years, and now wasn’t the time to say them.

“I made brownies for dessert and ordered a carton of vanilla ice cream to go on top,” he said, redirecting the conversation for us.

My cheeks flushed as I noticed how many little things he did to make sure I was comfortable in his house on such short notice. The fact that he remembered most of my favorites was impressive. It wasn’t like I didn’t remember his from back in the day, but guys didn’t seem to ever remember those detailswhileyou were together, let alone twelve years later with no contact during that time.

“Thank you. That sounds delicious.” I finished my food and set my fork on my plate before looking down to see how to lower the top of the coffee table so I could get up.

“I got it,” Sean said, sweeping in to help me lower it before grabbing my plate and collecting my empty soda can.

“I can help clean up dinner,” I offered, attempting to stand.

“I appreciate the offer, but I would like it if you rested instead. The remote for the TV is right there if you want to find a movie or something for us to watch.” He nodded to where it was sitting on the end table and then headed into the kitchen to clean up.

I grabbed it and refused to allow myself to feel the butterflies that threatened to overcome me with thoughts of past movie nights with Sean when we were dating. It was our favorite thing to do back then, and we made it a weekly thing. Every Friday night, we would order dinner or pick it up, then cuddle on the couch and watch movies until curfew came around. Back then, we both worked part-time jobs and could afford to go out, but we preferred our nights in together.

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