Page 28 of The Gift Rarely Given

“An offensive comment, Mom. That wasn’t cool and you not noticing is even worse.” Livie lets out a sigh and presses her hand to her face before continuing, “Mom, the biggest problem is that it’s not the first time you’ve said these things. You’re so focused on my weight or who I date, but you’ve never heardmecomplain about any of the thingsyouseem to be focusing on.”

“I just want you to be happy, O.”

“I am happy, Mom. That’s the thing—I am truly happy. I love my life the way it is. I love my body the way it is. I love food, Mom. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life on a diet to fit some social standard. You taught me to love myself above it all—but when didyoustop loving me above it all?” she asks and her mom breaks into a soft sob.

“I love you, Mom, but your words are hurtful. And truly, if you want me to keep having a relationship with you, you need to work on that. Nobody likes going somewhere where they’re never appreciated.”

“I—” her mom starts, but Livie gets up from my lap and gives her a hug.

“It’s okay, Mom. I know you mean well and I don’t need you to say anything right now. I just need you to think about it, okay? We’re going to go, but I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Okay. I love you Olivia,” her mom replies against her neck.

“I love you too. Call me tomorrow,” Livie insists before turning around to look at me. “You ready?” she asks and I nod, getting up from the swing and following behind her.

“Thank you for having me, Mrs. Sanz, I hope I get to see you again soon.”

We say goodbye to the rest of her family and get in the truck to head back to her place. “Can I ask for a favor?” Livie asks as we hit the long dark highway.

“Anything,” I reply and I mean it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t give this girl, even if that means letting her go tomorrow.

“I know our deal ends tonight, I guess, but can I stay over at your place? We can end this tomorrow if you want, but I don’t want to spend the night by myself. I know you spend Christmas morning with your mom and I don’t want you to miss that, so can I just crash on your couch tonight?” She’s biting her lower lip as her fingers shift, making small circles around with her thumbs.

“Liv, you can crash in my bed any time, no need for a couch. And let’s talk tomorrow if you’re talked out for today. Do you need clothes from home?”

“Do you mind stopping?”

“Not at all,” I reply. If this means I get to spend an extra day with her, an extra minute, an extra second—so be it. Tomorrow though? Tomorrow, I fight for this. Tomorrow, I fight for her.

CHRISTMAS DAY

On Christmas DayBaker Oaks gave to me the love of my life wrapped under the tree.

17

THE GREATEST GIFT

SANTA TELL ME, ARIANA GRANDE

Livie

“Merry Christmas, Liv,”I hear a voice whisper in my ear. I open my eyes and see Alex sitting next to me on his bed where we spent the night exploring our bodies. If I didn’t know better, I’d say his touch and his kisses all night were more a plea than a goodbye, but maybe I’m just hoping.

Twelve days. Twelve days is all it took for me to fall head over heels for the best man I’ve ever met. Twelve days and my silly, silly heart can’t comprehend that this is ending today. I want to cry just thinking about it, but this was our deal and I’m going to be a big girl and deal with it. And by deal with it, I mean smile and nod when he tells me it was nice but then cry in a pint of ice cream tonight while watching Divergent for the eighth time in a row.

“Merry Christmas,” I whisper, sitting up and covering my very naked body with the blanket. I ended up notneeding any of the clothes I packed since he stripped me out of the red dress I wore last night. And to be honest, I was entirely too tired to fight him on theyou don’t need clothesmoment before we went to sleep. We slept intertwined with each other and it was perfect.

“Coffee for you so you don’t die a slow death,” he teases, giving me a mug with ad little cinnamon sprinkled on top of my coffee.

“You angel, I love this,” I say, closing my eyes and taking a big whiff before taking a sip. “How’s your mom?” I ask, knowing he was already over there for their morning routine.

“She’s thankful for another Christmas together and she just left to spend some time with her friend,” he answers, adding air quotes around the word ‘friend.’

I chuckle and take another sip, letting this perfect cup of coffee warm up every inch of me. “So, what’s your plan today?” I ask, secretly hoping that whatever it is, he can take me with him.

“It depends.”

“It depends on what?”

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