Page 31 of Fluttering Heart

I can’t seem to look away from Santa’s terrifying expression. If he were looking at me like that, I’d shit my fucking pants on the spot. I look over and Rick the asshole is somehow still standing there and not vaporized.

“Fuck off,” Santa says shortly. And my gaze ping-pongs between the two men. Rick’s eyes are wide open and afraid, and I can’t be sure, but I swear I see a tremor go through his whole body before he shakes his head. That’s not good. “No? You need me to come out there and show you the way out?”

Santa’s screaming now, which means he’s somehow even more scary, and Charlie stops by his side a second later and assesses the situation. He pats Santa’s back, and then he just... skates away. Why is he going away? This is not the kind of situation that you simply skate away from, dammit.

Santa lifts a gloved hand and points at Rick.

“I said. Fuck. Off. Before I go out there. Leave Lou alone.”

“Wh-what?” Rick stutters and rears back. “You know Lou?” he demands, like that’s a disgusting notion.

“That’s none of your business, asshole.”

That seems to bring back the dickwad I knew and thought I’d loved. Rick stands taller, pulls his shoulders back, and tilts up his chin like he hasanyreason at all to look down on Nikolay fucking Brotnik.

“It is my business since he’s my boyfriend.”

“No I’m not,” I shout emphatically before he’s even done speaking. “I am not your anything dickwad.”

“Definitely not his boyfriend,” comes a new voice from behind Rick. We all turn to see Finn there, with Beau next to him looking big and intimidating. Rick takes a step toward my actual boyfriend and I see red.

I’m about to jump up on Rick’s back and fight him myself when two security guards appear and escort him away in no time.

It’s only then that I look back toward the ice and see Santa smiling at me. He nods once, then winks—which I’m pretty sure makes the woman behind me faint—and then he’s off to the other side of the ice, continuing his warmup like nothing happened.

“Are you okay?” Finn asks me the next second. I look up at his worried frown and hug him.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

** *

The restof the game is a lot less eventful—at least in the stands—but I end up having a great time with Beau and Finn.

The people around us all have nice things to say to me throughout the game when there’s the usual lulls in action, and that’s nice I suppose, but none of them intervened in the moment so...

Yeah, I don’t miss any of them when we leave to go meet Charlie and Santa in the tiny room reserved for the families of the visiting team.

Finn jumps off his seat and hugs Santa as soon as he’s through the door, to my and Charlie’s amusement.

“Thank you,” is all my boyfriend tells him, and Santa looks just bashful enough for me to react.

“Aww,” I say for some reason. Then I get my wits about me. “Yes Santa, thank you for your intervention.” He nods at me seriously then looks back at Charlie with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes,” Finn’s brother says quickly. “Should we go? We have a flight tomorrow night and I want to spend as much time as possible at home.”

“You can stay at my place,” Beau saysway too quickly, but since we all know he’s had a shit month no one protests. Charlie just nods, Santa shrugs, and Finn claps his hands.

“Let’s hit the road, then.”

Traffic is doing its usual thing, so it takes us a little over an hour to get to Crushville and to their Mom’s place.

I don’t stifle the dreamy sigh that comes out of me when we drive down Main Street. It’s all decorated for Easter and the town looks as perfect as can be. Finn has told me all about how amazing it is in the deep winter, which I just barely missed, and how the whole town comes together to decorate for Christmas the Monday after Thanksgiving. I send a secret wish to the universe that Finn and I will still be together by then so I get the chance to see it, but I have a strong feeling we will.

I scrutinize the house when we park up front—Finn told me how she’s won the prize for best decorated house every year since she started living there fourteen years ago, when Charlie bought it for her. As we walk up to the front door, I can picture how she probably covers every available inch with lights. Maybe she puts those inflatable snowmen on the front lawn? Or a Santa. I once saw a house that had one of those yellow Minions up front... It was wearing a Santa hat and had a candy cane.

The image comes to life in my brain and I look toward Finn. He opens the door without knocking, like he’s as much at home here as he is at his own place.

He turns to look back at me and gives me that small, content smile that always makes me think of forever with him. That’s what I want, and I’m going to work like hell to make sure I get it.

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