Page 27 of Must Love Christmas

Poppy pulled her head back and shimmied her long, undulating body to conceal more of it behind the rock-like water dish, but at least she wasn’t scooting back into her hide.

“I’ve only seen a firefly-morph python in pictures,” Garen said softly. “Incredible.”

The morph name fit. Poppy’s skin bore a lemon-yellow base with an intricate black-and-gray pattern. She had the ball python’s signature “chubby cheeks” and blunt nose that snake lovers like Simon found so cute. Her head was crowned with a gray triangle, and a black “racing stripe” extended from each nostril to a point past her eyes.

“I’ll probably wait a few more days before handling her,” Simon said. “She’s still stressed from the move.”

“How long have you known each other?”

“About seven years. I got her as a hatchling, so she’s still pretty young.” Simon gazed at her as she darted her bright pink tongue in and out—a good sign she was feeling relaxed and curious. “She’s so sweet, she’s spoilt me for every other snake.”

They watched Poppy dip her mouth against the water, apparently having decided they weren’t a threat. A moment later, her throat began to pulsate in tiny waves.

“She even drinks cute,” Garen said with a gentle laugh. “So you’re feeling better now? I assume, since you went running.”

“Pretty much.” Simon stood and pulled his left foot up behind him to stretch his quad. “You?”

“I think the worst of it’s passed. So I was wondering…” He looked down, bouncing the heel of one shoe against the toes of the other. “Would you like to try curling Saturday? There’s an event open to the public. It’s meant for beginners, so everyone will be just as inept as you.”

“Liverpool play on Saturday this week. Three o’clock.”

“We’ll be home in plenty of time. Then after the match, we can go to Glasgow Green for Bonfire Night fireworks.”

Simon noticed Garen had saidwe’ll be home. “So you’ll be at the try-curling thing, even though it’s for newbies?”

“I’ve volunteered as an instructor. That doesn’t mean I’d beyourinstructor.” He glanced up at Simon. “Unless you’d like me to be.”

Simon’s toes tingled as their eyes met.I’d like you to be a lot more.He looked away, pretending to straighten the framed photo of a sunny San Sebastián beach he’d hung on his wall to inspire his marathon training. If he tried curling, he might like it, and then he’d end up spending even more time with Garen, which meant more time fighting the urge to run his fingers through that glorious hair and use it to tug him into a hard, endless kiss.

And if he stayed home Saturday while Garen went curling, Simon would have several hours—several serene, quiet hours—all to himself.

“I appreciate the invitation,” he said finally.

Garen nodded but didn’t leave the room. “And…?”

“And I’ll think about it.”

Garen made a small fist-pump. “I’ll leave you and Poppy alone now.” As he crossed the threshold, he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. “Let me know if you need help thinking.”

* * *

51 Days UntilChristmas

“Garen, my God, you look like a junkie.”

Sitting at the dining table Friday evening, Garen glanced at the thumbnail image of himself in the corner of his laptop screen. He did look well rough, his eyes bloodshot and his hair still disheveled from the windy walk home from work. “I’ve had the flu, ya cow.”

“I know,” his sister said, “but you look like aTrainspottingcharacter. I’ll start calling you Sick Boy.”

“He was the cool one, right?”

“Depends on your definition of cool.” Karen shifted her gaze slightly, no doubt looking at her own thumbnail image. She smoothed her long, pencil-straight blond hair back from her face, which also looked ruddy from the frigid weather of the Bulgarian mountains. “So how are you feeling now?” she asked.

“Better. Still trying to shake off the last few symptoms. Had to miss our league game tonight.” He took a sip of his ginger tea with lemon, contained in a travel mug to keep it from spilling on his computer. “My flatmate, Mister Turbocharged Immune System, was fine by Tuesday.”

“You should’ve got the flu vaccine, being around so many children at the museum. Weans are known germ carriers.”

“Spoken like a devoted teacher.”

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