Page 26 of The Merriest Christmas

I remembered like it was yesterday.

How could I forget?

That had been my first kiss, though I could tell by how amazing he was at it that it wasn't Seaver's.He'd been two years older than me just like he was now.My older brother's best friend.The boy-next-door.The hockey player with a bad rep.Forbidden for more reasons than I could count.

Swallowing, I forced my voice to work."If they knew what?"

His eyes drank in my features, and even in the dark room, I felt like he saw everything I tried to hide.

"What I wanted," he said.

"And what was that?"

"For you to be mine."

I blinked as he leaned closer.

"And for me to be yours.I wanted that more than anything."

Seaver stopped with only a breath between his lips and my own.

"But you just wanted me to be your secret—which I went along with.Even if I wanted so much more."

"I—"

The door to the pantry suddenly flew open.

Light flooded the room, and it took my eyes a minute to adjust.

"Found them," one of the baseball players said.

Seaver took a step back which left me feeling bereft.

"Where were you guys?It's time for dinner."

"We were just talking," Seaver said.Speaking to me, he added, "I'll see you later, Emilia."

It sounded like a promise.

The thought shouldn't have excited me, and yet it did.Seeing him again had felt daunting for so long.But now, after what he said, the way he'd been staring at me in the dark…

My heart couldn't wait.

CHAPTER 5

Emmy

"What's up with you and Seaver?"

Rose asked the question I'd been asking myself for years.

I still didn't have an answer.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"Well," she stated, counting off on her fingers, "first, you two were found in a pantry together.With the light off."

"Would it have made a difference if the light was on?"

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