Page 49 of A Winter in Wonderland
‘I get what you mean. I’ve always worked shifts so it’s not like I switched from the office nine-to-five but it was definitely an adjustment. Especially the polar nights.’
‘Yes!’ I cried. ‘At first I was like, I don’t think I can live without more daylight, but it’s amazing how quickly you adjust.’
‘We’re about to hit true polar nights, too. The sun won’t rise above the horizon at all for a little bit. But it’s kinda nice, now, right? Everything seems permanently … um … ’
‘Calm?’
‘Calm,’ Josh agreed.
‘Plus, low lighting is flattering anyway,’ I added.
‘That’s true.’
The conversation paused, and we both took sips of our beers, our eyes trailing around the room while we thought of what to say. I wondered if he felt the same as I did right now – like we could talk for hours if only we could be totally open and relaxed with each other. It was an odd feeling, one I hadn’t had for a long time with a guy, and I liked it, but it caused my mouth to feel constantly dry and my mind to go blank, and a hummingbird to hover in my stomach.
Not literally.
‘You said your parents are close by, near Seattle?’
‘My mom and grandfather, yeah.’
‘I bet that’s nice.’
‘It is,’ he said, smiling. ‘My grandfather is in his late eighties, but he still wants to go and do water sports every weekend.’
‘Like, wakeboarding and things?’ I asked, enjoying seeing Josh’s face light up talking about his grandfather.
‘Well, not quite that extreme, but his favourite thing in the whole world is parasailing. You know, when you’re like, sitting in a parachute and being towed by a boat?’
‘That sounds fun,’ I said. I wondered if I could get my dad to do that on the Isle of Wight.
‘Yeah.’ Josh went quiet for a moment. ‘I hope he’s able to keep doing it for a long time.’
‘Do you have a reason to think he won’t?’ I asked gently.
Josh looked down at his beer bottle. ‘I don’t know. He’s just getting older, you know?’ He paused, and then stood up. ‘Another beer?’
‘Sure.’ I smiled. I watched him as he strolled to the kitchen, running his hand through his hair.
It was nice to get to know Josh a little more. And as he got me a beer, holding both in one hand between his fingers so he could also grab us two cookies from the stack on the side, he looked back and caught my eye and smiled, and I admitted to myself he wasn’tentirelysuper-annoying.
