Page 3 of Christmas Agreement
A slow smile curled his lips.
“I like the way you think, Ms. Johnson. I agree. It’s a date.”
If only it were real.
Two
Rugar James
I hadn’t dared to imagine the turn my night had just taken.
I’d figured I could finagle an invite to dinner at the Johnson’s house. That was easy since Mrs. Johnson always invited me to dinner. The hot meal was great, but my real purpose was to see my totally off-limits dream-girl—off limits because my best friend would murder me if I indulged my fantasies. Whenever I did anything with Katie, it had to be “as a friend” since I’d been consigned to thefriendzone since seventh grade. That was about the time I’d started to notice my best bro’s sister, and every day since had been an exercise in frustration.
I’d known Kyle would be out tonight and Katie would not be. I had two options: be a third wheel or be with the girl I wanted. Easy choice. So there I was, at the Johnson’s house. I’d hoped that maybe I could take Katie to the community caroling. Or we could do something else. Anything else. Then afterward, just like always when I saw her, I’d head home to another restless night that would end with playing with my personal hockey stick.
My life was boring, predictable, and torturous.
At least, I didn’t have to worry about some asshole coming on to her at school. As much as I liked to tease Katie about her line-up of men, the truth was, she’d kill me if she knew the truth—the truth about whatKyleand I had done. I wasn’t alone in the scheme. We’d issued a campus-wide, off-limits dictate for her. Not every guy knew us. Not every guy even knewwhythey needed to stay the fuck away from her. They just knew they’d be dead meat if they laid a finger on her.
And now, I had a date with Katie.Twodates with her, actually. And somehow, I was going to parlay that into more. God knew, I was known for seeing opportunities when no one else did. And this might be the opening I needed.
“Rugar, honey, you’ll come over for our Christmas Eve potluck next week?” Katie’s mom asked. It was less of an invitation than it was a directive.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And you’ll come over on Christmas to watch the football games?” Mr. Johnson said.
“Oh, and for brunch!” his wife added before I could answer. It seemed like Katie’s parents were booking my holiday. No complaints from me.
I glanced at Katie, who lifted a brow at me, clearly amused, then back to her parents.
“Of course. That would be great,” I told them. I wasn’t going to visit my parents and the weren’t coming here since they would be traveling. Spending time at the Johnson’s would ensure I wasn’t alone and I was with some of my favorite people. One of whom was the girl I wanted to make mine. I still hadn’t figured out how to get around her brother, but our agreement would be a major step in the right direction.
With my schedule settled, her dad started asking me questions about the hockey team, how I thought the rest of the season would go, and whether I though we’d make any of the tournaments. He was still quizzing me when Katie and her mom cleared the table. Mrs. Johnson came back, but Katie did not, having ducked out to finish her paper. I hadn’t been happy about that, but what could I do?
As I sat on my bed, hours after dinner, I stared into space rather than watching the sports channel I’d turned on and tried to devise ways to parlay the two dates Katie and I had agreed to into more. Preferably into infinity.
Pulling out my phone, I lay back on the pillows on my bed and brought up my contact for Katie. I had her info in case there was an “emergency.” That’s what Kyle thought anyway. He certainly didn’t anticipate me texting her.
Rugar:Coffee tomorrow?
Katie:Who is this?
Well, shit…
Katie:JK.
Well, that was a relief. It felt better knowing she obviously had my info in her phone, too. Probably, it didn’t mean anything. Except it did matter to me.
Rugar:Ha-ha. Coffee?
Katie:When and where?
Tomorrow was Saturday, so I figured I could convert this to breakfast. A breakfast date, though she wouldn’t know it.
Rugar:9? At Anna’s Diner?
Katie:That sounds more like breakfast than coffee. But I won’t pass on a meal.
