Page 50 of The Gingerbread Bakery
Just so you know, I'm tired of hanging out with you.
Just so you know, this has gotten weird.
Just so you know, I remembered I have other people I’d rather be friends with—people that aren’t so… intense.
But he didn't say any of those things. He smiled at her and said, ‘Just so you know… I would still like you even if your GPA had dipped a little.’
Annie laughed, the sound echoing through the deserted hallway.
‘That’s good to know,’ she said.
‘I’m having a lot of fun with you.’ He leaned closer again, running the tip of his nose along her cheek.
‘Me too,’ she whispered.
‘Want to hang out tomorrow?’
‘Definitely,’ she breathed as his lips brushed against hers.
‘Cool.’
Verycool.
He kissed her and he tasted like chocolate and crushes and like the best December of her life.
ChapterEighteen
Now
They were making the treacherous drive through the snow up to Kira’s farm in silence. The gingerbread house was safely in the back of his Bronco and Annie in the passenger seat beside him, but Mac might as well have been alone with his thoughts. And his thoughts were mainly consumed with the fact that everything he’d thought about his time with Annie had been a lie.
If their experiences of that month had been so different, then maybe it really was time to let the whole thing go. Maybe that month hadn’t been some magical Christmas moment between them. Maybe he had been the only one who had fallen in love.
Or maybe it was all just about an orgasm. And if it was just about an orgasm,thathe could remedy. In fact,thathe would love to remedy. And maybe that would help everything. Maybe one more time with Annie and he could finally put her in the correct category. In his mind, she could go from being the girl he never got over to being just another ex. An ex that he could move on from, a woman that he slept with; and then maybe they could actually be friends, or at least civil to each other. Maybe a decade was way too long to replay a memory and the whole thing had become distorted over the years. Maybe it hadn’t all been as magical as he originally thought. What he and Annie needed was a night together to have closure once and for all.
He’d been losing his mind about it all day and then it had started snowing harder and he saw the bakery light still on and was at Annie’s window before he could stop himself. He couldn't leave her there in the snow, knowing she’d put herself in a dangerous situation to make sure she didn’t let anyone down. So here he was giving her a ride, and she hadn't said a damn word to him since they got in the truck.
‘You know you could thank me,’ he said, glancing over to the passenger seat. He took his eyes off the road just long enough to catch Annie glaring at him.
‘I could,’ she said, ‘but you basically forced me into accepting the ride.’
‘Only because I knew you would do something stupid if I didn't.’
‘Stupid? Excuse me?’
Mac huffed a laugh. ‘Yeah, something stupid. Like try to drive on these snowy roads up to Kira’s farm in that old delivery van that handles horribly and end up in a ditch somewhere instead.’
‘Really, Mac. I don’t know when you became so dramatic.’
‘Stop calling me that.’
‘Then stop acting that way.’
‘I’m not acting any kind of way, Annabelle. I'm trying to keep you alive for some reason that I really can’t remember at the moment.’
She scoffed and sat back in her seat, staring out the window at the snow. It was really coming down now and Mac hoped his snow tires were as good as he said they were, or they would both end up in a ditch.
His plan to have one more night with Annie had made perfect sense when he was alone, but all Annie wanted to do when they were together was fight. He wasn’t sure how he would convince her that what they really needed was to fuck.
