Page 66 of Holly and Nick Hate Christmas
“Serves you right.”
“Does that mean you’re still mad at me?” His voice softened a little.
Oh.Bantering was way more fun than being vulnerable. I stalled, reaching up to fiddle with my hair, which apparentlyhad decided in the last ten minutes to stop behaving itself. How many times was I going to have to humiliate myself and allude to—or flat-out admit—I’d been disappointed that Nick wasn’t into me? A girl had her limits.
I pursed my lips. “Not mad.”
“But still grudge-holding?” He shot me a look with big brown puppy dog eyes.
It wasn’t fair he was that cute. “Just be glad we’re on the same team now.”
“Oh, I am. Trust me.” Before I could decipher his expression, he held out the bag of donuts. “Last one.”
“You’re a gentleman.” I pulled it from the bag, eager to change the subject. “So, does getting to know each other mean you’re going to tell me why a snow globe rendered you catatonic?”
He slowly set the empty sack down. “I wasnotcatatonic.”
“Nick.” I tilted my head in the most condescending way I could muster. “You were in the fetal position.”
“I most certainly remained upright.”
I pointed with my donut, sending powdered sugar flying. “Okay, fine, but you wanted to be.”
He opened his mouth, then closed it. “That’s closer to accurate.”
“So?” I popped the donut in my mouth—whole—and raised my eyebrows as I chewed.
He shook his head. “Not right now. Not yet.”
Apparently we hadn’t reached that level of trust in our fake relationship yet. “Fair enough.” I hopped up on the edge of the counter, putting me closer to his height. A fresh burst of snowy pine trees drifted toward me.
Nick looked pained as he leaned next to the sink. He squinted, as if debating something within himself. “The snow globe was partly bad timing—my dad had just texted me.”
He was opening up. I tried to remain nonchalant as I swallowed the donut. “Oh?”
“Yeah.”
Was that it? There weren’t any more donuts to pretend to be focused on, so I folded my hands in my lap and waited.
“He was basically guilt-tripping me for not seeing them this year. Said it was important to my mom for me to be there.”
Aw. “Well, that’s kind of nice—”
“Said she needed me for the company Christmas card.”
“Oh.” I waited again, this time not sure what to say. “That’s…”
“I mean, it shouldn’t have surprised me.” Nick laughed a little, the sound hollow. “Remember when I said my mom never kept my Christmas projects from school? And always decorated on theme and rejected gifts that didn’t fit her current trend?”
I nodded.
“All of that is because work comes first, always first, with them. Build the brand, and whatnot.”
“But you still went into marketing?” I tilted my head.
“Trying to make them proud, I think.” Nick shrugged. “I got the college degree before realizing that wasn’t going to happen, and then needed a job until I could figure out what I really wanted to do.”
I nodded. “And you got stuck?”
