Page 53 of The Holiday Honeymoon Switch
Holly stands at the window, watching Aiden drive away and feeling the ache in her chest she hadn’t felt for a few days returning full force as soon as he’s gone. She groans. “What did Ido?” She retreats to the couch, where she sleeps fitfully for a few hours, but when she wakes, her mind is still racing. She gets up and, in the kitchen, she brews coffee in the French press. As she waits for it to get strong enough, she texts Ivy.
Help. I had rebound sex with Eco Superman and now I’m freaking out.
Less than a second later, her cell phone rings.
“Oh, thank goodness! You’re back in the land of cell service! I’m so relieved you answered,” Holly says. “How was your camping trip?”
“It doesn’t matter. Good, fine, whatever. You had sex with Eco Superman!”
“Yes,” Holly says.
“I’m going to need a lot more than yes. Details, details! I need details.”
“Well, Aiden and I had the most perfect skating date yesterday afternoon. And we had amazing cookies—”
“Can we get to the sex part, please?”
“Okay, so then he asked me to a school dance in town—”
“That is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard, but I thought you two weren’t in high school anymore?”
“Not exactly a school dance, but an annual Christmas dance that takes place at the high school. And I somehow managed to thrift the sexiest holiday party outfit possible, and I got slightly tipsy on some extremely strong punch, tipsy enough that I started feeling quite brazen.”
“Holly!” Ivy sounds delighted.
“Then he told me he was the one who wrote me that card, back in high school.”
“What? The one you always cherished?”
“Yes.Hewrote that for me. It was Aiden.”
“So you jumped him, right then and there.”
“We ended up outside, making out in the snow. And then…”
Ivy is now gasping with delight.
“And then…we had the most amazing sex of my entire life at his cabin in the woods. All night long. I’mexhausted.”
“Wait. All this is why you don’t know if you’re okay? You’re amazing! Holly, I’m so happy for you!”
“Yeah, but I haven’t gotten to the bad part. This morning, he was already dressed when I woke up. He could not get me out of there fast enough. He said he had somewhere he needed to go, and vaguely mentioned having to drive to the city for a meeting. He made me coffee but then basically tapped his fingers against his kitchen counter waiting forme to be done, and finally, I said to just take me home because I could not stand the awful morning-after awkwardness anymore.” This isn’t exactly a true account of events, but the exaggeration about Aiden tapping his fingers makes Holly feel even more vindicated in her agony. “That’s not the worst part, though.The worst partwas when he dropped me back off at my cabin.” She squeezes her eyes shut at the memory. “He gave me a hug instead of a kiss.”
“Hmm,” Ivy says. “That is a little odd. You didn’t try to kiss him?”
“I didn’t get the chance. He went straight in for the hug and said he’d call me later.”
“Okay. So, he’ll call you later.”
“But what if he doesn’t? What if he never wants to see me again?”
“I highly doubt that. Mind-blowing sex is generally a two-way street. Maybe he’s just feeling shy this morning. Maybe he has this meeting to go to and he wishes he didn’t. He said he’d call you later, and I’m sure he will. And I’m sure it’s all going to be fine.”
“I’ve never done this before, though. How do you put it out of your mind? My body feels like a ball of electricity.”
“That’s a good thing. The ball-of-electricity stuff, that’s kind of why I do it. It feels good.” Holly thinks she hears her friend let out a little sigh, but then she keeps talking. “You don’t regret it, do you?”
Holly pauses to consider how she feels. “No regrets,” shesays. “I did what I wanted to do in the moment. It was one of the best nights I’ve ever had, on every level.”
