Page 65 of Check the Halls
I wish she were here tonight. My hand hovers over the phone in my pants pocket, itching to reach out. Should I invite her? No. It’s too late and I wouldn’t want her to feel like an afterthought. Besides, she probably wouldn’t come anyway.
I do my best to get into party mode and surrender myself to the crowd. For the next thirty minutes, I exchange handshakes and hugs with everyone who showed up to celebrate my birthday.
It’s the weirdest party I’ve ever been to. Picture the North Pole on acid. Classic Halloween music plays fromthe clubs loudspeakers in direct contrast to the sea of mostly red and green costumes.
After I’m pretty sure I’ve said hello to everyone, I sneak out to the balcony for some air. Instead, the breath in my lungs is stolen away from me.
Maddy stands against the stone encasement, her arms wrapped around herself in a tight hug. The moonlight reflects off her fiery hair which she wears in a loose side braid. The jeans and black fitted top, while stunning on her, look like they’re doing nothing to protect her from the cold.
She hasn’t noticed me yet and I give myself an extra minute to drink my fill of her. I watch her chest rise and fall, her pale skin almost glowing in the dark night, her breath swirling around her face like it’s dancing. Realising how cold she must be on this chilly October night makes me spring into action.
“Madness?”
Her eyes shine like sapphires as they find me. She takes a step towards me, but then stops. “Hey,” she says, nervously. “Happy birthday.” Her teeth are actually chattering as she tries to smile.
I reach her in two strides, shrugging my suit jacket off and draping it over her shoulders. “What are you doing here?”
The words tumble out of her in a rush, fast and breathless. “I’m sorry. Is this weird? Beth asked me to go to the game because she doesn’t like going alone and I said yes without really thinking. Then she mentioned coming for a drink afterward, and I figured…why not? But the second I walked in and realized it was your birthday party, I panicked. I thought I should leave, but she shoved a pair ofantlers on my head and told me to stay. And then you came in and didn’t see me—of course you didn’t, there were so many people around you—and I didn’t want to be awkward or interrupt anything. I just needed a second to breathe, so I came out here for some air and the door locked behind me. I texted Beth, but she probably hasn’t looked at her phone yet. I’m really sorry.”
She exhales at the end like she’s been holding her breath the whole time, cheeks flushed and eyes wide, looking both embarrassed and adorable, clutching a pair of felt antlers in her hands.
“Why are you sorry?” I ask.
She looks at the door. “Because I think you’re locked out here now, too.”
I walk to the door that leads back inside and sure enough, it’s locked.Shit.I pull my phone from my pocket and try Beth’s number. It rings five times and then goes to voicemail. I try Foster’s phone with the same results.
I’ve brought up Will’s contact and am about to try him next when I glance back at Maddy. She’s bundled my jacket around her, the unmistakable glint of tears in her gorgeous eyes. My phone falls away from my ear as I eat up the space between us.
“Madness? What’s wrong?” I try to make her look at me, but she insists on keeping her eyes cast down.
“What’s wrong? I ruined your birthday, Ben.” Maddy sniffs. “You’re supposed to be at your party, with your friends and instead you’re freezing your ass off out here with me.”
I want to tell her that there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. That seeing her out here made me unbearably happy. Too happy. The happiest I’ve been since…well, since the last time I saw her last week. That if I wasn’t afraid of her getting hypothermia, I’d turn my phone off and hide out here with her all fucking night.
Instead, I tilt her face up to look at me. Her cheek is cold against the warmth of my hands.
“We are friends. Remember? And my ass is fine.”
Her lips turn up the slightest bit at the reference to the last time we were together on a cold night, avoiding a party. The balcony at Jinx is a far cry from Scott Walker’s frozen deck, but there are several similarities to our current predicament.
She was the only person I wanted to hang out with at that party, too.
She looks stunning, downright ethereal in the moonlight just like she did that night.
And just like that night, I want nothing more than to kiss her.
“I’m sorry I ruined your party,” she says, swallowing.
“You didn’t,” I promise. “Don’t you remember?”
She shakes her head, fighting a grin. “The party is wherever you are.”
“Damn straight.” I’m still touching her face. I shouldn’t still be touching her face or any other part of her. She hasn’t had enough time to figure out what she wants yet and the last thing I want to do is rush her. I should let go.
But I don’t want to.
“Ben?” Maddy’s breath tickles my hand as she gazes up at me through her long eyelashes. Our faces slowly inch closer together.
