Page 28 of A Candy Cane Christmas
I felt heat rising to my cheeks and shrugged. “I’m not sure it really counts as that great of a gift because we’ll have to take Hazel, too. I wanted to get you something just for the two of us, but Hazel saw the website advertising the musical and she got so excited that I didn’t have the heart to tell her she wouldn’t be included.”
“You’re such a softie for your daughter,” Luci teased, nudging me with his shoulder. “You look so stern and serious most of the time, but you’re just a big old teddy bear.”
“Who are you calling old?” I answered, giving him a pointed look. “You’re four years older than me.”
Luci just snorted. “Yeah, but you have a kid, which instantly makes you more responsible, so you get like ten years in maturity. I, on the other hand, am a chaotic mess of an artist with ADHD, so you can probably subtract ten years for me, which…”
“Means I’ll go to jail because I’m now apparently a thirty-one-year-old dating a fifteen-year-old?”
Luci shuddered. “Forget what I said, okay? I think I’m fine being the older but more immature one in this relationship.”
My heart skipped a beat.
A relationship?
Heat flooded my body, and I reached out for him, grabbing his hand and interlacing our fingers.
Hell—ooo kitty, yeah, we were in a relationship.
Unfortunately, we reached his apartment just a second later, and I needed to let go of his hand so he could unlock his door. But as soon as possible, I grabbed his hand again, as he led us to the living room.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t really have time to decorate,” he said as he switched on the light.
Hazel gasped. “Your Christmas tree is our painting? That’s so cool!” She shouted, running up to the big easel in the middle of the room, displaying the painting we’d done on our first date. On the floor in front of the easel lay two gift boxes, one pretty small and one a bit bigger, both wrapped in colorful paper.
“This one is for you, Hazel,” he said, handing her the small box. “And this one is for you,” he said, handing the bigger one to me. It was soft to the touch, denting immediately.
I smiled and set my cup down to open the gift. The first thing I saw was dark navy fabric that turned out to be a matching set of a scarf, hat, and gloves.
“I’m afraid it’s not nearly as special as yours,” Luci said, his cheeks a deep red. “But I just couldn’t let you keep freezing your hands and ears off every time you leave the house.”
Warmth bloomed in my veins as I carefully stroked the scarf. Luci might not think much of it, but it was special. He’d chosen it. He’d chosen it for me because he knew I always had cold hands. Because whenever we met in the stairwell, he commented teasingly on my red nose and ears. Because he’d paid attention to me.
“Thank you,” I said earnestly, looking up at him with a smile. “And you’re wrong. It’s incredibly special.”
Luci grinned at me, a little crooked, a little doubtful, but also pleased. “If you say so. Let’s hope Hazel likes her gift just as much as you do.”
The little squeal she let out just a second later told me she did.
“Daddy, look, Santa got me a bracelet. It has… Ohh, Daddy, there’s a candy cane on it. And mistletoe, and ohh, that’s a Santa hat.”
Hazel ran up to me, showing me a silver bracelet with a couple of Christmas-themed charms attached to it, insisting Luci put it on her right now.
Shaking my head, I smiled to myself. He called me a softie while he was the one getting her jewelry after only knowing her for a month. Maybe it was weird, but it was also endearing. Especially as he explained to her that almost every one of the charms reminded him of something we did together. Visiting Santa, making peppermint bark… There was just the mistletoe he didn’t say anything about, but the way he winked at me as I touched it told me there was a story there.
And I was gonna find out for sure.
Chapter 9
Luci
Closing my eyes, I settled into the couch cushions. It was only, like, eight PM, but I was wiped the fuck out. Who knew a single kid could tire me out so quickly and thoroughly? Was that normal? Theo hadn’t seemed bothered at all, always staying in his calm, collected father role. He’d pushed her on the swings with endless passion, praised every single one of the dozen pictures she’d drawn today, and had even had the patience to let her cut the potatoes. With a real kitchen knife.
Fuck, watching her handle the blade had taken a couple of years off my life. How did he manage not to have a heart attack every single day?
Still, I’d had so much fun. Celebrating Christmas as an adult was different from celebrating Christmas as a kid. And celebrating as an adult with a kid was different yet again. It made me remember a ton of things from my childhood; the way Gabe and I had spent hours playing with our gifts in the living room, shutting out everyone else. The way we’d always tried to stay awake to catch Santa in the act. We hadn’t had a chimney, so we’d always wondered how the fuck he’d managed to sneak into our house.
One time we even…
