Page 23 of Forever Yours on Christmas Eve
“Good to meet ya,” Nick said as Andy nodded, his arms laden with bags.
“Oh, my gosh!” Emma said, her face breaking into an excited smile. “You didn’t tell us she was so pretty!”
“Em,” Sev warned. Leave it to her to verbalize it, but she wasn’t wrong. Kelsey was gorgeous.
“Don’tEmme,” she said, dropping her voice to mimic him. “It’s nice to have some girl company after being stuck with these guys all winter break.”
“I get that.” Kelsey laughed. “Most of my dad’s friends are all guys he knew in the Navy, so…”
“You get it,” Emma said, giving her a smile and an approving eyebrow cock to Sev. Emma had always been a fantastic judge of character, so he valued her input.
“I think we’re headed home,” Nick said. “Andy here finally has all the Christmas gifts that he needs.”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t have fun,” Andy said, grinning as he held up what looked to be five good-sized paper handled bags.
“Funis up for interpretation,” Emma said, turning back to Sev and Kelsey. “You need a lift, or is your lady going to bring you home?”
Sev grinned at Emma’s complete lack of subtlety. She took after him in that regard.
“I can give you a ride,” Kelsey said, glancing up at him. “I’m just parked on the other side of Downtown.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I don’t live far, but I don’t want to put you out.”
“Well, considering you paid for dinner and my book?—”
“You mean your Christmas gift,” he corrected her.
“Aww! He got you a Christmas gift?” Emma asked with hearts in her eyes.
Nick and Andy snickered.
“He did,” Kelsey said, holding up her stunningly decorated journal for his little sister to appreciate. The two ladies oohed and ahhed over the cover, Emma asking questions and Kelsey answering them emphatically. Something about this woman including his teenage little sister in the conversation squeezed his heart.
And he felt himself fall even further for her.
“Alright,” he said, anxious to spend more alone time with Kelsey. “I guess I’ll catch you guys at home later.”
After some quick hugs and nice-to-meet-yous, Sev watchedhis three siblings step back into the crowd and disappear into the night. Taking Kelsey’s free hand, he intertwined their fingers as they continued to walk down the cobblestone sidewalk. However, when they passed a florist shop with two sprigs of lupine on the sign overhead, Sev stopped at the large picture windows.
“I can’t believe I didn’t bring flowers again,” he said, shaking his head sadly, dramatically.
“Don’t worry about that,” she said, patting his arm. “You’ve done plenty tonight.”
He only winked at her in response, taking her hand once more and leading her into the small brick store.
“Welcome to Lupine Lane,” a smiling, brown haired woman wearing an apron greeted them at the counter. “How can I help you?”
“I’m going to need a dozen red roses,” he said.
“Sev! No,” Kelsey insisted. “I can’t carry around a dozen roses in this crowd of people. They’ll end up crushed before I can get them home.” She looked at the woman observing their interaction. “We’ll only need one.”
“Three,” he countered, studying her face and watching her resolve begin to crumble.
“Alright,” she said, trying to keep her face from erupting into a beaming smile. “Three.”
The lady led them to a nearby cooler, allowing Kelsey to select the three she liked best out of an overflowing container of blooms. He wanted to leave the color up to her. Thanks to Emma telling him all about how different colored roses have different meanings, he knew that yellow leaned in the direction of friendship, while red generally stood for love.
When Kelsey selected the deepest burgundy colored roses, passing them to the clerk to wrap in some soft, pink tissue paper, he took it as a very good sign that she might be feeling the same way he felt about her.
