Page 18 of The Holiday Boyfriend

Lena grinned and rested her head on her hand. “You sure? They looked pretty chummy the last I saw them before I left. I heard people talking about them this morning too.”

I groaned and face planted on the table. I loved living in a small town for the most part. The people in Wintertown were some of the best people I knew, always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. But the one thing I hated about small town life was the lack of personal space. Everyone was up in everyone else's business, and it was basically impossible to keep a secret in these parts.

“Trust me, they're not getting back together,” I turned in my seat to face her and said.

“How do you know?” she countered with a brow raised.

“Because he went home with me last night. Nothing happened between them.”

The only person he was getting it on with last night was me.

Of course, I couldn't say that part out loud. I sensed that they already had some strange thoughts regarding my relationship with Austin, and I didn't need to fan the flames.

Austin and I were just friends.

Friends that had jerked each other off, sure, but friends nevertheless.

I looked up at the sound of the chair scraping the floor. Alice stood up and clapped her hands. “All right, let's stop hounding Jim and get back to work. There's plenty to do today.”

Her words had us all falling into action as we went on about the rest of the workday. My morning chores were finished, so I spent the rest of the morning fixing the fence on the edge of the property.

Lunchtime came, and I heated up another one of Austin's meals, which only made me think of him. I wondered if he'd gotten enough rest and if he was feeling better now. My hand was on my phone before I knew it, ready to text him, but I forced myself not to.

My chat with the three women this morning was still on my mind, and I wondered if maybe I was being too clingy? Sending a text just because I was worried might be too much, and I'd see him when I got home anyway.

It took everything I had to put my phone away and distract myself from thoughts of Austin. Fortunately, physical work helped and there was always something to do around the farm.

When my work was finally over, I didn't leave right away and found myself inside the barn with Joy. The horse neighed when she saw me. Her tail flicked excitedly when she caught sight of the sugar cube I took out of my pocket.

She ate it from my palm while I stroked her neck. She moved her mouth against my skin, trying to find more of the sweetness, but I pulled my hand back. My hand was covered in slobber when she was done, but who gave a fuck when Joy was happy with her little treat? She deserved it after working hard all afternoon.

We had horseback riding classes at the farm, and Joy was always paired with the children, being that she had the patience of a saint and was the gentlest animal I'd ever met. She was truly a sweetheart.

If it wasn't for her packed schedule today, I would have taken her out for a ride. Alice and Trish had developed most of the land on Snowfield Farm, but there was an area in the back that was left undeveloped. They said they wanted to continue seeing the beautiful field of snow they saw the first time they came here, and I was thankful that they had left it alone, since there was no better feeling than riding Joy through the fields at a sprint.

With the wind kissing my cheeks as we flew past the grounds, I'd never felt so unrestricted and free from all my burdens.

Today, I had to settle on weaving my fingers through her soft mane. Joy snorted a few times when she realized she wasn't getting anymore sugar cubes, but continued to let me stroke her. She really was the best girl.

An hour later, I parked outside my mom's house. I tried to tell myself it wasn't because I was avoiding home, but I was only fooling myself. What if Austin truly thought that I was too clingy, and that was what his strange mood was for this morning?

The house was a single story home that my grandparents had left her when they’d passed. Mom painted the exterior a baby blue when we moved here during my high school years. It was right after my parents’ divorce, and Mom was going through a phase of doing everything herself instead of asking for help.

I'd insisted on helping, which ended up with us having a paint war to see who could cover the other in more color. It had been the first time after the divorce that Mom laughed, and I wanted nothing more to keep her laughing. Though it took a lot longer than planned, we did eventually get the entire house—and ourselves—covered in paint.Now the baby blue had faded and looked a grayish white in the strong afternoon sun.

“Mom, I'm here,” I called out after entering with my key.

Mom never got with anyone else, so she lived alone in the baby blue house, but I still visited often. I'd moved out with Austin when I was twenty-five merely because I'd had a stable job and it seemed like the grown-up thing to do, but I sometimes wonder if I'd made the wrong choice. I loved living with Austin, but it worried me that Mom was always alone.

Mom poked her head out of the kitchen and called, “Just finished the dishes.” A large dog followed her voice and jumped against me, almost knocking me over.

“I missed you too, Eddie,” I said, giving the boxer mix a good rub behind the ears. The brown dog flicked his tongue, trying to get my face, but I dodged. Working at a farm, I was used to being covered in saliva but not in the face. That was my hard limit.

“Eddie, down,” Mom called like she knew exactly what her furbaby was up to. Eddie obeyed her orders and plopped his ass to the ground as he watched me take off my shoes. Mom would kill me if I dirtied her floor.

“How are my favorite vampires doing?” I asked when I entered the kitchen. Mom wiped her hands with a hand towel and rolled her eyes, but still pulled me into a tight hug.

Mom should have predicted this running joke after she’d named her dog Edward when her name was Bella. She was hooked on the vampire romance when the books first came out. The day she adopted the boxer mix, she declared that he would be the only love of her life and named him Edward.

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