Page 39 of The Holiday Boyfriend

“Since you promised to spend the holidays with me, I'm assuming that means that includes being partners for the last dance as well?” I asked, purposely cutting him off before he could even hint at us ending.

Austin was quiet for a minute, probably lost in thought, but he finally nodded. His agreement had my heart beating double time. Now I had to hope that he went along with the rest of my plan.

“If that's the case, aren't they going to see us together eventually anyway? What's the difference if they see us together earlier?” I tried to stick with logic so that he couldn't overthink this.

Austin pondered my words for a second, then said, “But it's not like the town doesn't know we're always together. Why should it matter if they know that we're together inthatway?” he asked.

Fuck. He had a point, but it wasn't like I could tell him that I was jealous of seeing bugs flying around him, trying to take what was mine. I wanted to claim him in front of the entire town so that they’d know to back off.

If I'd said all that, I'd no doubt scare him senseless. So instead, I turned my charm to the max. “What? You don't want to be seen out in town with this old grandpa?” I teased, repeating the words he'd said to me when I asked him if I looked old months ago.

He rolled his eyes and used his free hand to push my chest, but I locked his hand against my body, so that he couldn't escape.

“If people see us and think we're…we're…”

“Boyfriends,” I supplied when I saw him struggling to come up with words.

I couldn’t suppress the smile that bloomed from those words. Being boyfriends with Austin sounded perfect, like it was exactly how it was supposed to be.

Austin and me. Together.

“Word spreads like wildfire in his town.Everyonewould know, including our families. What are we going to tell them?” Austin said. I didn't hear any rejection in his voice, which meant I'd already won this battle.

“Don't worry and let me take care of them,” I said, already planning to recruit Gemma to help me.

Now that I thought about it, Gemma had always been eager to talk to me about Austin, and most of the time, it felt like she was talking her brother up to me, not that he needed that. I already knew what an amazing person Austin was, which was why I hadn't thought anything of it and had enjoyed hearing Gemma talk about him.

She had to have known something.

I groaned internally, thinking about how a seventeen-year-old was more in touch with my feelings than even I was. And not only her, but my mother too—and even my coworkers at the farm and their cryptic words.

That had me wondering if maybe the entire town knew that Austin and I were meant to be together, and the two of us were the last ones to realize it.

God, I hoped not. I didn't want to be labeled the densest person in this entire town.

TWENTY-FOUR

AUSTIN

Jim sounded so sure that he could handle the questions and confusion from our families once they found out about us. Since he was so confident, I decided to believe him and let him take care of the aftermath.

It wasn't like I was going to say no to his proposal when it was exactly what I wanted. I had no clue why he'd suddenly brought this up, but I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Neither of us were keen on staying at the pub any longer, which was just as well, since we both had to work early in the morning. We went back inside to say our goodbyes to Levi. He'd shot me a smug grin when he saw us holding hands. I flicked him off behind Jim's back, which had only earned me a loud laugh from him.

Jim turned around at the sound and looked back between me and Levi. His face looked scrunched like he'd bitten a sour lemon, and he looked—dare I hope?— jealous.

He tugged my hand as he pulled me through the crowd to the exit of the pub. I could almost feel the gaze of the locals as they zoned in on our connected hands. I was sure the town would be filled with exaggerated gossip by the morning.

We strode out of the pub. Jim's head was held high, looking like he wasn't affected by any of them. Meanwhile, I stared at his back and tried to pretend that the pub was filled with tourists without a single local out tonight.

To say that I was relieved when we stepped out into the cool night was an understatement. I let out a sigh so loud that Jim looked back at me with a raised brow.

The snow was coming down harder now, with the flurries blowing around us and quickly covering Jim's hair in a layer of white. I always teased Jim about being a grandpa, but he didn't actually lookthatold, older than me perhaps, but that was expected when I was still mistaken as under the legal drinking age at bars outside of town.

The snowflakes painting his hair white, and I could imagine what he would look like when we were my grandparents' age. His wrinkles would deepen and add more character to his already handsome face. Even in our old age, there wouldn't be a shortage of people trying to flirt with him, but none of them mattered, because in the end, the one by his side would be me.

That thought put a huge smile on my face as I brushed the snow off his hair, effectively ending the warm scene in my head. Jim smiled and did the same for me before pulling me to his car.

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