“I’ll tell you a secret about my brother.” I lean closer. “Girls flocking to him might be a nice side effect, but he’s wearing that hat because he loves Christmas. It’s a Walters’ family tradition. Felix and Dad wear Santa hats the entire week leading up to Christmas. My mom buys them in bulk.”
“That’s right. I remember that from last year. Why aren’t you festive tonight? Did you run out of holiday sweaters?”
I brush my hair away from my ear and show him the dangly holly flower earrings. “And I have reindeer, Santa, Christmas trees . . . you get the picture.”
“You Walters are freaks.”
“We love the holidays. I’m having fun being up here, don’t get me wrong. I love the cabin and the snow, but it doesn’t feel like Christmas without being home.”
“What’s your favorite part?”
Some time while we were talking, we both angled our bodies to face each other. Teddy reaches out and takes my hands in his giant palms, then rubs lightly.
His touch throws me off for a second, and I think my brain short circuits. “Picking out the tree and then decorating it with our old ornaments. But I love other things too. Like how Dad and Felix put up lights outside, and Mom wraps all our presents in special coordinating paper. It’s different every year, but the result is a work of art. Stella and I always make a bunch of cookies and we watch the first two Home Alone movies together.”
“They made more than two?”
“They shouldn’t have, but yes.”
“That all sounds amazing. I was honored to be a part of it last year.”
“I know it’s silly, but I really look forward to it.”
“That isn’t silly at all, it’s beautiful.”
I want to ask him what his family does every year, and if he misses going home for the holidays, but the way he’s looking at me makes speaking impossible. His gaze darts to my lips, and when it moves back up, there’s an intensity swirling in his stare that wasn’t there a second ago.
“There you are!” Stella says, opening the front door and peering out.
I’m slow to look, still too caught up in the guy in front of me. When I do, my sister steps out and then pauses when she takes in the scene in front of her. Teddy lets our hands drop.
“Am I interrupting?”
“No, I got too warm in there. Teddy stepped out with me for some cold air and then we got to talking.”
“Oh.” Stella’s smile says way more than that one word. “Well, that was nice of you, Theodore.”
He chuckles. “I better go reclaim my spot on the Xbox.”
His eyes briefly flick to me before he heads back inside.
“You and Teddy!” Stella screeches as soon as the door closes behind him.
“No.”
She hits the brim of the hat, his hat. I feel sort of silly wearing it now, so I take it off. “We were just talking.”
“If you say so.” Stella shivers. “It’s freezing out here. We really should have brought warmer clothes.”
I follow her inside to the kitchen. Stella grabs a bag of chips from the pantry and then an entire jar of salsa. “I thought we could watch a movie in bed? I’m exhausted. Unless you want to stay up and hang out.”
I look around the party in the living room. Teddy is flocked on either side by Anna and another girl.
“A movie sounds great.”
We watch Elf and eat the entire bag of chips and most of the salsa.
“I invited Beau to visit over break.”
“Here?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “After Christmas, before we go back to Valley. You’re going to love him.”
“That’s great, and Felix will be there in case he’s a total creeper in person.”
“Yeah. Felix can meet him too. But he isn’t a creeper. I met him in person, remember?” She laughs and falls back onto the bed. “I hope Felix is cool.”
“Why wouldn’t he be? He knows you date and make out with boys.” I gasp and cover my mouth with my hand.
The party has died down and only the faint sound of the guys talking drifts through the walls.
Stella’s quiet, only giving me a small smile. She’s already so nervous for us to meet him, which tells me exactly how much she really likes him. The three of us are close. It would be hard for any of us to date someone the others didn’t like.
“I can’t believe you met a guy at the airport. Only you. Guys basically fall into your lap.” I shove her foot lightly.
She sits up and grins at me. “It could be you if you’d actually talk to Teddy like you did tonight.”
“Shh!” I glance at the closed door.
“Oh, relax. He isn’t eavesdropping.” She yawns and plugs her phone into the charger, then lies back down. “But seriously, this week is the perfect opportunity to make something happen.”
Her eyes flutter closed, and I get under the covers beside her.
“Want to go get a tree in the morning?”
“Maybe. First, I want to sleep for like eighteen hours.” She curls up on her side facing me. “Night, Holly.”
“Night, Stell.”
I fall asleep thinking about Teddy. I know my sister is right. I should do something, since we’re sharing the same space for a few days, but making moves on guys is not really an area in which I excel. Reading, school, shoes, Christmas trivia, knowing the lyrics to every pop song on the radio—those are topics I am much more versed in.
And with Teddy, there’s a lot at stake. He’s my brother’s best friend. If he doesn’t feel the same, it’s not like I can hide from him forever.
Stella is still sleeping when I wake up the next morning, so I quietly change and then take my toothbrush and makeup case out to the bathroom.
Noise from the television that was left on all night makes it hard to tell if anyone else is awake. Once I’m ready, I tiptoe through the living room. Lucas is lying on the floor in only his boxers, and Emmett is facedown on one of the couches. Garrison and the other guys that drove down must have left last night. The spot where Teddy slept is empty and Felix’s door is open and the sliver of his bed I can see is clear.
“Morning.” Teddy’s deep voice rumbles through my insides.
I jump and place a hand on my chest.
“Sorry,” he says as I meet his gaze. He leans against the counter with a tall glass of milk. He’s shirtless and even though I’ve seen him like this before, I have a hard time not letting my gaze linger on his broad shoulders and tapered waist or the light smattering of hair that trails down his stomach and disappears into his sweatpants.
“Morning,” I finally return his greeting, “I didn’t know anyone else was up.”
I glance toward Felix’s room again. The bed is definitely empty.
“He’ll be right back. He walked the girls back.”
“Oh.” I knew they were still here when Stella and I crashed, but it didn’t occur to me until now that they might have stayed over. And if Teddy is the only other one awake . . . I shake away the thought. I do not need to picture Teddy or my brother hooking up.
I grab a glass from the cabinet and fill it with water, looking anywhere but at the guy next to me. He’s had girlfriends before, but somehow thinking of him hooking up with a random girl hurts more. That random could have been me.