Chapter 13
LAINEY
Idrop the rolls of wrapping paper carelessly on the floor. Tyler stands with arms crossed in the middle of his living room, and he’s staring at me strangely.
“Okay, there?”
Kicking a tube, I have to admit the obvious. “Believe it or not, but I hate wrapping.”
He takes satisfaction from this. “Ah, Miss Holiday Cheer has something she despises about the holiday.”
I’m not impressed with his taunt, albeit kind of funny. “I’ll wrap the gifts as fast as I can. Enzo is playing at the neighbor’s downstairs, and I have about an hour window.”
“I would say if Santa needs a helper then I’m your guy, but the only thing I can do is relax you by means that will not be beneficial to your wrapping session.”
“But if I finish early then maybe you will be rewarded,” I challenge him and flash my eyes.
He scoffs a sound with his grin, and his arms fall to hanging as he begins to leave.
“As much as I would love to be rewarded, I need to run to the grocery store before my parents get here. My mom is crazy about having those biscuits that come in a tube and you bake in the oven. It’s her Christmas Day breakfast ritual. ”
For a moment, I can’t help but admire Tyler.
His grumpy holiday modus is a facade—well, maybe, because he really hates trees and has already complained about the pine needles on the floor and overly sparkly ornaments.
That’s beside the point. This guy does these things to make his family happy.
Actually, he does a lot of things to make people happy, and he just brushes it off.
He didn’t have to hide gifts for me or let Enzo pick the ugliest tree, but Tyler acts as if it’s no big deal.
Tyler snaps his fingers and quickly disappears into the kitchen, only to return a few moments later with a bag that he hands to me. “Here. Take it all.”
I look curiously inside and choke on a laugh because it’s meat, and some leftover Halloween candy in the shape of a pig. “Is this a bag of pork?”
“I need to empty my house.” Creases form on my forehead, and he notices.
“It has nothing to do with pork. Well, I mean, I thought an animal the shape of a pig might be insensitive to the holiday, but I need to get rid of all meat, plus anything that might remind us of animals in the kitchen. My aunt lives off of some spiritual rabbit food.”
“You mean she is vegetarian?” I humorously correct him.
He lifts a shoulder. “Oh yeah, that’s a thing. I mean, I guess we can call her that too.”
I chuckle, and I’m amused by his borderline adorableness. Setting the bag to the side, I move us past it. “Don’t forget about everything on the list I made you.” I decided to help him out and just wrote down everything he would need at the store without explanation.
He pulls out the folded paper from the back pocket of his jeans. “Got it. All twenty items with the reminder that eggnog is optional.”
Giggling to myself, my eyes follow his movements of sliding his coat off the back of the stool. I hate to be the one to point it out, but I love his grumbles. “It’s one of the busiest days of the year to step into a grocery store. I wish you strength.”
His tongue sweeps across his upper teeth, his face tense. Tyler is well aware of that fact. He throws on his coat and checks he has his phone and keys. “Not sure you’ll be here when I get back, but just let me know when I need to drop the presents off later.”
Sitting on the ground, I search for the scissors that I brought with me. “Ah, it’s okay. Just need to keep Enzo out of my closet for another twelve hours until he goes to sleep,” I assure him and briefly look up to give him a tiny smile which he returns before he goes.
With a deep breath, setting holiday music on the Bluetooth and conquering my fights with the tape, I managed to wrap gifts, and I’m adding bows on my last two presents. I can’t help but smile to myself as I hum along with the holiday song.
The bell in the song fades because an actual doorbell takes over.
Hopping up on my feet, I walk to the door and look through the peephole and see a couple that must be in their fifties. I have a strange feeling that these people are meant to be here.
Turning the knob, I paste on a giant smile when I open the door. “Hello.”
The woman with darker hair and Tyler’s eyes seems puzzled, but her pleasant smile stays put.
Gosh, I hope I look like her when I’m that age.
Her dewy skin is glowing, and her perfume is floral but subtle, maybe even with a hint of honey.
The man has peppered gray hair but still seems to be in shape.
Geez, I’m not sure I’m supposed to be thinking about the silver fox vibes.
“Oh, hi there,” she greets me.
“Uh, you would be?” The man seems confused in an amusing way.
The woman reaches her perfectly manicured nails out to touch my arm. “You’re the girlfriend. I knew he was keeping something from us. He’s been too upbeat for his standards lately.”
Quickly, I step to the side. “Oh.” I laugh. “I’m Lainey, the neighbor from across the hall.”
She assesses me from head to toe. “Huh.”
The man offers me his hand, and I shake it. “Nice to meet you. We’re Tyler’s parents, Josh and Layla.”
Layla is already hanging up her coat. “It is lovely to meet you. We’re early, and I’m sure our son will release a long sentence of profanities at us. Where is he?”
I walk further down the hall, following them. “He went to the grocery store.”
“Eek.” She winces. “His nightmare.”
His parents must have been here before because they need no direction of where to go and wander straight to the living room.
“I’ll get the bags from the car later.” Josh sits down on a couch near the large window.
Layla notices the floor which looks like a warzone as she joins her husband.
I feel the need to quickly explain. “Sorry it’s a mess. Tyler was letting me hide my son’s gifts from Santa here, and I needed to wrap them.”
“Ah, Enzo, right?” his mother asks.
“Yeah, Enzo.” I smile proudly, but my eyes must hint that I’m perplexed.
She notices. “He’s mentioned him a few times since you moved in.”
“Really?” Why does it hit me with a pleasant feeling in my chest.
“Mm-hmm.” She makes it seem as though it’s no big deal.
I drop down onto the other sofa as I think about her tidbit of information. “Well, he is a special kid.”
“I’m sure,” Josh affirms, and they both seem to be watching me as though they know something that I do not.
Fidgeting with my sweater, I’m not sure what to do. “Want something to drink?” I offer, even though this isn’t my home.
His mother attempts to keep her smirk from growing. “It seems you know the layout of his home quite well.”
This woman has a theory in her head, and I feel my cheeks warm.
Luckily, I’m saved by the sound of the front door opening, and I finally let go of the breath that I was apparently holding.
“Lainey, are you still here?” I hear Tyler call out, as he must be setting the bags of groceries down and taking off his coat. “I decided the roll of holiday cookies for the oven were also needed. Snowman-shaped, so I can cover my holiday bases. Do I get my reward?”
I smile tightly to myself because that last sentence is open to many interpretations. One look at his parents and my face drops from embarrassment because I realize what route of thought they followed.
“Ah fuck. The coats,” he says, and then we hear his footsteps, and all of our heads swing, waiting for Tyler to grasp the current dynamic. “They’re here early,” he states as he rounds the corner.
“Clearly dampening your reward opportunities.” His mom jumps up and opens her arms for a hug as she walks straight to him.
“Layla,” Tyler’s dad warns her under his breath.
She ignores him and gives Tyler a bear hug. The type that I give Enzo on a daily basis.
“Lainey, this is my mom. She doesn’t have a filter,” Tyler mentions blandly.
She swats her son. “Be nice or no presents for you.”
Tyler walks to his dad who stands, and they side-hug.
His mom spots something near the wall and beelines straight to the table. “What’s this?”
I stand to assess what she means. “Enzo made that. Apparently, your son needs a menorah for tomorrow, and Tyler didn’t have many options.”
She brings her hand to her heart and coos. “Adorable. It’s perfect.”
Shrugging a shoulder, I do my best to maintain my mom pride. “I mean, I’m not sure how secure those foil holders are, so you may want to consider not burning down the building, but it works.”
“Trust me, you should be more concerned by my husband’s sister, Harper.”
Tyler’s lightly winces. “Here it goes.”
“Layla, you love her, so don’t,” Josh warns.
“What? I think she’s great, but sometimes it gets a little, well… out there. Remember when we had to drink moon water for your birthday party that she threw?”
Now I’m lost. “What is moon water?”
“Water you leave out at night by the window to accept the light of the moon to help you not age… apparently,” Tyler flatly explains.
The dynamic of this family is hilarious, and as much as I would love to stay, I shouldn’t be here. I’m just the neighbor… right?
“Well, I’ll let you all catch up. I’ll just quickly get the presents out of here.”
“No need to rush on our account,” his father clarifies.
Tyler shakes his head because I’m well aware that this is all kind of awkward, and his parents don’t seem like people who will let it go.
“You and Enzo should join us tomorrow.” His mother sounds enthusiastic and insistent.
I whip my sight to Tyler whose eyes are wide. Luckily, I can answer without an excuse. “That is kind of you, but we are going to a friend’s in the morning.”
She claps her hands together. “Then the afternoon.”
“Mom,” Tyler mutters under his breath.
Of course he wouldn’t be happy. We’re only two people who hook up and can enjoy moments as friends. It’s not a meeting-family situation.
“What?” She looks at her son as though he is crazy. “Nothing wrong with having a friend over.”
Ah fuck, she just threw logic at us.