Chapter Ten
Charlie
“Do you want to have that snowball fight?”
Gavin’s eyes were puffy, but he smiled gamely at Ava from beside me on the couch in the den. “Always.”
She clapped and grinned at me. “He got the right answer!”
“Of course he did. He got into Stanford, after all. Now go pee before you put your snowsuit on.” Ava raced off, and I gave Gavin a wink. “That’s our little joke. Whenever someone asks you if you want to do something fun, the answer is ‘always,’ no matter what. But are you sure you’re up for it?”
He’d been very firm that he didn’t want to talk about it, and we’d spent the day watching movies and playing video games and generally being couch potatoes.
Gavin had checked his phone a million times, and I’d barely resisted the urge to march down the street and order his parents to yank their heads out of their asses.
“Absolutely! I’m fine, Charlie. I’m good.” He popped another one of my mom’s famous meatballs into his mouth.
“Mmm-hmm. So you keep saying. We can go over there, you know. Talk to them some more. My parents can help. They said they would.”
“No, it’s New Year’s Eve. Your parents probably haven’t had a date night in ages. It wouldn’t be fair.” He spun a toothpick between his fingers, watching it intently. “They have to talk to me sooner or later. Come on, we promised Ava.”
Mom and Dad came downstairs as we were gearing up. I whistled. “You clean up pretty well.”
Mom slapped my shoulder and did a little spin, her crimson dress flaring around her knees. “Not bad for an old broad, huh?”
“You look beautiful, Mrs. Yates,” Gavin said.
Dad pulled his overcoat over his fancy suit and held out Mom’s coat. “All right, you’ve got the numbers, Charlie?”
I rolled my eyes. “The National Guard’s on standby. Go! Have fun!” I put a giggling Ava in a playful headlock. “I’ll try to keep her in one piece.”
Mom ignored me and addressed Gavin. “Keep an eye on them.” Then she held out her arms to Ava. “I’ll see you soon, all right?” She hugged Ava tightly and kissed her head. “If you need anything—”
“Moooom. I’m fine.” Ava let go of Mom and finished zipping up her snowsuit. “Charlie always takes good care of me. And Gavin’s here to take care of him.”
Mom and Dad looked at each other, lingering on the threshold. I knew this was the first time they’d left Ava in years—like, literally years, especially for my mom. I regarded them seriously. “Go have a nice dinner. I’ll call if anything happens.”
They nodded, and Mom kissed my cheek and then swiped at the lipstick mark with her thumb. We stood in the doorway and waved as they drove away, and then Ava thumped her wool-clad hands together. “Let’s do this.”
It had been snowing off and on all day, and as we headed to the park a couple blocks away, Ava ran ahead, delighting in making fresh tracks in the unbroken swathes of white. Then she raced back and lifted her arms to me.
“Piggy!”
I pretended to think about it. “Gosh, I dunno. You’re awfully big now, Bear.”
She roared and tugged me down so she could clamber onto my back. The knees of my jeans got soaked in the snow, but I didn’t care as I took off. She really was much heavier now, and it felt so damn good when I had to stop and readjust my grip to hoist her higher.
I glanced back at Gavin, who trotted behind us with a huge smile as we entered the park. Fluffy flakes drifted down in the calm breeze, catching in Gavin’s thick hair. Christmas lights twinkled all around, the trees in the park decorated to the hilt by the neighborhood committee.
The trees and bushes beyond the playground offered excellent hiding places, and we discovered a few boys had had the same idea. Ava apparently knew them from school, and they chattered about their Christmas gifts.
I hung back and watched, grinning. When Gavin gave me a quizzical look, I leaned in and murmured, “It’s just great seeing Ava do normal things. It was really hard for her being in and out of the hospital and missing so much school.”
“Okay, so it’s us against you two,” Ava announced, marching over to me and Gavin with the two boys in tow.
“Three against two? Gavin, I feel like we’ve been set up here.”
Ava just laughed. “You’re both big, so it’s totally fair. We’re going over there, and you go here.”
“So what are the r—” A snowball whacked me straight in the face, and I sputtered as Gavin tugged my arm. We ducked behind some shrubs.
He laughed. “Apparently there are no rules.”
“They will rue the day!” I pronounced dramatically.
We went to work on a cache of snowballs, firing them strategically.
I popped up to launch one, and got another direct hit, the snowball smashing on my nose.
I brushed off the snow and clenched my jaw.
“I’m going to bean that little jerk with an ice ball if he doesn’t watch it. ”
“Charlie!” Gavin gave me an exasperated smile. “He’s a kid!”
“Wait, so I shouldn’t attempt to give him a traumatic brain injury?” I sighed heavily. “I guess I’ll resist, just this once. But only because you’re here, Saint Gavin.”
Chuckling, he shook his head. “Okay, fair enough. But I’ll have you know that your sarcasm can be incredibly convincing.”
“Only for those as earnest as you, babe.” Gavin ducked a snowball that whizzed by overhead, and he was positively beaming when he sat back up. I couldn’t hide my own smile. “You like it when I call you that?”
Blushing, he packed snow in his gloves and nodded. “It’s nice.”
It was pretty freaking nice, wasn’t it? I tried to think of a witty remark, but all I could do was steal a kiss. He leaned into me, all warm breath and sweet lips…
I emitted an extremely manly combination gasp/screech at the icy wetness on my neck as the sly bastard shoved a handful of snow down the back of my shirt. I shot to my feet and hopped around, stretching back to scoop out as much as I could as Gavin howled.
Ava and the boys naturally took this opportunity to blast me with more snowballs, and finally I just stood there and took it as missiles smacked into me from all directions. Laughter echoed through the trees as I wiped the snow from my sodden face with my gloves.
I extended an accusing finger toward Gavin crouched on the ground. “It’s always the quiet ones! And don’t think you’re off the hook, little sister! I’ll have my revenge!” I shook my fist.
Of course it ended with all of them ganging up on me, and I collapsed in the snow and let them have at it.
I did manage to tumble Gavin off his feet, and our jeans and jackets were soaked by the time we made it home, shivering.
Man, I wanted to have a long, hot shower with him, but instead we were responsible and changed into dry clothes before ordering pizza and settling down in the den with Ava.
Soon, Ava’s head bobbed onto my shoulder, and she jerked upright. “I’m still awake!”
Chuckling, I patted her hip, my arm wrapped around her. I was in the middle of the couch with Gavin on my left and Ava on my right, watching the show from Times Square with pizza stuffing our bellies and junk food spread before us on the coffee table.
Maybe I should have preferred to be at some wild party on New Year’s Eve, but I was exactly where I wanted to be. Mom and Dad had texted a photo from the fancy restaurant where they were having dinner, and their smiles glowed. “Bear, maybe it’s time for bed.”
She shook her head vehemently, her new little curls flying. “It’s not midnight. I have to stay up for the ball. Mom and Dad said I could.”
“I know, but you’re pooped. Still two hours to go.”
She bit her thumbnail. “Maybe I’ll have a nap. Only if you promise to wake me before twelve. Please? I really want to stay up.”
“Okay. Why is it so important? The new year will still happen.” I ran my palm over her head.
“Because I didn’t think I’d get to see next year. So I want to be awake for it.” She answered so nonchalantly, like life and death was something she dealt with every day—probably because it was.
My throat tightened, and Gavin blinked rapidly. I kissed the top of Ava’s head. “I’ll make sure you see it, Bear. Promise.”
She was asleep almost in an instant, and Gavin held my hand while we watched Ryan Seacrest interview Taylor Swift, who had to be freezing in a strapless dress.
Gavin cleared his throat. “I have a confession.”
My heart skipped. “Um, okay.” I peeked down at Ava curled against me, but she was out.
“I like Taylor Swift. I like her new song, and I like the whole album, actually.” His declaration was punctuated by Taylor launching into said new song on TV. She was clearly singing live, and she sounded pretty great. And damn it, that song was catchy and fun, just like the shake song.
“I like it too,” I mumbled.
“Are you just saying that?”
“Nope.” I sighed. “I know it’s hard to believe, what with my super cool street cred and all.”
Gavin laughed. “It’s just…at school when you’d have your earbuds in all the time, scowling, I imagined you listening to, I dunno. Scandinavian death metal or something.”
“Oh, I do have a huge Scandinavian death metal playlist. Have you heard of Bloody Fjords? Good stuff. Evocative. And loud. Look, I’m not saying I love all of T-Swift’s catalog, but you’d have to be cold and dead inside—much like Bloody Fjords—not to tap your toes to this one.
A good song is a good song. I’m not going to be a snob about it. ”
“Good to know.” Gavin’s dimples creased his face. “Another confession: If we ever drive across the country again, I want to stop and see the big ball of twine, or wax, or the huge banana or whatever.”
“Because Little America wasn’t cheesy Americana enough for you?” I grinned back at him.
“Nope. I need more.”
“Bring it on. I can take it.” The idea struck me so hard I almost jumped up off the couch. “Why don’t we rent a car again and drive back? Postpone our flights for next time? We don’t have classes until the second week of January. If we leave in a couple of days, we’ll have time.”