December 25 #2
Jordan exchanged looks with Kevin and he knew exactly what she was thinking about. Perry had suggested that they make better use of Danny’s horrid turkey and they’d hidden their dry, shriveled pieces of meat under Jordan’s pillow. Torturing Jordan had always been their favorite childhood pastime.
“You said that, Dom?” Danny asked.
“It was awful, Danny,” he replied with a laugh, “and parents are always paranoid with their first born. If it’s any consolation, I would definitely feed your cooking to Makayla.”
“Really?”
“Well…no. Max says you’ve gotten progressively worse over the years.”
Kevin rolled his eyes when Shane started blabbing again. The guy could just not shut up.
He glanced over at Jordan. Her face was a masked front and he could guess the reason why.
Her new boyfriend wasn’t there. After hearing how she swooned over Tyler, Kevin had expected her to invite him to spend Christmas with the family.
The fact that Tyler wasn’t there could only mean one thing; a bad break-up.
He was an expert at reading the signs now.
She was hurting and trying to hide it from the rest of the family, but he saw it. One broken heart could sense another.
He said nothing. He didn’t even look at her, but he dropped his hand palm up onto her lap and kept it there until she was ready to take it.
She accepted his small method of comfort, wrapping her fingers around his and squeezing them tight. “Love you, Bink,” she whispered.
Sentimental shit. He smiled to himself. He’d always taken these little moments with his family for granted, but after meeting Jasmin, he was beginning to see that they weren’t small at all. These were moments that needed to be cherished.
He glanced up to look at Max and he was staring adoringly at Danny.
Max had been in love with her for seven years and Kevin couldn’t understand how he could be with her twenty-four-seven and still be stuck in the friend zone.
His brother was a nerdy guy, shy when it came to the opposite sex.
But fuck, seven years? And the way Danny looked at him made it obvious that she liked him too.
Why couldn’t they just open their eyes and get a clue?
“God, they’re so sickening,” Kevin whispered with a groan.
Jordan looked across the table then too. “They are sickening,” she agreed.
“You two should just bone and get it over with,” he said loud enough for them to hear.
Danny giggled and the bright red that rose up to her cheeks told Kevin that maybe his brother had finally taken a hint and made a move. He’d always wanted them to get together but somehow the thought of them having sex was…nauseating. Especially when they were looking at each other like that.
“Ugh, you did?” Kevin said, not hiding his disgust. “That’s gross! I think I just lost my appetite.”
“But don’t worry, Danny,” Shane’s voice interrupted their private conversation and he seemed completely oblivious to the fact that no one had been listening to him. “It’s better that you two are just friends. My little brother is too moody. Both of them are.”
Kevin didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, but it was obvious that Shane was also unaware that Max had finally crossed over the friend line.
He didn’t bother to find out what Shane’s verbal jab at them was all about.
He just rolled his eyes and looked over at Max with complete disinterest. “Blah. Blah. Blah,” he mouthed, using his hand as a flapping mouth. “Fucking Virgos.”
“Speaking about Virgos,” Max said with a small chuckle. “Did that girl on the road trip end up driving you crazy?”
Kevin shut his eyes as memories of Jasmin flooded his mind.
Their entire trip together was a series of flashing images, starting from when they’d first met to the point where he felt completely lost without her.
He was an obsessive stalker now. Crazy didn’t even begin to describe it.
“You have no fucking idea,” he whispered.
He kept his head down, hoping his siblings wouldn’t ask for more details. He didn’t want to talk about Jasmin, especially after seeing all those pictures of her and Dalton together. Thankfully, they dropped the subject.
The next few hours passed by and he couldn’t account for the time.
After that comment about Jasmin, he couldn’t stop thinking about her and everything else faded into the background.
He sat with his family as they exchanged gifts, but he barely paid attention to the hugs and happiness.
His thoughts kept going back to when he’d hung up his snowflake next to hers on the Christmas tree.
He just wanted to go back in time to that point and do things differently, but he’d learned a harsh lesson in the last few months. It was impossible to change the past.
After exchanging gifts, Debbie laid out dessert in the dining room. Jordan cut a few slices of the cake she’d baked and handed one plate to Max while Kevin scooped out a large helping of vanilla ice cream and covered it in chocolate sauce. He poured on extra today, taking Perry’s share as well.
“Kevin, don’t you think that’s too much chocolate sauce?” Max asked.
He was too overwhelmed with melancholy that he barely managed to force a smile. “You can never have too much chocolate sauce.”
The three of them took their usual seats at the table and Kevin ate his ice cream in silence as he watched his nieces chase each other around the dining room.
He zoned out, trying not to think about Jasmin or Perry, but that was short lived.
From the corner of his eye, he could already see the looks being exchanged between his siblings and when Max cleared his throat beside him, he knew an interrogation was coming.
Both of them knew about Jasmin and their questions were unavoidable, but this wasn’t a discussion he wanted to have right now.
He was on edge before his brother even said one word.
“So Kevin…” Max hesitated, as if he was thinking twice about it. “What happened with that girl?”
His jaw tightened and fingers curled into fists. He wasn’t angry at them. He was angry at himself. Rehashing everything would only remind him of what an asshole he’d been. “I don’t want to talk about her…ever.”
He glanced at both of them to let them know the conversation was over. They remained quiet as he stood up, picked up his bowl of ice cream, and walked to his nieces on the other side of the room. “Hey, girls,” he said, kneeling down in front of them. “Why don’t we go watch a movie?”
“Yeah,” Kay chirped.
“What do you wanna watch?” Mackenzie asked.
Kevin gave it some thought before he responded and his choice was just another way of tormenting himself. “How about…Wreck-it Ralph?”
“Uncle Kevin, you hate Vanelope,” Madison said. “You say she talks too much.”
He let out a shaky sigh and forced another smile. “I might have had a slight change of heart.”
Madison jumped onto his back, he took Mackenzie in one arm and Makayla in the arm that held his bowl of ice cream, and walked out.
He carried them to the living room and switched on the movie.
He was still in zombie-mode, not concentrating on anything.
His eyes kept darting to his phone on the coffee table and he debated whether he should take his father’s advice and just call her.
But what would he say? Hi. Sorry I was a dick! Merry Christmas.
Wreck-it Ralph hadn’t even finished his opening speech at the Bad-Anon meeting when he heard a car pull up.
He turned on the sofa to look outside the window.
It was parked on the other side of the road, so he didn’t pay much attention at first, but as soon as the driver’s door opened, he froze.
It couldn’t be. His mind was playing tricks on him.
That couldn’t possibly be Jasmin getting out of the car. She didn’t even know where he lived.
He watched her walk a few feet towards their house and then she disappeared from view.
He shifted on the sofa, trying to get a better look, but the angle wasn’t right.
His heart was racing at an incredible speed.
He stood up and rushed back to the dining room.
The window there overlooked the entire front yard and seeing her in full view confirmed that it was Jasmin.
She was wearing a thick jacket and a woolen hat covered half of her face, but he knew that small frame all too well.
He watched as she walked up the stairs onto the porch and Kevin hoped that she wouldn’t ring the doorbell. If his family saw her, there would be more questions than he was willing to answer.
“Fuck!” he whispered, waiting to see what she did next.
What the hell was she doing there anyway? She’d driven four hours from Yellowstone. All by herself. In the fucking snow. What was she thinking?
“What’s wrong, Bink?” Jordan asked.
“Nothing,” he replied irritably. “She’s just bat-shit fucking crazy.”
He kept his eyes on Jasmin. She placed a package in front of the door and without knocking or ringing the bell, she turned and walked back down the stairs.
Kevin was even more confused now. She’d found out where he lived and drove four hours on Christmas day to deliver a package to him, the same guy who’d treated her like shit?
And then she simply walked away. She was insane.
Why would she do that? Why wouldn’t she just forget about him and carry on with her life?
He stormed out of the dining room and pulled on a jacket as he went straight out the front door. “I told you to stay away from me!” he shouted.