twenty-two
S chool was still slowly dragging towards winter break, those final days of homework and assignments seemingly lasting an eternity. At this point, Maddy was almost certain that the holiday break would stay perpetually out of reach.
On Friday, when the final bell for the day rang, Maddy packed up her things and headed outside. As the cold air brushed her face, a fleeting thought made her halt her steps.
Nate was probably still at practice. Maybe she could drop by and just sneak a glance at him from afar if he was too busy to talk.
She was already moving before the idea had even had time to solidify.
The school gym’s door had been left slightly ajar when Maddy reached it, a small push enough to let her slip in unnoticed and take a seat a bit far from the court.
She spotted Nate immediately.
She could have blamed it on the height.
Except they were all tall.
No, it wasn’t the height.
It was like the distance between them was bridged by a taut string that vibrated every time one of them plucked it, leaving behind an ever-present tension, a buzz, a hum. She knew she should probably scoff at her thoughts, and she would if that buzz hadn’t taken a permanent residence in her chest.
Practice was almost over, and as all the players gathered around the coach to listen to his final instructions, Maddy saw Nate look up and spot her right where she was sitting.
Well. That surely intensified the buzzing.
He looked sweaty and disheveled and slightly out of breath, and he’d never looked more stunning. So of course he just had to top that off with a small smile and a wink, before turning his attention back to his team.
If she passed out from a wink, Maddy would never forgive herself.
Look at that, she was slightly out of breath herself and she hadn’t even been running.
Swallowing thickly and attempting to pull herself together before Nate got there, Maddy considered the best way to tell Nate about her grandma’s invitation.
She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, so she really had to make it clear that her nonna was only trying to poke fun and have a nice evening.
She knew that it was just her grandma’s way to assess the situation, do some snooping.
Maddy had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the looming shadow, until the clean scent of body wash hit her nostrils and Nate’s features filled her vision.
“Hey,” she croaked breathlessly. Okay, maybe she wasn’t as good at appearing unaffected as she thought. She cleared her throat and tried again.
“Hey.” Much better.
Nate could barely contain his amusement.
“Hey. What are you doing here?”
Huh. That was a very good question.
“Well, I was just about to head home when I thought I’d stop by and say hi.” She felt a small blush rising on her cheeks. “I wanted to see you.”
Nate looked at her intently before stepping closer to her and cupping the back of her head with his hand, bringing her even closer.
“I wanted to see you, too,” he whispered almost against her lips.
Her breath whooshed out of her, which made Nate grin. She felt that grin against her own.
“What are you doing?” She had no idea how she was still capable of speech when his proximity was robbing her of all reason.
“Do you want me to stop?” he muttered, his lips tugging at her bottom one playfully, sending her system haywire.
“No,” she whispered. “But there’s people watching us.”
“Fuck them.”
Good suggestion.
“Yeah, fuck them,” she breathed, feeling herself melt under Nate’s light touch.
A wolf whistle from nearby had them turning towards Liam who pretended he hadn’t been the one to interrupt them. Nate chuckled just as he raised his middle finger in answer.
“Hey, I was thinking that if you’re not busy this weekend, then maybe you could come over. Maybe do that decorating/movie thing we talked about.”
Maddy felt her own grin stretch wider.
“I’d love to!” Then she frowned. “Wait, do you even have the basics? You know, tree, ornaments, lights?”
Nate stared at her blankly.
“Why would I tell you to come help decorate if I didn’t have decorations?”
“Trust me, Nate. It’s better not to assume things when it comes to decorations. I get the feeling we are on opposite sides of the spectrum.”
“I know I’m going to regret asking this, but which spectrum?”
“The spectrum of how much Christmas shit you want your house to be buried under after I’m done with it.”
“Uh, medium?”
Maddy was already nodding her head in thought. “Okay, I can do medium. We have a lot of spare decorations that didn’t make the cut this year so I’ll bring them over.”
“Okay, but nothing too crazy, Mads.” Nate squeezed her nape in warning.
“Of course,” she scoffed.
***
In her defense, they had vastly different opinions on what constituted crazy.
And if Maddy had been left to her own devices, she may have gone a bit overboard.
Thankfully, Nate was always close by to pull the breaks whenever she was sure she was starting to get a crazy glint in her eye that meant nothing good.
Their Saturday afternoon was spent rummaging through everything, picking what looked best for Nate’s wonderful, cozy home, and decorating the tree and all the nooks and crannies of the living room.
Nate’s brother, Cole, exited his room briefly to look around, bored as ever, and nod to them, before dragging his feet back to his room.
His mom, Beth, was an absolute sweetheart, baking them cookies, chipping in here and there on decorating ideas and quietly humming to the Christmas music that Maddy had brought with her.
Beth looked like she was happy to participate, and Maddy felt warmth at the sight of that.
Nate seemed to notice it too, glancing at his mom with a wistful expression.
There were also a couple of incidents where Nate’s help was required.
Like when at one point, Maddy had been practically trapped in the clutches of a cluster of evil twinkling lights, swearing under her breath for even bothering to untangle them.
They could as well be sentient for all the trouble they were giving her.
Nate’s face was twitching like crazy in an effort not to laugh as he released her with an ease that made her eye twitch for a completely different reason.
But none of that mattered to Maddy.
What mattered was Nate’s whispered “thank you” against her temple as his lips brushed the fine hairs there and his arm came to rest around her waist.
What mattered was the way his eyes always seemed to track where she was as if reassuring himself of something.
What mattered was that, for all the bad memories these days seem to bring Nate and his family, he looked calm and at peace.
And that was all that mattered.
***
As the dreaded part of the evening slowly inched forward, Maddy wondered if there was any way to plead temporary insanity for agreeing to watch something that would scare the bejesus out of her. Not that scaring her was difficult to achieve. She got scared if a bug flew at her, for crying out loud.
She sighed. She knew it wasn’t fair. They’d made a deal and she was nothing if not fair.
With an air that she was sure suited someone who was marching towards the guillotine better, Maddy went looking for Nate who was putting some things away in the kitchen.
“Okay, I’m ready,” she murmured in a dejected tone.
Nate turned to look at her, an undecipherable expression on his face.
“Ready for what exactly?”
“For the movie you have chosen.” Maddy looked around for the DVD box. “Where is it? I need to see what I’m preparing myself for.”
“Oh, we’re not watching it here,” he said while not looking at her. “We’re leaving in a bit for the movie theater.”
Maddy blinked at him.
“You’re taking me to the movie theater to watch a thriller?”
“Yes.”
“Do you hate me or something?”
Nate chuckled.
“Now why would I hate you?”
Maddy scowled. “So it’s not enough to watch it on a perfectly normal TV where I can turn down the volume and squint my eyes when it gets too scary.
No. You want me to actually watch it on a giant screen with an ear-splitting sound system that will make me want to run for the hills. Are you happy with yourself right now?”
Nate’s lips were tight as he tried to bite back his laughter.
“You’re adorable.”
Maddy preened a bit and then promptly sighed in resignation.
“Are you at least going to tell me what we’re watching?”
“Nope. It’s a surprise.”
A half-hour later, they were standing outside the movie theater.
Nate was the one to head towards the ticket office–since he didn’t want to give away what they would be watching–and Maddy headed for the snacks stand. She went for a simple popcorn and soda combo since she didn’t see herself having much appetite.
Nate, on the other hand, looked pretty pleased with himself.
The bastard.
Though he did gently propel her towards their seats with a hand on her back, so she guessed she could forgive him.
As they made themselves comfortable, the preview trailers started rolling in, full of action and comedy clips. Maddy had always loved watching the previews. The soundtracks always pumped her up for the actual movie.
As the lights went dark, the opening scene started playing and the beautiful music hit her ears, Maddy frowned hard.
“Um...” she turned to look at Nate, who looked smug for some reason. “Are you sure we’re in the right screening?”
Nate’s smug expression dissolved into one that made her heart speed up, its beat drumming in her ears. “I’m sure.”
“But this isn’t a thriller,” she almost whispered the words but Nate still heard her.
With an arm around her shoulders, he pulled her closer until he was cradling her in his warmth. “I know.”
However, Maddy couldn’t peel her eyes from his.
“This is a Christmas movie.”
“Mhm.”
“It’s sweet and romantic and not scary at all.”
Nate continued to watch her softly.
“Do you like it?”
Maddy shook her head, feeling the sting in her eyes.
“No, I don’t like it. I love it.” In fact, ‘The Holiday’ was one of her favorite movies.
Maddy felt a burst of something indescribable inside her, a feeling that propelled her to close the distance even further and nuzzle Nate’s jaw before laying a feather-light kiss there and breathing her own whispered “thank you” for him to hear.
She felt more than saw Nate’s barely there shudder and shaky exhale as he tightened his arm around her.
After that, they settled in to watch the house-swapping shenanigans, the lovely performances, the sweet and funny moments, all while Nate seemed to be on a mission to drive her to complete distraction by rubbing circles into her arm and whispering his comments to her.
His proximity was probably going to kill her.
But what a way to go.
In all honesty, she was half paying attention to what she was watching, and half mulling over the events of the entire afternoon.
She couldn’t believe what Nate had done for her. Aside from her family, no one had ever done anything so thoughtful for her. Plus, she was fairly certain that he wasn’t particularly a fan of holiday movies. But he’d arranged all this, nonetheless. For her.
Maddy couldn’t help shifting slightly to peer up at him. The movement caused him to glance back at her.
“Why would you do this?”
Nate held her gaze steadily.
“I like seeing you happy, Mads,” he said simply. As if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb at her.
“Happy,” she repeated, feeling her heart swell twice its size.
Nate just nodded and leaned over to kiss her temple.
Well, mission accomplished.