Chapter 6
“Tell. Me. Everything!” Nadia demanded the second Paige answered her FaceTime call.
Paige was still in bed but had her phone propped up on a pillow. She was groggy enough that she would probably drop her phone on her face if she tried to hold it.
She had gone on her date with John the night before, and apparently Nadia had taken her “I’ll fill you in in the morning” text a bit too literally.
“I mean, it was definitely a one-time thing,” Paige said. “He was nice and all, but just so boring. I felt like I was the only one asking any questions. It was like pulling teeth to keep the conversation going.”
Paige had been both nervous and excited about the date.
She spent most of the workday on Friday mentally choosing her outfit, eventually landing on an emerald cowl neck top with tight, faux black leather pants.
She and John both arrived on time, and he was a perfect gentleman the entire night, which put her more at ease.
But she was bummed about how much she had to carry their conversation.
It wasn’t easy like it had been right from the start with Chance.
And as nice as he was, she had gotten a bit irritated by the end of the date at how much more effort she was putting in to getting to know him with nothing in return.
“Ugh, I hate that.” Nadia sighed.
“But the confusing thing is that he texted me after we parted ways saying he had a great time and would love to see me again. Like, what? You’re telling me our dull as hell conversation was a great time for you? Did we go on the same date?”
“Yeah, that’s ridiculous,” Nadia said. “What a bummer, though. He was very cute. But I’m proud of you for going. Hopefully boring baldie doesn’t scare you off from going on more dates.”
“You have too much energy for a Saturday morning.” Paige laughed. She wished she could be doing her date debrief in person with Nadia as her roommate, but this FaceTime was a nice reminder that not much was really changing about their friendship.
“Linus made me a fancy latte. Blame him.”
“Ooh, coffee is a great idea. I’m gonna force myself out of bed to make a cup. I’ll text you later.”
Paige got up and pulled on a sweater. She redid her bun so she wouldn’t look like she had just rolled out of bed ten seconds ago, and wiped the remnants of her mascara that was smudged under her eyes.
She opened her door and was shocked to find Carter sitting at the kitchen island with a coffee from the café down the block, scrolling on his phone.
“Good morning,” Paige said, more out of habit, not because she meant it.
“Yo.” Carter didn’t even bother to look up at her.
Well, at least this morning I get the decency of a two-letter reply instead of zero.
Paige figured she would take advantage of Carter’s seemingly neutral mood.
“So, Thanksgiving is this week. Will you be here? Or are you going out of town?” Paige asked. “Because if you’re staying here, you’re welcome to join me and my—”
“I’m going out of town,” Carter said, cutting her off.
“Cool,” Paige replied. “Super cool.”
She opened her mouth to ask him a follow-up question only to see him get up and turn to go back toward his room.
“Something wrong with the kitchen?” Paige asked sarcastically.
“Just prefer to have my coffee in peace,” Carter replied with a smirk.
Really?!
Did he really think he could get away with patronizing her like that? She couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“Why are you so freaking rude?”
The look in Carter’s eyes told her he was enjoying the rise he got out of her.
“Look, Paige, I told you I’m not here to make friends and play house. I just need a nice place to crash, and this seemed to fit the bill.”
He took another step in the direction of his room and then turned back around.
“Oh, and by the way, hope you enjoyed Sunda last night.” He stared at her with another smirk on his face.
“What? How did you kn–”
“I was sitting at the bar when you walked in. Green is a nice color on you,” Carter said before retreating to his room and closing the door.
Oh my god, he noticed my outfit? Paige thought. Wait, don’t let his compliment distract you. He’s awful, remember?
Paige almost forgot why she’d come out of her room, but she made her way to the Nespresso machine to get her coffee fix.
But as she waited for the machine, she couldn’t help thinking about the fact that her hot as hell roommate had been secretly checking her out from the bar last night.
***
The next few days were more of the same with Carter. Just their regular hallway pass-by where neither of them really acknowledged the other.
After Carter’s Saturday morning confession, there had been hardly any interaction between them, and each time Paige saw him, he looked increasingly grumpier.
She was glad to avoid his moody attitude, but there was a small part of her that longed for a sliver of his attention—a fact she would never admit to Nadia. After the confirmation that he had eyed her from across the restaurant, she found herself craving his stare.
Thanksgiving, which was one of Paige’s favorite weeks of the year, was just a day away and the exact distraction she needed from this unwanted Carter craving.
Paige loved all holidays, and while Christmas took the top spot, Thanksgiving was close behind it.
In the first couple of years after she and Nadia moved to Chicago, they traveled back to San Diego for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, which was fun, but very expensive for their entry-level salaries.
So, eventually, Paige and Nadia decided to stay put for Thanksgiving and create a week full of traditions for themselves to ease the sting of not going home. The first years were tough, but now they both looked forward to their week of festivities.
Wednesday was always their food prep day—getting dishes ready for Thanksgiving Day so they could spend Thursday focusing solely on the turkey.
Thursday was their Friendsgiving party for any and all of the Chicago transplants they knew who couldn’t make it back to their hometowns for the holiday.
And on Thursday night, the girls would put an air mattress out in the living room with tons of blankets and pillows and have a Hallmark Christmas movie marathon sleepover.
Friday was Paige’s favorite day. She and Nadia would wake up at the crack of dawn to go Black Friday shopping at the big department stores on Michigan Ave to take advantage of the deals.
Sure, most companies were starting their sales early and online, but there was something about the rush and atmosphere of the stores that gave the friends a holiday high.
After their shopping spree, they’d spend the entire afternoon decorating their apartment. Paige and Nadia had spent years—and admittedly too much money—collecting holiday decor to make the condo feel like you stepped onto a Christmas movie set.
For Paige, Christmas was the most magical time of the year, and she was mesmerized by the snow, pine trees, and cozy knitwear. Growing up in southern California, she’d only ever experienced sunny sixty-degree weather, palm trees, and hardly ever needed more than a light jacket.
She’d watch the classic Christmas movies like Home Alone, Elf, and The Santa Claus and wish that she could experience a white Christmas—just once.
She remembered writing “Santa” multiple letters a year with updates on her good behavior, each time only asking for one thing: snow on Christmas morning.
Despite the California climate, her family would decorate the house as if they lived at the North Pole, and it was a tradition Paige was determined to keep once she was in her own place.
When she moved to Chicago, she finally got to experience snow for the first time, and it was just as magical as she’d hoped it would be. Now her decked-out Christmas interior matched the snowy exterior outside her window.
After Chance’s affair the year before, her Christmas had been ruined. So, this year she and Nadia were determined to bring her Christmas cheer back. This meant they were going to go extra hard with their decorating.
Paige was getting the kitchen ready for Nadia’s arrival with all their Thanksgiving groceries when Carter walked out of his room with a suitcase.
“Oh, hi. Leaving today?” Paige asked, not expecting a response.
“Hey. Yeah, heading to my mom’s house for Thanksgiving,” Carter replied.
Holy crap. I actually got a full sentence this time.
“Nice. Where does your mom live?”
“Just outside Philly.”
“Nice,” said Paige.
“Do you know any words other than ‘nice’?” Carter’s eyes narrowed in on her with a playful stare.
Paige felt her cheeks start to fire up.
“Why do you have to ruin every conversation we have?”
“I don’t see how I’m ruining anything.” Carter’s tone was borderline sarcastic, his mouth curling up into a smile that could get anyone out of jail.
Damn, she really hated how good-looking he was. Almost as much as she hated how much she loved him looking at her.
“Well,” Paige started, “enjoy your trip and tell your parents to have a nice Thanksgiving.” She winked as she said it, waiting for any sort of reaction from Carter.
A wink?? What is this power hot men have over women, she wondered.
When he finally reacted, it wasn’t what she was expecting.
Instead of making that smile even bigger, it fell flat, and his expression shifted into a pained look she had never seen on his face before.
But as quickly as the emotion appeared, it passed, and he was back to looking bored at being in the kitchen with her.
“So, yeah, I’m gonna go,” Carter said, breaking the silence.
“Nice, I mean, cool. Yeah, sounds good. See you later,” Paige replied awkwardly.
As he turned to walk toward the door, Paige could have sworn she saw his mouth curl back up into a smile.
He opened the door to find Nadia standing with enough groceries to feed a small army. Without offering to help, he stepped around her and headed to where his Uber was waiting on the street.
Real classy, Carter.
Any of the butterflies Paige had felt at the sight of Carter’s smile quickly flew away.
“So, I take it Grumpy isn’t joining tomorrow?” Nadia quipped as they hauled all the bags inside.
“Nope, but I did just have a conversation with him that lasted more than ten seconds,” Paige said, unable to keep a smile from creeping up on her face.
“OMG, and??!! Why are you smiling??”
“Settle down! Trust me, it’s not nearly as juicy as you want it to be.
As par for the course, he ended up making fun of something I said, which got me all flustered.
But I think he enjoys making me mad. Like there is some sick obsession with getting a reaction out of me.
Because, Nadia, the smile on his face . . .”
Paige’s mind drifted off to the mental picture she had taken of his face just minutes earlier.
“Earth to horny Paige,” Nadia said, her voice interrupting the thought.
“Ugh. Why does he have to be so freaking dreamy?”
“Because you have literal cobwebs in your vagina, that’s why! Which is exactly why you need to give the apps another chance. Clearly you have . . . needs . . . that aren’t being met. And it seems you want Carter to meet them.”
There was no way Paige was going to let Nadia know this was exactly what she wanted.
“I could not look at myself in the mirror if I let myself stoop so low to sleep with a guy who is that rude and narcissistic with no remorse for how he speaks to people.”
“Easy. Just cover up the mirrors,” Nadia smirked.
Paige rolled her eyes before continuing, “It was weird, though. I told him to tell his parents happy Thanksgiving, and for a second he had this look on his face. Like I had told him his puppy died or something.”
“Odd. I’m assuming he didn’t say anything?”
“Nope. Went right back to looking like he’d rather be anywhere else but in my presence.”
“That’s the Carter we know and love,” Nadia said sarcastically.
“I’m sure he’s just keeping his distance because it’s a temporary arrangement, or because he is recently single and heartbroken, or because he’s a man in a woman’s apartment and doesn’t want to come across as creepy.
Sure, he could be a little warmer, but if you put yourself in his shoes, he’s probably just trying to keep a respectful boundary. ”
“Yeah, I guess? Whatever, it doesn’t matter. I’m hoping it’s only a few months before I can kick him and his moodiness out,” Paige said, thinking about the cash she could store away with Carter’s rent payment.
“Get that money, girl,” Nadia chimed, changing the subject back to their Thanksgiving agenda. “Okay, I say we start with the homemade stuffing since that takes a while. And then we can move on to the creamed corn.”
“Yes, chef!” Paige held her hand up in a salute and got to work unpacking the bread.