Chapter 13
“I’ve made my decision,” Paige announced later as she and Carter stood in the kitchen boiling spaghetti noodles. “We’re watching Elf.”
Paige didn’t want to admit how much thought she’d put into this decision. It was borderline embarrassing.
She wanted to pick a movie that had some comedy, because she had picked up on the fact that Carter liked to laugh.
And admittedly, she liked to watch him laugh.
But it also had to have just the right amount of Christmas cheer without being too cheesy.
The situation was delicate indeed. The wrong choice could cement Carter’s dislike of Christmas, yes, but it could also paint her as just some girl who gets swept away in the Christmas fantasy.
Home Alone could be seen as too childish. The Grinch was too obvious. So, after careful consideration, Elf was the strongest contender.
“Oh, is that the one with the guy from Step Brothers?” Carter asked. “Will Ferrell, right?”
“Yep! Wait, have you seen this one?”
Don’t tell me all my deliberation was for nothing.
Carter looked at her as if she had just asked the dumbest question in the world.
“I’ll take that as a no,” she said, answering her own question.
“I may not be a big Christmas fan, but I don’t live under a rock. Every guy knows Will Ferrell’s movies.” He smiled.
They made some more small talk while the pasta finished cooking.
Apparently, Carter had grown up on Nintendo games, which made his loss that afternoon even more painful.
Every summer he’d spend his morning at a sports camp, and then all of his teammates would come over to play Super Smash Bros. and Mario Party.
Another point in the dorky column. She swooned silently.
Once the spaghetti was ready, they each made a bowl and headed toward the couch. Paige made sure to grab the plate of leftover cookies on her way.
She sat on the left corner of the couch and watched anxiously as Carter plopped down on the right corner.
They couldn’t be sitting farther apart if they wanted to.
Paige had slightly hoped Carter would have pulled a bold move and sat down right next to her, but his position on the far end of the sofa put a point in the he-doesn’t-like-you-like-that column.
She set the movie up, hit play, and settled into the couch with her spaghetti—acutely aware of the space between them and how much she longed to cozy up next to his strong body. She quickly brushed the thought away as Bob Newhart appeared on screen.
They watched in silence for the first several minutes.
Paige tried to sneak some glances over at Carter to see if he was enjoying it.
But as soon as Buddy arrived in New York City, chewing used gum and congratulating the diner on having the best coffee, Carter started letting out a few chuckles.
As the movie progressed, he laughed more and more—especially during the scene with Buddy and Santa in the toy store. Paige let out a silent sigh of relief.
“Hey, can you pass me a cookie?” She asked, pointing at the plate on the coffee table in front of Carter.
Carter leaned forward, keeping his eyes glued to the screen, and handed her one. When he settled back into the couch, he had shifted from his original spot, ultimately moving closer to Paige.
I mean, he had to reach over to me to give me the cookie, she thought to herself. He naturally had to get closer. Don’t read into this, Paige.
She tried to ignore the butterflies in her stomach as she focused back on the movie.
When it got to the scene in Central Park with Jovie singing “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” Paige snuck another look over at Carter. He seemed entranced by what was happening on the screen. Paige’s heart did a backflip.
As the movie wrapped up, she turned to him and asked, “So, what did you think?”
He turned his body toward her and leaned back against the arm of the sofa. He had his hands behind his head and his biceps were trying to steal her attention.
“If I’m being honest,” he said, “I came into this pretty skeptical. But I actually really enjoyed it. It was funny, which I liked, and it reminded me a lot of Christmases back in the day with both of my parents. It was nice to experience a little bit of that again.”
He gave her a warm and genuine smile.
Damn you, Carter, for being hot and sensitive.
“Aww, well, that is really sweet. Now I’m especially glad I picked this one,” she replied. “So, was your dad really into Christmas?”
“Yeah, definitely. He’d dress up in a Santa suit and try to make the holiday special for me when I was younger.
Since I was an only child, he was always going the extra mile to make things fun around the house,” he said as he lowered his arms to cross them over his chest. The position wasn’t any less flattering, and he didn’t bother pulling down the corner of his shirt, which must have ridden up when his arms were over his head.
“Even when I got older he stuck to certain traditions, like picking out our Christmas tree together and making breakfast in bed for my mom on Christmas day. After he died, I didn’t really want anything to do with Christmas, or any holiday really, because it was too much of a reminder that he wasn’t there anymore.
Instead of trying to keep his traditions alive, I just pretended like they never happened at all.
Probably wasn’t the most mature way to handle things. ”
It broke Paige’s heart to hear him share this. She couldn’t imagine a Christmas without both of her parents, and she made a mental note to be extra grateful this year for the time she had with them. She also felt a small pang of guilt for all the over-the-top decorations displayed around them.
“It makes sense that you’d want to do that, though,” Paige said. “I’m sure things just didn’t feel the same. I can understand why you don’t want to get into the Christmas spirit . . . and I’m sorry if I ever crossed the line in pushing it on you.”
“No, I’m sorry for overreacting a few weeks ago.
I really felt like a jerk after my outburst. I think having been at my mom’s house brought up some old memories, and walking in to see all the decorations must have triggered some stuff I haven’t been dealing with since he passed away,” he confessed. “I really am sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Paige said. “Consider it a hatchet buried.”
She held out her hand to him, craving to feel his touch again. His hand met hers for only a second before her cell phone chimed next to her, breaking the brief eye contact they shared.
“Shit,” she cursed.
“What’s going on?” Carter asked.
“The airline already cancelled tomorrow’s flight too. Seems like this storm isn’t letting up tonight. I’m rebooked for the 17th, assuming things start to clear up.”
As much fun as she was having with Carter, her heart sank when she saw the notification. She missed her parents and had been looking forward to their Christmas traditions.
“That sucks, I’m sorry. I bet you want to get back to your family. And I believe you once said that you couldn’t stand to be around me, so I’m sure these past couple of days have been utter torture for you.” He winked at her, effectively bringing her mood back up.
“Seriously. I should be awarded a medal or something at the end of all this,” she quipped.
“But really,” he continued, “I hope the weather chills out soon. What does your family usually do around the holidays?”
Paige told him all about her family traditions—gingerbread house competitions with her cousins, Christmas Eve walks on the beach making snowmen out of sand, driving around and looking at the lights on the palm trees.
They had had these traditions for as long as she could remember, and with the exception of the one Christmas-time cruise they took when she was twelve, they had never missed a year. She really hoped she wouldn’t miss out on all the fun.
“Well, it sounds like you guys always have a good time together,” Carter said with a bit of sadness in his eyes. “After my dad passed, I started traveling during Christmas break so I wouldn’t need to be around all the reminders. Most trips on my own, one with my mom and Gram, one with—shit, Gram!”
He leapt off the couch and patted his shorts pockets for his phone, finding it nestled in the crack between the arm of the couch and the cushion.
“Sorry,” he said in panic. “I was supposed to call my grandmother for her birthday today. I had it in my calendar and everything . . . I’m gonna go call her before it gets too late on the East Coast.”
“Yeah, no worries,” she assured him as he walked away from the couch. As cute as it was that he needed to call his Gram, she couldn’t help but feel bummed that their heart-to-heart was cut short.
He was almost at his door when he turned around.
“I guess forgetting to check your calendar is a sign of a day you didn’t want distractions from,” Carter said, offering another genuine smile before turning back to his room and closing the door.
Paige didn’t stop blushing for the rest of the night.