Chapter 34
Vic had asked him on a date! It was taking a bit for it to sink in.
Should he say—of course, he was going to say yes.
Who was he trying to kid? But what if she changed her mind again, wanted to go back to only friends?
Then they would, simple as that. He’d never push for something she wasn’t comfortable with. Okay, then—
He nodded finally.
“I’d like that a lot, Vic. Thank you. What time should I pick you up?”
“Sounds good.” He knew he was grinning just as widely as she was. He felt lost in the warm depths of her eyes—and surprised, too, by the desire he saw there. The attraction he’d thought was all one-sided after that first night was still there. Was definitely reciprocal. His insides leapt a little.
But he couldn’t keep staring into her eyes all night. Even if he wanted to.
On a whim, so wanting to touch her, he caught her hand and raised it to his mouth. “Until Boxing Day, then.” He kissed her knuckles. “I look forward to it.”
Vic inhaled when his lips touched her skin, and the sound caused a feeling of pressure low in Cal’s center.
She smiled at him and shook her head. “That was—you are—whew.”
He wasn’t sure exactly what she meant by that, but he had a general enough idea that he wanted to fist pump the air and shout, “Whoo-hoo!”
That urge was enough to get him moseying (Moseying? Really, man?) before he did or said anything super embarrassing. “So . . . see you in three sleeps. I can’t wait. In the meantime, have a good night—and Merry Christmas.”
Cal waited until he turned the corner at the end of Vic’s street to be extra sure she wouldn’t see him from the porch.
He didn’t want to risk looking any goofier or more desperate than he probably already did.
When he was certain he was out of sight, he fist-pumped the air like the slightly dorky, ever keen and optimistic teenager he’d once been and perhaps had never fully left behind, after all.
Vic had asked him on a date. For real this time.
“Yes!” he exclaimed in the chilly cab of the truck. “Yes.”
He was still grinning when he pulled into the driveway of his dark house.