Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Aaron
My son’s voice hits me like a bucket of ice water, freezing me in place for a split second, my lips locked with Jenna’s.
Then my nervous system kicks in, and I jerk away like she’s on fire, whipping around to face my son. “Oh, uh, that’s great.” I glance at Jenna, clearing my throat and wondering if I need to offer some kind of explanation. “Frosty the Snowman, huh?” I’m stalling.
“Is that okay, Dad?” He doesn’t even seem to have noticed that I was kissing Jenna, his focus all on me and what I’m going to say.
“Yeah. Do you know which one?”
His brows slam together. “What do you mean? The one with the snowman. Frosty!”
“Right.” I chuckle weakly. “Of course.” He’s five. He doesn’t know there are multiple iterations of that character in several different kids’ shows and TV specials from the last fifty or sixty years. “Have fun watching Frosty.”
“Thanks, Dad!” He waves as he spins around and zooms off again, presumably back to wherever Sophie’s playing the movie.
Turning back to Jenna, I rub the back of my neck. “Sorry about …” I wave in the direction Colin took off.
She just smiles at me, which makes the anxiety that’s seized hold of me since Colin shouted Frosty the Snowman at me recede somewhat. “Sorry about what exactly?”
“It’s just … I’ve haven’t dated since he came along. And his mom and I were never together. So he’s never seen me with someone like …” I make another vague gesture in her direction.
Her lips press together like she’s fighting a smile. “Someone like …?” She gestures at herself, losing the fight with her smile.
Heaving an exasperated sigh, I put a few more things on my plate and jerk my head to an unoccupied corner.
A laughing Jenna follows me, and when we get to the corner, she pops a grape in her mouth, her eyes bright as she studies me.
“Look, I don’t really know what I’m doing. And I don’t want to freak Colin out.”
She runs her tongue along the inside of her cheek. “I’m not sure he seemed all that freaked out. More interested in the movie, really.”
I let out another sigh. “I know. I noticed that too. But when I kissed you, I didn’t expect him to come running up right then. And I wasn’t planning on kissing you in front of him for …” I rub the back of my neck again then shrug. “I don’t know. I guess I hadn’t really thought that far ahead.”
“Aaron. It’s fine. Seriously.”
Her reassurance isn’t that helpful, though.
“I looked up articles about dating with kids. Most of them are parents who’ve been divorced, which isn’t the situation I’m in, so I’m not sure exactly how much of it applies.
A lot of them recommend waiting until at least six months if not a year before introducing your kids to a new romantic partner.
” Her lips press together again at that term. “What?” I demand.
She chuckles. “It’s just … romantic partner? It’s such a clinical term.”
“That’s what the articles all said!” I protest.
Jenna’s laughing at my obvious frustration and distress, and after a second, I let out a weak laugh too, playing back everything I just said and hearing it from her perspective.
I sound like a neurotic wacko. Shaking my head, I let out a sigh, though this one is less frustrated than my last few.
“I just … I don’t know what I’m doing. And I don’t want to overstep. And I don’t want to mess up my kid.”
She reaches for my hand, still smiling, but her expression more earnest now.
“It’s okay, Aaron. We get to decide what to do.
I agree that kissing in front of your kid isn’t something we need to do a lot of right now, but he doesn’t seem to be traumatized from walking up while you’re giving me a peck on the lips.
And given that we live in Arcadian Falls and will inevitably see each other around, waiting six months or more for me to meet your son doesn’t seem possible either.
I mean, we’re all here, for example. What am I supposed to do?
Hide in the closet? Don’t go to any social events where you might bring your son?
” She makes a face. “None of those seem like reasonable ideas to me.”
“True,” I murmur, tangling my fingers with hers. “I also …” I take a deep breath, then plunge ahead. “I like knowing things. Having labels for things.” Her eyebrows quirk up. “I know life is messier than I often prefer, but when possible, I like things to be clear and understandable.”
“We have that in common.” She pauses for a moment, and when I don’t say anything to fill in the gap, she arches an eyebrow. “Are we having the ‘define the relationship’ conversation here at someone else’s Christmas party?”
Chuckling, I shake my head then nod. “It seems like we are.”
“Well,” she says, taking a half step closer, “I think we established already that I really like you and you really like me.” She pauses, and this time I nod. “We’ve been dating for a couple of weeks, and for me at least, I have no interest in dating anyone else.”
“Me either,” I murmur.
She beams at me. “Good. Well, then. We’re exclusively dating each other, which, by the way, I sort of already assumed.”
“Does that mean I can call you my girlfriend?”
She giggles. “Yes. You can.”
I smile, relieved. “Okay. Good.”
“Since Colin’s likely ensconced in a movie in another room, do you think it’s safe to end this conversation with a kiss?”
First, I glance around to see if anyone’s paying attention to us.
But nearly everyone is caught up in their own conversations, sparing barely more than a glance in our direction.
Then I set my plate down on the window ledge next to me, close the tiny bit of distance between us, and kiss her, my fingers stroking her jaw.
She kisses me back, soft and sweet, and it’s the best way to seal this conversation right now that I can think of.
There’s a whoop off to the side, and Jenna startles away from me, her cheeks turning bright pink. I shoot a death glare at Shane Elliott, who’s standing by the food table grinning like a fool. In response to my glare, he just shrugs, grabs some more food, then turns away.
Jenna laughs, though she’s clearly embarrassed still. “Well, that’s certainly a memorable end to that conversation.”
Blowing out a breath, I shake my head. “Sorry about Shane. He’s …”
She nods. “You don’t need to apologize. Small town, blah blah, et cetera, et cetera.
” She rolls a hand, indicating the ongoing nature of small town gossip and everyone being up in everyone’s business.
“Probably they all know we’ve been out on a few dates already anyway.
I’m sure no one’s surprised to see us kissing in the corner here. ”
Chuckling, I scratch the back of my neck. “Well, if they’ve been left out of that gossip tree, they’ll all be in the know by the end of tonight, at least.”
“I’m not sure if I should be relieved or worried,” she mutters.
Pulling her close, I kiss her again. “Relieved. Or at least not worried. No one means any harm by it.” Giving her a lopsided grin, I shrug a shoulder.
“Hell, it might even help you some. People around here have been telling me I need to find someone for a long time.” I leave out that it’s so I can find a mother for Colin.
It’s way too soon for Jenna to even be worried about that kind of role, and as I’ve told everyone a million times, Colin has a mother.
Just because she doesn’t fit their ideas of what a mother should be, doesn’t mean she’s a bad mom.
And just because our family doesn’t fit the standard idea, doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
“Plus, if you have me in your corner, maybe those Karens will stop thinking you’re out to destroy everything. ”
She rests her hands on my chest, her fingers smoothing the fabric over my collarbones, humming thoughtfully as she does so. “Maybe. Or maybe they’ll decide that you’ve gone to the dark side and are intent on destroying ChristmasFest as well.”
Laughing, I tug her fully against me, uncaring if anyone’s watching now. “If anyone gets that idea in their head, I’m sure they’ll be in the minority.”
She lifts her chin, and I kiss her once more before reluctantly releasing her. Her closeness has my dick lengthening in my jeans already. I don’t need to wander around Jake and Mara’s party with a hard-on.
Picking up her plate off the window ledge, I pass it to her, then claim my own before tangling my fingers with hers. “Come on. Let’s go say hi to people. Anyone who hasn’t met you yet will definitely want to now.”