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The warmth of the crackling, orange-red fire soaked beneath her bundled layers of clothes and heated the bare skin of her cheeks. She held her hands out to it and felt it soak into her palms and fingers until it was almost uncomfortable, pulling them back to rub them together. Her eyes darted over the tops of the flames, where little red sparks flew off into the night sky, distinguished quickly in the cold. All around the bonfire there were groups of friends gathered, drinking and laughing, their conversations rising and falling in volume.
“Hey Ivy, what are you doing by yourself over here?” Her friend, Mia, was frowning as she walked up next to her and held out a mug she’d brought over of something that was lightly steaming.
“I was just warming myself up by the fire,” Ivy said, feeling the heat of the liquid in the ceramic mug before she wrapped her fingers around it’s handle. “What’s this?”
“Homemade cider! Spiked with a bit of honey whiskey, of course.” Mia winked and then nodded toward the house quite a distance off where soft, yellow lights poured out of the windows. “There’s more in the house when you need a refill. Roger has been working on it all day and he’s very proud.” She rolled her eyes, but playfully, clearly amused by her husband’s party-host excitement.
Roger and Mia hosted a winter bonfire for all their friends when the temperature dropped enough to comfortably host. There was always good food, good drinks, good company, and…
“Stop standing by yourself! Roger invited a lot of his friends through work,” Mia leaned in, lifting her dark brows, “Cute, single friends.”
There it was. Every single year Mia tried to use it as an opportunity to hook her up, too.
“That’s nice, Mia, but I’m not interested. Remember?”
“Yes, yes, you’ve had a string of bad dates the past two years that’ve dramatically turned you away from love forever.” This time when Mia rolled her eyes it seemed far more pointed.
“That’s not the only reason,” she felt herself getting defensive, but carried on, “I also need to focus on my career, and I do just fine on my own. Honestly, Mia, I get it. You and Roger are great together and I see how happy he makes you and you make him, but I promise you my life isn’t lacking anything because I don’t have anyone.”
Mia frowned and shook her head. “Alright, alright, that’s a fair point. Still…” she raised her brows and seemed to fight a smile, “there’s some really cute single guys here. I’m not saying you need to fall in love and get married or anything..” she winked, just as Roger beckoned her from the house. “I better go see what he needs. Mingle! I mean it! This is a party!”
Ivy laughed, promising to find someone to talk to as Mia walked off. Alone again, she glanced over the different sized gatherings of people to figure out where she could seamlessly slide into a conversation. There were a few familiar faces and enough for her to find somewhere to go or someone to talk to. But it was the man she’d never seen, standing off by himself much like she’d been, with the colorful pearl snap tucked into a tight pair of Wranglers, a decent-sized buckle catching the reflection of the flames of the bonfire, and blond hair loose in fluffy curled around his face that caught her attention.
Okay, so there were definitely some cute guys here.
***
“Did you choose to outcast yourself, or were you just enjoying the fire and I’m being a presumptuous jerk by assuming you’re all alone?”
Adam looked over at the woman who’d walked up to him just then and gave a half-grin. “Ah- you caught me, but don’t tell anyone. I don’t really know many people here, just Roger.” He pointed the tip of his beer bottle toward the house where he’d last seen his friend. “I was trying to figure out how to get naturally into a conversation with these strangers or wait until Roger came back out here to tag around with him.”
“Your secret’s safe with me. I’ll tell anyone who asks that you were enjoying the bonfire and minding your own business and not at all an outcast.”
“That’s very kind of you,” he said with a chuckle. She was cute, and witty. Adam prided himself on being fairly charming in most conversations, and always quick with something to make people laugh. But this girl was tripping him up, he felt like he was a step too slow with her and he wasn’t sure what he was more of: excited or nervous?
“How do you know Roger?” She asked.
“I used one of his horses for work.”
“Oh! You work in the film industry?”
“Kind of,” he gave a small grin and shrugged. “I’m on t.v.” It still felt weird to say it, even a year later.
“Let me guess,” she said, narrowing her eyes in thought as she tilted her head and looked up at him. He couldn’t help but notice the way the orange-glow of the nearby fire looked pretty in her eyes. “You’re definitely one of the stars of whatever show it is.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Just a hunch.” When she smiled, there seemed a bit of extra brightness in her eyes. A little bit of mischief. She lifted her cup to her lips to take a drink of whatever she had in her hands, and Adam found himself momentarily distracted by the shape of her lips.
“Well, I guess you’re sort of right.” Though he certainly felt a pang of nervousness at referring to himself as a star. “I am on there pretty frequently.”
“I knew it!” She grinned. “What’s it about?”
The hand not holding his beer reached to rub at the back of his neck as he grinned. “I’m a professional wrestler?”
“No way!” She seemed delighted.
“Yeah,” he said, putting his hand back to comfortably rest his thumb on his belt.
“Wait… Why on earth did you need a horse as a wrestler?”
It was Adam’s turn to laugh. “I have this whole cowboy persona, so we just thought it would be cool for me to ride a horse.”
“Ahhh, I guess that explains the wranglers and the pearl snap,” she gestured at his front.
“Well, hey now, just because I have a cowboy persona for wrestling doesn’t mean I’m not a cowboy myself.”
“Are you?”
“Kind of?”
They looked at one another and she grinned.
“I grew up on a tobacco farm, we had cattle, horses. The whole thing.”
“So you’re a cowboy who wrestles.”
“Yep,” he said, and was happy to see another smile on her face. “And you?” He had fallen comfortably into their conversation, and hadn’t even noticed Roger was already back around the bonfire, mingling with the other attendants. Adam was too distracted by her.
“I am not a cowboy who wrestles,” she pointed out playfully, and at the roll of his eyes, laughed. “It’s not nearly that exciting. I’m an editor at a publishing firm.”
“That’s pretty cool!” He encouraged.
“Not as cool as being a professional wrestling cowboy.”
“Okay, maybe you got me on that one. My job is pretty cool.” He lifted the beer to his lips to take another swig. “But you get to read stories like they’re plain river rocks and polish them up so they look as pretty as a gemstone, and I know that’s no easy job.”
“Thank you…” her voice trailed off as she looked at him almost curiously, and Adam worried he’d said something wrong. His brows dipped in together as he watched her. “Sorry,” she said when she noticed him frowning, “it’s just that no one has ever really cared that much about what I do. Or at least, not really understood it. They normally go with a traditional nod of their head and a polite compliment before they change the subject.”
“Well, maybe you haven’t been telling the right people.”
“Maybe,” she said, her smile growing. “Honestly, this whole conversation is refreshing. I’m used to dodging people not caring about my job and jumping right into asking me about my relationships. It’s like everyone assumes my life isn’t complete without a partner in it. Every single conversation always leads back to that.”
Adam laughed and nodded in agreement. “Oh, I know. Almost all of my friends are happily settled down, and they all like to worry about me, so every time there’s some big event where everyone’s got their partner and I’m standing off with my beer they start to bug me about not finding a girl yet.” He shook his head and took another swallow of beer, then realized it was the last drink in the bottle. He licked the remnants off his lips and sighed. “Don’t even get me started on my mama.”
“Don’t get me started on mine!” She retorted. “Come on, let’s get you a refill.” They fell easily in step together, and as they left the warmth of the big, crackling bonfire he found himself moving a little bit closer to her in step, as if to block away some of the chill on the path to the house. There was an ice chest filled with beer back at the bonfire, but Adam didn’t want to question her as she led him away from it.
“My mom has been pressuring me about settling down and having kids for years now,” she continued as they walked up the back porch steps and into the cozy (and quiet) house. “Sometimes I wonder if she even knows what I do for work, because it sure doesn’t seem like she cares.” She stopped in front of a large crock pot with its light on to signal it was keeping whatever was inside warm.
“You know what really sucks?” She asked as she gave him a look, to which Adam widened his eyes a little and shook his head. As she took the ladle and poured rich, amber liquid into a new cup and then added more to hers to refill what she’d drank, she sighed. “I’m possibly up for a promotion soon. A big one. I want to tell everyone, but I already know the next words that are going to follow are going to be about if I’m dating.”
“Congratulations,” he offered a little gently, and found he didn’t like the way dejection looked across her face. “They really wouldn’t care about you getting promoted?”
“I mean, they’d congratulate me and say it’s nice and they’re proud, but I already know unless I have someone, they’re still going to see me as…” she frowned as she tilted a bottle of honey whiskey to spike the drink, “Incomplete.” The golden liquid splashed inside before she set the bottle down and then handed him the cup. “Enough of my woe-is-me stupidity, here. No more beer. You’re at a bonafide bonfire, and you’re going to drink some homemade, spiked apple cider.”
“Yes ma’am.” He grinned as she pressed the warm cup into his palm, but he was thinking. As she turned to walk around him, intending to head back out the door with her cup in hand, he spoke up.
“Hey, wait.”
She looked back at him and he wondered why his heart was suddenly beating so fast.
“I know this is cliche and a little dumb, but I don’t like people poking into my personal business, even my friends, and I don’t like those looks they give me when they’ve got their arms wrapped around their loved ones and I’m alone. If you had someone, it’d stop all those questions about your relationship, right? What if we just pretended to date? Just to get through all these holiday parties.”
“This sounds like a set-up to one of those cheesy, Hallmark Christmas movies.”
“I promise not to fall in love with you if you promise not to fall in love with me.” He teased, and was happily rewarded with her smiling. To hide how much he liked seeing it, Adam lifted the cup to his lips and took a sip of the drink she’d made him. It tasted just like winter traditions, warm apples, cinnamon, and a sweet hint of honey whiskey.
“Oh, what the hell,” she shrugged after seeming to contemplate it for a moment, “If it means I have one Christmas season where everyone isn’t up my ass about finding someone, I’m in.”
“Alright,” he grinned and held out his hand. “Shake on it?”
She slipped her hand into his, and he tried not to pay any mind to how much he liked feeling the contact. He told himself he had no ulterior motives and that this was simply to get everyone off his back, and everyone off of hers. Plus, she was nice and easy to talk to, he wouldn’t mind having her company at the holiday party.
“I promise not to fall in love with you while we fake date through the holidays to get all of our loving but annoying friends and family off our back.” She declared, and they shook on it as he chuckled, then raised his cup.
“Cheers, I’ll drink to that.”
**********
The crystal, snowflake shaped earrings dangled as she eyed her reflection in the mirror after carefully hooking them into her earlobes. Ivy secured the backs of the earrings to hold them in place and lowered her hands, turning her head this way and that to catch the reflection of the overhead light in the gems, making them sparkle. She’d swept her hair up in curls, but left a few strands to frame her face, which she’d done up in a soft, fresh make-up look with gently rosy cheeks and a little touch of the same red to the tip of her nose, a glitter of highlight veiled over it. It was, all-in-all, a cute look, and her soft winter-blue dress only further added to the sweet aesthetic she was trying to achieve.
So why was she so nervous? She glanced at her phone again, tapping the screen to see in her jittery worry she’d gotten ready an entire hour early. Her finger swiped the screen and brought up the text conversation with Adam from that morning. I’ll be at your hotel room by five, and we can head to the stadium together.
She appreciated that he wasn’t going to make her show up to his company’s holiday party by herself and have to search for him. Maybe that’s why she was so nervous… she thought about all his friends and coworkers she was going to meet and how they were all on television. Professional wrestlers. Curious googling after meeting Adam had shown her a slew of YouTube videos and she’d been impressed by what she’d seen. Now, to think she was going to be spending an evening with everyone all while pretending to be Adam’s girlfriend… It was a lot. Still, they’d made a deal. She would go to his holiday party and fake being his new girlfriend so his friends would lay off of him and he would come with her to her family’s big holiday get together and pretend to be her new beau. It was going to be such a relief to not have her mother hounding her about her lack of a love life.
She could spend tonight trying to act cooler than she thought she was to hopefully impress Adam’s friends enough that they bought the ruse.
Entertaining herself over the next hour was a lot of fussing at her reflection and mindlessly opening and closing various applications on her phone, doing whatever she could to keep her brain occupied. At last, there was a soft knock at her hotel room door and she sucked in a sharp breath, standing and straightening the wrinkles out in her dress before slipping her phone into her little white clutch.
She swung open the door and did her best to hide the way she wanted to take another sudden breath at the sight of the man at the other side of it. Although Adam still wore Wranglers, boots, and a tooled brown leather belt with a large, shining buckle, he’d clearly taken care to pick the very best of his wardrobe for the event. Over his plain button-up he wore an open, tailored suit jacket and a bolo tie that glimmered prettily where it sat. His curls had been tamed down and brushed back, out of his face, though there was a little one straying out from the rest that she suddenly found her hand itching to reach up and brush back. To avoid the temptation she clutched her hands in front of her and smiled.
“You clean up nice, cowboy.”
“As do you,” there was a low, appreciative warmth in his voice. Their tones and lingering looks at each other didn’t match the story that the pair of them were only pretending to be interested. They seemed to catch that at the same time and he cleared his throat and stepped back, gesturing toward the hallway. “Ready to go meet the circus?”
Her hotel door shut quietly at her back. “Oh come on, they’re probably not that bad.”
Adam snickered behind her, and since she was a step in front of him, she didn’t see him lift his palm as though to flatten it on her lower back, think twice and lower it to his side again. He stepped next to her and they continued down the hall toward the elevators.
“I should make you put some money on that. I could use a little extra cash.”
The Uber ride over to the stadium was fifteen minutes of her trying not to fidget, fidgeting, and Adam noticing almost immediately. He laid a warm palm on her hand that sent a rush of tingles up her arm that she did her best to ignore, even when turning her head and meeting his eyes. He gave her a smile and promised her she had nothing to be worried about, and that he already knew his friends were going to adore her. Locked in his gaze, she found herself forgetting this was all pretend, especially when he squeezed his hand a little more comfortingly around hers. She gave him a smile, then looked away, suddenly breathless and not sure what to do about it.
Thankfully the looming stadium saved her from having to face those feelings, and as she climbed out into the cool winter night she was able to tell herself it was just nerves. There was no way she had actual feelings for him. None at all.
The warmth of inside contrasted the chill they’d walked through, and she felt her nerves grow at the sea of faces before them. As people turned to look at the new arrivals, happy familiarity dawned across their faces. Some shouted for Adam with a wave, which he returned as he guided her further into the room. It wasn’t until they’d made their way halfway into the large party that someone cut their path off.
“Page!” Shouted a happy looking man, handsome, a few inches shorter than Adam. He had long brown hair that was tied back, and a smile that stretched wide and naturally joyous across his face. On his arm was a woman with somewhat pointed features, yet absolutely gorgeous, who smiled warmly at Adam. Her smiling partner slipped away from her to wrap both of his arms firmly around Adam, pulling him in for a hug and patting his back a bit overzealously. “I haven’t seen you in forever, man!” He said as they parted.
“I know, I know,” Adam chuckled. “It’s been too long, Cole.”
“Hold up,” the other woman interrupted almost immediately, “I know you’re not about to forget your manners and not introduce us to your friend.”
Adam’s cheeks might’ve colored, but Ivy couldn’t tell.
“Uh, this is Ivy,” he said, gesturing toward her. Their eyes met and his smile softened. “My date.”
She tried not to think about how her stomach did a funny little turn at that.
“Ivy, this is my friend Adam Cole and his girlfriend, Britt Baker.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said pleasantly, extending her hand to give polite handshakes.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Britt repeated with a curious smile. Ivy had a feeling this woman was ridiculously good at sniffing out the truth and felt a little bit worried. The way she looked between the two of them almost made Ivy second-guess everything.
Unfortunately Adam was distracted talking shop with his friend as Cole bounced excitedly into going over their last matches, which left Britt and Ivy to either watch and listen to them – Ivy could have, she liked watching Adam smile a little shyly and struggle to take compliments on how good he was – or talk amongst themselves. Britt chose to talk.
“So, Ivy,” she said, drawing Ivy’s eyes away from where they’d been stuck on Adam. “How long have you two...”
“Oh! Not very long.” Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw Adam hesitate and look over to her before he was distracted by Cole’s story. “It’s only been a few weeks, actually.”
“Brave girl, coming to a holiday party with these jokers after only knowing him for a few weeks.”
Ivy laughed. “You know, he said something kind of similar about meeting the circus,” she glanced around them and while the energy seemed high and there was a lot of laughter around them, she still couldn’t see what he’d been talking about. “But I’ve seen worse.” She grinned back at Britt.
“I like you.” Britt definitely seemed like the kind of woman who said exactly what was on her mind about a situation and didn't bullshit.
“Thank you,” Ivy smiled, “I like you too.”
“These two are going to talk for a while,” She said, gesturing toward her partner who was practically bouncing up and down with energy as he recanted what seemed to be his most recent storyline in wrestling, “want to come with me to get a drink at the bar?”
“Um, sure,” she said, and started to turn away before realizing… “Hey, honey?” She turned back and tried to fight through that same thrill of excitement when she called Adam a pet name.
“Yeah, darlin’?” His warm voice as Cole paused his story so they could turn and look at them made that feeling double. Ivy exhaled and mentally told herself to get it together. That handsome grin on his face wasn’t for her – not really – it was for his fake girlfriend, just like her sweet pet name had been for her fake boyfriend.
“Britt and I are going to head to the bar, did you want me to bring you back anything?”
“No, that’s alright, thank you. I’ll come find you at the bar in a minute. Have a few more rounds of hellos to do that I don’t want to put you through.” He leaned in toward her, his wide palm skimming her hip. She sucked in a breath just as he put his warm lips against her cheek. As he leaned back their eyes met, and she could have sworn his looked a little darker.
“Okay,” she said, her voice a little smaller and softer than she’d intended it to be before she followed Britt back to the bar and heard Cole pick up his happy conversation shortly thereafter.
“So, Ivy! What do you do for a living?” Britt asked as they wound their way around partygoers toward the large, pretty glass-top bar.
“I work in a publishing company. And you?”
“Exciting!” Britt said with a smile and ordered herself a champagne, pausing as Ivy ordered herself one of the special holiday cocktails the bartender was mixing up for the party. “Well, I’m actually a dentist.”
“Oh wow, impressive.”
“It gets better. I’m also a wrestler.”
“No way!” Ivy laughed, delighted.
“Yeah! That’s how Adam and I met – er, my Adam. Well, your Adam too I guess.”
Her Adam… Ivy tried not to think about how nice that was to hear, especially as she looked back through the throng of people and saw his handsome profile, complete with a happy smile she’d come to really like on him.
“So, you wrestle, and you do dentistry?” Ivy decided to focus on talking to Britt to take her mind off the way she was getting confused and too wrapped up in their little scheme. “Sometimes I feel like I can barely pull off one career, let alone two.”
Britt laughed. “It’s not without its challenges, but I enjoy it.” The bartender returned with their drinks and after she gathered up her flute of bubbling, gold-tinted champagne, she eyed Ivy somewhat thoughtfully. “You know, I’m glad Page brought you.”
“Oh? Why’s that?” Ivy took a sip of her drink to keep her face from giving anything away.
“I know it’s horribly cliché to be in a relationship and not like seeing your friends being single, but Page is such an amazing guy that it’s absolutely blown my mind he’s never shown up with a date before. I’m just happy to see him happy, and he looks really, really happy with you.”
As Ivy smiled, she hoped her guilt didn’t temper it. She really liked Britt, and Cole with his bright, happy blue eyes and affectionate laughs, which suddenly made her feel bad for lying to them. She hadn’t anticipated a lot of things that seemed to be popping up with this little deal she and Adam had made, but they were in too deep now. Ivy tried to think about how nice it was going to be to not have to hear the normal comments from her family about how she needed to find someone and, looking at Adam across the room (more of his friends had found him, he was now surrounded in a group) she hoped tonight he was getting that peace of mind for himself. At least if they got what they wanted out of it in the end the lies would surely be worth it.
***
“She’s cute.”
“Huh?” Adam whipped his head around and found himself staring into the blue eyes of Nick Jackson. He’d joined the conversation Adam had been having with Cole, and after they’d caught up, Nick was quick to point out the obvious.
Soon, Adam knew they were going to be joined by someone else. Where Nick was, his brother Matt wasn’t likely far behind.
“Your date,” Nick said, gesturing toward where Britt and Ivy had been talking at the bar and Adam had idly been watching her. “She’s cute.”
“Oh, yeah.” He grinned, looked over at her, then looked back at Nick.
“What’s her name?”
“What’s who’s name?” Right on time, Matt came sidling into the conversation, looking intrigued at the tail-end of what he’d caught.
“Page’s date.” Cole supplied happily and even gave Adam a wink.
“You brought a date?”
Adam tried to not pay much mind to the overplayed shock on Matt’s face, he knew any ribs from his friends were harmless and playful.
“She’s right over there,” Nick said, and pointed toward Ivy.
“Could you not point at her like that?” Adam said low under his breath, and suddenly wasn’t sure why he felt so embarrassed that Ivy would find out he was talking about her to his friends. He was supposed to be talking about her to his friends, she was his date. He was supposed to talk about how pretty she was and how funny she was and how warm and welcoming conversations with her were and he wasn’t supposed to feel like he was going to trip over his words or make some fool of himself doing it.
“How else was he going to show me her?” Matt scoffed, glancing to where Ivy was distracted as Marko Stunt, Sonny Kiss, Isaiah Kassidy and his girlfriend, Ellie, had joined her and Britt’s conversation. “Hmm, she is pretty cute Page. How’d you manage to trick her to get here?”
Adam let out a nervous half-laugh, but before he had to come up with something to say, Kenny had slipped into their conversation.
“Please, with Page’s rakish good looks?” He gave him a kindly teasing grin, “I’m sure he just had to bat his eyelashes and say pretty please and she was more than happy to come along.”
That made him blush. He could feel the bit of heat in his cheeks and hoped his beard covered it. Coughing into his hand to clear his throat, he said, “Yeah, well. I already warned her about all of you, so don’t try anything funny.”
“Us?” Matt said, and looked in turn at his brother and their best friend. “Try something funny?”
“Come on, tell us about her.” Nick prompted, and Adam looked at the semi-expectant faces of all of his friends, and shook his head.
“I uh, just met her a few weeks ago, actually, at a mutual friend’s party.” They’d thought it’d be best to keep as many elements of the truth in their story as possible, and also felt if they were a new relationship no one would be totally surprised when they “split up” a few weeks after New Year’s. “Her name’s Ivy. She has no idea about wrestling so try not to be so…” he looked at all of their faces and exhaled an amused breath out of his nose, “Well, nevermind. She works for a publishing firm as an editor and is up for a big promotion soon.”
“Exciting,” Nick said.
“And very factual.” Cole concluded.
Kenny grinned. “How’d you two decide to get together?”
“Why do you guys want to know so badly?”
“Page,” Matt sighed and reached to pat Adam’s shoulder, “This is the first girl you’ve brought to any event in… years.”
“We’re just excited for you,” Nick said, and Adam nodded, letting his shoulders drop. He knew he shouldn’t be so defensive with them, but in truth he was finding himself a little confused about the predicament they’d created. He couldn’t tell if he was actually getting real feelings for her or if it was a part of the fabrication, and he hadn’t considered how hard it’d be to lie to everyone. Seeing how excited and encouraging they were…
“I just thought she was sweet,” he said, and looked over at her, smiling when he saw her laughing at some likely insane story Marko was reenacting, complete with arm gestures and shouting. “I felt comfortable with her. She’s cute, too, but it’s more than that. She’s smart, she has a good sense of humor…” he thought about their playful exchanges back-and-forth over text messages as they organized the whole thing.
“Hmm…” Cole hummed under his breath, and Adam blinked, looking over and realizing all his friends were grinning at him.
“What now?”
“Nothing, man.” Matt gave a half-laugh and clapped Adam on the shoulder. “We’re just happy for you, that’s all.”
Adam had a feeling that wasn’t all, not with the way their eyes lingered over him with some sort of secretive glee. It made him feel like he was under a microscope, like they all saw something wrong with him that he didn’t see.
“Cole was talking about that match you guys had against FTR,” he said after a pause, tilting his head at Cole. It wasn’t hard to get his excitable friends to take the bait when talking about wrestling, and he relaxed as everyone seemed happy to move away from his so-called relationship with Ivy and talk about their shared passion for their work.
“Excuse me, guys,” Adam said, slipping away with a grin as he turned and walked from the group. Without thinking about where he was going his polished boots made a direct line for Ivy, who looked over at him with bright, happy eyes. That smile of hers struck him right in the chest.
“Do you mind if I steal my date for a dance?” He asked, giving a polite smile to her guests who, of course, assured him it was fine.
He waited until they were far enough away from the little group that’d joined her.
“I thought maybe you could use a break,” he said.
“Oh, no! I love your friends. Or, coworkers?”
“Friends and coworkers.” He said, and smiled as they stepped onto the dance-floor where a few couples were swaying around to holiday music played by a live DJ. “I’m glad you like them.”
“I do! You didn’t need to rescue me.”
“Well, maybe I needed rescuing then.” He said softly, and tried not to put any pressure or weight to the hand resting on her hip. It suddenly seemed torture to not be able to curl his fingers around her and tug her closer in to his body.
“From who?”
“The main circus, my closest friends. They were very interested in us.”
“They care about you.” Her voice was softer spoken this time. Adam felt a warmth in his chest and he sighed it out in a breath. “You have good friends… it almost…well, nevermind.”
“Almost what?” He said, tilting his head as he looked at her. Without thinking, he reached down to slide his index finger under her chin, gently bringing her eyes back up to his. Almost immediately he realized how intimate that was and took his hand away.
“It almost makes me feel bad, lying to them.”
“Me too,” he admitted, “Who knew this was going to be so difficult?”
But it was difficult for another reason he still wasn’t quite ready to admit to...
“Still,” she said, eyes reaching for him, “Is it at least helping?”
“It… is, actually.” He said, and swayed her gently to the merry, soft little holiday tune. “It’s been kind of nice not getting any of their accidentally pitying glances. This might already be the most fun I’ve had at these company parties.”
“Good,” she smiled, and he felt like the beat of his heart picked up in his chest. He swallowed and readjusted the way his fingers had her hand, and the palm on the icy blue material of her dress.
The music lurched toward the end of the song, and Adam jerked his head back toward the crowd. “Come on, they’ll likely play something a little more wild next. It looks like three-quarters of the roster was a little bored of hearing something slow.”
Ivy laughed and he regrettably slipped his hand from where it’d lingered on her waist, but he didn’t let go of the one they had clasped. She didn’t try tugging it back, so he let himself enjoy the contact as he guided her across the room and around groups of people.
“Adam!” It was Matt, he was smiling with his arm around his wife’s waist. In fact, all of his friends were relaxing around a little sitting area with their respective partners. “Come here, come join us so we can properly meet Ivy.”
“Get ready for this,” Adam whispered under his breath as he turned to look at her, then grinned and turned back to them.
“Everyone, this is Ivy, Ivy, this is… everyone.” He turned back toward the little group.
“That’s not a great introduction.” Nick said, “How is she supposed to remember our names when she comes out for our next show if you don’t tell her what they are?”
“I’m coming out for a show?” She asked, and looked at Adam.
“I-”
“Of course you’re coming out for a show.” Matt laughed. “Adam told us you haven’t been around wrestling, and honestly the best way to see a show is at ringside. Anyways, since your boyfriend isn’t great at introductions, I’m Matt, this is my wife Bre,” he smiled at the woman he had tucked against his side, “that’s my brother Nick, we’re in a tag team together called the Young Bucks, his wife Alma… this is our friend Kenny Omega, that’s his wife Dani, you met Cole and Britt earlier, and then we have Brandon Cutler and his wife, Viv.”
Adam could tell it was a lot of information at once. He was still trying to get through his friends assuming she’d be coming to a wrestling show and Matt calling him Ivy’s boyfriend. Which he was pretending to be and shouldn’t have gotten his feelings as mixed up as it did to hear.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to quiz me on any of that later.” Ivy pleaded.
Matt chuckled. “We absolutely are.”
“Yeah, and you better pass with flying colors,” Nick said, to which Alma poked him in the ribs with her elbow. “Ow!” He complained, playfully scowling at her as he clutched his side, dramatically over-selling the injury.
“What are you doing next Wednesday night?” Kenny asked. Adam frowned.
“Next… Wednesday?” Ivy blinked and looked at Adam, then over at Kenny. “Nothing, I don’t think. Why?”
“Perfect! You can come catch an episode of Dynamite and see Adam in action.”
“You don’t have to,” he said quickly, too quick, probably.
“No, no,” she shook her head and smiled up at him. “I’d honestly love to.”
Their eyes held for a moment and he wondered how great of an actress she was, because she seemed to be a pretty damn good one right now. He felt a bit of butterflies in his stomach, and wondered what she’d think when she saw him in the ring. This time he forgot to tell himself he wasn’t supposed to care.
“Okay,” he said and matched her smile with one of his own.
“So next Wednesday we pop your wrestling cherry, huh?” Viv said with her signature, playful grin as Ivy turned her face from Adam’s with a laugh.
“I guess so!”
“You’ll love it,” Matt promised.
“I bet I will.” Ivy agreed, and Adam wondered if he imagined feeling her fingers gently squeeze around his. He smiled all the same, and decided to stop thinking too hard about what it meant that he enjoyed her company so much and simply start… well, enjoying her company. If he was only going to have her for a couple more nights he could at least enjoy it. There was nothing in the rules against that, was there?
**********
Ivy’s phone chimed, indicating a new text message had come through. Pausing in wrapping the last of the gifts she had left, she leaned over and grabbed it to look at the screen. There was a new text message from Adam. A smile immediately turned the corners of her mouth and she quickly opened their text conversation.
How’s your voice doing?
She laughed and immediately tapped out a reply. Better. I actually have one today!
She had lost her voice while screaming at the live Dynamite show his friends invited her to a couple days ago. She’d never been one of the kids who watched wrestling growing up and knew only vaguely what it was about, but she’d had an even better time than she expected. The show they’d put on was fast and full of stunts and surprises Ivy would have never expected. They’d also been absolutely right about it being fun to watch ringside, though she’d had to fight through nerves any time the camera men pointed those large cameras her way. She’d screamed so much by the time she woke up the next morning she’d all but lost her voice.
Watching Adam perform in the ring had been something else entirely. The things he was able to do astonished her. He had to explain what all the moves were called after the match as she excitedly babbled backstage, but he’d seemed like he was glowing when he had. Her favorite had been the “flippy thing he did in the middle” (the shooting star press) and the “flippy thing he did off the pole” (the moonsault off the ring post). She liked the way his blond curls fluffed out and floated, catching the white lights that lit the ring as he maintained control and soared through the air. The athleticism and strength he possessed was amazing. She remembered her delighted surprise when he caught his opponent mid-leap, carried him to the center of the ring, tossed him over and popped up in a smooth kip up that had her eyes gone wide. She’d seen his muscles when she caught herself admiring him, but she hadn’t realized just how strong he was.
Her phone chimed again and distracted her from daydreaming about watching him shirtless and sweaty, getting riled up in the ring. She felt suddenly warm and blushed, looking down at his message.
What are you up to tonight?
They’d been doing this a lot lately. Just texting idly throughout their days, even though her family party wasn’t until tomorrow night. It had started with her asking questions about what to wear to a wrestling show and him giving her details for where she’d need to go, but they always sort of fell into carrying the conversation beyond that. He was just… easy to talk to.
Easy on the eyes, too.
Ivy shook her head at herself and sent him a reply. Wrapping up the last of the gifts to take over tomorrow night.
Oh shoot, was I supposed to get something for your mom?
Ivy couldn’t help but smile. You’re a brand new “boyfriend” she’s never met before, remember? She doesn’t even know about your existence, you don’t have to get her anything. Besides, the family does a big gift exchange cause there’s too many people to individually buy for, and you and I have a joint gift I already bought.
What did we get for the gift exchange? Another quick reply. The notifications were popping up that he read her message as soon as she sent it, which meant he had their conversation actively open.
Ivy opened her camera app and snapped a picture of the still-to-be-wrapped box set full of all the tools necessary to make delicious hot cocoa, as well as peppermint bark, a little bottle of peppermint schnapps and one of chocolate liqueur. She sent the picture to him and typed: A giftset to make spiked hot cocoa!
What are the rules on getting your own gift in the gift exchange? That sounds good. Never spiked my cocoa with peppermint before.
Ivy’s fingers jumped quick to type her message: Really? I don’t do it often since I just like cocoa by itself, but it’s pretty tasty! I’ll have to make it for you some time. She clicked send before reading it back over, then looked at the message and felt her eyes go wide. She should make it for him sometime? When? When they were at her family’s big gettogether, pretending to date so her family wouldn’t make her feel bad for being single? Or when they supposedly “broke up” a few weeks later?
His reply didn’t come back as immediately as the others did. Worry twisted in her stomach.
That would be nice, I’d like that. His reply chimed back. He was just being polite, obviously. She sent a little smiling emoji in reply and closed their conversation, setting her phone aside as she decided to distract herself by finishing wrapping up gifts. After, she could pick what she’d be wearing tomorrow night to the party. Of course she’d been silly to think she could avoid catching some sort of feelings, even a passing infatuation for a cute, sweet, blond-haired cowboy. He clearly hadn’t (she remembered his playful promise that they wouldn’t fall for each other) and she wasn’t going to make him uncomfortable by pursuing something he clearly didn’t feel.
When her phone stayed dark and no further messages came through to carry on their conversation, Ivy knew she was right.
**********
He’d already been nervous the whole day leading up to when he was going to pick Ivy up at her place, but seeing her coming out of the house in her pretty red holiday dress made his mouth go dry. He was a step behind climbing out of the cab to go around and pop the door open for her like a gentleman ought to, too caught up with staring at her walk down the steps of her porch. His fingers curled around the handle as she waited by the passenger side of his truck, rocking a little in her heels. Her smile picked up as she thanked him for opening her door. Adam smiled, but still had to look away from her for a moment.
She was so damn pretty… but it wasn’t just physical. Something had changed for him that night she came out to see him wrestle. He’d felt different in the ring. More energized. He hadn’t been able to stop grinning as he watched her excitedly talk about everything she’d liked afterwards. He’d asked her question after question just to keep her talking. Adam made her tell him everything she liked and didn’t like about the entire night and had laughed as he explained what the different lingo meant. They’d ordered late night food to Daily’s Place and stayed up talking with each other and sometimes with the other wrestlers who were still lingering about.
The next morning he woke up and he missed her. None of this was fake, not any more. Not for him, anyways. Her promise to make him spiked hot cocoa sometime had sat on his mind all night, and it popped up again as he climbed back into the cab and pulled away from the curb. Was it a joke he wasn’t supposed to look too far into? Was she just being nice? Or was that her way of telling him she thought they should keep seeing one another?
This night, her family’s party, was meant to be the last time they were technically together. Every minute that ticked by was one more they wouldn’t have… unless she liked him the way he liked her. Adam just needed to find the right time to ask her. Maybe he’d wait until after the party, he thought, glancing over at her and smiling as she checked her lipstick in the visor mirror. Yeah, that sounded fair. They’d have a good time tonight and in a week or so, he’d reach out and see how she was and find some way to bring it up, even if every time he thought about how much he liked her he got butterflies in his stomach and felt like his tongue swelled up.
She gave him the last of the directions and he slowed his truck as they pulled up to a country home set on at least a good acre of land. The large two-story home was glowing warm out its many windows and was strung up in pretty, twinkling lights. When he parked, he noticed just how many cars were around them.
“Your family really doesn’t mess around, huh?” She’d warned him that her family went all out for the holidays, all the generations rotating households for hosting each year. This year just so happened to be the year her parents were hosting.
“They really don’t,” she said with a laugh as they walked side-by-side up the walkway leading to the porch. Automatic, Adam’s hand reached and curled around hers. She slid her eyes toward him and then smiled and looked at all the cars they were passing, starting to mutter to herself who all had already showed up.
“These are all your relatives?” Adam wasn’t unfamiliar with big family gatherings - his entire upbringing had been Sunday lunches at his grandma’s with all the family in attendance - but he hadn’t anticipated this many people.
“Yeah,” she laughed. “Grandma and Grandpa had eleven kids and each of those kids has gotten married and has kids and every one of their kids except for one have had their own kids. Hell, there’s even a new great-grandbaby this year.”
“Wow,” Adam laughed and shook his head, walking up the porch steps and feeling his nerves rise inside.
“The only one who hasn’t had grandkids?” She asked as they stopped in front of the door, her brow arching. “My mom. Because I haven’t had any, and neither has my brother. So… just be ready in case she decides the first time meeting you is the right moment to start slipping baby name ideas to you.”
Adam chuckled. “Thank you for the warning.”
“Alright, brace yourself.” She smiled and turned the knob to open the large wood door with its pretty glass-front window design.
Immediately there was warmth and laughter and underneath the mix of chatter was the soft sounds of low-volume classic Christmas music. String lights hung around the home offered lovely soft yellow lighting, with red ribbons and garland all around. It was beautiful enough to be seen on television, or so Adam thought. As he looked around the living area he tried to picture it without the holiday decorations, the home Ivy grew up in. What kind of kid had she been? Was she bold and adventurous or careful and shy? He looked over at her profile and realized their hands were still clasped.
The nearest people greeted Ivy as she passed and she only took her hand from his to give hugs, catching up with quick questions of how everyone was doing and introducing Adam as they went. By the time he met the sixth or seventh person he realized he was already getting names mixed up. Adam cursed himself and glanced back from where they’d came, squinting as he looked at the faces he’d seen and trying to remember what had been said when they’d been introduced to him not even a minute ago.
“There you are sweetheart! Come here!” A jovial looking woman, short with round hips and waves of gold-blond hair came toward Ivy with open arms. She grabbed her up in a hug and squeezed her tight, even though Ivy groaned.
“Mom! You act like you haven’t seen me in years!” She complained.
“Oh like your mom can’t shower you in love every time you see her.” Her mother shook her head as she pulled away, only then seeming to notice Adam. Her eyes went wide. “Who’s this?” She looked back at Ivy for an explanation.
“My name’s Adam, ma’am.” Adam knew when and how to lay on the charm and he’d promised Ivy he’d be the perfect so-called boyfriend to keep her mother off her back. He extended a hand for a polite shake.
“Mom, this is my…” Ivy and Adam’s eyes met. Her expression softened. “My boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” Her mom echoed, still holding on to Adam’s hand as she looked from her daughter back to him. “Well! Has he met everyone yet? Did you get him something to drink? What do you want sweetheart? We have eggnog, homemade!” And, still holding on to his hand, Ivy’s mom started to drag him away, ignoring Ivy’s protests that she was introducing him slowly to the family and they’d make their way to the kitchen eventually.
Ivy hadn’t been kidding when she said her family - and her mother - could be a little overwhelming. Although rather than leaving him anxious and strung tight, it was that good kind of overwhelming that instead had him dizzy with warmth and love. Adam was dragged around the house, introduced to everyone he hadn’t met yet (and even those he had) as Ivy followed and kept trying to get her mother to relinquish her hold on him in between apologizing for her mother’s behavior. Truthfully, Adam was struggling to hold back a smile. She was cute, concerned and fussing over him like that, putting those big, pleading eyes on his as she begged him to just hold out a little bit longer.
Finally their trip rounded them back in a circle where her mother was beckoned from the kitchen to help set up more snack trays. Adam and Ivy were left alone (relatively, of course, he noticed there were people grouped throughout the living area) and as they met one another’s eyes he widened his and exhaled an exhausted breath.
“Wow.”
“I know!” Her brows dipped inward, creating little wrinkle lines on her forehead. She reached out and put a hand on his forearm and he felt the muscle tense, electricity up his skin from her touch. “I’m so sorry Adam. I told you she’s relentless and was going to want everyone to meet my boyfriend.”
“If I’m bein’ honest, I felt like a well-bred stud being marched around and shown off.”
“Oh my god!” Ivy snickered and then groaned. Her hand slipped off his arm and he wished he could reach out and put a hand on her hip just to keep them touching. “It was exactly like that. Once she knew you were on t.v. it was all over.” She shook her head, sighing. “I’m sorry, your friends weren’t nearly as much as my mom has been. And this is only the first half hour of the night.”
Adam laughed and as cute as she was worried over him, he decided he’d calm those fears of hers. He started to lift his hand, wanting to push his palm against her cheek and gently hold her face, then remembered himself and let it drop to his side. He cleared his throat and shrugged.
“Nah, I honestly don’t mind it at all. It’s done wonders for my confidence.” His grin stretched playfully into his bearded cheeks.
“You’re a saint,” Ivy laughed and he was happy to see she was happy.
“What about you?” He asked, “I know we’ve only been here a little bit but is it helping?” He hoped it was.
“It is!” She said without hesitation. “That whole time my mom was dragging you around to show you off would have been spent with her reliving my exes to me, asking me where they’re at now, or telling me about women she knows who have single sons my age, or this cute young man my age she met at the grocery store and struck up a conversation with and got his number for me.”
Adam blew another breath out of his mouth. “I’m glad I can help.” But a frown worked its way across his brow. Ivy was a smart, successful, capable woman all on her own. It wasn’t fair that her mother only considered her relationship something to discuss and didn’t pay attention to everything else her daughter was.
“You okay?” She asked, and he realized she’d been watching him and seen his change in expression.
“Oh, sorry. Yeah.” But she still peered at him and he knew this wasn’t the place to broach a serious topic like that. “When are you going to tell her about the promotion?”
“Honestly I was so busy trying to keep her from smothering you I completely forgot.” She laughed. “I guess I’ll tell her after the gifts are over. Anyways, come on-” she grabbed his hand, tingles again “-let’s go load up our plates with finger foods. It’s the best part of the whole night.”
Adam grinned, following after her as she held his hand, twining his fingers around hers and thinking about how whole he felt.
*********
The entire evening was better than Ivy could have anticipated. She knew it was mostly due to having Adam as her near-constant company, and feeling warmly closer to him than they probably had any right to be. During the gift exchange they’d claimed a spot on one of the couches and like it was natural, Ivy had leaned into him, Adam had lifted his arm and wrapped it snug around her shoulders. They’d shared a little smile then both looked away, staying cuddled up throughout the entirety of the exchange.
It had come to an end as the last gift was opened and she still didn’t move to get up from leaning on Adam’s soft yet somehow firm body. He didn’t try to lift his arm to separate them, either. Their supposedly shared gift sat at their feet in front of the couch, a large fluffy blanket that she’d had to have the moment she felt it and a Starbucks gift card. Absolutely perfect.
Conversation flowed happily around the room. Ivy and Adam were listening as her father retold his favorite Christmas story - the night Ivy was six and they’d had to come to a sudden stop on snowy roads, after the car righted itself there was a little gathering of stags that’d run out of the woods. Ivy had started to cry, worried that they were Santa’s reindeer and had gotten lost, meaning Santa wouldn’t be able to deliver presents that evening.
“I had to sit there and explain all about the differences between reindeer and white-tails and promise her the whole way home that Santa was going to be able to come that night.” Her father was grinning near ear-to-ear as he chuckled.
Ivy rolled her eyes, but smiled. She was tired of hearing the story every year but it was clearly endearing to her father. Adam, hearing it for the first time, had seemed to enjoy listening to it too.
“She was so cute kicking up a fuss like that.” Her father said warmly.
“I’ll bet she was.” Adam said. Ivy glanced quickly up at him only to see his eyes were locked on hers. Her stomach felt as if it erupted in a wild fluttering of butterflies and she swallowed, feeling a little hot in her cheeks. This was more… wasn’t it? They were being more coupley, weren’t they? Even more than they’d been at his company holiday party. Was their being together, their touching and holding hands becoming more natural to him, too? Or was she going crazy, projecting and seeing the things she wanted to see to justify how she felt about him now?
The questions would drive her insane, she needed to change the topic.
Ivy cleared her throat and looked back at her parents. “I’m getting a promotion at work.”
“Are you?” Her mother gasped.
“That’s wonderful sweetheart,” her father praised with a smile. “When did you find out?”
“A few weeks ago,” Ivy smiled, suddenly feeling almost shy with Adam’s proud gaze on her, his hand gently rubbing up and down her arm. The skimming of his fingertips on her skin was almost distracting.
“Why did you wait so long to tell us?!” Her mother admonished. “Sweetheart, that’s amazing! You’ve been working so hard, it’s about time they recognized it.”
“Thank you mom,” Ivy laughed.
“How’s the pay increase?” Her dad asked.
Ivy shook her head. “It’s actually pretty impressive if I’m being honest.” She’d already started to daydream about all the things in her life she was going to invest in and upgrade. “I’ve been working my ass off to get this promotion.”
“Well!” Her mother was beaming and her eyes slid to Adam and back to Ivy, her smile getting a mischievous little twist. Oh no, thought Ivy. “With more money you’d be able to support a child.” She winked as though they shared an inside secret, then gave that same wink to Adam. “I happen to think I’d make the perfect grandmother.”
Ivy’s heart sank, even with Adam at her side, she was still incomplete. She was sure her mother didn’t mean it, but it still stung. Before she could say something wrong and upset her mother or change the subject entirely, Adam was speaking up.
“With all due respect, ma’am, Ivy and I just started dating; we’re a little far off from seeing how compatible we are or if children are even something either of us want.”
“Oh, of course,” her mother looked taken aback. Ivy gaped at Adam and wasn’t sure if she should pinch him or kiss him for speaking up to her mother.
Adam looked at her, seemed to hesitate, then started talking again. “I know you’re proud of your daughter,” he glanced back toward her parents, who were now watching him with slightly guarded expressions, “but when you jump straight to talking about her lack of children or who she’s dating, it makes it seem like that’s all you care about. I know it’s not my place to say, but I also know it bothers her, and she shouldn’t have to feel like she’s anything less than the amazing woman I’ve come to see she is.”
The small group was quiet. Ivy didn’t know what to say or do. Adam had talked calmly, never raising his voice, but he’d effectively checked her mother’s habit to overlook Ivy’s accomplishments. It was a bold move for a real boyfriend, even bolder for a fake one. Or, hell, maybe he figured he wouldn’t be seeing her parents again and was free to stick up for her even under their own house.
The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to grab his face and kiss him. No one had ever stood up for her like that. Still, Ivy worried over her mother’s reaction and looked back at her.
“Do I really do it that often?”
“Mom,” Ivy sighed and glanced down at her hands. She made herself look back up. “Yeah. You do. It’s why I waited so long to tell you about the promotion. I don’t know if you’re doing it on purpose, but it feels like it is. It makes me feel like…” Their voices were low enough the conversation was truly just among the four of them, but Ivy still paused to make sure no family members were listening in that she didn’t want to overhear. “Mom, you just make me feel like I’m not doing enough if I’m not seeing someone or giving you a grandchild.” Emboldened by the honesty coming out, she looked over at Adam and shook her head, realizing how ridiculous the whole thing had been to start with. “I mean, Adam and I aren’t even-”
“Aren’t even that serious yet.” He jumped in, talking over her. Ivy tilted her head, eyes on his. Why didn’t he want her to tell her parents that they weren’t actually dating?
“I’m sorry, baby,” her mother said, and when Ivy looked back saw a sheen of tears in her eyes. “I didn’t realize I’d been so awful about it to you.”
“Mom, no,” Ivy shook her head, shoulders dropping. “Don’t cry. I should have told you how much it bothered me instead of just grinning and bearing it.”
Getting up from the couch, Ivy’s mother stood up too. Immediately Ivy wrapped her arms around her mother and cuddled tight into her as her mother held her, too. “I’m sorry sweetie,” she whispered again in Ivy’s ear, squeezing her a little tighter for a moment before they let go.
“I really am proud of you, you know that? My little Ivy put herself through college, got her dream job, is living independently, and achieving all her dreams. I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I am of you! I brag about you all the time. I just, well, I’m your mom. I worry about you being all alone. And yes, maybe I am a bit baby crazy and I’ve started pushing that off on you.” She shook her head. “You can have no kids, have ten kids, marry once, marry never, I don’t care sweetie. I’m always going to be proud of you.”
“Thank you, mom.” Ivy said, now feeling her own tears rising. She reached to wipe at her eyes, careful of her make-up.
“Hey! No crying on Christmas!” A cousin shouted, looking over and seeing her and her mother having their close, emotional talk. Ivy shook her head as laughter rippled around the room.
“It’s not Christmas, it’s December 19th!” Her mother scolded back. “We can cry all we want to.”
“I think I’m good on the crying,” Ivy laughed and looked back at her mom, softening. “Thank you, mom.”
“You don’t have to thank me for coming to my senses.”
“Well, I think it was more like you were forced to come to your senses.” Her father spoke up and slapped his thighs as he lifted off the couch to stand up with them. Adam stood up as well.
Rubbing his hand at the back of his neck, Adam spoke up. “I’m sorry, I know that wasn’t polite of me-”
“You don’t need to apologize.” Her mother hushed him almost immediately. “I was a little shocked at first, but clearly this was something we needed to talk about.”
“I think I would have preferred a less crowded house,” Ivy admitted, looking around. Most of the family was still deep in their own conversations, but she had to have imagined some of them had overheard.
“Any man who stands up for my little girl, to her own mother no less, the first time he’s meeting the family… well, that’s a man I definitely approve of for my daughter.” Ivy’s father chuckled and patted Adam on the back. “I like this one, sweetheart. He’s a good one.”
Ivy smiled as their eyes met. “Yeah, he is.”
The party carried on for a couple more hours of happy chatter until one by one the families started to slowly trickle out. Ivy and Adam were the last to leave, helping tidy up around the house despite her mother’s assurance they shouldn’t bother themselves by cleaning. It really wasn’t a bother. Ivy thought of it as a sort of sweet domesticity, picking up plates and putting leftover food away, cleaning up trash and righting the house again side-by-side with Adam. She kept sneaking glances over at him as he smiled back at her; a few times they’d reached for the same things and brushed their hands against each other. Their touches continued to linger a little longer and a little longer each time, her cheeks warm as their eyes held contact. By the end her gaze kept finding its way to his lips; she just couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t stop wondering what’d be like to kiss him.
Adam sucked in a breath as they stepped back, having finished putting the last of the food up. “I guess we should get on home?” He asked.
It was rather late, though Ivy felt hesitation she knew was due to this being their possible last moments together. If she said yes, they would walk out of the door, get in his truck, he would drive her home and drop her off and they supposedly would never see one another again. Or, well, they’d maybe see one another, but nothing like this. Nothing like tonight had been. Nothing like the past few weeks had been.
“Yeah,” she said, trying not to let any regret seep into her tone. “We probably should.”
They went to say their goodbyes to her parents, gathering their gift and the leftovers her mother pushed off on her before they finally stepped out of the house. Ivy exhaled into the cool late-night winter air as Adam closed the front door and they stood on the porch.
“Thank you,” she said, not yet descending the steps to go to his truck.
“For?” He frowned, tilting his head as he looked down at her.
“For... standing up for me? For being...you? I don’t know. I just had such a good time tonight I feel like I need to thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me, darlin’.” He smiled. “I had just as good a time tonight as you, promise. Although, I do still feel like I should apologize. That wasn’t my place to talk to your mom like that.”
“Adam, it’s okay. I was a little taken aback but, honestly like my mom said, that conversation needed to happen.”
“I’m glad you’re not mad at me,” he said, his voice a little hushed. They were still lingering on the porch. Ivy felt like she could stand there all night in spite of the chill, but knew they shouldn’t. She took one last longing glance at his lips and smiled. “I doubt I could ever really be mad at you.”
Maybe little things, tiny annoyances on nerve-frazzled days or the common day-to-day things you argue and work through and overcome to come back stronger than ever. Nothing that would ever make her really resent him, though. She could tell herself until she was blue in the face they’d only been talking a month and she probably didn’t know him as well as she thought she did, but something was telling her everything with Adam would just make sense.
She honestly never felt like this with anyone before. How could she feel so connected to him when they were still essentially strangers? When they hadn’t even really been dating to begin with?
“Come on,” she turned away, the gift bag and tote bag of leftover goodies in tow. “We should probably get off my parent’s porch.”
“Wait,” he said as she turned to walk away, “we almost forgot...”
“Forgot what?” Ivy looked back at him and saw he’d taken a step to close their distance. She had to tilt her head to look up into his eyes where she saw he was holding a little piece of garland.
“It’s tradition to kiss under mistletoe.” He said.
“Adam…” It was hard to keep herself from giggling. The grin spread and pushed up into her cheeks. “That’s not mistletoe, that’s a piece of fake pine-needle garland I think you stole from my mom’s house.”
“Tomato, tom-ah-to. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to do this...” He leaned down, brushing his lips softly against hers.
Immediately she warmed to his touch, melting against the contact. He took the invitation to sink deeper into their kiss. His hand dropped and found its place on her hip, pulling her tighter against him. The garland had been dropped to the ground, happily forgotten as he ran his tongue between the split of her lips and then sank inside her mouth as she opened with invitation.
The bags fell with a rustle and a thump by her feet and her arms came up quickly around his shoulders, wrapping tightly and pulling him down on her. Their heads moved, matching the shape of their lips better. His fingers squeezed into her hips, the passion mounting further and further the longer their lips touched and tongues stroked.
They broke apart, chests rising and falling quick as they exhaled large, foggy white breaths in the small space between them. All Ivy could taste was him. She felt deliriously dizzy.
“I have been wanting to do that for a long damn time,” he admitted.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“I think I broke our rule,” she confessed. They were still holding each other, going nowhere but lost in one another’s eyes.
“Our rule?”
“We weren’t supposed to fall for each other, remember? I’m afraid I might be falling, cowboy.”
A warm smile melted across his face.
“I think I’ve already beat you there.” He bent and, just before his lips touched hers, exhaled his promise across her mouth, “I’ll be ready to catch you, darlin’.”