In the corner of my eye, I caught Kacey watching as I helped Bailey and Duke into the back of my car. I didn’t dare to look at her because just the feeling of her eyes on me was almost too much for my body to handle. Instead, I got in the car and began to drive.
“So, are you my mom’s girlfriend?”
I began to cough, shocked by Bailey’s blunt question. “Excuse me?”
“You don’t have to lie just because I’m a kid. I am almost ten. I know grown-ups who aren’t married go on dates. My mom never has, but she acts different around you.”
“How does she act around me?” I asked, unable to tame my curiosity.
Bailey shrugged. “Happy. Like really happy. Not in that grown-up way where they act happy so us kids won’t think something’s wrong. Just super happy. Like, as happy as I am when I wake up on Christmas morning. She also laughs at like everything you say, and no offense, but some stuff just isn’t that funny.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, gee, thanks. But to answer your question, your mom and I are just really good friends.”
Bailey seemed the slightest bit disappointed with this information but petted Duke instead of responding. She was quiet for a few minutes before she finally spoke again. “Welllll, if you wanted to be my mom’s girlfriend, I’m okay with it. I would love it actually.” She paused and brought her attention to Duke before making eye contact with me in the rearview mirror. “No pressure, of course.”
Yep, no pressure. Except that it seemed like everyone in my life was plotting to get Kacey and me together. At this point, it seemed the only thing stopping us was my fear, but there was more than enough of that to keep us apart forever. Luckily, Bailey changed the subject, and we spent the rest of the car ride talking about the trip she and Kacey were going on to New York City the day after Christmas. Kacey had already told me about it and even invited me to come along, but I didn’t want to intrude on that special time for her and Bailey.
After pulling into my parents’ driveway, I asked Bailey to take Duke inside, then I walked over to Kacey’s car. I opened her door and leaned up against it. “Hey, you.”
Kacey looked up at me and I could tell the smile on her face matched the one on mine. We stayed like this for a minute, silently taking in the moment, happily lost in each other’s eyes. After she removed her seatbelt, I reached out my hand to help her out of the car, but didn’t drop it when she was standing beside me. Kacey smiled at our interlocked fingers, then smiled back at me. “So, how was your car ride?” she asked.
“Very interesting, actually,” I said with a chuckle.
Kacey lifted an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Do I even want to know?”
“Well, I hear that I make you very happy. Like Christmas morning level of happiness.”
A slight blush came onto Kacey’s face, and she shook her head slightly. “That’s a lot of happiness. Did Bailey tell you that?”
“Well, it wasn’t Duke, so I guess it must have been her.”
Kacey used the hand that wasn’t holding mine to playfully push me away, except she didn’t let go and immediately grabbed my coat to pull me back to her. I stumbled into her, laughing as our bodies collided softly, and Kacey leveled me by placing her hands on my hips. Her face became serious as she stared into my eyes, her own becoming darker as they studied mine. “She’s right, you know. You make me happier than I’ve ever been. You make me even happier now than you did in college, and that’s saying a lot.”
I sighed contently and wrapped my arms around her neck, resting my forehead against hers. “You make me happy too.”
And she really did. Christmas Eve with Kacey, Bailey, and my family was better than any holiday I could remember. We all talked and laughed as if no time had passed at all since the last time Kacey was with my family. When my dad read The Night Before Christmas, Kacey snuggled into me from one side, while Bailey cuddled close on the other side. I tried to ignore the pull on my heart as I thought about how right it all felt. The pulling continued as I followed Kacey and Bailey out to their car. I helped Bailey into the back then rested my hand on Kacey’s open door and looked between her and Bailey. “Tonight was wonderful. Thanks for coming.”
Kacey grabbed my hand, immediately intertwining her fingers with mine, a motion that had become second-nature to us at this point. “Thank you so much for including us. It was perfect.” She squeezed my hand one more time before dropping it.
I closed her door, then leaned up against my car to watch them pull away. I jumped when I heard someone laughing behind me and turned to see Kylie standing there. “You’ve got it bad, girl. I haven’t seen you like this in years.”
I shook my head. “It’s not like that,” I said, trying to convince myself just as much as I was trying to convince her at this point.
Kylie opened her mouth to say something, but I put my hand up to stop her. “Just drop it, okay?”
She put her hands in the air. “Hey, now. I was just going to ask if they were spending tomorrow with us too.”
“No. They have their own Christmas traditions. Plus, Bailey is off from school for the rest of the week, so they are going to New York for a few days. I think they get back on New Year’s Eve, but I probably won’t see them since I told Bo I would go to his party that night.”
“Speaking of which, Bo invited me to that. Do you mind having me tag along?”
“Someone’s gotta keep him entertained. God knows I can’t keep up with him.”
***
“What’s up, bitches?” Bo screamed as he opened the door for Kylie and me, a drink already present in the hand that wasn’t holding the door.
I groaned. “I’m too old for this.”
Bo gave me a look as he reached out to take my jacket. “You’re thirty-one. You’re not dead.”
I looked past him to the bottle of tequila sitting on his kitchen counter with four filled shot glasses beside it. “I very well might be by tomorrow.” I let my eyes search the house. “Is someone else here already?”
Right after I asked my question, I heard the toilet flush and watched Bo’s friend, Derek, saunter out. I hadn’t seen him in a while since he wasn’t able to make it to Friendsgiving, but I could tell from one look that his nickname of Douchey Derek was still very fitting. His short brown hair was spiked up with way too much gel and it took everything in me not to remind him that his hairstyle stopped being cool after 1995. He was wearing skinny jeans that were way too tight and had a shirt on that said I’m just here for the midnight kiss. I was pretty sure he had worn that shirt every year and had yet to get a kiss. Not for lack of trying, though. I shuddered just thinking about how many times he had hit on me and tried to convince me making out with him would magically change my sexual orientation.
I shuddered again as he wrapped an arm around my waist and wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Ready to have some fun tonight?”
I slipped out of his grip and walked over to the counter to grab a shot glass. If I had any hope of making it through this night, I was going to need plenty of alcohol. I held my shot glass in the air. “Let’s do this.”
It didn’t take long for me to develop a buzz that soon turned into a slurring, tripping, karaoke-singing level of drunkenness. Even though I was more drunk than I had been in a really long time, I still knew that keeping my phone with me wasn’t the smartest plan. Still, this didn’t stop me from slipping it out of my pocket a half hour before midnight to text Kacey. I missssssss you. How was New York? Bo and I just sang karaoke.