“What are you thinking?” Cal asks, as if he can sense what’s on my mind.
“That I wish I’d been put in Ms. Corbel’s English class instead of yours,” I answer honestly.
At that, he frowns. “Why?”
Isn’t it obvious? Because then I’d never have met him. I might’ve passed by his classroom or spotted him in the halls, but we would have never interacted. He would have never noticed me. Would never have had access to my body or my heart.
I don’t answer, I just push with my toe and glide across the ice. It’s much easier with him holding my hands like this, but now that I’ve noticed he’s not wearing gloves, I’m a little worried about how long we’ve been out in the cold.
We skate a little while longer, but the snow starts falling harder and as the majority of other people decide to stop skating, we do, too.
Cal moves off the ice first so he can help me. I appreciate his gallantry, especially because he’s more attentive to my mood tonight than usual and I’m not sure why. He didn’t care at all about hurting my feelings last night when my heart was wide open, so why should he care if I wish I’d never enrolled in his class to begin with?
We return our skates and put our shoes back on, then we overhear the event organizers talking about closing up early tonight due to the worsening weather.
Cal checks his watch, then tells me, “I think we’ll have to find somewhere else to pass the time until the car is ready. Want to walk over and look at the tree before the festival shuts down?”
I do, so we make our way along the snowy sidewalk to the enormous Christmas tree set up beyond the rink. It’s lit with oversized lights and decorated with ornaments the size of my head. The falling snow catches on the branches. It’s coming down harder now, but it still looks magical. I can’t look up for long, though, because the snow gets in my eyes.
Putting his hand at the small of my back to lead me away again, Cal walks me over to another display that seems quite popular. I’ve seen a lot of couples over here posing in front of Santa’s sleigh, mostly in kissing poses. It struck me as odd, since Santa’s sleigh doesn’t put me in the mind of kissing, but as we stop near the light post to have a look, I realize why.
Hanging over us on a string of Christmas lights, there’s a sprig of mistletoe. Cal hasn’t noticed. He has his phone out, studying the screen.
“I think I just figured out why all those couples were making out in front of Santa’s reindeer,” I tell him.
Shifting his gaze to me, he asks, “Why’s that?”
I point up.
Cal tips his head back and spots the mistletoe hanging directly above us. “Ah. Yep, that’ll do it.”
A bit self-conscious now that I pointed it out, I try to make a joke. “Well, I guess you have to kiss me now.”
Cal’s lips curve up in amusement as he slides his gaze me way. “I don’t have to do anything.”
I hate that he still has enough power over me to rock my insides with his rejection when I was only kidding to begin with, but my stomach knots up, proving he does. “I wasn’t serious. I don’t want you to kiss me.”
He cocks an eyebrow, sliding his cell phone into the pocket of his coat. “No?”
“Definitely not. You probably have coffee breath. Gross,” I say, turning and preparing to walk away.
Before I make it more than a single step, Cal’s firm grip on my arm halts me. He spins me around before I even fully digest that he grabbed me to stop me walking away, and before any of that can register, he’s yanking me in cl
ose, still holding my arm to keep me in place.
Startled, I look up at him. “What are you—?”
I don’t get to finish my question, shock stealing my words. Cal’s hand comes up to caress the side of my face. His hand is cold, but so is my skin, so I barely notice.
He pulls me closer. I stumble a step, crashing into his hard body, and instinctively grab on to his shoulder to brace myself. “What are you doing?” I ask more quietly.
“Making a liar out of you,” he says simply.
Chapter Thirteen
Noelle
Cal’s words don’t have time to penetrate my sense of understanding, so I’m not at all prepared for him to lean down and press his mouth against mine.