The Doctor Who Has No Closure (Soulless 10)

That was all it took for my mom to fall deeply and obsessively in love with him. She had this look in her eyes, like this man would be my husband if it was the last thing she ever did. Then she shifted her look to me and grinned, almost evilly.

Oh fuck.

“You made this?” Dex asked.

“From scratch,” Mom said proudly. “Sicily helped as well.”

Dex turned to me. “So, you’re the best assistant in the world, and you can make pie? What can’t you do?”

That was the sort of thing that made this so difficult for me, to be around a man who was so unbelievably perfect and he legitimately had no idea how perfect he was. He was so down-to-earth, so humble, so…special. “I can’t fix hearts. I know that much.”

He chuckled then put his empty plate on a nearby table. “Come along, I’ll introduce you guys.” He took us around and introduced my parents to his parents, who both had red cheeks from the wine and pure joy in their eyes, surrounded by their family. He moved to his brother and sister next, and his uncle Tucker along with his wife and two kids and grandkids. My parents and his parents ended up talking near the tree, hitting it off even though I was certain they had nothing in common.

“Girl, you look hot.” Daisy came up to me and gave me a big hug. “Where did you get this ensemble?”

“Chanel,” I answered, feeling a lot more confident about myself now that I could afford designer clothing. Sometimes it was exhausting wearing heels all the time, looking impeccable when my appearance shouldn’t matter, but I wanted to represent Dex in the most powerful way possible. I didn’t need to dress that way tonight, but…I wanted to look nice. “Thank you.”

She gently touched a curled strand of hair. “But you could walk in here in sweatpants and still kill it.”

I chuckled. “Thanks. Did you bring Mason?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. We aren’t there yet. Like, not even close.” She turned to watch my parents talk to hers. “Your parents seem nice.”

“Yeah, they’re cool.” When my mother wasn’t desperately trying to set me up with someone, like my freakin’ boss. “They seem to really like Dex.”

“No surprise there,” she said. “Everyone loves Dex.”

Yes, they do. “Dex loved my mother’s pie, so I think she’s obsessed now.”

“Pie is his favorite. He and I have had a pie-eating contest before.”

“You?” I raised my eyebrow.

“Yes, I ran for a week straight afterward.”

I chuckled. “I was wondering…”

“And he won, by the way.”

“I jumped to that conclusion on my own.”

When Dex came back over, he had another slice of pie on a plate. “Seriously, this pie is the bomb.”

“The bomb?” I asked with a chuckle. “Are you drunk?”

“On holiday cheer, maybe.” He sliced his fork into the crust and scooped it into his mouth. “It’s fresh out of the oven, so it’s never going to be better than it is now, and it’s Christmas, so…I really don’t give a fuck. I’ll hit the weights next week.”

That man could eat an entire pie in one sitting, and he wouldn’t look any different.

“So, how’s your Christmas break, then?” he asked, still eating.

Daisy silently excused herself and mingled with somebody else.

“Good,” I said. “I’ve been spending time with my parents, which is nice. My brother is coming to visit tomorrow.”

“Cool.”

“What about you?”

“I was pretty anxious about work, but it’s been nice spending time with family. We went skiing yesterday, and then when we got back, we had a snowball fight. Dad kicked my ass, like always. He’s old as shit, but damn, he moves fast.”

“Your dad is not old.”

“That guy over there?” He nodded to his father, who wore a maroon sweater with his arm around Cleo, looking not a day over forty. “That’s an old man.”

“Well, if that’s old, then I have no problem aging. Your dad looks unbelievable.”

He laughed, like he was just giving his dad shit even if he wasn’t around. “Anyway, it’s been good. I haven’t had much of a life for the past month, so it’s nice to do something other than cut people open.” He finished off his pie and set the plate down. “But if I keep eating like this, I’ll have to cut myself open.”

“If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

He shook his head, a handsome grin on his face. “You give me waaaaaay too much credit.”

My response came tumbling out without a filter. “And you never give yourself enough.”

8

Dex

I forgot how much I loved Christmas.

Last year had been so shitty, freshly divorced after my wife packed her shit and left. I didn’t want to spend the holidays with my family, but they forced me, and I pretty much just sat on a couch all night and drank all the wine. It was a bit of a blur, can’t remember much, other than the fact that it sucked.