How My Brother's Best Friend Stole Christmas

“That it’s wireless?”

“That I’m not going to need it,” I told her. “I’m never playing another game with you from the other side of the world. I’m never going to have to message you. Or wait for you to wake up. Every game now, I’m on that beanbag, right next to yours. You can trash talk me to my face.”

“You talking about moving in?” she asked, and I paused.

“I wasn’t trying to jump ahead—”

“Let’s go get your stuff,” she said.

“In a minute,” I said, kissing my way down to those red socks I loved so much.

20

Sophie

“You do not need to be nervous,” I told him as we stood on the sidewalk in front of Wes’s townhouse. Wes and Penny’s townhouse.

“I’m not.”

There was a wreath on the door. That was new. I sniffed it. Real pine with a pretty red bow. Penny’s touch. My brother wouldn’t know a wreath from a wrecking ball.

“Can we go in?” Sam asked.

“Sure.” But I didn’t step forward and Sam, sweet Sam, just stood beside me in the cold.

“You don’t need to be nervous either,” he told me.

“Wes said he invited your mom and my mom. How can you not be nervous?”

“It’s a party. Lots of people go to parties.”

“We hate parties,” I grumbled. This party was just supposed to be small. Steak and booze and people I loved. “What if my mom says something mean to your mom?”

“She won’t.”

“Have you met my mom?”

He laughed, but it didn’t make me feel better.

Behind us an Uber pulled up, opened, and W.B. got out of the back seat and ran around the car to open the door for Joy to hop out. Joy said something that made him laugh, and then she leaned forward and kissed W.B. square on the mouth.

“Ah-ha!” I shouted. “I knew it.”

“Knew what?” Sam asked.

“Them. You!” I turned as Joy and W.B. came to stand with us. “I knew you had a thing for him.”

“I suppose did.” Joy smiled. “Maybe a little.”

“Is there something wrong with the door?” W.B. asked. “Or are we standing in line?”

“And Sam?” Joy asked me in a low voice. “ You never did tell me what happened at the holiday party.”

“The…ah…makeover worked,” I said.

“The makeover was bullshit,” she said. “It was all you being you.”

I leaned back, holding her by the shoulders. “Happy New Year,” I said to her, this fun new friend.

She laughed. “We’re off to a pretty great start.”

“Can we go in?” W.B. asked. “Or is there a problem with the door?”

“Come on,” Sam said, taking the bull by the horns and pushing open the front door. “Hey!” he cried as Wes stuck his head around it.

“Penny!” Wes yelled over his shoulder. “They’re done standing around outside.”

Penny stepped into the foyer, pushing her glasses up higher on her nose and smiling… no, beaming at all of them. “Hi! Happy New Year!”

There was the kicking off of snow and hanging up of coats. Penny shuffled us into the kitchen. It was a sleek modern kitchen that had cupboards with no handles and stainless steel appliances. I always thought it looked cold but with Wes standing there smiling so hard, I realized that the cabinets were actually a warm brown and the lighting was nice and soft and anyplace looked better when the people inside of it were in love.

Penny took down champagne glasses that I’d never seen before in Wes’s house while my brother popped a bottle of the good stuff. “Is Mom here?” I asked him as he poured and I handed full glasses to W.B. and Joy.

“Not yet.”

“She’s coming?”

He shrugged.

“Is this a joke?” I asked.

“It’s a party,” he said. “Try and relax.” He poured the last of the champagne into my glass and then tossed his arm around my shoulder. “I’d like to make a toast,” he said and we all lifted our glasses.

But then my brother, who was never at a loss for words looked over at Penny and was silent.

And then, to my surprise, it looked like my brother got tears in his eyes. Oh Lord, this is gonna be a weird night.

“To love,” he finally said and Penny beamed.

“And surprises,” Joy added.

“And friendship,” Sam said and tears were suddenly hot in my eyes. We all clinked glasses.

“Come on, dig in!” Penny said and pulled out little plates – something else I’d never seen and we all dug into the big, gorgeous cheese tray on the island. Wes refilled our glasses and got Sam a beer and then…within minutes it was a party. It was all my friends. All this love. Sam was laughing at something Wes said, and Penny was telling us the story of how Wes actually proposed, for real—in, of all places, a divorce lawyer’s office. And I felt myself losing my worry about the one thing that might ruin all this fun - my mom.