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“To have your way with me or for soup?”
“Both. In any order.”
I let out a laugh. It was so tempting to reach out and pull him to me, but then I heard footsteps.
“So, now that I have you both, are we gonna talk about this?” We both whirled to see Nick was waiting in the doorframe.
“There’s nothing to talk about right now,” I said. “Let’s enjoy the party.”
“You two are getting along really well.” He crossed his arms.
“Do you think I can fight with someone who saved my life?” I patted Alden on the shoulder in what I hoped was a friendly way. “I owe him one.”
“You could have said thank you and not become ...” He gestured to us.
My hand slipped back to my side. What did he want to hear from us? That we were together? That we liked each other now?
And would saying that ruin the sliver of Christmas we had left?
“We’ll tell you the full story later,” Alden said. “Right now, we should focus on Stella’s favorite holiday.”
Nick raised an eyebrow. “I think we’re all a little curious how you went from hating each other to whatever this is.”
“And I’m wondering how you stay so annoying,” another voice said. “Yet here you are.”
I turned to see my best friend leaning against the doorway to the kitchen.
“Winnie?” I asked. “What are you doing here?”
Nick tensed and turned to her. “I didn’t know you’d be here so soon.”
“You told me to get here at four, dumbass.” She tapped the designer watch on her wrist. “Now go somewhere else. I need to catch up with my best friend.”
“Remind me why I invited you again?”
“Because you like your sister more than you dislike me.”
“Is this what we sounded like?” Alden asked.
“No,” I answered. “They have way more years of this than us.”
Winnie waved off a grumbling Nick and then turned to me once he’d left. Her lips set into a smile. “So, I hear you two caused quite the commotion.”
Alden sighed. “I don’t think I can do this again. I’m one wrong move away from fucking up Christmas.”
“I’ll fill her in. You go explain the ins and outs of fire making to my dad. He’d love to hear that.”
“Thank you,” Alden muttered as he made his escape. His hand brushed the small of my back as he walked off.
I turned to Winnie, tempted to hug her like I did with everyone else. But she wasn’t a hugger. In fact, I hadn’t seen her touch the people she dated, much less her friends.
“So, what happened between the two of you? Last I checked, you were supposed to survive—not come back with the life back in your eyes.”
“Are you complaining?”
“Fuck no, but I need the story.”
I took her to the guest room and shut and locked the door. With how hard Nick was asking questions, I didn’t need him barging in while I was explaining.