Page 57 of Holly Jolly Christmas

Is 2 okay?

I can come to your place.

Luke

I’ll see you then.

I started to set my phone down, then decided to type one more message.

Me

Luke?

The response came after a brief pause.

Luke

Yes?

I took a breath and typed slowly.

Me

I’m not running away.

I just had some things I needed to figure out.

Okay?

This response took even longer than before.

Luke

Okay.

I set the phone down and wrapped my hands around my mug of tea, feeling the warmth seep into my palms.

Tomorrow I’d tell him that I loved him.

Tomorrow I’d find out if we could build something real together—not based on an algorithm’s prediction, but on honesty and trust and the terrifying, exhilarating choice to be brave.

Tomorrow.

I arrivedat Luke’s front door at exactly 1:58 p.m. and tried to remember how to breathe.

I’d changed my outfit three times and practiced what I was going to say in the car on the drive over. I’d nearly turned around twice.

But I was here. I was doing this.

I raised my hand to knock, but the door opened before my knuckles could make contact.

Luke stood in the doorway looking exhausted, and my heart clenched at the sight of him. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was sticking up like he’d been running his hands through it. He was wearing the same MIT sweatshirt he’d thrown on yesterday before he dropped me off.

“Hi,” he said, his voice rough, his expression wary.

“Hi,” I managed around the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat.

We stood there for a moment, just looking at one another, and I could see the same fear I felt reflected in his expression. The terror that this might be ending before it had really begun.