Page 51 of You Make It Feel like Christmas

N ICK HUNG UP THE phone, hating that Maisie sounded so sad.

They’d played phone tag since he’d told her he wouldn’t be back in town because of a commercial shoot.

Now, it’d been nine days since he’d seen her or held her or kissed the hell out of her.

He fucking missed her but he had to believe he was making the right choices and it would be worth it in the end.

Still, he didn’t like the brevity of her texts or how she wasn’t phoning him back, instead sending messages straight through to his voicemail.

In the last one she said she was just tired and would see him when he got back.

He hated the sadness in her tone. Even more because he knew he was the reason.

His chest felt tight but he reminded himself it was just a few more hours.

“You okay, man?” Will clapped him on the shoulder and then stood beside him in the great room.

And it really was a great room. “Yeah. I’m doubting my decision to not go straight to her the other day when I landed.

When I left, I told her I’d be back in three days.

Then I had to extend it to wrap shit up.

She thinks I’m still in California. I have to believe she knows we’re solid, that I meant every word I said to her and we can handle a few extra days.

” Though, he was silently vowing to both of them, right this second, that they’d never spend this many days apart in a row ever again.

It was too much. But, hopefully, it’d be worth it.

“You’re so lovesick, I want to make fun of you, but it’s almost sad,” Ethan said with a grin as he walked back inside from the deck off the room.

The deck that looked out onto the Puget Sound. Maisie was going to love this house.

“You’ll get your turn,” Will said to his buddy, folding his arms over his chest as he turned in a slow circle. “This house is fantastic. She’s going to love it, Nick. Did she agree to come check it out tonight?”

When he found the house five days ago, through his real estate agent, it’d seemed too good to be true.

Five bedrooms, two stories, a view of the water without being directly on it.

He’d done a virtual tour and could picture building a life with Maisie inside these walls.

He’d done everything he could to push the deal through as quick as he could and even though the paperwork wasn’t final yet, it was his.

Theirs. But he’d pushed back their reunion a few days so the first time he saw her, it’d be here, in this house where they were going to start their forever.

“She’ll be here,” Nick said. “Hopefully not completely pissed at me. I hate that she’s leaving messages instead of just calling and she sounded so sad in that one.”

“Then you two are perfect for each other,” Ethan said, running his hand along the mantel. The white stone fireplace went all the way up the wall to the high ceiling.

“You know I don’t need gear or skates on to jersey you, right?” Nick asked, smiling when Will laughed.

“Don’t let Ethan fool you. He’s secretly pining to find a woman who will put up with him the way we have.”

Nick nodded. “We are definitely the lucky ones in the equation.”

“Says you,” Ethan said. “I like being single.”

Will muttered, “You’ll see,” under his breath again, making Nick smile.

Now that he knew it was impossible to predict when you’d be the one to fall, it was easier to smile.

“The house next door is for sale,” Nick said.

Will laughed, his shoes soundless on the dark laminate flooring that made the room even brighter than all the windows.

“You and Lexi could move there and I can move into your place,” Ethan said.

“One step at a time. Let’s get these two settled,” Will said.

Nick could see why he was so good at his job.

He was focused and driven and had an organizational bent that rivaled Ellie’s.

When he’d reached out to Will, asking if he’d check out the house and give him honest feedback on the property and neighborhood, Will not only agreed but didn’t tell Lexi, so there was no chance of the surprise being ruined.

“I need to get ready for tonight,” Nick said, looking at his two new friends.

“It’s time to bring in Lexi and my sisters,” Will said.

Nick hesitated. He wasn’t used to having a couple people at his back, never mind a whole group. It’d been him and Ellie, and sometimes Colt, for so long.

“Trust him,” Ethan said, looking up from his phone. “You want tonight to go perfectly, you bring in the experts. Lexi doesn’t have Maisie’s creative flair but Will’s sisters do. Combine that with Lexi’s knowledge of her best friend and it’ll set the perfect stage.”

“Come to think of it,” Will said, stepping toward Ethan. “This guy is pretty good at setting a romantic stage himself. He and Maisie were instrumental in setting up Side Tap when I was determined to get Lexi back.”

“Sometime soon, I want that whole story,” Nick said.

“Soon. Just not tonight. Call in the backups.”

H OURS LATER, N ICK PACED the foyer, unsure when he’d last been this nervous.

The irony hit him hard, stopping him in his tracks.

It’d been less than three weeks ago that the woman tying him up in knots right this moment had talked him down.

Hell, she hadn’t even had to speak. Just seeing her had untangled everything inside of him and made it work properly.

His phone rang and part of him was scared to look, scared to see if it was Maisie saying she didn’t really want to go look at a house without him.

It was Ellie.

“Hey,” he said.

“You okay?”

She’d been another rock for him and he was so happy he was going to be closer to her and Asher.

“Just waiting for her to show up.” He glanced out the window beside the door. The driveway was still clear.

Will had picked him up at the airport.

“I’m so happy for you. And now you’re close enough that Asher can come stay with you for a while. Like practice for when you and Maisie—”

A strange sound left his throat, stopping his sister’s words. “Can I get through this first, please?”

Ellie giggled. “You’ve got this, Nicky.”

He smiled. “It’s okay to grow out of being a brat, you know.”

“Don’t count on it, big brother.”

Nick heard a vehicle pull up to the house. “She’s here. I gotta go.”

“Yay! Good luck! Not that you’ll need it.”

Nick stuffed his phone in his pocket. He’d told Maisie the real estate agent would meet her at the house to show her around, asked her to FaceTime him when she arrived so they could see the house sort of together.

Maisie knocked and Nick’s heart lurched.

Time to open the door on the next chapter.