The Gingerbread Bakery (Dream Harbor, #5)(29)

‘Right, yeah, that’s a good idea.’ But neither of them was in a hurry to leave the protection of the tent. They sat pressed against each other. The warmth of Annie’s thigh against his took up all of his attention. He barely heard the man crooning ‘Blue Christmas’ or noticed when the families traipsed back outside. They were alone in their own little corner of the tent, and it felt like how the past few days had felt, like he and Annie were the only two people that mattered.

Eventually, Annie shifted next to him as she finished her cocoa. She turned to face him on the bench and Mac thought maybe now was his moment.

‘I have to ask you something,’ she said.

‘Okay, anything.’

He leaned in a little closer and took Annie’s glance down at his mouth to be a promising sign.

‘I just…’ She started and then shook her head like she was being silly. ‘I just…’

‘You just what?’

Annie’s cheeks flushed pink. ‘I was just wondering if you had ever woken up next to a girl before? I mean it was new for me, and I felt awkward about the whole thing, and I was just wondering if you felt the same.’ She shook her head again, clearly embarrassed by the whole situation. ‘Sorry, it probably doesn’t matter. I don’t know why I said anything.’

‘There's been a few girls…’ he started.

‘Right. Of course. Of course there has been. I shouldn’t have asked.’

‘No. No, I mean, I dated some girls, but I’ve never stayed up half the night talking to any of them.’

‘Oh.’

He couldn't help but grin at the way her cheeks reddened even more at that. ‘And I liked waking up next to you.’ He leaned in even closer.

‘You did?’

‘Of course I did. What's not to like?’

‘I don’t know, I thought maybe you found the whole thing weird, especially when I was clinging on to you. I want you to know that I totally understand what this is, and I get it. You're leaving soon and this is just…’ Her voice trailed off.

‘This is just what?’

‘This just isn’t a thing. We’re not a thing. I didn’t want you to think I was getting weird romantic ideas about us.’

Mac smirked. ‘Romantic ideas?’

‘Oh God.’ Annie put a hand over her face. ‘I made it worse, didn’t I?’

He took her wrist and gently pulled her hand away. He smiled at her. ‘You didn’t make it worse. And you might not be getting romantic ideas about us, but who says I’m not?’

Annie’s eyes widened in surprise.

Now was definitely his chance and he wasn’t going to blow it. He leaned in close enough to hear Annie's breath hitch. Her blue eyes were bright with anticipation. He reached out and tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers brush along her pink cheek and there was that little sigh he'd been hoping for.

‘Annie, I—’

‘Sullivan! Sullivan, is that you?’

The booming voice of one of his former teammates crashed through the tent.

Mac winced, squeezing his eyes shut as though he could block out the voice and the person and the whole disastrous moment, but Sean wasn't having it. He headed straight for them, completely oblivious to the fact that he was destroying Mac’s entire life. Or at least that was how it felt to Mac.

Annie had straightened and moved away from him on the bench so quickly that, by the time Mac opened his eyes, she was already practically at another table.

Damn it.

‘Hey, man, what are you doing here?’ Mac tried his best to sound friendly and not like he wanted to murder his old buddy. In fact, if this had happened a week ago, he would have been thrilled to see somebody back in town. But right now, he wanted nothing more than for Sean to disappear. He glanced over at Annie who was pretending to be very interested in the musical performance and wouldn’t meet his gaze.

‘You know me, I’m here for the food.’ Sean held up a bag of kettle corn and a box of chocolate fudge. He was a big guy, known by everyone on the team as someone who’s real joy in life was eating. Mac’s mother, as someone who’s real joy in life was feeding people, absolutely loved it when he came over. Sean devoured everything she made. Mac couldn’t help but laugh, seeing the man now piled high with Christmas snacks.

‘Glad to hear you haven’t changed.’

‘Not a bit.’ Sean grinned. ‘What about you?’

‘Christmas shopping.’

Sean’s attention skittered over to where Annie was picking at the edges of her paper cocoa cup. Mac didn't know why, but he felt reluctant to draw attention to the fact that he was here with Annie. Not that he was ashamed of it or anything, but there was something unsettling about seeing these two together. It was like Sean was reminding him of who he had been in high school and that Mac never would have been this close to kissing Annie. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be reminded of that guy, especially not right now.

Mac cleared his throat. ‘You know Annie. She was … uh … helping me.’

Annie looked up and gave Sean a terse smile. Sean looked confused like he had never seen her before in his life, but he politely smiled back.

‘We had Biology together,’ Annie reminded him.