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“Pass this tray of appetizers around, will you, dear?” she asks as she hands me the spinach dip with a bowl of nachos. “I love that dress. How are you still single?”
“Mandy is very mature when it comes to her taste in guys,” Christine says with a smirk as she picks a nacho from my bowl.
“I’m sure there’s lots of mature boys in college to pick from,” Mrs. Hearst says as she takes a tray of spanakopitas out of the oven.
“Don’t harass her and twist her arm, Mom,” Christine says as she reaches for the spinach dip, “or she might say uncle.”
I yank the bowl away from her before she can dip her chip. She laughs as I stick my tongue out and hurry out of the kitchen.
I make my way around the crowded room, chatting lightly with everyone as I offer them chips and dip.
“Mandy,” Christine’s older cousin Randy says with a pervy grin as he looks me up and down. “Haven’t seen you in a while. You’re all grown up.”
“So, are you,” I say as I glance down at his huge bulging stomach. He was always the most annoying of her cousins. When he wasn’t wiping his nose on the couch or kicking someone, he was usually ruining whatever game we were playing by cheating and taking temper tantrums.
He grabs an empty wine glass from the counter and fills it halfway with a bottle of red (that I’m sure he didn’t bring).
“I hear you’re going to college,” he says. “Isn’t that cute?”
“And I hear you’re still unemployed. That’s cute too.” He got fired from his last job at a gas station because he took a temper tantrum and flipped over the gum display. Classic Randy.
The door opens again and I whip my head around, hoping it’s Ethan.
This time, I’m not disappointed. At all.
My lifelong crush walks in wearing a long gray coat with a dark red scarf wrapped tightly around his neck. There’s an expensive-looking bottle of wine in his hands, and an image of the two of us sitting in front of a roaring fireplace as he opens a similar bottle flashes into my head.
I clear my throat and shake the fantasy out of my mind. I don’t want to miss any of this. He’s dusted with light snow from his big arms, to his shoulders, to his medium-length hair that’s looking grayer than the last time I saw him.
“Hold this,” I say as I shove the two bowls into Randy’s chest. He balances them awkwardly in his arms as he stares at me in shock. I grab the glass of wine from his hand and chug the entire thing as I stare at Ethan over the rim.
It warms my body and soothes the nervous jitters I’m feeling as my Christmas dream comes true.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” Randy asks.
“Eat it. I don’t care,” I answer as I walk along the wall with my eyes on Ethan like I’m stalking him.
Christine’s dad greets him at the door and takes his coat. My eyes are locked on him as he peels off his scarf, revealing his thick neck with the sexy black and gray tattoo running up the side. I already know that it goes all the way over his right shoulder and halfway down his arm. I’ve fantasized about that tattoo for way too many hours. I’ve had conversations with it in my mind.
I take a breath of relief when Mr. Hearst closes the door behind him. He didn’t bring a girl. He’s single too.
“Hey, Mandy,” Jeannie, a friend from high school says. “Did you hear that I’m pregnant?”
“That’s great,” I mumble as I keep moving. I don’t want anything to ruin this moment. I have a clear view of Ethan getting partially undressed and I’m not going to spoil it because Jeannie got herself knocked up.
He was always a great dresser. Always in style, or even a little ahead of the current trends.
Tonight, he’s wearing dark jeans and a sexy tweed blazer that molds to his beautiful muscular frame. Under that, he’s wearing a white collared shirt with a tight navy blue sweater over it. Under all that is hard carved muscles covered in sexy ink.
“Mandy!” Christine’s neighbor says, making me jump so high I nearly get airborne. He laughs. “A little jumpy there, are we?”
“Hi, Mr. Rhodes. It’s nice to see you again.”
I try to be polite, but my eyes keep darting over to Ethan as he works his way through the crowd, saying hi to everyone and flashing that knee-weakening smile.
“I haven’t seen you around lately.”
“College,” I say with a smile. “I’m just back for the Holidays.”
I always liked Mr. & Mrs. Rhodes. They gave out full-length chocolate bars on Halloween and never minded us climbing their fence whenever we kicked a ball or hit a badminton birdie over it.
