I sighed. “Let’s eat.”
For saying he wasn’t much of a cook, Giles’s pancakes and bacon were delicious. We all scarfed down our plates in record time.
Johnny had brought me an old phone to use, which I thanked him profusely for.
“Oh, and we had an idea for the lounge,” Erin said as she grabbed everyone’s plates and started to rinse them in the sink. “Since Thanksgiving is next week, we were thinking we could do a local’s night for anyone that can make it. Everyone from town can come and see the place. Of course, any guests we have staying can come too. But it should be a fun practice run.”
“That sounds great,” I said absentmindedly.
Time had completely started to slip away from me here. I hadn’t even realized it was already almost Thanksgiving. This would be my first ever holiday away from home. A pang of homesickness hit my heart.
Giles eyed me and cleared his throat. “Hey, thanks for coming over, but I think Mattie should probably rest.”
“Of course, man.” Johnny stood up. “We’ll see you soon. And Mattie, I’m sorry again.”
“Nothing to be sorry for.” I smiled and gave them both a hug as they headed out of the kitchen. I breathed a sigh of relief when the door to the front of the house shut.
“Social battery a little lower than usual?” Giles asked.
“Definitely. Plus I…”
“What?” He encouraged me to continue when I trailed off.
“I forgot it was Thanksgiving next week.” I shrugged. “Just feeling a little homesick, I guess.”
He nodded. “Is this the longest you’ve ever gone without seeing your family?”
“My parents, yes. My sister lives in a different city, so we’ve gone months without seeing each other before. But we’ve always been together for every big holiday.”
“Do you wish you were going back?”
I thought about this for a moment before shaking my head. “Not really. I’m pretty happy being here.”
He walked over and kissed my forehead. “I’m pretty happy you’re here too.”
I could get used to this.
“When do you have to work today?” I asked him as he continued to clean up.
“I took the day off.”
“Giles, you do not have to do that for me, okay? I’m fine.”
“Maybe I just wanted an excuse to spend more time with you.”
I bit my lip to hide the grin that was threatening to break out on my face. Had I ever felt this giddy with Garrett? It was hard to imagine.
We spent the rest of the day playing games, eating leftover takeout, and being completely housebound. Giles wasn’t just good at snowboarding or darts. It seemed he had a knack for anything competitive since he completely smoked me in everything we played.
“This isn’t even fun,” I said after losing five games of rummy in a row. “You’re merciless.”
“What? Do you want me to just let you win?” he teased.
“Kind of, yeah.”
“Don’t be a sore loser.” He laid down the remainder of his cards revealing that he had crushed me again. “Want to play something else?”
I refused to lose at another game, so I finally convinced him to watch a movie instead. We snuggled up on the couch. Sighing, I felt a wave of happiness settle over me. I was so comfortable in his arms that my eyes quickly drifted closed.
