The worst part? I didn’t even know what I was mad about anymore. The kiss? The fact that he’d left after it? Or that I wanted him to stay even when I’d practically shoved him out the door with emotions?
By the time we reached the edge of the square, Lydia stopped abruptly in front of the wreath-decorating booth and turned to me, hands on her hips.
“All right,” she said. “Enough is enough.”
I blinked. “Enough what?”
“Enough of the pouting.”
“I’m not pouting.”
She arched a brow. “You’re literally sulking in front of a table of holly berries.”
“I’m… reflecting.”
“Uh-huh,” she said. “And I’m a reindeer.”
I sighed, crossing my arms. “Fine. Maybe I’m fretting a little.”
“Alittle?You’ve had the same storm cloud hovering over your head since the coffee shop.”
“Can we not do this here?” I said, lowering my voice. “Half the town’s within earshot.”
“Good,” she said, grabbing two candy canes from a nearby vendor and handing one to me. “You need sugar. And sense.”
I frowned. “Sense?”
“MelanieSauser,” she said, “what are you so afraid of if you fall for Drew?”
My head snapped up. “What—”
“Oh, don’t you ‘what’ me,” she said, waving the candy cane like a sword. “You’ve been circling that man for months. You kiss him, panic, drink an entire bottle of wine, and now you’re walking around like love personally offended you.”
I groaned. “Lydia.”
“No,” she said firmly. “You’re going to listen.”
I stared at her. She stared back. The pregnant woman had her hands on her hips, and honestly, she looked ready to take on an entire army of emotional idiots.
“Look,” I said, softening. “It’s not that simple.”
“Itisthat simple,” she said. “You’re scared. And I get it. Falling in love is terrifying. But you need to stop pretending this is about logistics.”
“Logisticsmatter,” I said, exasperated. “He lives here. I live in Seattle. He runs a bar. I work in a classroom, but my life, myeverything, is there.”
“So what?” she asked, her voice rising a little. “So you have to live in the same town as your best friend? Have to give up overpriced lattes and sirens at midnight? So you don’t trip over tents on the sidewalk on your way to work? Sounds awful.”
I laughed despite myself. “You’re hard to fathom.”
“Still sounds like a compliment,” she said, smirking, and I groaned because, of course, she’d borrowed his line.
Her face softened. “Mel, listen to me. You’ve spent so long chasing what you thought you wanted that you don’t even noticewhen something real walks right up and sits across from you. Drew’s not perfect. God knows he’s stubborn and flirty and occasionally smells like whiskey and trouble, but he’s good. And he’s yours, if you want him.”
My throat tightened. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It’s not,” she said, quiet now. “It’s messy. But you know what else it is? Worth it.”
I stared at the snow at our feet, at the way it glittered under the afternoon light. “You sound like a Christmas card.”
