Page 45 of Snowflakes and Ice Skates

“Thanks! I’m so excited about this. I’m usually in bed by ten on New Year’s. I can’t remember the last time I stayed up for it, let alone went to a party.”

I smiled as a few heads popped up.

“There’s a party?” asked a guy with black-rimmed glasses and a New York Yankees’ hat. He sat across from Milly, so he was already facing us.

I hesitated, not knowing if it would be okay to invite more people to Cora’s home, but I decided it would be rude to exclude him. Who knew, maybe we’d all end up being friends.

“Yeah.” I reached forward, handing him an invitation. “I’m hosting it with my friend Cora from the marketing department.”

He elbowed the guy next to him. “New Year’s party?”

The other guy, who had thick red hair, glanced at me with a smile before nodding. “Sounds cool.”

I smiled and tried to retreat before I ended up inviting the entire floor.

“Yeah, I hope you guys can make it.” I glanced up at Lane, who smiled and nodded, his golden-brown eyes lighting up.

I bit my lip. The death walk earlier was worth it to see him smile at me like this. I knew I was blushing and I tried to duck my head and pass him, but he caught my arm.

“Are you going to be downstairs for lunch?”

I hadn’t planned on it, but if he was going to be, nothing that could prevent me from going down too.

“Um, maybe?”

“I hope so.”

My heart nearly burst. I nodded. “I’ll see you later.”

He smiled, and I memorized it before turning and hurrying back to the safety of the elevators. Once I was inside, I did a mini cheer and dance before composing myself again as the doors opened on my floor.

Six

“Did you invite your roommate?” Cora held up a ‘Cheers to New Years’ sign, and I put it into the cart. We were picking out decorations for the party at a store near the office. Since we had to set up the next day after work, we’d decided to do all the shopping tonight.

“Yeah, she said she and her boyfriend will try to make it.”

Cora laughed. “So that’s a no?”

I sighed. “Most likely. I know that we’re just roommates, not friends, but it would be nice if we were.”

“I’ve lived with people like her. She and her boyfriend are getting serious, and she’s probably hoping they move in together soon. It’s not that she doesn’t want to be friends, she’s just focusing on the next stage of her life.”

“You’re right. I’m sure if I’d moved in before she met him we would have been friends.”

Cora nodded and held up a gold paper pom-pom. “Too much?”

I shook my head. “No, it will be cute to hang from the ceiling.”

“Do you know what you’re planning on doing if she decides to move out?”

I put a few more pom-poms into the cart. “Not really. The lease is under her name, so I’ll probably have to find somewhere else.”

“Well, I have an extra bedroom…”

She trailed off, and I turned to her. “What happened to crazy Irene?”

Cora rolled her eyes. “She decided she wanted to go back home.”