Page 45 of Snow Globe Secrets

“Mom could take it or leave it, I think, but she wants him to be happy. I love summer evenings when she’s in town, and we’re at the bar; whether we’re hanging out or helping out, she just beams at my dad to see him in his element.”

“It must have been hard, Steph being away so much?” I asked, and he shrugged.

“She wasn’t always gone, and she worked hard to be there for the important things, big games or school performances, but Dad was definitely the primary. He took care of me. Came on every field trip, coached me in soccer when I was a kid, and was team mom when I played in high school.”

I scoffed, and Austin looked up at me. “Yeah, we never bothered to call it anything but team mom, but he volunteered to help out. Was at every game.”

“He sounds like a good dad.”

Austin sat up a bit and tapped me on the chest. “That’s why I was so surprised when he called me last week and told me he wasn’t coming to pick me up. He always comes to pick me up.”

“You don’t have a car?”

“Nah, I hate the drive, and dad loves it, so I’ve avoided bringing my car up here. Dad keeps threatening to sell it. I’ll probably bring it up next year.” He shrugged. “I won’t have as much time when I’m in med school to walk everywhere.”

“Makes sense. So why didn’t Marty come this time?”

Austin buried his head so deep in the crook of my arm that his breath tickled my armpit when he spoke. I could barely hear him. I was also oddly turned on by the sensation.

I think he mumbled, “I probably shouldn’t have said that,” but I stiffened as he said it, and his head popped back up. He looked so adorable and a little lost because of my change in body language, I presumed.

I couldn’t help but draw him toward me and kiss the shit out of him, mumbling the word, “Tickles,” as I did so. We both relaxed substantially.

We ended up on our sides, arms and legs entangled, his member stiffening against my leg. I reached my hand down to wrap around it, but he swatted it away.

“Don’t worry about that,” he said as he guided my arm back around his waist. “It’s fine.”

He ignored my “are you sure” look and returned to the topic at hand with a sigh. “I think my parents used you giving me a ride as an excuse to make you come visit for the holidays.” He looked at me as he said it but dropped his head to the pillow and closed his eyes after he had.

I’d had my suspicions.

“Oh, well. I guess I would have been alone otherwise.” I squeezed my hand at his waist to get him to look at me. “And now I’m not.”

His smile lit up the dark room once again. “And now you’re not.”

We kissed some more and talked some more and eventually, we faded in each other's arms.

I awoke first and headed down to make breakfast, taking a moment to inventory all the food that remained in my refrigerator. Most of it would keep, but I found a cooler and tossed a few ice packs in so we could take perishables with us.

Austin came down a few minutes later. I spoke before I turned to him, busy whisking eggs. “I hope I didn’t wake you. I may need to rethink this open-loft concept.” I turned then to see that he had my balled-up sheets in his hand.

I don’t think my face hid my surprise or my disappointment as I took him in.

He was all smiles. “I thought I’d start a wash. Figured you’d want to come home to crisp, clean sheets.” I tried to quickly plaster on a smile. I was about to thank him, but he spoke first. “Did I do the wrong thing? You seem decidedly un-chuffed right now.”

I was amazed at his perception. The thought of someone knowing me so well was somewhat scary. The thought of someone knowing me so well so quickly seemed remarkable. The thought of him knowing me so well was absolutely thrilling. How had my life become such confusion and contradiction in such a short time? How had I gotten so turned around by the man before me?

Since it felt like he could see right through me, I figured there was nothing for it but the truth. I laughed at the phrase “un-chuffed” and came to stand before him.

“No, you’re right. The last thing I did was wash those sheets and make the bed right before I came to pick you up.” Seeing him for the first time at the bus station felt like a lifetime ago. I sought out my feelings. “I think, maybe, the thought of coming home to sheets that smell like you would be nice.” I was too embarrassed to smile, but I held his gaze.

He leaned over the pile in his hands and kissed me before shrugging and heading toward the laundry room. “Well, I’ve pulled them off now. Let’s get them washed, and maybe I can come back sometime and stink them up for you again!”

I returned to the stove and mumbled, “Okay,” to myself as I picked up the whisk. We talked about simple things as we ate, Austin animatedly explaining some of the holiday traditions that were in store for me. In the background, the weather station assuring us we had a cold but clear day ahead.

“Dad will open the bar and serve lunch and dinner to holiday shoppers who brave the cold to shop at the beach. Sometimes I take a shift or two waiting tables. Have you ever worked in a restaurant?”

“Not once. I worked in my local video game store at the mall as a kid in Kansas. I’ve been in IT ever since.”