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“For what?”

“Making me fall in love with you.”

She bit her lip.

I grabbed her hand and drew her closer, making sure she saw the truth in my eyes. “Rory, I need you to believe that. To believe me.”

I loved her. It was the only thing I knew for sure.

She blinked and thought for a moment. “I’ll do my best.”

“And I’ll do my best not to give you reasons to doubt me.”

“Deal,” she whispered.

For a second, neither of us moved. Her breath puffed in the cold between us, and I let my thumb brush lightly over her gloved knuckles—not pulling her in, just letting her know I wanted to. “Should we kiss on that?”

She laughed and dropped my hand. “Nice try.”

“What? You can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“You keep trying,” she said, her voice softer than before. Seductive, even.

“Believe me, I will.”

For her, I would keep trying for as long as it took.

Chapter Seventeen

Rory

Isat at Moon Café waiting for Eden Russo. I couldn’t believe I was going to have coffee with her.

The aroma of my peppermint mocha swirled around me—warm, sweet, and strong enough to tickle my nose. The caffeine was already coursing through my veins, a much-needed pick-me-up after the late-night sledding. And then hardly sleeping the rest of the night, wondering what I was even doing with my life.

Lily was going to go ballistic when she found out. Maybe she’d have Shay give me a root canal. Then again, she was afraid of Coco—so that worked in my favor.

Even with the threat of dental torture hanging over me, I couldn’t help but smile when I thought of Tate’s and my “date” last night. It was the first time in a long time I’d felt like myself. Like I could breathe again, even though the air had been so cold it practically froze my lungs.

There was just something about being with Tate. Like he just got me. He knew every part of me. He was the only one who got the reference when I said, Socks are important. I’d dozed off one night while watching a movie and sat straight up and declared that bit of wisdom—socks are important. Then there was the plume protocol I’d enacted, which meant my ideas had to be taken more seriously than his because I’d worn a giant feathered hat in marching band.

Tate thought it was ridiculous, and it was, but he always went along with it anyway.

He’d even bravely tried the fruitcake last night—the one we were pretty sure was old enough to be receiving Social Security payments. The truly terrifying part was that it was still pliable. I’d laughed so hard watching the faces he made chewing that ancient artifact, which went right back into the fridge after we got home. I couldn’t part with the fruitcake yet. It didn’t feel right not to have some in Coco’s refrigerator—right next to all the condiments that had expired and at this point could probably survive a zombie apocalypse.

And apparently, I couldn’t part with Tate. Not yet. Maybe not ever. I couldn’t believe I was kind of, sort of dating him again. And living with him—at least for the holidays. Honestly, it didn’t make a lot of sense considering he lived in LA and I was planning to move back to Aspen Lake. And he loved the spotlight, and I kind of abhorred it. But he was here now, helping me fulfill Coco’s last wishes.

And he was my person, even if he beat me nine times out of ten sledding down the hill. And admittedly, I cheated the tenth time.

It was all so confusing, which was why I’d chosen to meet Eden here. I needed a little space to think. And to keep me from kissing Tate before I even realized what I was doing.

Because if we kissed, it would be like that book about giving a mouse a cookie. Next I’d be writing out a calendar of when we could visit each other. Then I’d be on Pinterest designing an entire wedding motif and picking out our first-dance song. And then I’d spiral, realizing Coco wouldn’t be there to walk me down the aisle. Then Tate would comfort me, and then we’d be kissing again, and again, and again. At that rate, I might just end up at the courthouse.

Do you see why I needed some space?

Tate just did things to me. I’d literally quit my job once and started a YouTube channel with him. This was all before I even had an Instagram account. Social media was never my thing. Because of him, I’d been on Good Morning America. And no, we do not need to discuss how I snort laughed on live TV. Believe me, thousands of people already had. Someone even recognized me at the airport once because of it. Not really something I wanted to be known for.

But Coco told me I should be proud of that snort. She said it made me adorable and relatable. I wasn’t entirely convinced that sounding like Miss Piggy made anyone adorable.