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“Do you want a dog?”
“I don’t know if my cat would appreciate one.”
“Oh, you have a cat!” Sam perked up. “I love cats.”
Arden showed him a picture on her phone. “His name is Mittens.”
Sam cooed over her cat photos until Scott called for them from the living room. Another game of Jenga ensued, followed by a game of Monopoly that went on so long Arden found herself yawning.
“Tired?” Sam asked quietly.
“I guess I’m still on Florida time.”
“It’s late for you, then. How about a ride home?”
Arden accepted gratefully. They said goodbye, and Arden followed Sam down the street to his car, an older-model Subaru.
“Had to get a Subaru; otherwise, they would revoke my Seattle card,” he said.
Arden buckled her seatbelt. “Do you do lots of outdoorsy things with your Subaru? Hiking? Skiing?”
“Sometimes.” Sam drove slowly down the sleepy street. “I like the idea of skiing, but it’s always so much work. I do go river tubing every summer, though.”
“I love tubing. We have a few good places for that where I live. We also have some cold springs.”
“What’s that? Like a swimming hole?”
“Basically, yeah. The water is super-clear and blue. You can also take a kayak out. There are manatees sometimes.”
Sam let out a low whistle. “Sounds beautiful.”
“It is.”
Too soon, they pulled up outside Phoebe’s apartment building. Sam put the car in park, and before Arden could overthink it, she leaned over and kissed him. He responded enthusiastically, kissing her slowly and deeply.
“Tonight was a lot of fun,” Arden said. “Thank you for inviting me—again.” She found herself talking slowly, not wanting to say goodbye. It surprised her how much she wanted more time to talk to him. More time to kiss him.
“I’m glad you had fun.” Sam grinned and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.
“What is it?”
“I—please stop me if this is too much, but I—well, my family is doing our usual Christmas brunch tomorrow, and I was wondering if you wanted to join us. But if you’d rather do your own thing, I totally—”
She put a hand on his arm. “I would love to, Sam. Thank you.”
He exhaled in relief. “Are you sure? Three days of me isn’t too much?”
I don’t know if it’ll ever be too much, Arden thought. Out loud, she said, “I’ll let you know after tomorrow.”
Sam laughed at this. “Okay. Brunch is at ten thirty. We don’t do gifts or anything, so just bring yourself. I can pick you up if you want.”
“Sounds perfect. See you then.”
Arden said good night. As she entered Phoebe’s apartment, she wrestled with more guilt. Why had she accepted his invitation? She hadn’t even stopped to think about it before saying yes. What had happened to her list? Her goal of getting to know herself better?
She knew spending this much time with Sam was unnecessary, but she couldn’t help herself. She was giddy at the prospect of seeing him again, of spending Christmas with his family. So it might come back to bite her next week when it was time to go home. She had ages before she’d have to deal with the consequences. For now, she was going to allow herself to be excited.
And no matter what Sam said, there was no way she was showing up at his parents’ house again without at least a hostess gift for his mom. She had the whole morning ahead of her, and she was filled with this ridiculously bubbly feeling. She knew at least a few Seattle shops would be open on Christmas morning, unlike at home. Tomorrow, she was going shopping.
