AllFreeNovel
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“Always.”
“When I was a kid, I was super jealous of the girls who could do skating and dance tricks. I was never talented or flexible enough, and of course I never trained hard enough for it because for so many others it came so naturally.”
“I’m sorry, little rabbit. Do you want to try a trick right now?” she asks, and I blanche.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Sure it is. Trust me, I’ll charm your skates.”
Vega pulls me in close and lifts me from my hips. Without any work, my legs lift up and swing back, and it feels like I’m flying beside her. When she puts me down, she keeps control of my skates so that I safely land.
We skate around some more until our legs grow tired, and Vega pulls me over to the sidelines. “Do you want to go get a bite to eat?”
I nod, my stomach growling. “It’s a little late to be grabbing lunch, so maybe there won’t be a huge line?” I say.
“Huge line or no line, doesn’t matter to me. We’ve got all day.”
We get off the ice and trade the skates for our boots.
“I think there’s a restaurant on the other side, let’s head there,” Vega says.
We walk through the park, passing a group of Christmas carolers. There are children taking photos with a man dressed as Santa Claus, and a performer is juggling toys. There are smaller rides, and lots of little stands with snack food.
“Are you sure you don’t want to just get something from one of the stands?” I ask.
“No, let’s go inside and sit down. There’s something I want you to try,” she insists, and so I follow.
We get to a building which looks like an actual gingerbread house. The roof is lined with fake icing, and there are people-sized gumdrops sticking out of the top. A hostess wearing a candy cane-esque dress brings us to our table and hands us two menus. As we wait for our waitress, Vega holds the menus, not handing one over, and I look at her funny.
“Can I look at the menu?”
“Nope,” she says and winks.
I want to be mad, want to demand she hand it over, but I’m not. It’s super sexy when she does stuff like this, and so far, I’ve never been disappointed with the results.
Our waitress comes over, and she looks like a Christmas tree. Her green dress has light up bulbs that sparkle as she walks. “What can I get you two?”
“We’ll have the hot chocolate flight, an order of the Christmas charcuterie board, and a large side of sweet potato fries. Oh, and two waters, please,” Vega says with more confidence than I’ve ever mustered in my life. I have a tendency to stutter and mumble when I order food; anxiety really is a bitch.
“Thank you,” I whisper as the waitress takes our menu and walks away.
When she returns, she’s got a tray with two waters and a piece of wood covered with mugs full of hot chocolate. Prior to today, I’d only heard of flights of beer and liquor. She places everything on the table, and I notice each mug has a label in front of it. Peppermint. Dark Chocolate Raspberry. Caramel. Cinnamon. S'mores. It all sounds so good.
“Which one do you want to try first?”
“Hmm. I’m not a big fan of caramel. The rest all sound so good, you pick,” I say.
Vega picks up a spoon and dips it into the whip cream, then the cinnamon hot chocolate. She places one hand under my chin, and I open my mouth, allowing her to place it on my tongue. The richness of the cinnamon mixed with the chocolate is delectable, and I can’t help but make a little sound of appreciation.
“I usually hear that sound in a different context,” V says, and I snort. I touch my nose, shocked that hot chocolate isn’t coming out of it.
We take turns feeding spoons full of hot chocolate to one another, and I’m incredibly grateful to be in this moment. Partially because of how wonderful this moment is, but also partially because we must look incredibly cringey and love-stricken in this moment, draped over the table, romantically sharing a flight of hot chocolate. This is like something out of one of those bad Christmas romance movies my sister would watch every year. I love it. I’m the main fucking character—I might as well move to an abandoned farm and try to revive it by selling Christmas trees with the help of the town’s mysterious sexy lesbian lumberjack, Dr. Vega Daelor.
When our food arrives, everything is perfect. One half of the charcuterie board is meats, crackers, and cheeses. The other half is pumpkin bars, sugar cookies, and peppermint bark. Vega stuffs her face with meat and cheese, while I wholly consume the sweet potato fries. The vibes here are immaculate, and I feel like I’m in Christmas heaven.
After we finish eating and pay, Vega takes me outside. The snow is falling harder now, and there’s a big field with piles of it to the left of us.
“Can we build a snowman?” I ask, and the childlike grin that spreads across her face is priceless.
