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“It’s like we’re in a snow globe,” I whisper, and she smiles as I lean down to kiss her.
* * *
“Hayden’s going to come by to get my keys in an hour,” Hazel says about a block from home.
Home. She doesn’t live there, but maybe one day. My heart lifts as I picture it—our crystal dragons sitting beside each other, her hair products in the bathroom, her clothes hanging in the closet. Her scent in the bed.
My thoughts snag on what she said and I wrench around to look at her over my shoulder. “Why?” My brows knit together and there’s that possessive urge again. “If you need something from your apartment, I’ll get it. Anything you need, Hartley, I’m your guy.” I try to keep my tone light so she doesn’t think I’m being a territorial asshole.
Her arms squeeze my neck. “You can’t do it because I need him to pick up your Christmas presents.”
“Christmas presents?” I straighten, starting to smile. “For me?”
She laughs. “Yeah, baby. For you.”
Baby. She called mebaby. My grin broadens, and a light, buzzy feeling pings around my chest.
“What did you get me?”
She laughs again. “I’m not telling. You have to wait until tomorrow.”
“Hmm.” My eyes narrow as I walk, brimming with curiosity.
My lips part, and I’m about to start guessing out loud when an older woman with long blond hair steps out of a store and nearly bumps into us.
“Oh, excuse me—” she starts, but then our eyes meet.
My stomach drops through my feet, and my whole body tenses.
“Mom.”
CHAPTER60
RORY
My heart beatsin my ears as my mom and I stare at each other.
“Rory,” she breathes, eyes roaming my face like she can’t believe it.
She looks older. There are a few more lines around her eyes, and her face is thinner, but her hair is the same. Long and a little curly. And her irises are the same dark blue as mine.
My heart aches.
“I’m Hazel,” Hazel says behind me, peering over my shoulder.
My mom’s gaze lifts and she blinks, like she just noticed the woman clinging to my back. She smiles a little as I set Hazel on her feet again. “Nicole.”
They shake hands, and something in my brain trips. Hazel wraps an arm around my waist, holding me tight. My mom notices, and something softens in her gaze.
“Lovely to meet you, Hazel,” she says. Her eyes drop to Hazel’s foot, hovering off the ground as she balances on one leg. “What happened there?”
“Rory bodychecked me.”
I choke, and Hazel grins up at me with teasing in her eyes.
“I didn’t bodycheck her,” I add, glancing at my mom. “We were at a skating thing for the team and she fell. She sprained her ankle.” I send Hazel a hard look, but she just smiles more. “I’m trying to take care of her, but she won’t sit still and rest like she’s supposed to.”
Hazel rolls her eyes. “Rory, it’s snowing. You can’t expect me to stay inside when it snows, like, twice a year here.”
