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Cassidy flipped them off good-naturedly.
"Hey, I’m not that much older than you."
"I dunno," River shrugged. "You’re pretty old."
Cassidy was thirty to River’s twenty-one.
"Does it bother you that I’m older?" he asked.
"Huh? No," River said, like it had never occurred to them.
"I wonder if you can still get those tubs of popcorn."
"We could anonymously send tubs of popcorn to everyone we know," River said. "Hmm, now I’m rethinking; popcorn is a great gift."
"Well, you just solved all my holiday gift list problems."
"What, you didn’t lovingly pick out handmade gifts for all your dearly beloveds at Craftmas?" River joked.
"Yeah, in all my free time, when I wasn’t in my booth, rescuing cats from the tops of trees, or puking my guts out," Cassidy said.
River grinned. "Did you know you were on the news? Shirtless."
Cassidy groaned and nodded.
"Yeah, you’re the like seventh person to inform me of that. A lady at the gas station asked if she could set me up with her daughter yesterday."
"Well, you’re an eligible bachelor; what do you expect?"
"Ha, I don’t know what I’m eligible for, and bachelor sounds like something out of Jane Austen, but I guess I’ll take it."
River ripped open the bag of spice drops and popped some in their mouth. They made a face.
"These are so weird. My friend Nate used to eat them in the car driving home from school every day. They’re, like, gross, but then good, and then gross. But the suspense is just enough to keep me going. Hmm."
They ate some more.
"So, speaking of puking your guts out, how long did it take you to feel better after Craftmas?" River asked. "You seemed pretty rough."
"Yeah. It’s worse when it’s long periods of time. And it’s worst when it’s long periods of time in a row. So Craftmas was the worst-case scenario. Usually, when it’s just the grocery store or something I can get in and out quick enough that I’m only semi-zapped."
Cassidy realized his mistake as soon as it was out of his mouth, but there was nothing he could do. Maybe River wouldn’t notice.
"Wait, but we went into the grocery store to get the food."
Damn it.
"So are you zapped now?"
River’s eyes were narrowed accusingly.
"Semi-zapped," Cassidy admitted reluctantly.
"Cassidy!"
River elbowed him. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, but felt intimate, like River presumed rights over his body. Cassidy shivered, surprised by how much that prospect appealed to him.
"You should’ve let me go in and get the food," River protested.
"What kind of a date would it be if I sat in the truck and you went grocery shopping?"
"Um, a better one than if we both go grocery shopping and you end up feeling like shit!"
River looked angry.
"I don’t feel like shit. I’m happy to be here with you."
Cassidy meant it. Well, the second part, anyway.
"So, you’re saying that you’d rather suffer than inconvenience me?"
"Well."
"Just FYI? It’s not inconvenient for me to go get something in a store so that you aren’t physically sickened."
Cassidy got the distinct sense that River had edited a you idiot from the end of that remark.
"Noted," Cassidy said.
They sat in silence that wasn’t exactly awkward for a moment. Then River’s expression turned impish.
"You wanna do something funny?"
River pushed the shopping cart toward the truck with a grin. They had found the huge tubs of popcorn at the third store they’d gone to, four of the metal tubs rattling in the cart, each one in a different garish Christmas print. River had refused to let Cassidy accompany them into any of the stores, dismissing his offers with a scowl.
"Got 'em!"
"Yes!" Cassidy crowed. "Now what’s our plan?"
River’s plan, it turned out, was to leave a tub of popcorn on the front step of four people’s houses anonymously and see what happened. They had bought four cards to write messages on, too.
"Whose houses?"
"Well, one at my brother’s place, for sure. Then Rye and Charlie’s place. It would be really funny to leave one at Adam’s," they mused. "But you should pick people too. If you want?"
Cassidy was delighted. But more than he wanted to see what Nora would do if she found a bucket of that long-forgotten popcorn on her door, he wanted to watch River experience what their people would do. He wanted to share it with them.
"Let’s start off with whoever you want and I’ll give it some thought," Cassidy offered, loading the tubs into the truck.
River nodded, then pushed the cart to the cart return, despite abandoned ones littering the parking lot.
"Okay," they said. "Let’s go."
CHAPTER 16
Cassidy
Adam Mills’ house glowed in the middle of Knockbridge Lane from what must’ve been hundreds of strands of fairy lights.
"Damn," Cassidy said. "That must’ve taken forever."
River smiled fondly.
"My niece wanted the most lights last Christmas, so Adam made it happen."
"That’s really sweet."
Cassidy parked the truck in a dark pocket across the street, in front of a house that looked abandoned.
