Dipped In Holly

NICK

She walks out of her house with two massive suitcases, an angry expression on her face, and her hair blowing in her face despite the beanie she's thrown on.

I jump out of my car and help her, telling her to get in where it's warm while I put them in the trunk.

Jesus Christ, they're heavy.

"What happened?" I ask her as I climb back into the driver's seat.

"She was there," she tells me as I drive off in the direction of the diner.

It's snowing hard now, coming down in huge white flakes.

We may finally get a white Christmas. "I decided just to pack as much of my shit as I could stay at my parents' over Christmas, and then I told him I would be back for the rest."

"Good, I'm glad you have your family to rely on." I offer her my hand, and she looks at it a moment before taking it, lacing our fingers together and taking a deep breath.

My chest swells with happiness when I feel her squeeze my hand.

"Sorry," she mumbles, looking over at me with sad eyes.

"Why in the world are you sorry?"

"Just...could you possibly take me to my parents' after breakfast? They don't live that far from here."

"Of course, Holly. I'll take you anywhere you want to go." I give her hand a squeeze for reassurance, and she nods, turning her attention back out the car window.

The rest of the ride is silent, both of us watching it snow.

I glance over at her a lot, unable to keep my eyes off her.

She's dressed in a simple outfit of boots, jeans, and a soft sweater.

But I can't get over how beautiful she looks in the soft light.

When we get to the diner, I jog around the car and open her door for her.

When she steps out, she stands on her tiptoes and purses her lips, making a kissing noise.

I smile and take her face in both of my hands, kissing her softly before throwing my arm around her and escorting her inside.

The diner is warm, and the scent of coffee and pancakes hits us as we walk in.

"Nicky!" Wanda comes walking up to us, eyeing Holly as she takes me in her arms.

"Haven't seen you in a while. Who's the pretty girl?"

Holly blushes under the attention.

"This is Holly," I say, smiling down at the soft pink coloring her cheeks. "Holly, this is Wanda. We've become pretty good friends over the years I've been coming here."

"It's so nice to meet you," Holly says.

"It's about time he brings a lady with him," Wanda says as she walks us over to a booth in the corner.

"We were all beginning to think he'd be alone in that bar for the rest of his life." She doesn't give me time to talk back before she's saying something about coffee and walking off toward the counter.

"Wow, you come here often, huh?" Holly asks, her face lighting up with humor.

"Probably more than I should," I tell her, handing her a menu.

We make small talk before ordering.

Holly gets the snickerdoodle pancakes, and I get my normal breakfast platter.

I watch her as she stares out of the window and sips on her extremely sugary coffee.

I think she put five creamers and double that in sugar packets in that little cup.

"You're staring," she says, turning her attention back to me.

"I'm thinking," I murmur, smiling behind my own cup of coffee.

"That's scary."

"I'm thinking I'd like to get to know you more," I confess, leaning forward to gauge her reaction.

"I think we know each other pretty well," she laughs as Wanda sits our food down in front of us.

When she walks away, Holly continues. "You probably know me better than any other person I've been with."

"You know what I mean," I tell her, my eyes narrowing on her playfully as she takes an impressive bite of the pancakes.

"I want to learn things about you outside of the bedroom. I mean, I'd love to continue to explore everything about that tight little body of yours inside the bedroom. But I'd also like to know your favorite food and if you organize your books by title or genre. You know, the big stuff."

"Mmm," she hums, smiling and nodding her head. "The big stuff."

"I'll even buy all the sugar and creamer the store has in stock to make sure you have enough to make your coffee exactly as you like it when you stay over."

"Ha ha ha." She gives me a look of fake annoyance and fights a smile. "You do realize I just got out of a relationship that lasted half a decade, right?"

"I do," I say. "And we can go as slow as you want. I'm not in any sort of rush.

I'm just not ready for this to be over.

I've been around long enough to know that when something feels right, you go for it. And you feel right."

"That's what she said."

"She laughs, and I roll my eyes at how cute she is when she's feeling awkward.

"Okay," she says. "Yeah, I'm not done with this either."

I feel the smile take over my entire face at her words.

I know I need to tread carefully, not letting myself get too eager and scare her away.

This needs to go at her pace if it's going to work.

She leans forward and puts her elbow on the table, extending her pinky finger in my direction.

"We go slow, yeah?"

"We go slow," I agree, linking my pinky with hers.

"Now we kiss it," she says, leaning over the table to place her lips on the promise. "To seal the deal."

"I'd rather kiss you," I tell her but kiss my thumb to seal the pinky promise anyway.

Before she can slip back into her seat, I reach over and grab the back of her head, pulling her in for a quick kiss.

She tastes like coffee and cinnamon, and when we both sink back into our seats, her face is redder than I've ever seen it.

That makes me wonder if that tiny amount of public affection can make her blush that hard, what would happen if I introduced a toy?

That was definitely going on my list of things to try with her.

As I watch her continue to eat her breakfast, every once in a while looking out of the window to watch the snow, I realize how excited I am to get to know this woman.

She seems so different from the person I saw with tearstained cheeks and red-rimmed eyes last night.

There's a weight that's been lifted, and I can tell despite the circumstances, she's happy to be out of that situation.

A huge gust of wind blows the snow down even harder, covering the cars outside in a thick layer of the stuff.

She looks back over to me, smiling and finishing off her sugar water.

"What're you doing for New Year's?" I ask her.

"Spending it with you?" she asks, her face turning mischievous as she looks over at me.

"Good girl."