Angsty - Enemies to Lovers - Slow Burn
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Hitch Pepper might've had a stupid name, and a personality that drove me crazy, but that didn't stop her from being gorgeous. Everyone knew it, guys and girls alike.
And my buddy Phil Childre...
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THANKSGIVING WAS MY favorite holiday. It meant my mother's cooking, time with my family, and no church or buying any gifts.
I found out that Thanksgiving morning that there would be a new person at the Mercado family dinner table that day, and it was going to be Hitch.
She was on the couch when I was leaving to head to my parent's house, curled up in a blanket as she watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV.
"What are you doing here?" I asked her. "I thought you were supposed to leave with Phil this morning for Thanksgiving with his MeeMaw."
She avoided my eyes, staring forward at the TV. "His MeeMaw decided last night to have Thanksgiving at his parent's house, so he's taking her down to Baton Rouge."
"He didn't—" I stopped myself, because I already knew the answer to my question, and asking it would be rude. But she knew the answer, too.
"Didn't invite me along?" she guessed, scoffing. "Hell no. He made up some excuse that his mom wanted it to be family members only just so I wouldn't go. Same crap as last time—he doesn't want his parents meeting me and doesn't want me to know that."
I sighed, frustrated. I knew Phil meant well. He didn't want to hurt her feelings but was doing so in the process.
"Uh, well," I couldn't believe what I was about to say, "do you want to come with me to my Thanksgiving?"
Her eyes snapped toward mine. "What?" She sat up. "Really? You'd let me come?"
With her looking excited like that? Hell yeah. "Of course," I told her. "My parents would love to have you."
"Um, okay." She smiled, probably a bit bigger than she thought she was. "Uh," she stood up, looking around the room as if she didn't know what to do. "I guess I should go get dressed, then," she told me, leaving the room.
She'd return a few minutes later in a long-sleeved, patterned dress that stopped at her shins, a pair of boots sticking out from underneath.
It was the most conservative thing I had ever seen her wear, and made me laugh. "What's with all the getup?" I asked.
She frowned, looking down at her outfit. "What's wrong with it?"
"It just doesn't look like something you'd wear. It's all . . ."
"Modest?" Hitch finished as she smoothed out any wrinkles from her skirt. "Yeah, well, I don't really know what to wear around parents."
"So you chose to dress like a librarian?"
She scoffed, coming over to playfully smack me on the side of the arm as I laughed. "You're such a meanie," she accused, unable to keep a smile from her face.
"Really, though, you don't have to wear that. My folks don't care what you're wearing, just as long as it's clothes. Put on something you're comfortable in."
