Boyfriend by Christmas

Chapter 11

The farther into the forest we get, the colder I feel. The sun is sinking quickly overhead and with it, the temperature drops from mid-forties to high thirties. Even in my winter coat, I'm freezing.

"We could turn back," Garrett suggests when he notices my shivering.

I shake my head. "No way. We've made it this far. And it's beautiful out here. Plus, I want to get pictures of the sun setting through the trees."

"You're freezing."

"I'm fine."

He wraps an arm around my shoulders and pulls me tight against his side. I refuse to let myself fall any further for Garrett, but I'm not about to turn down his body heat.

"What's your favorite season?" I ask, thinking maybe talking will distract me from the cold.

"Spring," he says. "Because that's when baseball starts."

I nod. "Makes sense."

"How about you? What's your favorite season?"

"Would you believe me if I said winter?" I ask, laughing at my chattering teeth. "I love the cold weather and the snow and the holidays. Even though it might not seem like it right now."

Garrett laughs. "I believe you," he says. "I'm not surprised honestly."

"Really? Niyata says the last thing she expected of me was a love of winter. She says I act like a summer girl."

"I don't know what that means, but I disagree. You do winter sports, you get this wistful look on your face when it snows, and you decorate for the winter holidays in July. Plus you usually listen to Christmas music year round. I definitely would have guessed winter."

"I would have guessed fall for you," I tell him. "Because you seem to be happiest in fall."

I didn't realize until I said it out loud that I noticed this about Garrett. I've noticed a lot about him without even realizing I'm doing it.

"Fall is a close second."

We walk a little further in silence. Ahead of us, I can see the trees starting to spread out. We're reaching the end of the forest. "Have you always wanted to play baseball?"

"No, actually," he laughs. "I wanted to play football. I did play, actually, for five years. But my parents, they thought I was too much of a handful when football season was over. They wanted me to do another sport in spring to keep me busy pretty much year round. I was totally against it. I loved football way too much to let another sport in. But they didn't listen to my protests and signed me up for little league. To this day they laugh and say 'if we'd listened to you, you would never have played baseball' and even though it's annoying to admit, I am so glad they ignored me."

"I had no idea you played football."

"It was long before you met me."

"When did you give it up?"

He thinks for a second. "I played football and baseball up until freshman year."

"Did the coaches make you choose or something?"

"No," he says. "I decided on my own. I knew it would be too much, balancing two sports with school. So I picked the one I couldn't live without. I was surprised to realize that sport had become baseball without me even realizing it."

I smile. "I'm glad you picked baseball," I say. "I like football fine, but baseball is my favorite sport to watch."

"Do you ever go to our games?"