Boyfriend by Christmas

Chapter 14

My first second date is with Thompson.

I sit in my living room waiting for him to show up. He said six but it's six fifteen now. Minus five points for being late.

Luckily my mom and Mags have been out scouting wedding locations and decided to get dinner after so they're not here to watch sympathetically as I tap my foot to the seconds ticking by.

Ever since they came back from Carolina Thanksgiving with Colton's family, the wedding planning has been even crazier than it was right after the engagement. I hadn't thought that was possible. I can't even imagine what is going to happen as the wedding gets closer. Chaos, I'm sure.

At six thirty, my doorbell finally rings. "I am so sorry I'm late," Thompson says when I open the door. He shifts his weight from foot to foot and blows warm air onto his hands. "Soccer practice went long and then I had to shower and change..."

"You have practice in this weather?" I nod to the steady snowfall outside. It's not sticking but it can't be comfortable to play any kind of sport in snow. It can't be healthy, either. I wonder if the coach hands out immune system boosters before he makes them run laps through the flurries.

"We practice in any weather," he says. "Barring natural disaster. And even then, coach would probably have us out for practice. 'It's just a blizzard! Run sprints'!"

I shiver. "That's insane. I'm glad I don't play soccer. I love the snow but I definitely wouldn't want to practice in it. The only thing I want to do in snow is build a snowman."

Thompson laughs. "We'll have to build a snowman sometime," he says, then holds his arm out for me to take. "Shall we get going?"

I grab my coat from its hook and slip it over my shoulders before linking my arm with Thompson's. "Yeah. Where are we going exactly?"

He smirks. Or grins. I can't tell which. "You'll see. You're gonna love it."

Instead of protesting that I hate surprises, I allow Thompson to lead me to his car. Surprises are supposed to be romantic aren't they? Even if they do make me cringe...

Thompson turns the radio on in his car but keeps the volume down enough that we can still talk. "How was your Thanksgiving?" he asks.

I'm powerless against the smile that sneaks onto my face. "It was really nice. I went with Garrett to his aunt's house. Have you ever been?"

He thinks for a second. "Yeah, I think Garrett had his thirteenth birthday up there," he laughs. "New Hampshire, huge house, pool and guest house?"

"Yeah, that's the one. It's incredible up there. And his family is really cool. Like a real, big family. Mine is nothing like that." I realize I shouldn't keep talking about Garrett while I'm on a date with Thompson. "How was your Thanksgiving?"

We take a left turn onto a busy road packed with restaurants and shops. Thompson could be taking me anywhere. "It was nice. Low key with my immediate family only. Which, compared to Thanksgivings pass, was needed. I wasn't in the mood for a lap full of mashed potatoes or my grandma crying and begging everyone to just get along."

"That's intense. Our family get togethers can be like that too. Though we don't like to limit it to major holidays. Meltdowns are common over any meal. Heck, they're common during any conversation. Food is not a requirement. It just makes the fights a little more bearable."

Thompson laughs and nods like he gets it. "It sucks sometimes, but I really do love my family. It was just nice to have a calm, drama- free Thanksgiving this year. My grandma just moved to Florida and didn't want us to make the trek down there nor did she want to come back up here."