Page 48 of Snowflakes and Ice Skates

He shook his head. “No, it’s not.”

I held his gaze and smiled. “I’m really happy we ran into each other yesterday.”

His smile grew. “Me too. I actually—”

“There you are. Are you ready?” I turned to see a man with a grey peacoat and matching beanie walking toward us.

I glanced back at Lane, who looked annoyed. “Sorry, Mitch. I must have lost track of time.”

I looked between the men, wondering who he was.

“Taylor, this is my roommate, Mitch. Mitch, this is Taylor. She’s hosting the New Year’s party.”

Mitch’s eyes lit up with recognition, and his face paled. “I’m sorry to interrupt. We’re just late.”

Lane smiled at me apologetically. “Sorry to run. We planned a dinner with one of our friends from MIT who’s in town.”

I forced a smile. “No problem. Sorry I kept you.”

Lane frowned. “I’m not sorry.”

My breath hitched, and I broke eye contact. I stood and pulled my purse over my shoulder.

Then I turned to Mitch and smiled. “I hope we’ll see you tomorrow.” When I looked at Lane, I hesitated. “I’ll see you later?”

He nodded and stepped forward, giving me a brief side hug before moving past me. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I watched the two of them disappear and then fell back into the seat. There had been a moment when Lane was about to say something, and I felt like it was important. I groaned and dropped my chin to my chest. Of course, Mitch had to walk in at that exact moment.

Hopefully, we could finish our conversation tomorrow.

Seven

Everything was ready. Cora and I had spent five hours cleaning, decorating, and setting up for the party. Now, all we had to do was wait.

She and I had finished getting ready a few minutes ago, just in case, we had any early birds. We both wore little black dresses but she was sporting a silver boa over her shoulders while I had decided on a headband with flashing numbers.

“Did we miss anything?” Cora looked around her small apartment with a frown.

“No, we didn’t.” I’d already reassured her three times that everything was perfectly in place. Music was playing, food and drinks were on the kitchen counters, and the white fairy lights we’d hung created a warm, romantic atmosphere.

Sure, we’d invited a bunch of friends, but we were both hoping for a New Year’s kiss and figured setting the mood wouldn’t hurt.

She sighed and checked her phone. Again.

“Where is everyone?”

I glanced at my phone and smiled. “It’s eight forty-five. They probably won’t be here for at least twenty minutes. And that’s at the very earliest.”

She crossed her arms, still staring at the door as if willing the bell to ring. “I gave the doorman a list of people and said to let up anyone else who said they were here for my party.”

I nodded. “Then he will. We just have to be patient. Why don’t we...” I looked around for a distraction. We’d already laid out noisemakers, themed accessories like we were wearing, and the food. There wasn’t anything else to do. “Let’s watch something.”

I pointed her in the direction of her TV but she resisted. “That’s lame. What if people come in and see we’re just sitting on the couch?”

“Is your door unlocked?”

“No, of course not.”