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Eric grunted. “Can’t you take that mistletoe down?”
“Didn’t you like it when Aimee kissed you?”
He sighed and pocketed his phone. “Forget it. See you at six.”
“Okay, see you,” she said brightly. “Thanks for walking me home again.”
“Not a problem. As long as you have that mistletoe hanging from your door, plan on it.”
Holly had strategically camped out in the front room to study when the other girls came home. “Hey, you two.”
“Hey, how was your day?” Diane asked.
Aimee gave a grim smile and headed to the kitchen. “I’m starving,” she said with a groan.
“Wait,” Holly said, dropping her book. “We have plans for dinner tonight. It’s in an hour, so don’t eat anything too heavy.” Not that Aimee ever cooked anything too heavy, but each day was a new day.
“We do?” Diane asked, slinging her backpack over the couch. “Are you cooking something?”
“Nope, Eric said he’d take care of dinner.” Aimee perked up at the mention of Eric. “He’s grilling some meat,” Holly added. “I might make a pasta side, but the guys should be fine to bring the rest. There’s still all that soda, and Justin has all those—”
“Chips,” Aimee said. “I didn’t realize he and I liked so many of the same things. He’s really funny.” Her cheeks pinked as they stared at her.
When had she hung out with Justin recently? Maybe when they were sledding.
“What?” Aimee crinkled her nose. “Can’t I hang out with him like you hung out with Eric? Why are you two looking at me like that?”
“No reason,” Holly mumbled. Aimee could hang out with Justin as much as she wanted because Holly hanging out with Eric hadn’t meant anything. It hadn’t. “Six o’clock, at the grill.”
She grabbed her things and headed back to her room to study in silence. Even though she knew her textbooks backward and forward, sometimes the professors threw curveball questions that weren’t from the text, only imagined from their own experiences that required application of the concepts. Sadly, Holly was book-smart only.
At twenty minutes to six, she went to the kitchen and pulled together a pasta salad using Diane’s tomatoes and Aimee’s cucumber. By the time her roommates were dressed in jackets, mittens, and hats, Holly was ready too. “Are you ready to freeze?” she asked, probably more excited than they were. She knew exactly what was coming, and both Aimee and Diane would be coming back to the apartment two happy women.
She was happy too. Justin was a fun guy, and right now in her life, she needed fun.
Eric was at the grill, while his roommates were clearing the snow off the nearby park bench. If it became too cold, they could all cram into the front room with no problem. She’d already straightened up.
“Hey, ladies,” Justin called out, sending Holly a wink. She gave a little wave and sat down in the seat he indicated.
She handed him the bowl to add to the table of chips and soda.
Cameron gestured for Diane to come over by him, and that left Aimee to sit across from Eric. A smile started on her face, and Holly sighed happily. There weren’t many pleasures she had in life, but seeing her roommates happy was definitely one of them.
“I feel like it’s summer,” Diane said, putting a small pile of pasta on her plate while Cameron poured her a drink. “You know, minus the snow and the wind chill factor.”
They all laughed.
“It should be,” Eric said, “because today is a good day for it.”
“Why?” Aimee asked. “What’s special about today?”
“Because we’re asking you ladies to the dance.”
Holly watched as Cameron and Eric dipped down under the table and produced a pair of three-rose bouquets for Diane and Aimee. Holly felt a tap on her shoulder and turned.
Justin held a rose bouquet to her as well. Smiling brightly, he asked her to be his date to the Winter Ball.
She bit the good side of her lip as she accepted the flowers. “Thank you. Of course, I’ll go.”
