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His lips twitched. “What about Holly... and Diane?” he added. “Did you say they left?”
Aimee’s smile turned down. “Yeah, it was really weird. When Diane and I came home from the dance, Holly was sitting on the bed, packed and ready to go. Do you want to come in?”
He shook his head. “Nah, I better get going myself.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Right now? It’s practically midnight.”
He’d done it before. “Sure, why not.”
Aimee frowned. “If only I was going that direction too.” Her family lived in Idaho.
“I guess I’ll see you after the break then,” he said, thinking a million miles a minute. He needed to grab his bathroom bag and check the gas tank, but he’d be ready to leave in no time.
Aimee’s arms came around him, and he realized too late that she was hugging him. “Thanks for tonight. I had a great time.” She pressed up on her toes and kissed him once on the lips before moving back.
Nothing. He felt nothing.
“Look, Aimee, I like someone else.”
It was best to be straightforward when dealing with a potential relationship. “I didn’t realize how much I liked her until tonight, but there are feelings.”
Her face didn’t show any hint of annoyance. “Oh, I—were we talking about that? I thought we were just friends. You are under the mistletoe.” He backed up toward the door. “Right. I was just making sure. I love being friends with you.”
“Me too,” she said, laughing a little too loudly. “Of course, yeah. Have a good break.” Her high falsetto voice let him know he was spot on.
“You too. I’m sorry.”
“What’s there to be sorry about? Have fun on your trip, and hey, check on Diane and Holly if you’re up near Vegas. They live in Boulder City.”
“Boulder City. Right. I’d forgotten that. I’ll see if I can make time for them.” How could he have forgotten? It was only a two-hour drive, maybe three. Definitely worth a road trip if things got boring around the siblings.
After saying his last goodbye, he practically ran to his apartment to grab his stuff. For the next few hours, he and Holly would be driving on the same road, and that fact gave him peace. In time, he was positive things would work out.
Just as he’d imagined, three days into his break, he was itching to leave the house. The presents had been unwrapped, he’d successfully gained a few extra pounds from all the sweets and large dinners, and he’d played enough board games with his siblings to say he’d spent quality time with them without any incident. But he was bored.
“Want to go shopping at the mall?” Bridger said. “I’ve got to return something for Amelia.”
Bridger was married to Amelia and the sibling closest in age to Eric and identical in looks. “Yeah, I’ll go with you. It’ll be good to get out of the house.”
“Right? Too many kids, too many women, and too many parents.”
They both laughed. Even though his siblings lived all over the country, whenever they got together, they always picked up where they’d left off.
Bridger headed into a jewelry store, carrying a box. “Did Amelia not like the earrings you got her for Christmas?”
“Nah. She said to just get store credit. In the beginning, I asked her if she wanted me to do that, but then she told me she’d love whatever I chose.” Bridger shrugged. “Guess not.”
Eric looked at the large glass displays of shiny necklaces and rings while Bridger made his exchange. His hands stopped on the glass counter above a tiny gold necklace with a navy blue heart pendant. He remembered the night he and Holly had first kissed. The night he knew she was worth waiting for.
He motioned for some help. “This one, the dark green one, the navy blue one, and the pink one,” he said. If he was going to get Holly one, he might as well take the pressure off, and give the other girls a gift too. Hopefully Aimee wouldn’t read too much into it, and Holly would think the world of it. He wanted to date Holly, and he was willing to drive to give her the opportunity to answer him without any outlying factors around.
In less than ten minutes, he had a new reason to pack everything up and head to Boulder City.
His mother glared at him from across the kitchen counter. “You just got home five days ago. Isn’t there still a week left? We’re making cookies and caroling, and, oh, there’s a light show on New Year’s Eve.”
“I’m only going to be gone a while.” He kept things vague because he had no idea how long he’d be gone. He didn’t even know where Diane lived, but Cameron did. When he had mentioned where he was going, Cameron had asked to come as well. If he didn’t hurry up, they were bound to hit holiday traffic.
“But what about family time?”
