“You can’t say anything, man. She doesn’t want your parents to know.”
“Know what? Obviously she broke up with that putz and convinced you, whoever you are, to pretend to be him so my mother wouldn’t annoy her about settling down,” he says. “Which, by the way, is pointless. Our mother won’t shut up until Leon is wearing a white dress and marching down the aisle. And even then she’ll still nag her about standing up straight and making sure to keep her husband happy.”
My mouth stays shut, not wanting to give away all of Noel’s secrets. She didn’t want them to know what happened for a reason and I’m not about to betray the trust she placed in me.
“Shit. There’s more, isn’t there? Did she quit her job? Get fired? Awwww hell, she did, didn’t she? Fuck, my mother is going to have a coronary,” Nicholas complains.
“I did not confirm anything you’ve just said,” I grit through clenched teeth. “If you decide to go running to Mommy and Daddy, you just remember I did not say a word.”
Nicholas grabs his beer and takes another drink. “Not my secret to tell, so don’t worry. My lips are sealed.”
“Why the hell didn’t you say something earlier? And why didn’t you go to Noel with this? Why me?” I ask.
“Eh, I just wanted to see how long you two yahoos would keep this shit up. It was pretty hilarious,” Nicholas laughs. “But then Leon started looking all lovey-dovey whenever she catches a glimpse of you and she started acting like the old Leon instead of someone who’s too good for us. Now I just want to make sure you don’t fuck her over, because I will shove Santa and his eight tiny reindeer up your ass. And let me tell you, they might be called tiny, but those antlers will hurt like a bitch.”
“I’m not going to fuck her over,” I reassure him.
Fuck her, yes. Hopefully a hundred times before I have to walk away from her. But I will never do anything to hurt her.
“She means a lot to me,” I admit. “I just want her to be happy, whatever it takes.”
“Good, as long as we’re in agreement. If Leon is happy, everyone’s happy. Logan was a dumb shit and completely wrong for her. You seem like good people…”
Nicholas pauses, waiting for me to fill in the blank with my real name.
“Sam, Sam Stocking.”
He barks out a laugh and points his beer bottle at me, waiting for me to clink mine against it.
“Sam Stocking and Noel Holiday,” he muses when I tap the neck of my bottle against his. “You know if you wind up marrying her, my mother is going to insist she hyphenate her name to Holiday-Stocking, which will then drive Leon right over the edge into Crazy Town. Have fun on that ride, man!”
Noel Stocking. Noel Holiday-Stocking. Mrs. Noel Stocking.
Mother of God, I’ve turned into a teenage chick, two seconds away from scribbling her name on my Science book.
“I have to say, I’m pretty impressed you’ve lasted as long as you have, man. This family is certifiably insane. Leon deserves a good guy, and don’t tell anyone I said this or I will stab you with a dull steak knife, but I do believe you’re a good guy, Mr. Sam Stocking,” Nicholas says with a smile. “Just keep her happy. She looks good here at home. Not so high-strung, smiling easily and laughing a lot. That piece of shit changed her when she started dating him. Did you know he’s the reason she didn’t come home last Christmas?”
I shake my head no, feeling really guilty that I’m hearing this shit from Nicholas instead of Noel herself. It feels like an invasion of privacy. Like I’m some creeper who snuck into her house and is riffling through her panty drawer.
I wonder if she’s still wearing that matching red lace number she had on earlier. Her tits in that thin scrap of fabric were a thing of beauty.
“They’d just started dating,” Nicholas continues, quickly bringing me out of my dirty thoughts about his sister. “He convinced her to stay in Seattle with him and that she could come home and see her family anytime. It killed my parents that she didn’t come last year. That asshat changed her and made her feel like she had to be someone else to fit in with him and his rich family and his nose-stuck-in-the-air friends. But with you, she’s our Leon again. So, whatever you’re doing, keep it up.”
I hear laughter float down the hall from the living room and immediately pick out Noel’s mixed in with the other two women. My heart beats faster and I wonder how much longer this wrapping nonsense is going to take before I can sneak her away up to her bedroom and get her naked.
“CODE RED! I REPEAT, CODE RED!” Reggie shouts as he slams open the back door and comes running through the kitchen, snow flying in every direction as it falls from his hair and shoulders.
“GINGERBREAD MAN DOWN! GINGERBREAD MAN DOWN!” he yells, stopping abruptly next to our table. “Does that beer have milk in it?”
I look back and forth in confusion from the bottle of beer in my hand to Noel’s father as he brushes more snow out of his hair.