Page 94 of How My Neighbour Stole Christmas
“I can get my own dinner,” I say.
He turns to me. “Do you want a brat or not?”
Sensing the tone, I say, “Yes, please.”
He turns back around and orders us two brats and a bottle of water for each of us. Once he pays, he pulls me off to the side where we’re supposed to wait.
No longer does he hold my hand or drape his arm over my shoulders. Instead, he sticks his hands in his pockets and keeps a safe distance from me as he stares at the ground.
I don’t know how to handle this.
How to go about dealing with a closed-off Cole.
I can handle the grump.
I can tolerate the instigator.
But the morose, shut-down Cole…he’s on a whole other level.
I’m not sure how to go about the rest of this night because technicallythis is all for show, and right now we’re not showing off anything. We just look like two people who barely know each other. So I might as well offer to end this.
“If you want,” I say, breaking the silence between us, “once the brats come, we can go our separate ways.”
Shoulders scrunched, head turned down, his eyes find mine. “Not happening,” he replies.
“Not happening? So we’re just going to suffer through the rest of the night in silence? At least before it wasn’t awkward. We were just…fighting, holding hands—”
“You liked holding my hand, did you?” he asks, that sarcastic energy coming back in full force.
Gone is the man whose shoulders slumped—the cocky man from earlier has returned. It’s as if I snapped my fingers and he just reappeared. Talk about whiplash.
I grind my teeth together. “No, I didn’t. I found it repulsive.”
“Repulsive, huh?” He stands taller now. “Never heard that before.”
“Have you even dated before?” I ask.
He glances around. “Do you think a guy who has never dated before would come up with a date like the one you’re on? Mulled cider, a walk under the lights, brats…that screams of a guy who knows what he’s doing.”
“Ah yes, nothing screamsdatelike a bratwurst in my mouth.”
His brow raises as a smirk tugs on the corner of his lip. “On the first date, even? Wow, Storee, wouldn’t have guessed it.”
“Ugh, be mature,” I say.
“You’re the one talking about wieners in your mouth on dates.”
I fold my arms over my chest. “I did not say wiener.”
“Eh, you alluded to it.”
“I will have you know I’ve never…copulated on the first date.”
“Yeah, because you use words likecopulated,” he shoots back.
“You know, I liked you better when you were silent and brooding. Now you’re just annoying me.”
“Good, now you know how I’ve felt all night then.”
