Page 118 of Eight Days of Christmas
She needed to go to him. To see him. She couldn’t wait.
They could figure out the details later. Whether they dated long-distance or stayed in Colorado or New York. All she knew was she wanted them to be together.
Isabella rushed into the apartment, hurried to the spare room where she’d been staying. She yanked her suitcase from underneath the bed and threw it on top. She unzipped it and pulled random clothes from her closet, stuffing them inside.
After searching online for flights, she called an Uber, pressing her phone to her ear and zipping up her suitcase. She tugged it off the bed and pulled it behind her, rushing out of the room. She weaved in between party guests, apologizing after banging her suitcase into a guy. She needed to find Margo or Todd and tell them she was leaving, but the apartment was even more crowded and loud than earlier.
“Isabella!”
She turned at the faint sound of her name being called. She spun around in each direction.
“Isabella!”
Finally she spotted Margo, hands cupped by her mouth and standing by the patio doors. Isabella hurried to her, yanking her suitcase behind her. “Hey, I’ve been trying to find you,” Isabella said.
“And everyone’s been trying to find you.”
Absentmindedly, Isabella continued, “I’m going to Colorado. There’s a flight leaving in two hours. I know you told me to move on, but I can’t. I love him. I have to see him,” she rambled.
Margo gave a dismissive wave. “I’m the last person who should be giving advice. What do I know about love?” She grabbed Isabella’s shoulders, forcing her to leave her suitcase and shoved her out onto the roof garden.
“Margo, I don’t have time for this. I gotta go,” Isabella grumbled.
Margo stopped her in front of the railing. “You don’t have to go anywhere.”
“What are you talking about?”
Margo gestured at the street and Isabella leaned over, peering down. Below, on the sidewalk and sticking out between the New Year’s Eve bar hoppers was Leo.
Her mouth fell open, and her heart all but stopped.
Leo was dressed in the pink bunny pajamas she’d given him.
Her heart restarted, racing, and a smile tugged at her lips, building as the sight set in fully. “Leo? What are you doing here?”
He held his arms up. “A romcom-sized grand gesture.”
A bubble of laughter escaped her, and she covered her face with her palms.
He messed with one of the ears on the hood that kept flopping down over his eyes. “Uh…but those romantic comedies don’t talk about the embarrassment factor.”
She pressed into the railing, gazing at him, ignoring the party guests and bar-hoppers pointing and giggling at him.
“You know I never needed that. I just needed you,” she said, her voice vibrating in her chest.
“Nowyou tell me,” he teased.
Isabella wanted to jump over the balcony and fling herself straight into his arms. Whatever had changed with him, he’d come all this way to see her.
He was finally here. In New York.
“I can’t believe you’re here.”
“Did you know your buzzer is broken?”
“Yeah.” She smiled. “You’re supposed to sneak inside with someone with a key.”
“Look at me.” He lifted his arms from his sides again. “Who’s gonna let in a six-foot-four-inch pink bunny?”
