Page 118 of Fall Into Me

He sent the single-word text, grimacing as he realized there was no way Ash was going to be available to talk right then. Sure enough, even though he stared at the phone for over two whole minutes, watching the clock in the corner jump from 8:09 to 8:10 and then 8:11 and 8:12, no response came. It made sense. Even if Ash had already put Bri down to bed, he was probably hanging out with Shaina and the Wallers.

They probably didn’t get to talk for hours still, if at all.

With a long breath, Cass set his phone on the nightstand, stripped down to his boxers, and crawled into bed and under the covers. It was early, and he knew he wouldn’t be sleeping for a while yet, but he was tired enough from the day that he kind of wanted to do nothing.

He reached over and picked up the book he’d been reading, hoping he could get lost in the pages until it was time to sleep. But just as he cracked the book open, his phone buzzed, the screen lighting up with Ash’s name. He couldn’t answer fast enough.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Ash echoed, his voice hushed. There was a quiet click, and then he heard Ash let out a long sigh. “Bri just fell asleep. I hope it’s okay that I called. I’m too tired to text much,” he added with a weak laugh.

The softness of Ash’s voice steadied something inside of Cass, one of those anxious threads that had been feeling frayed all day long. He set his book back on the nightstand, then closed his eyes and let his head rest on his pillow.

“Long day, huh?” he asked.

There was some rustling, like Ash was settling down on the couch, maybe, and then a low hum. “Mm-hmm, yeah. We were out most of the day. Bri had so much fun, but she didn’t nap at all, and I was worried she would have trouble falling asleep too.”

“She didn’t?”

“No, not at all.” Ash laughed. “She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.”

Cass smiled. “And why are you still awake, then? Sounds like you could use an early night too.”

“Are you saying we should hang up?” There was a clear tease in Ash’s voice, which made Cass’s heart speed up.

“I’m absolutely not saying that.”

“Good.”

“Good.”

Cass heard his dad’s truck pull into the driveway, and a moment later, the front door opened and closed, then footsteps came down the hall, disappearing into his parents’ room.

“So, did you open the gift I sent yet, or are you one of those super upstanding people who always waits until Christmas Day to open gifts, no matter what?”

Cass chuckled and lifted his free hand up to rest behind his head. “I didn’t open it yet. I do usually wait until Christmas. Unless you wanted me to open it sooner.”

“Nah, you can wait. I was just curious.”

“When I was a kid, my parents always let me pick out one gift to open on Christmas Eve. But then, uh, they never did the whole Santa Claus thing, actually. So all the presents were already out under the tree.”

“No Santa?”

Cass opened his eyes, his gaze drifting across the ceiling without focusing on anything in particular. “Nah. My mom hated the idea of lying to me so much that they never even pretended Santa was a thing when I was little. I’m glad that’s what they did, because the first time I heard the song ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,’ the idea that there was someone watching me and judging me all the time really creeped me out.”

“It is pretty creepy when you think about it, isn’t it?”

“Definitely.” Cass laughed and closed his eyes again, which he immediately regretted.

Santa.

Santa hat.

Nothing but Santa hat.

Ash in nothing but Santa hat.

Heat flared through his chest, and he remembered all of his thoughts from that morning, how he’d wanted to stay in bed, scroll back through the pictures Ash had sent, call Ash and see if they could talk. More than talk, actually; he’d wanted to more than talk. Not that he knew how that would work, exactly, over the phone.