Smiling faintly, I rub my stomach. “Noted. Go on.”
“Okay, so, you know how Christmas is right around the corner?”
“I am aware of that, yes.”
“And I know you said you don’t celebrate, but I assume that’s probably because you don’t have any family to go back to. Laurel will be off school for winter break so I was thinking about going back to our old apartment and spending a few days with her, but I don’t want to leave you here by yourself, either.”
“Just leave me with another bottle of whiskey and I’ll be fine,” I assure her.
She does not seem impressed by this idea. “I was thinking, what if you came with me?”
“To Chicago?” I cock an eyebrow. “I thought you liked me.”
She grins. “I do like you.”
“Then why do you want me to die?”
“Well, that’s the part you’re going to think is crazy, but stay with me.”
“From now on, when you tell me to stay with you, I’m just going to stop listening and assume whatever you’re saying is insane.”
Jabbing me in the side with her index finger, she says, “Listen. I have an idea. What if you called your cousin and asked him for special permission to come to the city for Christmas? Just to see my family, we would stay far away from yours, and he could even send someone to keep an eye on you if he needed to.”
“Is there some part of ‘exile’ you don’t understand? He will kill me if I set foot inside Chicago’s city limits.”
“But maybe—”
“Nope.” I cut her off, shaking my head. “You’re right, that is a crazy idea. Since I’m sort of hoping to make it to the end of the year alive, I’m not going to do that.”
“I think he knows where you are,” she states. “I don’t see how it’s even remotely possible he doesn’t. And if you reach out yourself to ask his permission, he’ll know you’re not trying to sneak back in like I assume you did last time. Who would announce their presence if they were planning anything crazy? The worst he can do is say no, then you hang up. Couldn’t you call him from a burner phone that he couldn’t trace to ask?”
“Sure,” I say, easily. “And he could say, ‘yeah, Vince, come spend Christmas in Chicago,’ and then as soon as we get there, his soldiers kill both of us on sight because he’s a liar and he didn’t call them off.”
“Okay, well, I figured you would say no to that one so I have a second idea. Laurel could come here for Christmas this year that way you could spend it with us.”
“That is a much saner idea,” I state. “But I don’t want to you to change your plans for me. Go back to Chicago, do your holiday with your sister. I’ll be fine here. Christmas doesn’t really matter to me.”
“But it’s the most wonderful time of the year,” she tells me, looking legitimately distressed. “I can accept a lot of things—descended from a mob family? Nothing you could do about it. Kidnapped a cheating ex? Shit happens. Break into houses sometimes? We’ve already covered this, I think it’s hot. But not celebrating Christmas? I have to draw the line somewhere.”
“I guess this is the end of the line, then,” I say, grimly.
“Why don’t we go out today and buy Christmas decorations? We just need to deck your halls, then you’ll be in the Christmas spirit.”
“That sounds incredibly dirty.”
“Probably just because you went to sleep with blue balls,” she states. “You should’ve let me take care of you.”
I shrug, rolling over and sitting up. I run a hand through my hair, looking round at the floor for the clothing I discarded last night.
“I folded them,” she states, climbing across the bed and sliding off. She goes over to her dresser, grabbing my jeans and T-shirt off the top and bringing them over to me.
“I can’t hang out tonight, I have to work.”
Wrinkling her nose up, she announces, “Work is lame. That’s okay, how about tomorrow?”
“We’ll see.”
She doesn’t respond to that, but I feel her watching me. “Are you going to get weird now?” she asks after a moment.
I stand, frowning at her like I don’t know what she’s talking about. “What do you mean?”
I catch her rolling her eyes at me before I pull my shirt down over my head.
“I’m not new to guys, Vince. This doesn’t have to change anything between us. I already told you I wasn’t looking for more than friendship. Friendship with a bonus orgasm here and there is nothing to complain about.”
“I’m not blowing you off; I just have work and shit to do.”
Since that sounds like bullshit, she takes a moment before deciding to tentatively trust me. “Okay, I’ll go myself and buy Christmas decorations for your apartment then. I’ll come over when you have time and help you put them up.”