Page 32 of Under The Meh-stletoe

"I'm not ignoring you—" Ale stopped and gaped at her. "What?!"

"You were talking to Ximena on the phone when you came home that day. You said he'd kissed you and you couldn't tell me, so she'd have to get your drunk voice note instead."

"Fucking thin walls." Ale glared around us, as if to dare anyone to listen in on the conversation.

No one seemed to be paying attention to us, but I shared her sentiment. No one needed to know something happened, and that we may or may not be kissing in the near future.

"Who's Ximena?" I made my voice low.

"A friend from back in the city."

"Anyway," Renata interrupted. "When is the parade starting?"

Renata’s presence freed Ale from her evaluation duties. We helped set up Janet and Pri with clipboards, making the three judges for the event. At seven sharp, the first car made it around the corner. The crowd roared.

I leaned into Ale. "Do you want to watch the show? Or… can we talk?"

She agreed, the quirk on her lips intensifying. I guided her down the platform with a hand on her back. The privacy of the community hall would work, and I unlocked it for us.

We didn't enter the darkened place too far; we stood by the double doors, enough light coming from outside through the glass to see each other clearly.

Ale leaned against the wall and watched me. She waited for me to make a move.

I arched an eyebrow. "So, who else did you tell we kissed?"

"No one. I wouldn’t have even told my friend, if I hadn't been a bit drunk."

"I see. Why? Should I take that as a sign that you don't want a repeat?"

"Doyouwant a repeat?" She bit her lip.

It pulled from me. It made me want to kiss her now and talk later. Forget all my hesitation and get lost in how good it had felt.

Except relationships were messy and rarely worth the effort. A conversation was the only thing that could prevent a fuck up.

"You didn't answer my question, but I'll give you an out. It's okay if you regret it." I crossed my arms. "Disappointment won't kill me."

She pursed her lips to the side, a sparkle of humor in her eyes. "Good thing I didn't fool myself into thinking you would be romantic about this thing between us."

I took a step closer to her. "I thought a kiss in the middle of the street was kinda romantic. The only thing that would have made it better would have been fluffy snowflakes falling over us. Like in Christmas movies."

The morning after, people had seen the message written on the street and some chatter had spread around. All comments about our vandalism had been accompanied by shaking heads and lighthearted quips. As far as I knew, nobody pointed fingers our way.

"I didn't need the snowflakes," she said. "And I don't regret it."

"But…?" I got a bit closer.

She blinked up at me. "You said you didn't see anyone in your future."

"You said you wanted to be alone for a while." I braced my arm on the wall. It made me close enough to get into her space. The smallest of movements would make us touch. "Seems we are at an impasse."

People shouted at the other side of the door, but we remained alone. Cars and lights and music enthralled everyone else, but all I could see was Alejandra.

She tracked my face. A hand rested on my chest.

Her tongue peeked out as she wet her lips. "What are we going to do about that?"

"We should give it time. See if this… fades." I put a hand on her plush hip. I dug my fingertips into her flesh.