He grins and hands me another box.
I look at the name of it. “The Sugar Shack?”
“Just open it.”
In the box is an adorable little gingerbread house covered with candy. “Hansel and Gretel got eaten there.”
“That’s supposed to be our mansion of love. Don’t make fun of it,” he says seriously.
“Oh. Well, then it’s adorable.”
The next one is The Three Little Pigs. “You’re on a roll. First Hansel and Gretel and now pork for dinner.”
“You’re silly. You know what it means.”
I get serious again. “It’s for a strong foundation.”
“Very good.”
I grab another box and find a sand castle—my castle on the beach—a Little Mermaid, and a Frog Prince.
“Oh, the Frog Prince is so cute.”
“I remember Damian said you used to make him be a frog.”
I hug him. Again.
Next, I open a Nutcracker prince.
“That was always my sister’s favorite ballet. I thought maybe since you dance, you’d like it too.”
“I love it. This will be the first Christmas that I won’t get to see it.”
He gives me his nearly-blinding happy smile.
“What?”
He tilts his head in the most adorable, aw-shucks way and pulls two tickets out of his wallet. “I got us tickets for Sunday afternoon.”
Which makes me start crying.
He wraps his arms around me. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“I haven’t bought any presents.”
“But we’re shopping tomorrow, all day.”
“I just feel bad that I haven’t gotten you anything yet. And you did all this. All the thought you put into it.”
“Boots, my mom and I went shopping when you weren’t dancing. I got a bunch of clothes for my birthday and when we were walking out, I saw the huge holiday section and decided to buy you some ornaments. Then my mom asked if you had a tree. So I bought one of the fake ones. It came with the lights on it. All I had to do was put three pieces together, plug it in, and put on the garland.”
“But these ornaments. They all have meaning.”
“They had a large selection. Seriously, I was like I want this one, and this one, and this one. Twenty minutes, tops.”
“It’s still amazing, Aiden.”
He kisses me then murmurs, “I’m glad you like it. That’s all I want. To make you happy. Come on, open the rest. And don’t feel guilty. This is our tree. The story of us. And I have an ulterior motive. I want to be so far in your life that, come August, you’ll never consider anyone but me.”
It’s much safer to open another ornament than to discuss that, mostly because I don’t even know if I’ll still be alive in August.
“Awwww! Look at this snowman! His little stick arms are full of shopping bags! That’s adorable!”
“I like shopping with you. So, are you going to wear the gorgeous dress I found last time we went shopping to Winter Formal?”
“Yeah, I am. And I found the perfect shoes to go with it.”
“I can’t wait to see you in it.”
I can’t wait for you to get me out of it, I think.
The next boxes I open are a cupcake with a clover on top, a mermaid Santa, and a seashell. “So the cupcake is just for the clover?”
“Uh huh.”
“And the mermaid—well, I guess technically he’s a merman—and seashells. Do those have to do with our wishes?” I touch the shell bracelet still tightly fastened to his wrist. “Are you ever going to tell me what you wished for?”
“Not until it comes true.”
“Hmm. Okay. What’s next?”
He hands me another box, this one containing a cotton candy machine. “Is this for the same reason as the Ferris wheel? Except we didn’t eat cotton candy together.”
“No, I dragged you away from Riley when he was licking cotton candy off your hand. So, no. It’s because your hair always smells like cotton candy.” He leans in and kisses my temple. “You always smell good enough to eat.”
I close my eyes tightly, willing away the heat I can instantly feel rising between my legs. I purse my lips and smile at him.
“You have a dirty mind. I like it,” he whispers in my ear in the low, husky voice that makes me melt.
“Well, maybe, a little.”
I open another ornament, this one a chapel. I think about how I spilled my guts to him. How he stopped during the game and asked me if I was okay. How sad it was when I planned on leaving him. I feel choked up again.
He says, “It reminds me of the chapel at school. Of our spot. Where I promised not to pretend punch your head.”
“It reminds me of how nice you could be even when I hated you.”
“You never hated me.”
“No, but I thought you hated me, so I told myself I hated you.”
“We had a rocky start, huh?”
“Yeah, we did. Damn Logan.”
“Would it have changed things?”
“Yeah, we’d probably have dated and then broken up by now. So everything was probably for the best.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah. I’ve changed a lot since we first met.”
“You’re stronger.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, you’ve been through a lot. Coming to Eastbrooke at the last minute. The stuff that went on with your friend. Your boyfriend leaving you for a year. All the stuff with Dawson. With Whitney. With Chelsea. With me. You’re good at hiding it, though. I think Riley and I are the only ones you let in. Besides Damian.”
“Yeah. So, next bag. This is the last one.”
“And these are some of my favorites.”
The first one I open is a red bag with two baguettes sticking out of the top. “What’s this one for?”
“French class. Tutoring with food. Our tutoring field trip. The dances in my room when we should have been studying. French body parts.”
“I love it.” I open the next one. A Santa dressed in pink with the cancer symbol. “For your mom?”
“Yeah. It made her really happy when I won Mr. Eastbrooke. And that’s all because of you. I’ve grown this year too. At least, that’s what my mom tells me.”
“Well, we know you’ve gotten taller. That’s why you had to shop.”
“I don’t mean that kind of growth. I mean not sleeping around. Waiting for the right girl. Knowing you’re worth every ounce of frustration. Knowing that—well, open another one.”
“Um, okay.” This one is a street sign that says Sunset Blvd. “Dual meaning? Our sunsets and the fact that California is where we’re both from?”
“That you watch sunsets with me. That I even had the guts to tell you why they were special. I’ve never shared those parts of me with anyone. No one at school even knows my mom had cancer.”
“I’m glad you shared those things with me. And we saw the green flash together.”
“Close your eyes,” he says. “I want you to see these together.” I close my eyes and listen to him unwrap ornaments. “Okay, open.”
Lying on the table in front of me is a soccer ball, a four-leaf clover, an Eiffel Tower, and two dolphins jumping out of the water. I don’t want to be a big baby and start crying again, so I joke, “Hmm. I’m not sure what any of those mean.”
He kisses me deeply then says, “Fine. I’ll tell you. These are all about luck and fate. It was fate you kicked the soccer ball at my head and made me instantly fall for you. It’s fate that I’ll ask you to marry me someday. But it was luck that I found a four-leaf clover to give you, and every time we’ve given each other a clover, it’s helped us both be lucky. And it was luck that we got to see the dolphins. You’ve made me lucky.”
“You helped me make dance team. Gave me the glass clover before my speech. And drew one on my leg for the play. You’ve been sharing the luck.”