Then there were the young adults like Gio and the older teens, some in their early twenties with their young girlfriends or boyfriends who hung out in the back having drinks and listening to music. The crowd Veronica should’ve been in was the older cousin crowd. The young married couples dealing with young kids and babies inside talking about more pregnancies, Santa Claus and shopping for toys.

After a while of obsessing about things like that and casually watching Rita for any signs of jealousy or resentment and finding none, Veronica decided to just relax and have fun.

Unbelievably she was coaxed into playing some of the silly games and even won a prize, though she was certain it was a pity gift. She never even came close to winning any of the games. Veronica was embarrassed when she met Gio’s mom. The only thing she knew about the woman was that she was Italian and she cooked a lot. With that in mind Veronica had kept to the stereotype and pictured Gio’s mom as short and heavy. To Veronica’s surprise, the woman had a body a twenty-year-old would envy and she was very young looking for her age. And Gio had obviously gotten his striking green eyes from her. Since Gio was twenty Veronica assumed his mother was in her early forties at least, yet she could pass for early thirties.

By the end of the night, Veronica was completely stuffed and exhausted. The night had begun with her dreading it and now she was so glad she’d gone. She really had a pleasant time and she had to admit, it did beat staying home alone.

When they got to the party she’d warned Noah that she might leave early but that he should stay as long as he wanted. Of course his response had been, “We’ll leave whenever you’re ready.”

As sweet as that was it was also worrisome. Noah was becoming far too devoted to their friendship. As much as she appreciated his loyalty as a friend, she now knew he didn’t see it as just that.

For now, she had nothing to worry about. There was no one else in her life. But just like she’d never dream of asking Noah to close that door in his life she wasn’t closing it in hers either. Judging from the way he’d acted with Edward if she didn’t get a handle on this now, things could get ugly later.

~*~

After running his five miles Christmas morning, Noah got back to the house to find Roni still asleep. Perfect. He made a pot of coffee before jumping in to take a quick shower. Her door was still closed when he got out of the shower. He changed into a pair of loose sweats and a t-shirt, grabbed the gift bag from the closet and brought it out to the front room placing it under the tree.

He was nervous as hell. It was something he’d thought of getting her before but was afraid she’d think him corny.

The doorknob to her room jiggled. She was up. Noah’s eyes shot back down to the bag under the tree; there was still time. He could make a dive for it and get it before she saw it. But he took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen instead.

“Merry Christmas.”

The sound of her voice instantly made him smile. He turned from where he poured himself a cup of coffee and smiled at her. “Merry Christmas.”

He grabbed another cup out of the cupboard and poured her some coffee.

“I don’t now about you, but I could go for some blueberry pancakes.”

“Sounds good,” Noah said.

Of all the Christmas mornings he’d ever had even as a child, he couldn’t remember one feeling more satisfying than how he felt that very moment. Coffee and pancakes with Roni and the promise that he’d have her all to himself for the entire day. He couldn’t think of a better present. Well, he could think of one thing that could make this even better but he wouldn’t push it.

Noah walked Roni’s mug over to where she stood by the stove and set it down for her. “Need any help?”

“Nope,” she said cheerfully. “But you could turn on the Christmas music.”

He did just that and walked back to lean against the counter. He tried not to stare at her profile but at this point, she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Even right now in the morning. Especially right now in the morning, because this look—her tousled hair, her pajamas and big fuzzy slippers—were reserved for him. No one else could see her like this but him.

She looked up and caught him staring at her like a lovesick puppy. The more he was around her the less effort he put into concealing how he felt about her. Though he did take a sip of his coffee before he freaked her out and pulled her right out of her cheery mood.

“Year is almost over, Noah. Any resolutions for the New Year?”

“Nah, I don’t make resolutions. Or I guess I do but I call them goals and I don’t wait for the New Year to start toward them.”

She turned to him, her eyebrow arched. “You have a point. Why wait?”

“Do you?” Noah asked genuinely curious.

“Not really a goal but I want my life back. I’m just hoping that by going back to work and catching up with my old friends I can back to the way things used to be. You know, before I let myself fall into this black hole I was in for so long.”

Feeling a little annoyed by that last statement Noah asked. “But you haven’t been in it lately right?”

She now had a stack of pancakes ready and she flipped the last one onto the top of the stack adding a sliver of butter on top like she had with all the others. She picked up the tray with the stack and turned to him. “No. I haven’t and I have you and Nellie to thank for that.”

They sat and ate as she told him more about her plans for the next year irritatingly adding that she was also going to slowly work on getting her social life back.