A Very Grumpy Thanksgiving (Wolf Valley: A Very Grumpy Holiday #3)

Chapter 9

NINE

Saffron

I try to get lost in books as I unpack the new boxes that came in, but my mind is still back in bed with Nolan.

This morning was anxiety-inducing. I wasn’t sure if I should stay until he woke up and then I started thinking about his reaction to last night and getting freaked out that maybe he would wake up and regret sleeping with me. In the end, I panicked, got dressed, and bolted out of my house without waking him up.

It’s been a few hours, and I haven’t heard from him yet, which makes me even more concerned that he regrets our night together.

“Hey! How’s it—Whoa! What’s wrong?” Lilou asks, rushing over to my side.

“What?” I ask, blinking out of my spiraling panic.

“You look totally freaked out. What’s wrong?” she asks as she tucks her purse behind the counter.

I take a deep breath and look around the shop before I lean closer to my friend.

“I slept with Nolan,” I tell her.

“What!?” A voice shrieks by the front door, and my head snaps up, relaxing when I see my sisters, Maple and Olive, standing at the door.

“I, uh, I slept with Nolan last night,” I tell them.

“You’re fake boyfriend?” Maple asks at the same time that Olive says, “Your neighbor?”

“Yeah…”

“So, are you two officially together?” Lilou asks me.

“I… don’t know,” I admit. “We slept together, and then I left while he was still sleeping, and we haven’t talked since.”

“Well, do you want to be with him? Do you like him?” Maple asks me, and I swallow hard.

“Yeah, I do,” I whisper.

“Then talk to him! Tell him that you want to really be his girlfriend,” Olive tells me.

“I…” I trail off, and they all share a knowing look.

“It can be scary,” Maple says gently, and I nod.

“What if he doesn’t want to be with me? What if it was just a one-night stand for him or a mistake? Then I’ll have to keep living next door to him and seeing him all of the time, and he’s still fixing up my house, so that’s going to make it even more awkward, and then I’ll have to sell the house, and move to avoid him and?—”

“Whoa! Slow down, Saffron. It’s going to be okay,” Olive says, her eyes wide with concern.

“You don’t know that,” I groan miserably.

“You need to talk to him,” Lilou says, and I nod.

“I know, I’m just scared.”

An image of Nolan above me, moving inside of me, fills my head, and I swallow hard. Last night felt so real, and I can’t help but wonder if it just felt that way for me or if he felt it, too. Was it just a fling for him? Or something more?

“Just be brave and ask him. The worst that he can say is that it was just a one-time thing, and then you can work on moving on,” Maple says.

“Hey! You guys all hanging out without us?” Ginger and Mira ask as they come into the bookstore.

“Saffron is freaking out, and we’re helping her,” Olive tells them, and I groan.

“Why?” Ginger asks.

“She slept with Nolan last night,” Maple tells them.

“Woohoo!” Mira cheers, and I shake my head.

“I’m worried that it’s just a one-night stand for him,” I explain.

“It’s not. I’ve seen him look at you, and he’s always mooning over you,” Mira says.

“Yeah! I mean, I wish that someone would look at me like that,” Lilou agrees.

“Babe, I keep telling you that I’ll look at you any way that you want me to,” Milo says as he joins us in the store, and Lilou jumps, whirling around.

“We need to get a bell for the doors,” she grumbles.

“How do you want me to look at you?” he asks her as he leans on the counter across from her. “Maybe like this? Over dinner?”

“No.”

He just smiles at her, and her face flames bright red as she looks at anyone except him.

“Should we talk about Christmas? Is it too early for you to meet my parents?”

“Oh my god!” she shouts and throws her hands into the air.

His phone starts to ring and he smiles at Lilou before he answers it and heads back outside to his car.

“When is that going to happen?” Mira asks Lilou, and she glares at all of us when we giggle.

“Never.”

“He’s not going to give up,” I point out. “He’s been after you since he got to town. I haven’t even seen him look at another girl.”

“Never,” she growls and we all know to drop it. At least for now.

“Now, when are you going to talk to your man?” Lilou asks me, and I sigh.

“I’ll talk to him tonight,” I tell them.

I even manage to sound confident as I say it, but deep down, I’m terrified that I might be the only one feeling this way.

I spend the rest of the day dreading when I have to go home and talk to Nolan. By the time I’m closing up Shelf Indulgence, I’m on edge and feel nauseous.

Time to get this over with.