Tristan didn’t believe in coincidences, and there were too many factors at play for him to do anything other than shoot his shot, regardless of where it landed. Still, he half-worried that Cosima might wake up in the light of morning and decide she had made a rash decision. He would have understood if she did. Because who the hell spent a major holiday with someone they'd met less than twenty-four hours before? It didn’t matter that he and Cosima continued chatting until the restaurant closed or that he insisted on seeing to it she made it home safe and lingered outside her building, resisting the urge to kiss her goodbye. Their time together might have felt like a first date, but it definitely was not. The last thing he wanted to do was give her the impression he expected anything to happen between them. He just wanted to see where things could lead because they deserved that. The way his entire being went a little soft when he listened to the excitement in her voice as she described being able to quit her corporate job to go into editing full-time deserved more exploration. The way the flash of determination in those soulful brown eyes landed straight in his gut when she accepted his challenge to go ice skating deserved more exploration. The way his groin tightened when she licked away an errant bit of whipped cream from her lips after she downed her final spiked hot chocolate deserved more exploration. Tristan was determined to explore not only the budding attraction between them but the first gentle stirrings of tenderness as much as he could over the next two days without coming on too strong.

He didn’t realize just how anxious he was about Cosima changing her mind until she answered the phone and let him know she’d be right down to meet him.

He went from standing stiffly to leaning against the wall right outside her building’s door as he waited for her to come down. He didn’t have to wait long before the doors opened, and she came breezing out, the coconut scent he’d already started associating with her trailing behind her.

“Hey,” she said when she finally clocked him standing there. She stepped forward and hesitated a little bit before she allowed herself to be pulled into an embrace. Tristan wished he’d met her in the middle of summer when he wouldn’t have to contend with layers of clothing between them now he finally had her in his arms. He took in Cosima’s thick leggings, thigh-high boots, and the cream sweater he could see under the unzipped puffy coat she wore. He couldn’t look away from her. She looked good as hell, and he spent a few seconds ensuring she knew this.

The shy smile that blossomed on her face at his effusive compliments hit Tristan somewhere behind his ribcage.