“Wait,” he said, coming to stand next to Cosima as they waited on the elevator she’d just called. “You didn’t tell me anything about having to get decorations. It’s chaos out there.”

Tristan couldn’t believe it when Cosima smiled again, her energy surrounding her like a halo. “That’s the most exciting part.”

“Under all of that cuteness, you’re a bit of a weirdo,” he commented, but he couldn’t keep the awe from his voice.

“What I’m hearing is that I’m cute,” she responded. “And you can’t back out of our deal.”

He wanted to tell her that he would’ve trekked with her through the hellscape that was last-minute Christmas shopping even if they hadn’t previously agreed on it because her happy excitement was a beauty to behold. Instead, he followed her into an apartment that was as warm and inviting as she was.

“I’d give you a tour, but there’s not much to see,” she said, turning to point at a large cardboard box on her cream carpet next to her couch.

“I haven’t even unboxed it yet,” she informed him, shrugging off her thick winter coat and granting Tristan the sight he’d been waiting for all day with her in her cream sweater with thick, black leggings. He’d called her cute earlier, but that was an insufficient way to describe Cosima. Almost insulting now that he thought of just how much everything about her screamed grown woman.

“What?” she asked, forcing Tristan to pull his thoughts away from wondering how she would feel in his arms, how she would respond to his fingertips tracing lines across her skin, creating a path for his lips to follow.

“I can’t pull my eyes away from you,” he answered honestly, holding her gaze until she cleared her throat and averted her eyes.

“Well, I hope you can pull them off long enough to help me with this tree.”

He joined her in hanging up his coat on the ornate coat stand positioned close to her front door before settling down to open the box and retrieve the different parts of the tree. She wandered off and returned a few minutes later with two steaming cups of coffee, placing them on the side table closest to him.

“I don’t have hot chocolate, but these will have to do. We’re going to need the energy to fight off the hordes later.”

“I can’t believe you’re so excited about this…”