Third Edition

“God, please never wink at me again.”
Mateo laughed. “I like you, Noelle.”
“Okay, Mateo.”
“If you want to move to the city, you should,” he said. The laughter in his eyes
had yet to fade.
“Why do you say that?”
Mateo shrugged. “Sometimes, you just have to make shit happen.”
Noelle opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by the buzzing in her
pocket. She pulled out her phone and frowned upon seeing the caller ID. It was
her mother.
Her ever-observant company seemed to figure as much. “You should go home to
your mom,” he said, standing up from his seat. Noelle followed him with her eyes,
disappointment hidden somewhere within them. She didn’t want him to leave. He
smiled warmly at her. “Merry Christmas, Noelle.”
“Merry Christmas.”
He gave a short nod, and just like that, he was gone. Noelle was still seated at
that same table, dumbfounded. Why had he gone out of his way to speak to her if
he was just going to leave? With furrowed brows, she downed the rest of her
cocoa peevishly. She was tired of watching, tired of waiting for others to give her
the okay. She was going to make shit happen.