Read Online Eight Christmas Eves by Rachel Curtis - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Rachel Curtis
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know there’s—“ The new voice cut off when the owner of the voice
entered the room and saw Helen was no longer alone.
A young man, probably
around Helen’s age, had walked into the kitchen. He was tall and athletic with
dark hair and a square jaw. He wore jeans, sneakers, and sweatshirt. “Oh,” he
said, pausing and looking at Cyrus in surprise. “Sorry.”
“This is Cyrus.
He’s Drake’s son, you know,” Helen said, going over to stand next to the young
man with a smile that almost looked shy. “Cyrus, this is my friend Ben.”
The way she
said the words sounded almost like a pronouncement, as if she were voicing
something of utmost importance. She slanted Cyrus a very particular look that
he understood immediately.
She was trying
to covertly tell him that he was supposed to be very nice to Ben. Because she
really liked him.
Cyrus
immediately smiled and held out his hand, giving the boy a quick but close
assessment. Ben was clean-cut and healthy, with a relatively intelligent
expression and a smile of almost earnest good-nature.
Cyrus's first
impression was that Helen would be able to run verbal circles around the boy.
He’d never be enough of a challenge for her.
But she seemed
to like him very much. Her expression was glowing, almost besotted, as she
gazed up at Ben. Cyrus recognized the expression since she used to look at him
that way.
She’d been
quite happy to see Cyrus earlier, but she hadn’t looked at him the way she used
to.
He brushed the
thought aside. It was ridiculous to feel like something between them had
changed merely because she had a very normal crush on a classmate. She was
sixteen. Something would be wrong if she didn’t have a romantic
interest.
She’d mentioned
Ben to him before, but always in the context of friendship, so Cyrus hadn’t
made the connection that Ben was someone special to her.
But at least he
seemed to be her age and appeared to be a sincere and responsible. Much better
than the crowd she’d been hanging out with two years ago, when he’d almost had
a heart attack on finding her being groped by a drunk football player.
She’d grown up
a lot in those two years, and he was glad that she seemed more comfortable with
who she was and that she’d made real friends who seemed to care about her as a
person.
If that meant
she would start to have boyfriends, then so be it.
Helen had been
rambling on about her adventures with Ben in cookie-making, but Cyrus was only
listening with half an ear. When she demanded that he help them cut out the
cookies from the flattened dough, Cyrus obediently took a cookie-cutter. He was
already covered in flour, after all.
He also
accepted the cocoa Helen offered him, since both she and Ben were already drinking
from big mugs.
He made a
gesture toward pressing out cookies in the shapes of stockings and stars, but
he mostly just watched how Helen acted with Ben.
Her behavior
wasn’t hard to interpret. She took every opportunity to touch him casually or
smile at him, but Cyrus was pretty sure they weren’t officially dating. They
were probably ostensibly still just friends. Obviously, Helen would like their
relationship to be something different, and from the way Ben was smiling back
at her, Cyrus figured it wouldn’t be long until they were a couple.
Cyrus wasn’t
sure what he thought about it. He checked with Helen’s security team regularly,
just to make sure his father wasn’t neglecting his responsibilities, so he knew
what she did and where she went. She’d never had a boyfriend before.
Ben didn’t seem
wild or very sophisticated, so Cyrus thought it was likely that, if they paired
up, they would move very slowly. That would be a good thing.
“What do you
think, Cyrus?” Helen asked, poking him hard in the arm.
“What do I
think about what?”
She frowned at
him impatiently. “Ben should come back after dinner to watch White Christmas and eat the sugar cookies with us, since he helped make them.
entered the room and saw Helen was no longer alone.
A young man, probably
around Helen’s age, had walked into the kitchen. He was tall and athletic with
dark hair and a square jaw. He wore jeans, sneakers, and sweatshirt. “Oh,” he
said, pausing and looking at Cyrus in surprise. “Sorry.”
“This is Cyrus.
He’s Drake’s son, you know,” Helen said, going over to stand next to the young
man with a smile that almost looked shy. “Cyrus, this is my friend Ben.”
The way she
said the words sounded almost like a pronouncement, as if she were voicing
something of utmost importance. She slanted Cyrus a very particular look that
he understood immediately.
She was trying
to covertly tell him that he was supposed to be very nice to Ben. Because she
really liked him.
Cyrus
immediately smiled and held out his hand, giving the boy a quick but close
assessment. Ben was clean-cut and healthy, with a relatively intelligent
expression and a smile of almost earnest good-nature.
Cyrus's first
impression was that Helen would be able to run verbal circles around the boy.
He’d never be enough of a challenge for her.
But she seemed
to like him very much. Her expression was glowing, almost besotted, as she
gazed up at Ben. Cyrus recognized the expression since she used to look at him
that way.
She’d been
quite happy to see Cyrus earlier, but she hadn’t looked at him the way she used
to.
He brushed the
thought aside. It was ridiculous to feel like something between them had
changed merely because she had a very normal crush on a classmate. She was
sixteen. Something would be wrong if she didn’t have a romantic
interest.
She’d mentioned
Ben to him before, but always in the context of friendship, so Cyrus hadn’t
made the connection that Ben was someone special to her.
But at least he
seemed to be her age and appeared to be a sincere and responsible. Much better
than the crowd she’d been hanging out with two years ago, when he’d almost had
a heart attack on finding her being groped by a drunk football player.
She’d grown up
a lot in those two years, and he was glad that she seemed more comfortable with
who she was and that she’d made real friends who seemed to care about her as a
person.
If that meant
she would start to have boyfriends, then so be it.
Helen had been
rambling on about her adventures with Ben in cookie-making, but Cyrus was only
listening with half an ear. When she demanded that he help them cut out the
cookies from the flattened dough, Cyrus obediently took a cookie-cutter. He was
already covered in flour, after all.
He also
accepted the cocoa Helen offered him, since both she and Ben were already drinking
from big mugs.
He made a
gesture toward pressing out cookies in the shapes of stockings and stars, but
he mostly just watched how Helen acted with Ben.
Her behavior
wasn’t hard to interpret. She took every opportunity to touch him casually or
smile at him, but Cyrus was pretty sure they weren’t officially dating. They
were probably ostensibly still just friends. Obviously, Helen would like their
relationship to be something different, and from the way Ben was smiling back
at her, Cyrus figured it wouldn’t be long until they were a couple.
Cyrus wasn’t
sure what he thought about it. He checked with Helen’s security team regularly,
just to make sure his father wasn’t neglecting his responsibilities, so he knew
what she did and where she went. She’d never had a boyfriend before.
Ben didn’t seem
wild or very sophisticated, so Cyrus thought it was likely that, if they paired
up, they would move very slowly. That would be a good thing.
“What do you
think, Cyrus?” Helen asked, poking him hard in the arm.
“What do I
think about what?”
She frowned at
him impatiently. “Ben should come back after dinner to watch White Christmas and eat the sugar cookies with us, since he helped make them.
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