Chapter Six

Axel

I cracked open a beer and leaned against the kitchen counter. The pop of the tab was loud in the otherwise quiet house, and for a moment, I just listened to the fizzing sound as the beer settled. Today had been interesting, to say the least. I had woken up this morning with zero plans for the holiday break, just another day of wandering through life, uncertain and detached. But now? Now, I was about to head to Redmond with Star to spend the holiday with her family.

As her boyfriend.

I took a long drink from the can, the bitterness hitting my tongue and making me pause for a second. My eyes shifted toward the fridge for a brief moment before I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. How had I gone from zero to, well, whatever the hell this was?

I should’ve been asking myself what the hell I was thinking when I volunteered to help Star. I didn’t know her family—hell, I didn’t even know her that well other than the time I spent with her at work.

But instead of worrying about what I’d gotten myself into, I was pretty damn happy. More than I cared to admit. I never had a real family growing up and never had that traditional holiday thing. Christmas was a time I usually spent alone or with friends who didn’t really get what the holidays were about. No parents. No warm house with too much food and too many presents. Just silence and a reminder that the whole “family” idea wasn’t meant for me.

And now, here I was, in three days on my way to spend Christmas with Star’s family.

I took another drink from the can and thought about how, even if this whole thing went up in smoke and things with Star fell apart, at least I would have gotten a taste of what it was like to have a family. It sounded like a dream of something other people had, but I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to be part of that.

And if I was really lucky, maybe I’d get a taste of Star, too.