What We Choose novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: The Twenty-Seventh

"Dess!" Nash yelled up at the window. "Dessa! I know you're up there!"

On the second floor, the tenants' light came on.

Then the first floor's.

Kenna sat up on the couch with her hair flat on one side. "Is that him? Is that actually him?"

"It's him."

"On Christmas?" She was already reaching for her boots. "I'm going to kill him with a ham bone."

"Sit," Colter said.

He said it quietly, and Kenna sat.

He took his coat off the hook and went out the kitchen door.

I followed him as far as the top porch.

I stood at the rail in his flannel shirt and my socks, with the snow coming down sideways.

Nash saw me and stood up too fast.

The bottle swung. Some of it went on the step.

"There you are." His voice broke in the middle. "Dess. Look. I'm here. I came on Christmas."

"I see you."

"I'll still marry you." He held the ring box up higher. "Flat. I don't care. I'll take you flat, okay? I'm saying it. Nobody else is going to say that to you."

On the second floor somebody opened a window to listen.

Colter came down the last flight of outside stairs and onto the stoop.

He didn't hurry.

Nash backed up a step into the snow.

"Don't touch me."

"I'm not going to touch you," Colter said. "Give me the bottle."

Nash looked at it like he'd forgotten he had it.

He handed it over.

Colter set it on the porch rail.

"You think you're better than me?" Nash said. His teeth were chattering. "You think you're some saint? You're just the guy who got there second."

"I think you're cold," Colter said. "Where's your coat?"

"In the truck."

"Where's the truck?"

Nash looked up the street and then down it, and his face went blank.

Colter took out his phone and called a cab.

Then he took off his own canvas coat and put it around Nash's shoulders.

Nash was too drunk and too surprised to shake it off.

They stood on the sidewalk together in the snow for six minutes, not talking.

Twice Nash looked up at me on the porch.

← Chapter 17 · All chapters · Chapter 19 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend