Him and Me.

Forty Nine.

When his eyes met mine, he offered a small smile.

“Well, there goes my crazy mother.”

I smiled back, taking a step closer to Colby. I raised my eyebrows at him and asked, concern filling me, “You okay?”

He took a deep breath and turned to face me fully. His arms encircled my waist and they hung loosely there, as my hands settled on his upper arms. Tilting my head to the side, I ran my hands up and down his arms softly, and somehow he looked more relaxed.

“I am,” he replied, drawing me closer to him. “Of course, I am. I didn’t even think my mom would be here with me this Christmas, but she came and it was great.”

Colby then crouched down so we were at eye level. “Plus, I have you here with me. Of course I’m going to be okay.”

Could anyone be sweeter than this boy?

I reached out and gently flicked his nose, and as his words reverberated in my mind, a swarm of butterflies invaded my tummy. “You can be really sweet when you want to.”

He reared back, looking offended. “I’m always sweet.”

Before I could respond, Colby smiled a wide, goofy grin. “Only to you, though.”

Try as I might, I couldn’t help but giggle in delight because of his words. My giggles abruptly ended when Colby suddenly yanked my body to his, and I was enveloped in his scent, his arms holding me close. It took me about two seconds to recover from my surprise, and I wrapped my arms around Colby as well. Every exhale he released tickled my ear and the side of my cheek. I hugged him tighter.

Colby loosened his grip a couple of minutes later, and his cheek rested against the side of my head. When he finally let go, he placed a kiss on my forehead and murmured, “Thank you.”

“I think you’ve said that about a million times already,” I replied, my eyes closed as his lips were still touching my forehead.

I felt air brushed my hair as he chuckled, and he pulled away until he was looking at me again. “A million thank you’s isn’t enough.”

Despite feeling extremely touched, I rolled my eyes at him and said, “You’re so cheesy.”

Colby shrugged. “One of the reasons why you love me.”

I paused. Okay, that was true, and judging from the smirk forming on my boyfriend’s lips, he knew that what he declared was indeed the truth.

“Admit it, you love everything about me,” Colby added, his eyes shining as he looked at me. He wiggled his eyebrows. “I’m the man of your dreams.”

Those were all true, but I managed to raise an eyebrow as I retorted sarcastically, “Well, aren’t you modest.”

“I know, I am incredibly humble, and I take pride in that,” he replied easily, that smirk still on his face. Colby removed his arms from my waist and then grabbed my hand. He started to play with my fingers, making me smile.

“You have really small hands,” Colby commented absently as he raised my hand to his face, his eyes studying it intently. “Baby hands.”

“That’s only because you have gigantic hands,” I said, one corner of my mouth tipping up slightly. “Ogre hands.”

Colby closed his eyes and sighed. When he looked at me again, his eyes were full of amusement. “Okay, so far you’ve called me creep-o, baboon and ogre.” He raised an eyebrow, and it was obvious he was trying not to smile.

“Any other names with reference to ugly beings in your vocabulary for me?”

I rolled my lips inside my mouth and darted my tongue out against my lips to keep from giggling. Clearing my throat, I pretended to ponder. “Hmm, I was thinking of the name of that hideous fish that Cameron and I watched in River Monsters—“