Free Teddy Bear Christmas by CC Bridges Page B

nearly collided with Tyler, who’d also crouched to give him a hand. Great, if he didn’t look totally klutzy before, this clinched it.
    “Sorry, sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you.” He handed Aaron back the bottle, condensation dripping down its sides.
    Aaron clutched the bottle close to his chest, next to his packaged sandwich. “You surprised me.” Especially since he’d seen Tyler sitting a few minutes before. Did that mean he’d been watching Aaron? Maybe this evening wasn’t completely crappy after all.
    “That’s why you jumped ten feet?” Tyler grinned, a sweet smile that made him look like a devilish boy. “Sorry about scaring you half to death.”
    “I’m still alive, so no problem.” Aaron racked his brain for a way to keep this conversation going. Even on his best days, Aaron wasn’t great at flirting—or attempting to flirt, even—never mind after a long and busy shift. “You grabbing some food? The pastrami isn’t bad.”
    Great, now he was giving deli advice. Flight delay information and food court director.
    “Sure. Want to get a table?”
    “Um.” That meant Tyler wanted to eat together? “Yes, that’s a great idea.” Aaron nodded for good measure.
    A few minutes later, they were standing around a tall circular tabletop in the center of the food court, unable to find any place to actually sit. Someone had left behind a crumpled Christmas decoration, and Aaron pushed it aside with his tray. They’d be finding glitter and stuff like that for weeks afterward. He couldn’t wait until the airport cleared out and he could get back to the relative peace of his early-morning shift.
    Tyler took a bite out of his sandwich and then stopped to lick stray crumbs off his plump lips. The action had Aaron twisting to keep his footing, so he almost missed Tyler’s next comment. “This must be a great place to do some people watching.”
    “Oh, sure, I guess. I help so many different people….” Aaron struggled to pay attention to the conversation and not the crumb hanging off Tyler’s chin that begged to be brushed away. There was no point in getting attached if Tyler played for the wrong team. And Aaron couldn’t get a read on Tyler yet. It wasn’t like they were pressed together in a club, where he could smell the musk and sweat coming off his body and knew his attraction was matched.
    “And wrangle lost teddy bears for frantic moms.”
    “That too,” he laughed. “So where exactly are you headed?” Tyler had said “home” before, but Aaron was really wanting to know if home meant back to visit family or returning from a trip, maybe to see a long-distance girlfriend.
    “New Jersey. To visit my parents and the large Italian side of my family.” Tyler ducked his head, and Aaron found it so adorable. “It’s like a bad sitcom come to life, really. My mom has four sisters.”
    “You didn’t go last year?” Aaron wanted to keep him talking. He grasped every detail, to try to figure out who Tyler was.
    “Yeah, I missed out last Christmas for a stupid reason. I was seeing this guy, and he wanted to spend the holidays together… too bad the relationship didn’t last.”
    That saved Aaron the trouble of asking awkward questions about possible girlfriends. He felt a flare of anger for any idiot who’d let Tyler go. “Well, that sucks.”
    “Trust me, I’m better off without him.” Tyler sipped his drink. “What about you? Drew the short straw and now have to work the Christmas shift?”
    Aaron laughed. “My normal Christmas celebration includes Chinese food and whatever’s playing at the local movie theater. I’m Jewish,” he clarified at Tyler’s puzzled expression.
    “Ah.” Tyler nodded. “Is there anyone special you celebrate Hanukkah with?”
    “Is that a thinly veiled attempt to find out if I’m dating anyone?” Would it be too much if Aaron ran his foot against Tyler’s leg under the table? Unfortunately it wasn’t like they weren’t in full view of