Secret Santa

december thirteen

Dinner was unsurprisingly quiet between the kids. Amber stayed on her phone most of the time, only glancing away from it to cut another slice of her steak. Bryan seemed to find his mash potatoes infinitely more interesting than an actual conversation and Erin and Calista could only glanxe at each other occasionally as if saying, you're not the only one feeling awkward right?

All in all, it seems dinner was horrible.

On the other hand, the adult table seemed as cheerful as ever.

Lyla and Tasha giggled at something Paul had said but the giggles soon turned into fits of laughter and hideous snorts all shrouded by happiness.

She envied them.

Sighing, she opened her bag to take a peek at the glittering box from her secret santa.

"What's that, Rin?" Calista said, leaning over to her side of the chair.

"Remember the secret Santa I told you about?"

Cally grinned at this and her grin grew wider when she saw Bryan perk up from his seat.

"That's cute," Amber said nonchalantly, barely looking up, "I wish I had my own secret Santa."

"Well I could've met him at Pap's but whoever he is, he refused to show his face," Erin said, pouting.

She couldn't help but notice Bryan rolling his eyes from her peripheral vision.

"What's your problem?" she scoffed.

"Did he ask you to meet him, maybe?" Bryan asked.

"Would I be so upset if he did? It's one thing to not show your face at all but to be in the same place and not want to meet? That's kind of harsh isn't it?"

Bryan seemed to contemplate something before a small grin appeared on his face, "You should just wait until Christmas then. I bet he has something awesome planned."

Erin was perplexed, confused by his sudden change in behaviour but she couldn't help but stifle a laugh at what he said. The dimples that formed on the edges of his cheeks made him look adorable. With his dashing blue eyes and charisma, it was no wonder girls usually found him attractive.

When they were younger, girls would often ask Erin to set them up with Bryan. Sometimes, she would feel a pang of jealously when he would shift his attention to other people instead of her. What she didn't understand was that now when he was seemingly all hers, why couldn't they have a decent conversation?

Looking back at the box, she opened it and a small gasp escaped from her lips.

"It's beautiful," she exclaimed, showing off the a ring to Calista.

Cally giggled, "Well, he isn't planning to propose to you now, is he?"

"I hope not," Amber said, glancing at Bryan with a small smirk.

On the other side of the table. Bryan was holding back a blush, wiping his mouth with a napkin to cover the obvious flush of red.

"Cal, which finger do you think I'm suppose to put it in?"

"Probably the ring finger," Bryan suddenly chimed in making her raise her eyebrow in confusion.

"But aren't those for-"

"Promise rings," he suggested, shrugging and grabbing another bite of his steak, "I think it's meant to be a promise ring."

"Oh," she replied, a slow smile growing on her lips and she slid the ring through her ring finger.