My New Crush Gave to Me

by Shani Petroff

  Oh my God.

  The Gerbera daisy? The marshmallow kittens? The five golden rings? The planner? All the moments that really showed how much Teo paid attention and understood me, and they were all from J.D.?!!?

  I started pacing around the dance floor. “Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.”

  It was J.D. It was always J.D.

  “Charlie?” Teo said.

  But I couldn’t focus. I just started babbling. “Was Morgan right? Does J.D.…? No. Maybe? He did all of that for me. Ohmygodohmygod.”

  “You really like him,” Teo said quietly. I wasn’t sure if he was asking or telling.

  I stopped pacing. “I’m sorry. I thought he didn’t care. And I—”

  “You should go talk to him,” Teo said.

  That rush of excitement I was missing earlier had arrived. “Yeah?”

  He smiled at me. “Yeah.”

  I was about to leave when I realized something. “Wait. How are you going to get home? I drove you here.”

  “I’ll figure it out,” he said. “Go.”

  “Really?”

  “Get out of here. You should be with him,” he said.

  I gave him a giant hug. “Thank you.”

  On my way to the coat check, Heather stopped me. “Are you okay?” she asked. I must have looked more than a little frenzied. Although she didn’t seem so great herself. She was sitting at a little table alone and looking miserable.

  “Yeah, I just have to go,” I told her.

  “What about Teo? Where is he?”

  “He’s right over there,” I said, pointing to where I left him, about ten feet away. He saw us, and I got an idea. Maybe everyone could get their happily ever after tonight.

  I waved Teo over. “Heather, can you do me a favor and give this guy a ride home?” I asked when he got there.

  “What?! Yeah, of course.” Her face instantly lit up.

  “Great,” I told her. “And just so you know, Noelle sucks at matchmaking, but I don’t. So say hi to your new date.”

  I didn’t stick around to watch what happened next, I had my own story to finish.

  Thirty-Eight

  My heart was racing as I ran to the coatroom. Morgan and Ira were just walking out.

  “I’m sorry. I’m using my late pass,” Morgan said. “We were—”

  “It’s fine, it’s fine,” I told her as I grabbed my jacket. “I have to leave anyway.”

  “What? Where are you going?” she asked.

  “To J.D.’s. You were right, Morgan. He’s the one. I’ll explain everything later. I promise.”

  “I expect a call ASAP,” she yelled after me. “I want to hear everything! And good luck!”

  I jumped in my car. I knew exactly what I needed to do.

  I parked in front of J.D.’s house and grabbed the gift bag with his present. It had been sitting in my car since Friday. I was shaking as I walked up his walkway. What if I was too late? What if going to the party with Teo ruined everything? What if he didn’t want anything to do with me anymore? I paused in front of the door and took a deep breath. I was doing it regardless. If J.D. showed me anything, it was that sometimes you just had to go with your gut.

  I rang the bell, and J.D.’s sister opened the door.

  “Is J.D. home?” I asked.

  She told me he was out on the back porch, and I went to go see him.

  His back was to me, and he was holding his camera toward the sky. It was a perfect winter night. A beautiful dark sky full of stars. I made a wish on one.

  “J.D.?” I said.

  “Charlie?” He turned around. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you at Noelle’s party?”

  I couldn’t read his expression. Was he happy to see me or not? Confessing my feelings was going to be a lot harder than I thought. I held up the bag I was holding. “Well, you gave me so many amazing presents, I thought I could at least give you one.”

  “So many?”

  I took a step closer to him. “I know it was you behind everything. Why didn’t you tell me? Why would you do that for him?”

  “I didn’t do it for him, I did it for you. I knew Teo had your name in the Secret Santa, and after you told me you got a broken candy cane, I knew the gifts weren’t going to get any better and how crushed you would be when you found out they were from Teo. So I offered to help him out.”

  “But you couldn’t stand me back then, and you still did that?”

  He put his camera down on a little table near us. “You drove me crazy at the Sentinel, but the more time I spent with … I don’t know. You’re so smart and determined and you say what’s on your mind and you’re passionate about everything you do. It’s sexy.”

  Did he just call me sexy!? And did this mean what I thought it meant?

  I couldn’t take it anymore. “If I’m so great,” I blurted out, “then why did you help set me up with your cousin?”

  “Because I promised you I would.” He smiled that smile of his, his giant dimple showing. “But I did try to sabotage my efforts. Crazy costumes and ugly sweaters. I was hoping it would scare Teo off, but you charmed him.”

  “I think your gifts charmed him,” I said, clutching the bag I brought. “They charmed me. You should have told me the truth.”

  “I didn’t think you wanted it. You built Teo up to be the perfect person for you.”

  “You might want to mark this occasion,” I told him, “because here’s something you don’t hear every day from me. I was wrong. Very wrong. He’s not the one I want.”

  He was watching me, but I still couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

  “I got you something,” I said and handed him the bag. I watched him take out his present. It was a twist on what I did for Morgan. I had taken the photos J.D. shot and posted on his GroupIt page and created his own photography book. He looked back up at me. “Charlie.” His voice was soft. “You made this?”

  I nodded. “I brought it to the Sentinel party, but then…”

  “Then I didn’t show.”

  “I hated that you weren’t there. I was really upset. More than I knew what to do with,” I confessed.

  “I wanted to be there.”

  I rested my hand on the table. “I know, and you had a good reason. I just wish you had told me about it sooner.”

  “I was going to. I got off the phone right after the party and headed straight there, but I ran into Teo on the way. He told me you’d asked him to Noelle’s. I realized I needed to back off.”

  “No, you didn’t. I was just being stupid.” It was time to be bold. “I should never have gone to the party with Teo. It was you I wanted, but I was afraid to admit it. To you. To me. To Morgan. To Teo. I knew it at Manny’s and then when I saw your photo spread…” I looked right at him, hoping he could see how much I cared. “I can’t believe you did that. It was gorgeous.”

  He put his hand on the table, his fingertips touching mine. “Well, look who I had for a muse.”

  My whole body felt warm.

  Our eyes were still locked, and my breathing was getting heavy. It was now or never. I put my hand on top of his. “Does this mean you forgive me?”

  J.D. laced his fingers with mine. “I think it does,” he said.

  The next instant, he wrapped his arm around me, and I was melting into his kiss. Forget an electric jolt. This was shooting stars, Christmas morning, first-place trophies, early Harvard acceptances, and fireworks all rolled into one. I never wanted the feeling to stop.

  My wish had come true.

  J.D. was everything I didn’t know I wanted—or needed—but did. I reached my arms around him and pulled him even closer. As his lips pressed deeply into mine, I knew I had finally gotten the perfect Christmas gift.

  Acknowledgments

  This book was a lot of fun to write, and I am so thankful to everyone who helped make it a possibility.

  To everyone at Swoon Reads and Macmillan—thank you, thank you, thank you! Holly West and Lauren Scobell, I am very grateful for y
our support, feedback, and enthusiasm. You made this an amazing experience. To Jonathan Yaged, Jean Feiwel, Emily Settle, Kristin Dulaney, and everyone in subrights; Caitlin Sweeney, Caitlin Crocker, and everyone in digital; Kathryn Little, Ashley Woodfolk, Teresa Ferraiolo, and everyone in marketing; Allison Verost, Kelsey Marrujo, and the whole publicity team; Mariel Dawson and the advertising team; Jenn Gonzalez, Claire Taylor, and everyone in sales; production editor Ilana Worrell and copyeditor Jill Amack; and to everyone else involved with this book, you’ve all been incredible. Thank you again for everything.

  Liz Dresner, who designed the cover (with a special shout-out to Holly and her knitting skills)—it’s awesome, thank you!

  To the Swoon community, I learn from you every day and appreciate all of your support and feedback.

  Laura Dail, I feel so lucky to have you in my corner. Thank you for always having my back.

  The librarians, booksellers, bloggers, reviewers, and readers, thank you for letting Charlie and co. into your lives.

  To my colleagues and friends at Fox 5, your support does not go unnoticed. Thank you for being there for me. To the rest of my friends and family—the same applies to you. I couldn’t do this without you. Thank you.

  Mom, Jordan, Andrea, Liam, and Alice—I grow more in awe of you all every day. When it comes to family, I definitely hit the jackpot. I love you. And to my father, whom I greatly miss, I know my love for books and the written word is largely due to you. I love you for that and so much more.

  And to the cast of the theater tour I was on many years ago—thank you for humoring me when I really wanted to have a holiday party and do a Secret Santa. It not only helped inspire this book but also gave me a lot of great memories.

  A New Year

  (Deleted Scene)

  I looked at my phone. Again. What was taking J.D. so long? “He’s going to miss the countdown.”

  “He’ll be back,” Morgan said.

  “There’s probably just a line,” Ira added.

  I knew they were right. But still … J.D.’s timing sucked. I didn’t want to bring in the new year and my birthday without him. It was bad enough I was spending the evening at Heather’s—but to have to stand there by myself while Ira and Morgan and just about everyone else in the room kissed someone at midnight made it soooo much worse. Technically, I had no right to be grumpy. I was the one who said we should all go to Heather’s New Year’s Eve party. She had texted me about it no less than two dozen times in the past four days. Since I hooked her and Teo up at Noelle’s birthday ball, it was like I was her new best friend. But now that I was here, I kind of wished I wasn’t. My birthday officially started in eleven minutes, and I was stuck in a crowded basement with way too much Kevin Wayward music playing and dozens of people I barely knew. I had spent the majority of the party standing in a corner with Morgan, Ira, and J.D.

  Only now my date had disappeared. Okay, he went to the bathroom. But at the worst possible time imaginable! This night was a bust. When J.D. had suggested doing something else like having an early birthday celebration, I should have taken him up on it.

  Oh well. At least there was tomorrow—which was technically just minutes away. J.D. and I had plans to hang out then. Still, it would have been nice to have celebrated tonight.

  “I’m sure he’ll be back any second,” Morgan said, and squeezed my arm.

  I checked my phone. Ten minutes until midnight. I hoped she was right.

  But thirty seconds later, a minute, a minute twenty—he still hadn’t returned.

  “Relax,” Morgan said. “There’s still plenty of time.”

  Only there wasn’t.

  Finally, with seven minutes ‘til the countdown, I got a text. Meet me in the study.

  I showed it to Morgan. Was J.D. crazy? I wasn’t wandering around Heather’s house and sneaking into rooms. Especially when Heather clearly told everyone the party remains down in the basement. No exceptions.

  “What are you waiting for?” Morgan asked.

  “We’re not supposed to—”

  “Go!” she commanded and pointed to the steps.

  “Fine.” I was going to kill J.D. if he got me in trouble with Heather’s parents. I could just picture them calling my mom, and her refusing to ever extend my curfew again.

  I marched upstairs. Why did I have to meet him? He should have been coming to me. It was my birthday. I didn’t even know where the study was. Or why I needed to go there. This night kept getting worse and worse.

  I turned down the hall. One of the doors was open. When I walked inside, my annoyance turned to laughter.

  J.D. was standing there adorned with a cone birthday hat, party horn, blinking bow tie, and holding a bouquet of colorful helium balloons.

  I was at a loss for words. “What?!” was all I could manage to get out.

  He blew into the party horn before putting it on the table and saying “Happy birthday!”

  “What is all this?” I asked.

  “Did you really think I’d ignore your birthday?”

  “But we’re celebrating tomorrow.”

  “Who wants to wait that long? I know how important time is to you.” He let go of the balloons and pulled out a carton of eggnog from underneath a little table beside him. There were two champagne glasses there and a vase filled with Gerbera daisies. “I thought you might like a surprise.”

  I took a step closer to him. “You’re forgetting, I hate surprises.”

  He shook his head. “No you don’t.”

  He was right. With J.D., I kind of didn’t. He made the unexpected, unexpectedly exciting.

  “A toast?” he said and filled the glasses.

  “You don’t like eggnog.”

  “But you do.” It was like Morgan and Ira and the onion rings. J.D. remembered. “And if you want, I bet I can find Teo and see if he has something to add to these.”

  “Yeah, I’ll pass on that one. You know, the snow pretty much melted, and if I can’t run out and make angels, it’s probably not worth it.”

  “Probably,” J.D. agreed, his face breaking into a smile. I was tempted to reach out and poke his dimple. It was so cute. He handed me one of the glasses.

  “J.D., you didn’t have to do all this.”

  “I wanted to. You deserve something special for your birthday.”

  A month ago, J.D. and I were sparring over newspaper layout, and now here he was being all incredible. How had I not always seen how great he was? I was just thankful I finally came to my senses. “When did you even do all of this? I didn’t see any balloons in the car.”

  “I got here before the party to set up. Heather said I could use the study. She’s a pretty big fan of yours right now. And I just thought maybe instead of tonight being about the new year, it should be about you.”

  He held up his glass. “Now how about that toast?”

  “Let’s see what you got,” I said, laughing.

  “Challenge accepted,” he said. “To Charlie. Aka baby New Year. Aka the most frustrating, bullheaded taskmaster—”

  “You’re doing really well here,” I interrupted.

  “I know how much you love lists,” he said, and winked at me. “But you didn’t let me finish. And the most beautiful and amazing girl I’ve ever met.”

  Only I wasn’t the amazing one—he was. I took a sip and put down my glass. J.D. did the same.

  “It’s almost time,” he said, pointing to the clock. It was just seconds away from midnight.

  J.D. intertwined his fingers with mine, looked me right in the eyes, and started to count down.

  “Ten, nine, eight.”

  This is seriously the best birthday ever.

  “Seven, six, five.”

  Can I overdose from happiness? Looking at J.D. I feel like I can.

  “Four, three, two.”

  Okay, I can’t take it anymore. If he doesn’t kiss me soon, I am going to take matters into my own hands.

  “One. Happy birthday, Charlie!”

 
; Then it happened.

  His lips met mine, and my birthday and my year were off to the best possible start.

  I had J.D., and the possibilities were endless.

  A COFFEE DATE

  between author Shani Petroff and her editor, Holly West

  Getting to Know You (A Little More)

  Holly West (HW): What book is on your nightstand now?

  Shani Petroff (SP): The Odds of Lightning by Jocelyn Davies. We were actually in a writing workshop together when she first started working on it, and I’m so excited that it’s an actual book now.

  HW: What’s your favorite word?

  SP: That is a tough one. I guess I will go with yes—as in, yes, My New Crush Gave to Me is going to be published! (That was a very exciting moment for me.)

  HW: If you could travel in time, where would you go and what would you do?

  SP: There are the grandiose things I would like to do—fix past travesties, stop horrible acts from happening. And then there are the smaller, more personal things, too—seeing loved ones who have passed away one more time, warning myself of mistakes I will make, etc. Although, there is the concern of how the changes would alter the present. I have a few book ideas percolating that play with time travel!

  HW: Charlie is all about being on time. Are you usually punctual, or are you more like J.D.?

  SP: Definitely punctual! I hate being late. Whether it’s meetings or deadlines, it’s important to me that I’m on time. (And like Charlie, it drives me crazy when someone keeps me waiting—although I’m not quite as obsessive, and give a little more leeway than she does about it!)

  HW: My New Crush Gave to Me is all about finding the perfect gifts. What’s the most perfect gift you’ve ever received?

  SP: Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good tangible gift as much as the next person, but my favorite presents are usually more experiential. A special night out or a trip with people that I love always tops my list.

  The Swoon Reads Experience (Continues!)

  HW: What’s your favorite thing about being a Swoon Reads author so far?