Mistletoe Mischief (Falling in Mistletoe #2)

Chapter Three

T his is absolutely amazing, guys,” Noel Winters said after reading the message from Alia’s assistant. She handed Pike’s phone back to him with a grin. “Congratulations, Fish!”

Pike couldn’t even glare at his friend for using that stupid nickname. He was walking on sunshine. Excursions had signed up for four different experiences with Adventures in Mistletoe over the next few weeks, which meant that they were going to be featured on the podcast and Instagram. He’d spent most of his downtime in the store today looking at ornaments for their tree, hoping he could convince Anthony to do something awesome for the Festival of Trees. While they didn’t have time to decorate, at least they could order the stuff and have one available for people to see. They were about to get a shit ton of exposure, and they needed to be out there, soaking up all of it.

“Thanks.” He took his phone back and slipped it into the pocket of his jeans.

“I’m still amazed that she picked Mistletoe,” Nick said, shaking his head. “With Sun Valley a stone’s throw away? Aren’t her parents big-time Hollywood actors? You’d think that would have probably been more her speed.”

“Hey now, let’s not jinx ourselves!” Pike said, pointing at Nick. “Yes, her dad is the CEO of Cole Studios, and her mom was a big rom-com queen in the late nineties, but she is coming here, and this is where she is going to stay.”

“Whoa, now, let’s not get too intense,” Anthony joked. “We don’t want to scare her away. ”

“Speaking of scaring women away,” Noel said, smirking, “Nick said you’ve finally noticed Delilah Gill. What brought that on?”

Pike groaned softly. When he’d invited his three friends over to celebrate and brainstorm over pizza and beer, the last thing he expected was to be questioned on romantic pursuits.

“I guess the timing kind of fell into place.” Pike reached out and slugged Anthony in the arm.

“Ow! Asshole!” Anthony glared at him.

“That’s for fucking with me earlier with the blanket thing. Why did you make it seem like you were hiding something?”

Anthony’s cheeks darkened, and Pike could have sworn he was blushing. “I was just thanking her. I can’t help it if you took it weird.”

“Whatever, it was a jacked-up thing to do.” Pike straightened his tie, grinning. “At least she didn’t let your bullshit affect her feelings toward me.”

“So, this is happening?” Nick asked.

“I got her number, at least. Now I just got to figure out where to take her.”

Noel and Nick exchanged a glance, and Pike frowned. “What was that?”

“Nothing,” they chorused.

“Bull, that was a look ,” Pike said, his focus shifting between the two of them. “Do not start doing that married mind meld thing! What don’t you want to say?”

Noel glanced at Nick, who shrugged. She leaned forward and steepled her fingers, her hesitation making him crazy.

“I wonder if you are pursuing Delilah for the right reasons,” Noel said slowly, as if she were picking every word carefully.

Pike scowled. “What are the right and wrong reasons?”

“Are you finally noticing Delilah because you really like her and want to get to know who she is?” Noel asked, holding her hands out like a scale and dropping her left hand lower. “Or are you kind of at a loss for who to date, and she fills a void?”

Pike sat back, his mouth hanging open. “Wow, that’s what you think of me? That I use people because I’m bored?”

“We don’t think it’s intentional,” Nick said quickly.

Noel nodded. “I just know you’ve had a tough couple of years with dating and relationships, and I don’t want you to jump into something that could cause complications later. ”

Anthony sat quietly drinking his beer, and Pike turned to him expectantly. “Is this what you think, too?”

He held both hands up in surrender, his beer clutched in his fist. “Hey, your love life is your business.”

Pike snapped his fingers and pointed at Anthony. “Uh-uh, none of that shit. You said something Saturday about me just liking her because of a dress. You’ve got opinions. Share with the class.”

Anthony took a long pull of his beer, finally admitting, “I think that you’re looking for something, and Delilah happened to catch your eye at the right moment. You two are a lot alike.”

“Shouldn’t that be a good thing? We’ll have things in common.”

“Except,” Noel interjected, reaching out to take Nick’s hand, smiling sweetly. “I’ve found that opposites tend to attract.”

Pike made a face. “And sometimes being too different leads to friction.”

“We just don’t want you to settle, regret it, and then someone gets hurt,” Noel said.

“Well, despite your low opinion of me, I’m not using Delilah.” When Noel started to interject, Pike held up his hand. “Let me finish. I think she’s beautiful and funny and sweet. It just took me a little longer to wrap my head around it because she is Holly’s friend and the timing was off.”

“And that’s fine,” Noel said quickly. “We just wanted to check in and make sure that was where your head was at.”

“Fine.” Pike picked up the notepad and pen off the coffee table where he’d left it and settled back into his couch. “If we’re done dissecting my romantic motives, maybe we can get this list started for the winter games.”

“Sure,” Nick said, snatching another piece of pizza from the box. “What about a holiday baking cook-off, like they had in The Grinch ? I volunteer as fudge judge.”

The group collectively made a sound between a chuckle and groan, breaking the tension.

“I do agree that food is a must,” Noel said, patting her husband’s knee. “What about food trucks? You’re having it at the park, right?”

Pike nodded. “Yeah, we could have a line of vendors along the edge. I’ll reach out to them tomorrow.” Pike started writing down the ideas and to-do list. “And despite his dorky-ass comment, I do like the holiday food contest. What about games and activities? ”

“I think it should be an accumulation of events,” Anthony said, finishing off his beer and getting up to throw it away. Over his shoulder, he said, “We can have some strange demonstrations, like chainsaw ice sculpting or something, in one tent. Maybe a hockey game.”

“We definitely want to do a winter relay,” Pike said, the wheels already turning.

“What do you have in mind? It will be too cold to swim,” Nick said.

Noel nodded. “You could sled for one leg.”

“Maybe that hill past the elementary school?” Pike offered.

“I’ve seen people ski on roadways. We have to hope for fresh snow, but that could be fun,” Anthony said.

They sat quietly for several beats, before Noel laughed. “We have lived here our whole lives and can’t come up with winter activities? Lame! What are some other things you do when it’s cold outside?”

“Make snowmen?” Nick said.

“Snowball fights?” Anthony added.

“Maybe the skier could dodge snowballs while picking up snowman supplies.” Pike saw Noel’s skeptical expression and pressed on, “Hear me out. The last leg could be a sprint to a designated finish line where they have to build their best snowman.”

“It has to be more than just a sprint,” Nick said.

“What if they have to suit up in a Grinch costume?” Noel joked.

Pike stroked his chin. “That’s not a bad idea.”

“ You can do that!” Anthony laughed.

“Fine by me,” Pike said while writing down their ideas. “Food trucks. Holiday baking contest. Best sculpture. Hockey championship. Winter relay race. Snowball toss competition.” Pike’s mind was now racing with ideas. “Anything else?”

“I think that’s enough to send to Merry and get her final input,” Anthony said.

“Then the committee meeting for the first annual Mistletoe Winter Games is concluded.” Pike held up his beer bottle, waiting for his friends to tap theirs to his. “Now, what should we do?”

“I don’t know about the two of you but we,” Nick said, climbing to his feet, “are going home.”

“We are?” Noel asked.

“Yeah, we have that thing to do, remember?” Nick waggled his eyebrows, and Noel’s face lit up .

“Right, that thing.”

“Y’all are so obvious,” Anthony muttered.

“Nasty,” Pike agreed.

“Says Single-Dee and Single-Dum,” Noel said, sticking her tongue out at them. She got to her feet and gave them a little wave. “Enjoy your bromance, my dudes.”

“You are a couple of smug, married assholes!” Pike yelled after them as they headed for the door. Nick and Noel laughed, and Pike shook his head as the door shut behind them. “Can you believe those turds? Flaunting their happiness in our faces and mocking us?”

Anthony chuckled. “Come on, man. They’re newlyweds. You can’t tell me you wouldn’t be doing the exact same thing if the roles were reversed.”

“You know I would, but that’s not the point. I don’t like it when it’s done to me.”

“Well, too bad.” Anthony got up off the couch, and Pike scowled.

“Are you going to ditch me, too?”

“Man, I am tired and sore, so yeah, I’m going home to take a long, hot shower.”

“That’s fine.” Pike sniffled. “I’ll just sit here, alone in my apartment, letting loneliness overtake me.” Changing up the forlorn tone for a cheerful one, he added, “Or maybe I’ll text Delilah, too. Set up our first date.”

Anthony grabbed his coat off the back of the chair, but Pike could have sworn he was frowning. “Whatever floats your boat.”

“Hey, don’t be all gloomy!” Pike slapped him on the back with a grin. “Remember, we’re about to be featured on Excursions . Millions of listeners. Exposure and advertising. This is going to be big.”

Anthony returned his smile. “That is pretty cool, man. Thanks for taking the chance.”

“I’m glad it paid off. Did you happen to look at those ornaments I sent?”

His friend scowled. “Yeah, and we are not shelling out fifty bucks per ornament. If you want to do the Festival of Trees, you better find something cheap. I’m not saying that the Excursions thing isn’t going to be amazing, but let’s not count our chickens before they hatch.”

“Understood.”

“Night,” Anthony said, ducking out the door .

Pike locked it behind his friend and started cleaning up, putting the boxes of leftover pizza into the fridge. He dumped out any remaining beer down the sink before tossing the bottles in the recycle bin. Flipping off lights as he made his way back to his bedroom, he considered heading out to Brews and Chews for a little bit, but Pike hated going to the bar alone.

He sat on the edge of his bed and sent Delilah a text. It was only nine, so it’s not like she’d mistake it for a booty call.

Hey. I hope you had a good day. Let me know what your schedule looks like. I’d love to take you out.

He stared at the message for several minutes, waiting for her to read it, but finally set his phone aside and stripped down. Pike went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth, thinking about what his friends had said about settling. Just because he finally felt like the age difference between them didn’t matter and that they were in a good place to start something up didn’t mean he wasn’t truly into Delilah. Everything he’d said about her was true and then some. The fact that she’d been into him for a long time made it better. Less of a chance for him to get hurt.

Pike climbed into bed and checked his phone again. She still hadn’t read it.

Is this what lonely feels like?

Pike leaned back against his pillow, the knot in the pit of his stomach continuing to twist on itself. For whatever reason, the walls seemed to be closing in on him the last few months, and he’d realized a few days ago that his inadequate love life was making him antsy. Not his sex life, which was probably a little too healthy, but finding someone who didn’t use him as a placeholder for something better was more challenging than it should be. Pike liked to think he was a decent guy with a thriving business, but for whatever reason, the women he dated seemed to have one foot out the door, ready to run after whatever lawyer or doctor looked their way next. If he didn’t know better, he’d think he was Good Luck Chuck or something, helping women find their true love after dumping his ass.

All his friends had taken the plunge and found someone special except for Anthony and Clark’s brother, Sam, but the elder Griffin wasn’t looking to settle down. They were the last single men standing in their group of friends. Pike couldn’t wait to find someone to spend his life with, but discovering something lasting continued to elude him. His last meaningful relationship with Sally ended over a year ago, and he’d heard rumors the guy she was with now might pop the question.

Meanwhile, he was staring at his phone as if willing it to ping with a notification.

Pike noticed the Instagram icon at the top of his phone screen, indicating someone had commented or messaged him. He tapped on the DM symbol sporting a little red number one. It was from Ryler.

That picture of the hot springs looks awesome. I saw that you offer snowshoeing and guided hikes, but what about hot springs? Could we book one more day of your time? I think we could all use a little relaxing with the holidays approaching.

Damn, they were going to make out like bandits this year. Even without Excursions coming, they had nearly a full schedule starting next week. If things continued like this, they might have to hire someone to work behind the counter during store hours so that Anthony and Pike both could take clients out.

Of course, the thought of seeing Alia in a bikini up close and personal was just an added bonus.

Absolutely. I’m attaching a few available dates. Let me know what works best for you.

He sent the message and smiled when Ryler immediately read it. The dots popped up, and then the assistant’s reply popped up.

I filled it out. We are on the plane headed home from Bali, so we might be a little jet-lagged when we arrive. Does your Lord of the Fries make lattes? ?

Pike chuckled, typing, No, but Kiss My Donut does. And their maple bars are fantastic.

Mmmm, I haven’t had a donut in months! Thanks for the tip. ??

Pike reeled back, smacking against the headboard, and yelped, “Ow!” Pike rubbed his cranium as he stared down at the emoji. Winks were flirtatious, right?

Anytime, my dude. It was a bro response, but he didn’t want to give the guy the wrong impression. While he may be an ally and joke around with his friends, Pike was a breast man to his core .

Pike backed out of the messages and tapped on the Excursions podcast, starting the season over. The new episode should drop next week, and Pike couldn’t wait to hear about Bali. In all honesty, Alia Cole could talk about mud drying, and he’d still listen. Her voice was like a warm cozy blanket on a cold winter’s night, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the comforting sound as he drifted off.