Mistletoe Mischief (Falling in Mistletoe #2)

Chapter Twenty-five

P ike dropped Ryler off Monday morning, resisting the urge to kiss her goodbye. Although they had been clear about the rules, he couldn’t stop wanting to touch her.

“I’ll see you Wednesday for our snowshoeing adventure,” Ryler said.

“Do you want me to come to your rental, and you can all follow me out there?”

“Sure, that would be great.” She hesitated before opening the door and whispering, “I had a really good time.”

Pike chuckled. “Just once?”

Ryler blushed. “Fine, more than once.”

“That’s what a guy wants to hear.”

“Don’t go getting a big head,” she said.

“Dang, way to tear down the man’s ego.”

Ryler laughed. “Your ego is indestructible.”

“Do you think so?” he asked softly.

Ryler leaned across the seat, and for a second, he thought she was going to kiss him. Instead she paused a few inches away and said, “It is taking everything in me not to lean across here and kiss you, but if I do that, everyone’s gonna know what we’ve been up to.”

“I could do another turn around the block and find someplace private.”

“Oh yeah, that won’t be suspicious. You pull up to drop me off, and then we suddenly leave again.”

“So does that mean we’re gonna be waiting a few days, or do you think you could sneak away later?” he asked.

“Maybe I’ll have to go grocery shopping,” she said. “We might need some whipped cream for sundaes.”

“I know what else whipped cream is good for,” Pike teased.

“Stop it!” Ryler laughed. “I’m getting out of here.”

“Wait! What about my dog?” he hollered.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Hang on.” She climbed out of the car and shut the door.

Ryler ran up the stairs to the house, returning a few minutes later with Jo under her arm. As she passed the dog through the window, Ryler leaned in and whispered, “You know what goes good with whipped cream? Chocolate syrup.”

Despite her protest, Ryler gave Pike a brief kiss, and before he could even react, she was halfway up the stairs.

He put Jo in the back, watching Ryler stop at the top of the landing and wave at him before she disappeared inside. Jo barked from the back seat, and Pike sighed. “I know, Jo,” he said. “She kind of grows on you.”

Pike made a three-point turn out of the driveway and headed to his apartment. He showered and packed Jo’s crate in the car. At least if he tried crate training at work, his uptight neighbor wouldn’t have anything to complain about. Since it was his turn to be in the office, he was trapped if Anthony decided to come in. He didn’t wanna deal with the aftermath of his best friend’s betrayal, but there was no way to avoid it. Pike was not going to let their personal business interfere with Adventures in Mistletoe. They’d both worked too long and hard to bring their dream to fruition to bail now. He was at least going to make it through the new year before he made any big decisions on whether or not to leave and start something up on his own. There were people out there who were business partners without being friends. He could be professional.

Then again, could you really trust someone after they screwed you over personally?

Pike put Jo inside her crate in the car and carried her to the front door of Adventures in Mistletoe. He set her down to unlock the door and heard Nick call out behind him. Pike turned and saw Nick coming up the sidewalk with two coffees in hand.

Pike grinned. “Is one of those for me?”

“Yes, it is. It’s a cinnamon roll latte for my very good friend Pike. ”

Pike hiked an eyebrow at Nick’s cheery tone. “What’s your deal?”

“What do you mean? I’m just a friend bringing a cup of coffee to my good buddy.”

“So long as that friend isn’t trying to butter me up to talk about our other former, mutual friend,” Pike said.

“We share many friends, so you’re going to have to be more specific.”

Pike pushed open the door, carrying Jo’s cage inside. “If you want to talk about Anthony, you are barking up the wrong tree. He made his bed, and now he’s got to lie in it.”

Nick shook his head. “Can’t you at least hear him out?”

“I heard him out on the side of the road, and each excuse was worse than the last.” Pike set Jo down behind the counter and leaned against it, watching Nick intently as he said, “Anthony can tell me that she’s a witch who cast a spell on him, and it still wouldn’t change the fact that he lied. That he didn’t have the balls to tell me he wanted Delilah and I needed to back off. Instead, he let me make a fool of myself, then went behind my back and hooked up with her. That was beyond cruel and not what friends do.”

“Playing devil’s advocate,” Nick said, holding his hands up as though Pike were armed, “have you ever had feelings for someone that you weren’t ready to talk about yet with your friends?”

Pike thought about his little arrangement with Ryler, but it wasn’t the same thing. They had a casual relationship and weren’t going for anything more. Anthony had spent the weekend with Delilah and her parents. You didn’t go home and meet someone’s parents unless you were serious about them.

“I’ve always been very open about people I am serious about, and I make my feelings known. I make my intentions known. I don’t skulk around and blow my best friend off. I don’t leave him hanging. And I certainly don’t laugh about him behind his back.”

“You know that Anthony didn’t laugh at you,” Nick said.

Pike threw his hands up. “Why are you taking his side?”

Nick shook his head. “I am not taking his side. We’ve all been friends for a long time, and maybe he had a reason for his behavior. It might not be a good reason. It might even come off as stupid, but maybe in his mind it was the right thing to do at the time.”

Pike shook his head. “I am not interested in his logic. All I want is to do my job. I don’t wanna deal with any of this personal stuff yet. I am having a good morning, and I don’t want it ruined by Anthony’s bullshit.”

“Fine,” Nick said, setting Pike’s coffee on the counter. “I’ve got to get ready for my presentation today. I just don’t like all this strife between you guys.”

“I’ve got nothing against you. My only issue is the man who picked a chick over his best friend.”

Nick nodded. “Fair enough. When did you get a dog?”

“My sister’s early Christmas present,” Pike said. “It was the start of my very difficult weekend.”

“What else happened?” Nick asked.

“Nothing, just got stuck out near Lake Pine yesterday and had to wait out the storm at the lodge.”

“Oh, how is Doc doing?” Nick asked.

“Keeping busy,” Pike said. “He had a full house with only one room left for me.”

“I thought you weren’t working this weekend,” Nick said.

“I was showing the Excursions crew some places outside Mistletoe. I sent them back to town before the storm hit.”

“Well, we were thinking about getting dinner tonight if you want to join us,” Nick said.

“Who is ‘us’?” Pike asked.

“Noel, me, Anthony—”

Pike shook his head. “I’ll pass, but thanks for the invite.”

Nick sighed and pushed the door open. “We love you, man.”

“I love you, too,” Pike said.

As Nick disappeared outside, Pike thought about how hard the next few weeks were going to be as he acclimated to not being friends with Anthony. Nick and Noel were always their friends and now he would have to split their time with Anthony. It was going to be like a divorce, except they would share custody of their friends instead of their kids.

Around lunchtime, Noel showed up with two French dip sandwiches and a smile.

“Hey, Fish. Look what I brought you.”

Pike eyed her suspiciously. “Interesting. Nick brought me coffee this morning, and now you’re bringing me lunch.”

“What? Can’t a friend just feed another friend with no ulterior motives? ”

“Yes, a friend can, but you don’t normally leave your bed when you’re working nights. So the fact that you dragged your happy butt out of your sleep time to come bring me lunch means that you wanna talk about something.”

“What could I possibly want to talk about?” she said.

“I don’t know,” he said sarcastically, “but if it has anything to do with Anthony, you can save your breath.”

Noel huffed. “Come on, Pike, be angry for a week and then hear him out.”

Pike shook his head. “You act like he didn’t pay me back for lunch or something. He lied to me. He humiliated me. He gave absolutely zero fucks about our friendship while he was away having God knows how much sex. So, no, I’m not just gonna get over it like that.” Pike snapped his fingers to emphasize his point. “This is the man who has always had my back, and in a split second, he throws all that away.”

“Well, maybe he really likes her.”

Pike shrugged. “Maybe. I wouldn’t know. He never told me.”

Noel set the sandwich container down on the counter with a sigh. “Well, I thought that if I came by and kind of put everything into perspective, you might hear Anthony out, but I guess you’re just too stubborn.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what it is. I’m the problem. I am so stubborn, and that is why I cannot forgive Anthony for going behind my back, sleeping with a woman I was interested in, and not having the balls to tell me.”

“And what if he really cares about her, and he couldn’t help himself? What if he wanted to tell you, but not over the phone? What if things just progressed, and he was stuck in a love bubble and wasn’t ready to come up for air?”

“When you have sex with someone, it doesn’t just happen. You have to weigh the pros and cons and then decide that you want to. You make a choice, knowing the consequences, and you accept them. He made his choice.” Pike scoffed. “‘Love bubble.’ Has being a happily married woman made you mushy?”

“It is absolutely a thing,” she said.

“Yes, but I never thought those words would come out of your mouth,” he said .

“Fine, I tried; that’s all I can do.” Noel paused, looking behind the counter at Jo’s cage. “By the way, when did you get a dog?”

“My sister bought it and gave it to my mom to give me as an early Christmas present,” he said.

“Well, that was sweet,” she said.

“Not really, since she’s already pooped and peed in here.”

Noel laughed. “You should take her out more often.”

“And leave the store unattended?” Pike said.

“Why don’t you hire somebody to be in the store to make appointments and sell product while you and Anthony take people on tours? Wouldn’t that make more money in the long run instead of taking turns?”

“Yes, but I’m not gonna be thinking about any new additions to the business until I figure out what I want to do.”

Noel reeled back, eyes wide with surprise. “What does that mean?”

“That means that I don’t know if I want to be in business with a man who has such little regard for me.”

Pike heard Noel counting under her breath before she exploded. “Oh, come on!”

Pike scowled at her. “If you can’t understand and respect how I feel, then you don’t have to come by and check on me.”

Noel didn’t say anything for several beats, and Pike regretted being so harsh with her. Noel had been his person for a long time. While he’d secretly been in love with her since high school, he knew that she would never love him back. When she and Nick got together, he’d been happy for them, but Pike needed to admit how he felt about her. Weirdly enough, they’d had the heart-to-heart in Brews and Chews after Noel discovered him moonlighting as a stripper. She’d finally acknowledged that Pike’s feelings were real for her, and they’d moved on. But just because he had a soft spot for her didn’t mean that she or Nick could put Anthony’s well-being above his.

“I’m sorry,” Noel said. “I know it isn’t fair what Anthony did. He should’ve been honest with you no matter what his reasons were. I just hate to see you guys lose a twenty-five-year friendship without even talking about it.”

“Like Terri Clark says, maybe I just need to be mad for a while,” Pike said, probably giving her false hope, but he was relieved when Noel smiled.

“Don’t think I’m going to give up convincing you to forgive him.”

Pike chuckled. “I’d expect nothing less.”