Monsters Under Mistletoe

6. Shawna

Chapter 6

Shawna

B e brave. Be confident. Be bold.

I repeat the mantra in my head over and over again while I finish laying out all the giant platters of silver dollar sandwiches we prepped for tonight's party. The crockpots of cheese dips and mulled wine are all set up along with a plethora of other snacking foods. Under the table are coolers of beer, seltzers, and ciders.

The early bird crowd have turned up and are helping to finish setup. Olympic Fit is completely decked out for Christmas now. There are elements of Solstice included as well, from traditional wreaths to homemade plum cakes that Bash brought in. I love this party, second best party of the year after my family’s Solstice dinner.

More and more beings start arriving, hanging up heavy winter clothes to reveal ridiculous holiday shirts and sweaters. I reached for my good luck shirt this afternoon, the Swoleman is too perfect to pass up for the party. If it happens to show off a good bit of side boob because this sports bra is cut stupid, well that’s a holiday coincidence and certainly not a part of my bold plan to seduce Brody.

“He’s not here yet,” Kal whispers next to me, making my muscles tense and goosebumps erupt on my arms.

“For a guy with hooves, you’re very sneaky,” I say, rubbing away the unsettling feeling.

“It’s one of my many talents,” he teases, before his features soften. “He said he’d come, so he’ll be here. Try to have some fun tonight. You’re not on schedule for tomorrow.”

Heat rises in my cheeks and I shove at Kaldus. “Don’t jinx me.”

He chuckles, “Not a magic in my wheelhouse, but we did hang up some extra mistletoe.”

I look around the gym equipment and see every space that could possibly fit a set of bodies has a sprig of it tied with a messy red ribbon. Fuck me that is a lot. This is a good thing, hopefully. It’s practically impossible to take more than five steps without being underneath it. I’ll just need to convince Brody to step a bit sideways under a squat rack and pray to the gods he takes the hint.

Bash shouts about the first game he’s got planned for evening, and like everyone else here, I love a good challenge. We all get lost in several rounds of ornament tossing, which are really just the medicine balls with paper cups taped on them. The Draconic I’m paired with used to be a professional baseball player and he’s fucking showing off or something because I damn near lose my arm at his next toss.

“Nice catch!”

To my left, Brody gives me a thumb up and I nearly drop the ball. He dressed like he always is for the gym- workout shirt, tight short pants, and dad sneakers. God why does he make those shoes look hot? He’s holding a plate of sandwiches and other snacks.

How long has he been here?

“Shawna, you still in?” Bash asks, a smirk rising on his lips.

“In it to win it,” I announce, tossing the ball back to my teammate a little harder.

I’m definitely not going to lose in front of Brody, and Bash knows that. The Draconic doesn’t know this though. A fire lights behind his eyes as he pulls his arm back for his next toss. It goes a bit wide and without thinking I try to slap it out of the air rather than catch it. My palm lights up like a million needles have stabbed me.

The medicine ball plops sadly on the ground.

“Shit, are you okay?” he asks quickly, but I wave the guy off.

That motherfucker hurt, but I did the stupid thing. I’ll be fine in a few minutes. Just need to get over the burning feeling and the embarrassment of losing so lamely.

“Hey,” Brody rushes up to me. I get one inhale of him and a different part of me is burning. He smells so fucking good. Who let him out of the house smelling like this? All I want to do is jump him. “Can you hold on to this?”

He presses an ice cold can of soda into my hand, carefully curling my fingers around it. Oh, that feels good. The throbbing slowly ebbs, but Brody doesn’t take his hand away from mine. He stares up at me and gods does that feel nice compared to the last two days where I just daydreamed about this moment.

“Let’s move on to the next game,” Kal shouts and moves most of the party on to a different section of the gym.

We aren’t alone, there are plenty of beings lingering around the food table or already coupling off under the mistletoe. Brody’s gaze follows mine and his cheeks turn an adorable pink colour that almost matches the stripes in my hair.

“Do you want some sandwiches?” he asks suddenly.

“Oh, yeah,” I nod eagerly. Even if I wasn't starving I would have said yes. Share a meal? With my possible true mate? Absolutely.

Brody lets go of my hand, but then with absolute confidence he places it on my low back. My heart soars as he walks us over to a bench. Our knees bump together as we sit down and it feels so right. This is more like it, completely better than two days ago.

“I grabbed a bit of everything,” he says. “So, um, we could share. I'm sorry I was a bit late.”

“It's not like we took attendance,” I smirk, smearing a carrot through a blob of hummus before popping it in my mouth. “But I’m happy you’re here for some fun.”

He pops some sort of cream cheese pinwheel thing into his mouth and blushes. We sit in silence for a bit. I scarf down a turkey and cranberry sandwich while I try not to stare too hard at his soft features or broad shoulders. The cheering from the party ebbs and flows as people win or lose whatever games Kal has them playing.

Be brave. Be confident. Be bold.

“Can I tell you something?” I ask.

“Anything,” he replies instantly, setting down the plate of food he is holding for us.

“I've wanted to-”

“Everyone to the squat racks, it's time for the snatch challenge!” Bash hollers.

He cuts off my confession before I can tell Brody I've been trying and failing to ask him out for ages. That I've had a crush on him since he did my yoga class. But Kal is already waving us over and I want to throttle both of them for interrupting us.

“Same rules as last year, winner is decided based on body weight percentage versus weight lifted. This year's prize is two free months at the gym and a month of personal training sessions with Bash.” Kal explains the rules in depth and sets up three racks with different weights for the varying sizes of beings at the party.

“This is the last weights game,” Bash smiles, “so if anyone who’s been holding out, we’ve got cold ones for consolation prizes.”

This isn’t a contest for me since I work here, but Brody gets this odd look on his face. He nods at me with sheer determination and walks over to a small group where beings his size are standing. I take the food, finally popping my can of soda, and watch.

It’s easy to get into the crowd mentality and to cheer people on. Most of the people here I’ve known for years. But cheering on Brody is invigorating. We move through rounds quickly, contestants buckling under the pressure or the weights.

Each new round, Brody lifts heavier, crushing the other challengers in his group. His face turns as red as the ribbon of the mistletoe. I can’t stop looking up at it. Other people around me notice the mistletoe too. I see them sneaking kisses when they leave for a drink or when their partner wins a round.

Would Brody accept my kiss if he wins?

When it’s down to the last round, Brody’s still in it and has the final lift of the night. Everyone hushes as he tightens the gym belt around his middle. Sweat drips down his hairline, catching the threads of grey that shoot from his temples. He gets into position, but before he does the movement, he makes eye contact with me. I smile and give him a thumbs up the same way he did for me earlier.

No matter what happens I’m kissing him. I’m going to do it.

He does the lift, his form is good going into the squat, and for a moment I hold my breath. Is he going to stand up and finish the move? He takes a quick breath and stands. Around me, the crowd bursts into cheers. Once he drops the barbell back down, there is a rallying of people around him to clap his back and celebrate. I can’t wipe the smile off my face as I watch him graciously accept the praise until everyone at last breaks up to start drinking.

“That was really awesome,” I smile, butterflies in my stomach starting to kick off as I approach him under the squat rack. My hands flex and I’m not sure if I want to grab him or tie them behind my back.

Brody smiles as he undoes the belt, but he doesn’t move out yet. He looks up at me and I see that same determined look as before.

“Can I kiss you?” he asks.

My whole body flushes and it’s like my nervous butterflies are trying to float out of my skin.

“Please.”

We meet in a rush. My palm tucks perfectly against his stubbled cheek when his lips brush against mine. His mouth is closed, but his lips feel like heaven. They are softer than I expected, but when I pull away ever so slightly to give him space, Brody grabs the back of my nape and gently pulls me back down to him.

He kisses me with a commanding force, like he’s been dying to do this. His tongue teases my lips and I’m so ready for more. My mouth opens enough for him to slide his tongue against mine and my whole world erupts. He tastes like sweat, but more importantly he tastes like mine .

Brody tastes like my true mate, like I hoped for for so long. He grabs hold of my waist, pulling me in close, moulding our bodies together. I raise my knee just enough to tease the bulge in his shorts, and he already feels hard.

“Alright, break it up,” Kal playfully jeers as someone else whistles. We part ways slowly. My face is on fire at my boss breaking us up like teenagers, but I can’t stop staring at my mate. Brody looks at me like I hung the fucking stars, and wow is that look burning into my memory forever. “We’re doing a candy cane hunt and then you can do whatever you want until midnight.”

“You wanna?” I ask, a little breathless and thinking of all the places we can get tucked away into for privacy.

“Only if you’re on my team,” he says, looking up at the mistletoe overhead. “And if I can kiss you again.”

“Find me a candy cane first,” I tease, ready to start hunting for more than one sweet treat.