The Christmas Cookie Crush (Arcadian Falls Christmas #4)

Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Austin

As much as I want to see Nora tonight, like we’ve done every night since we decided to go out at her parents’ open house, I’ve agreed to grab a drink with Dylan. And yeah, I want to see him and catch up. But I’m less excited about it than I feel like I should be. His sister’s prettier, and I’d rather see her.

I stop by the North Pole before I head out to at least give her a hug and a kiss and ask how her day is going.

She’s finishing up with a late appointment when I stop by, handing the parents a small folder and wishing them a Merry Christmas. She waits for them to leave before ducking around the velvet ropes and bouncing over to me, looking too cute for words in her elf costume and shimmery makeup, a big grin on her face.

“Hi!” she says when she stops in front of me.

I return her smile, reaching for her waist and pulling her against me. “Hi,” I murmur, giving her a kiss.

When I move away, she follows me, wrapping a hand behind my neck to pull me back, kissing me for longer. I grunt when she finally releases me, regretting that I’ll be spending the evening with her brother instead of taking her back up to the make-out spot—my previous feelings about that be damned—or finding another hotel room for us for tonight.

“I didn’t think I’d get to see you tonight,” she says.

I settle my arms around her, lacing my fingers behind her back, enjoying the way she toys with the hair at the nape of my neck. Sighing, I shake my head. “I know. And I’m trying to figure out some way of seeing more of you than this. But Dylan’s not bringing Lydia, and even if he were, I feel like a double date with your brother and his girlfriend might not go that well given how he acted when I came over for dinner the other night.”

She dips her head, humming in agreement. “Oh, I know. And I get why you want to hang out with Dylan tonight. I’m not upset, even if I’d selfishly rather you ditched him and went to dinner with me instead.” At my chuckle, she grins, arching an eyebrow. “Yeah, I’m not joking, but I’m glad you think I’m funny.”

“I know you’re not joking.” I kiss her again. “That’s what makes it funny.”

Her shoulders lift, and she tilts her head, giving me a small smile. “I’m glad you stopped by, even if I only get to spend a few minutes with you.”

“Me too.” My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I sigh, pulling it out and glancing at it. “It’s Dylan. He’s at The Filling Station already, so I should probably go.”

She sighs too, hers far heavier and sounding far more put upon than mine, and I chuckle again, dropping another kiss on her mouth. Once again, she holds me in place for a longer kiss.

When she breaks it off, she steps back out of my hold. “Had to get my fill while I still can. You owe me a good dinner tomorrow.”

Grinning, I take a step back and stuff my hands in my pockets, hoping that hides my growing erection from those kisses. It’s so fucking hot when she takes charge like that. “Deal.”

Thankfully, the cold and the walk to The Filling Station are enough to get my dick back under control. The door jingles when I open it, the entire thing outlined in tinsel garland, mistletoe hanging from the ceiling near the hostess stand. The entryway is crowded, and I have to squeeze my way past a few people to get to the hostess stand. People cheer on a couple kissing under the mistletoe, which makes me briefly jealous that I don’t get to do that with Nora.

But I’m here to hang out with Dylan tonight. And reconnecting with old friends is a good thing, even if I’d prefer to spend what little available time remains with Nora.

I think that’s the real source of my irritation about the situation. I know our time together is limited. And while, yes, I do hope that it can last beyond New Year’s, the fact is, I don’t know if it will. We haven’t talked about it. And it’s clear she has more dating experience than I do, since I only had one girlfriend in high school and two relationships in college. I briefly tried dating around when I was twenty, and quickly learned it wasn’t for me. For all I know, though, this is just another fun interlude for Nora.

But it doesn’t feel like that , whispers a voice in the back of my mind.

It’s true. It doesn’t feel like that. It doesn’t feel like she thinks that. But I don’t know. And I’m not brave enough to ask. Not yet, anyway.

After Christmas , I remind myself. When things are calmer and less stressful, when we have a whole week to hang out and do whatever we want. That’s when I’ll ask. For now, I need to bide my time.

The hostess looks up at me with a smile, the brim of her Santa hat flashing with Christmas lights. “How many?”

“I’m meeting a friend here. I think he’s here already.”

“Feel free to have a look around.”

“Thanks,” I tell her, but her attention has already moved to the people who came in after me.

It’s busy tonight, but I find Dylan at a table in the back corner studying the menu. I’d expected him to be at the bar since we were only supposed to get a drink. I was hoping to keep this kinda short so I could try to hang out with Nora before it gets too late. Since he’s at a table, though, I wonder if I misunderstood and he wants to get food too.

He looks up when I drop into the chair across from him, a genuine smile on his face. “Hey, man! How are you? How was work today?” His happiness at the sight of me makes me feel a little guilty about my irritation with him. I shouldn’t be irritated at hanging out with a friend. I should be happy too.

I offer him a smile as I stuff my gloves in my coat pockets and shrug the coat onto the back of the chair, determined to match his enthusiasm. “Busy. Surely you know how ChristmasFest goes, though. You had to work it plenty of times, didn’t you?”

He rolls his eyes, sitting back in his chair with a rueful chuckle. “So many times. God, this week was always the worst. Crying kids, demanding parents, ugh.”

Laughing, I shake my head at him. “So the Christmas cheer skipped you?”

Another eye roll, but he’s grinning. “Something like that. Or it was forced onto me so early that I rebelled?” He spreads his hands, palms up. “Who’s to say?”

“Sounds like you were a blast to work with.” Nora’s told me a few stories, and I thought maybe she was exaggerating or getting unreasonably annoyed by him because he’s her brother and they’ve always been a little antagonistic toward each other. But if he admits how much he didn’t like it … maybe she’s just giving me the unvarnished truth.

“Hey, man. I did my job. I didn’t piss off any parents or kids. At least not more than they already were when they got to me.”

I hum noncommittally because I’d think that as an elf you’d want to make people feel better after interacting with you. That’s one of my customer service ideals, at least, and I just work at a bakery. But Grampy’s ethos for the business is to make people feel better than when they came in, and what better way to do that than with some butter, flour, sugar, and a smile?

Now, of course, the North Pole doesn’t have the first few things, but surely the magic of Santa is enough to make up for that …

Dylan waves away that topic of conversation, which is probably for the best. “Anyway. How’ve you been? How’s life back in Arcadian Falls?”

I spread my hands. “Busy, like I said.” I grin. “I got here just in time to help prep for ChristmasFest and then run the kiosk. I’ve barely had a day off since it started, so my days have been very full. And when I’m not at work, I’m helping my grandparents.”

“Or with my sister.” He mutters it almost under his breath, and I’m not sure if he wants me to acknowledge it. But I figure it’s best to meet that head-on.

I dip my head in a nod. “Or with your sister, though that’s a more recent development.” Laughing, I shake my head, remembering her initial reaction to seeing me again. “She was pretty mad about me being here at first. Remember how we used to pick on her?”

A slow smile stretches across his face, then he laughs, running a hand along his jaw. “We were little shits, weren’t we?”

“According to Nora, we were.” I shrug. “I don’t remember being all that terrible, but maybe I just caught the spillover from her being pissed at you.”

He shakes his head. “Nah, man. You were in it every bit as much as I was. If she was pissed at you, you definitely deserved it. Man, I got in trouble so many times for picking on her.”

“Really?” I don’t remember that either. I guess I didn’t really get in trouble for it. I didn’t get in trouble for picking on my little brother, either, but we’ve always gotten along. Maybe I got the need to pick on someone out on Nora, saving my brother in the process.

Huh.

That’s kinda fucked up.

The waitress comes to take our order, and I’m hoping it’s enough of a distraction to change the subject, but no such luck.

“How’d you manage to convince her to get over that?” he asks. “Nora knows how to hold a grudge.”

Chuckling, I shake my head. “You’re not kidding.” I fill him in on the broad strokes of what happened earlier this month, glossing over the fact that I wanted her to like me because I wanted to ask her out and covering it with wanting to reconnect with one of the few familiar faces in town. He seems to accept that, at least, and I manage to distract him from any more questions about Nora and me by talking about staying here permanently to take over Give and Cake.

His brows climb his forehead at that news. “Really? You’d want to live here? Like forever?”

I shrug. “Sure. Why not? It’s a great town. Didn’t you like growing up here?”

Crossing his arms, he tilts his head to the side and stares off into the distance over my shoulder. The waitress arrives with our food, and that pulls him out of his thoughts.

As he gathers up his burger in both hands, he shrugs one shoulder. “I guess? I don’t know. I never knew any different, y’know? Maybe I’d feel that way if I moved away before high school too. But me? I’ve been ready to get out of Arcadian Falls for a long time.” He takes a big bite, his eyes squinting as he contemplates the question. Swallowing, he shrugs again. “I dunno. Maybe I’d be interested in coming back here to raise a family? But …” Another shrug and a shake of his head. “I don’t know that I’d be able to set up shop here. Maybe in Inglewood or one of the other bigger towns nearby. But I like Seattle. If we want to get somewhere a little cozier, there are plenty of smaller towns closer to there, too.”

He fills me in on his life—college, getting his degree, meeting Lydia. It makes sense that he’d want to stay put since Lydia still has to finish her degree.

By the time we finish our food and pay, we’re laughing and swapping stories of things we remember growing up, and he fills me in about some of our other old friends and where they are now. When we head to the door, I’m glad we did this. “You should come over for a bit,” he says as we head to our cars. “I’m sure Nora’d like to see you.”

I raise my eyebrows. “And you wouldn’t have a problem with that?”

“Would it matter if I did?”

Grinning, I shake my head and follow him out the door.