Under the Mistle-Foe (Christmas Falls: Season 2)

Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

JETT

The next day, I didn’t head to the diner at my usual time. I told myself it was because I didn’t want to leave the cats alone when they were still getting used to the place. When, in reality, Sugar and Spice had taken to their new surroundings like champs.

I had them sleep in the room for the night, but when I went to check up on them in the morning, they escaped through the crack of the door and were already wandering around the place like they owned it.

It wasn’t until lunch that I visited the diner. I had promised Remy I would come by today, and it was purely a coincidence that I happened to go during their busiest time of the day.

Remy almost immediately caught sight of me when I entered. He waved through the serving hatch but quickly refocused on his task. My booth was occupied by strangers—probably tourists—so I took a seat with some familiar faces and had lunch with them.

“Was wondering why I didn’t see you this morning, but then heard you fostered some kitties,” Adam commented when I went up to the register. He was sitting in his usual spot, his soda jerk hat perfectly in place on the top of his head, and his gray eyebrow raised in curiosity as he studied me.

Sometimes I felt like the man knew more than he let on. Like his eyes could see the truth you tried to hide inside. I had a feeling he knew about my affection for his son, and that was why he’d been so welcoming of me into his diner all these years.

He had the same piercing stare as Remy did, though Remy was not nearly as perceptive. That or I was just really good at hiding my crush.

I showed Adam some photos of the cats, and we chatted a bit about the Holiday House Light Tour that was starting up this week. Mom was impressed when I sent her photos of the finished house. She thought we had a real chance at being one of the winners this year.

I escaped the diner with the excuse of checking on the cats before Remy had finished his lunch rush clean up and had time to come out to chat with me like he’d had a habit of doing recently.

It wasn’t a lie, since I did end up accompanying the cats as I spent the rest of the day hiding at home and working on fixing bugs on the software my parents’ company was presenting next week.

They’d been busy running around getting everything ready for this final presentation that would hopefully seal the deal with this contract.

Mom had complained to me no less than ten times in the past week about how inconsolable she was about missing all the holiday fun. Then Dad would chime in, promising to take her on a month-long trip that would cheer her right up.

It was debatable whether the trip would happen. Both of them were career focused, which made them an absolute power couple, but also chronic workaholics.

The bugs took a lot longer to sort out than expected. It wasn’t until the next afternoon that I’d submitted my work. I’d ended up not going to the diner today or seeing Remy, but it hadn’t been intentional this time.

Having space away from him helped a bit too. I wasn’t all in my head about the blind date I had later tonight. I told myself I’d go in with an open mind and really give the guy a chance.

Nick had planned for us to meet at Holiday Trivia at the White Elephant. The place was packed by the time I’d arrived. I looked around for someone matching the description Nick had given me and found my blind date standing by the door leading to the back room.

Nick hadn’t lied when he said he was handsome. Angular features that exuded masculinity balanced out his fluffy hair, which gave him an air of playfulness. Though his hair had nothing on Remy’s silky locks.

I quickly shook that thought out of my head, because I was not supposed to be thinking about him tonight.

Keep an open mind .

Smiling, I walked up to the man. “Leo Fenner?”

“Yeah, hi. You’re Jett Davis?” He seemed almost relieved, and I realized why when he told me about a blind date who’d shown up in an elf costume.

My past matchmaking dates might not have worked out, but at least I hadn’t encountered any weirdos.

Neither of us had a team, so we ended up sitting with anacquaintance of his, who’d apparently been there to witness the whole elf-datedebacle.

“So, I heard you’re new to town?” I asked once we’d ordered our drinks. “How are you adapting to all the… cheer ?”

“Not gonna lie. It was a bit of a shock when I first visited. My friend Hayden warned me about it, but I never knew there could be this many Christmas puns.”

I chuckled. We did love our puns. And it was seen everywhere with shop names like Season’s Readings, Jolly Java, and hell, even the new chocolate shop, Jingle Bites Chocolate Haven, was on theme.

“But since that first visit, I quickly came to appreciate the town’s quirkiness. It’s one of the reasons I decided to move here and since I did, everyone has made me feel real welcome,” he said with a smile.

He looked at his hands, a soft expression taking over his face. I wondered if he was thinking of something—or, more accurately, someone —in particular, because that was how a person looked when they were thinking of someone they liked.

Ask me how I know…

Before I could ask anything, Shelley walked up to the front of the room and introduced herself as the MC. She quickly explained the rules. Cell phones were naturally not allowed, so Leo and I both put ours away. Shelley continued with the categories for tonight’s trivia, but my attention wasn’t on her anymore.

The pub’s front door opened, and a familiar face came into view. Who else could it be but Remy Trent? Because, of course, I would run into him when I was trying to put some distance between us. Remy held the door open for a shorter man, Kaysen Brooks.

They’d been friends since forever and had stuck together so much during school that my teenage self would always turn green with envy.

Now that I was a much more mature adult…the jealousy was still there, but at least it wasn’t all-consuming.

The two of them together wasn’t really surprising, but what was shocking was the last person that entered. Nick, the matchmaker, followed the two of them deeper into the pub. I hadn’t known Nick and Remy knew each other.

God, I hoped this wasn’t some kind of matchmaking interview. Did he request Nick’s services as well? What a terrible idea!

Which was very hypocritical considering I was currently on a date Nick had set me up with, but this wasn’t about me. This was about the fact that Remy could potentially be set up with someone he might fall in love with. Then where would that leave me?

Maybe they’d somehow become friends and decided to join the trivia for fun. Or better yet, Kaysen was the one looking for a date, though I’d heard he’d gotten himself a boyfriend who lived a couple of towns away.

The three of them settled themselves a few tables away from ours, close to the bathroom. Remy just so happened to sit right where I had the perfect view of him through the bodies of people. I didn’t know if that was a blessing or a curse.

Remy didn’t seem to have noticed me as he accepted the trivia form just in time for the first question.

“We’ll start it off easy with question one: how many reindeer fly and guide Santa Claus’s sleigh?”

Remy’s eyebrows furrowed behind his glasses. His nose wrinkled in thought the same way his dad’s did. He looked freaking adorable, and I had a hard time looking away long enough to fill out my own trivia form as the questions continued.

“Um, at the risk of making this super awkward, are you into the guy over there?” Leo nudged me with his elbow.

I almost choked on my saliva, that was how startled I was by his comment. “Oh, god. I’m so sorry…I’m being terribly rude to you.”

“No, it’s okay,” Leo said with a sigh. “I get it. ”

So I had been right. After seeing the same expression on my face in the mirror for years, there was no way I could have been mistaken.

As casually as possible, I asked him who it was and almost choked again when I heard his answer.

Leo smiled. “Well, his name is Nick.”

“The matchmaker?” I asked, gobsmacked.

He nodded.

“Didn’t he have a wife who passed away…?” I asked absentmindedly. My gaze flickered to where Remy and the others sat. The bodies of people were blocking my view of Kaysen and Nick. Leo must not have seen Nick enter, otherwise would he have been this calm?

“He did. He’s totally not into me or anything,” Leo said. “It’s just a stupid little crush on my part. I’ll get over it.”

“Not to freak you out or anything, but Nick’s sitting over there with my guy.”

Leo’s head flung in their direction so fast he attracted some curious glances. He stretched his neck to get a better look and whipped his head back just as quickly when I assumed he caught sight of the man. Thankfully, the trio hadn’t seemed to notice.

“What is he doing here…” he muttered to no one in particular. I had the exact same question myself. He shook his head, as if making up his mind about something, then rested his elbows on the table. “Anyway, your guy , huh?” I fidgeted in my seat, only now just realizing the words I’d use. Leo chuckled, then added, “Tell me about him.”

I glanced over at Remy again. He was focused on Shelley as she continued to read out the questions, as we should have been.

“I feel like I’ve been in love with Remy for half my life, but we only recently became friends. I was kind of an idiot in high school. ”

“Who wasn’t?” Leo joked. I smiled.

“We’re friends now. Which is great, I guess,” I said with a shrug. “But there are these moments , you know? Like he says something that gets my hopes all up, then firmly shoves me back into the friend zone. Sometimes I wish there was a sign out there to tell me if I even have a chance with him.”

“Do you want to find out?” Leo asked, with a twinkle in his eye.

“Oh? What do you have in mind?”

Shelley called for everyone to write down their final answers before they collected our forms. I looked at my half-empty piece of paper and sent a silent apology to our trivia team.

Leo must not have any intention of winning trivia either, because he suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. “Come with me.”

We weaved through the tables, right past where Remy and the others were sitting. I had just enough time to see Remy’s eyes widen before I was pulled away. Leo didn’t stop until we were in the back near the bathrooms.

I was still confused by Leo’s plan when he spun me around till my back was against the wall, cornering me in with his arms.

“What are you?—”

“Are they watching?” he said before I could finish asking my question. I peeked over his shoulder to see that the trio had their eyes on us. Remy and Nick had complicated expressions while Kaysen looked to be watching us with glee.

“We definitely have an audience,” I muttered. “Is this all part of your grand plan?”

Leo grinned instead of replying and took a step closer till our chests were almost touching. He reached up and brushed a loose piece of hair off my forehead, all while looking into my eyes .

Damn, if I was anybody else, I would have totally fallen for this move. Sadly, I seemed to be broken for everyone else except for one man.

I wanted to see Remy’s reaction, so I tried to look over again, but Leo cupped my cheek to stop me.

“Don’t look. Keep your eyes on me.”

“You’re not going to kiss me, are you? Because while you’re hot and all, I’m not interested in kissing someone in front of my crush.”

“What a coincidence, because same. We’re not going to kiss, but maybe try to look like you want to kiss me.”

Leo and I were about the same height. His eyes were brown, but a lighter brown. Not the delicious chocolatey brown like Remy’s. He didn’t have sexy glasses either. His face shape was all wrong too. Too many harsh lines instead of Remy’s softer features.

I was comparing them to the point I thought I was actually seeing Remy’s face. It was only then that I realized it wasn’t an illusion. Sometime while I was getting carried away in my thoughts, Remy had walked over and was now standing to my right. He clapped me on the shoulder, casually brushing Leo’s hand off of me.

A myriad of emotions flashed through his face: restrained anger, confusion, and, dare I hope, a bit of jealousy as well.

“We need to talk.”

And goddam if that wasn’t the sexiest thing I’d ever heard.