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

Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

JETT

I’d somehow managed to be mostly productive for the rest of the day. After having a quick early lunch with Remy, he’d dragged me to their stock room, demanding kisses. His excuse was that in his attempt to quit smoking, it was my job as a supportive boyfriend to keep his mouth busy when he had the cravings.

I wasn’t going to say no. Hell, this worked for my benefit too. I was more than happy to go around sneaking kisses with my boyfriend.

Boyfriend ! I still got giddy every time he called himself that.

Our impromptu stockroom kisses didn’t last long before the lunch rush demanded Remy return to help Rory in the kitchen. I didn’t stay at the diner either and made my way home.

I was still hesitant about leaving Sugar and Spice alone for long periods of time when they were still adjusting to their new environment, but I found them cuddling on the couch, looking like they didn’t have a care in the world. That was, of course, until they heard me preparing a little snack for them. Then the tiny feet came scurrying into the kitchen, and Spice’s demanding meows started too.

Spice ate withabandon, chowing on the food like it was the first meal of his life. Sugar was a bit more reserved and took her time licking her plate clean. Afterward, I played with them for a bit, mostly to release some of Spice’s energy, so he didn’t distract me while I worked, then settled onto the couch to finish today’s work.

The cats left to do their own thing for a while but slowly slunk back into the living room and made themselves comfortable, tucked against me. My hand absentmindedly petted them as I read the document.

It hadn’t even been a week since I brought them back, and I already knew this was going to end up a foster fail. There was no way I could return them when they were already my babies. I wondered how Adam felt about furry grandchildren instead of human ones.

When dinnertime rolled around, I called it a day for work and got ready for tonight’s date. Remy said he’d pick me up at my place, making my house the first stop on tonight’s light tour.

I thoroughly took my time getting ready in the shower, so nervous that my bar soap kept slipping out of my hand. I was being stupid. This wasn’t my first date. I’d been on more than I could count. But this was the one that really mattered. A date with the man I’d been dreaming about for as long as I could remember.

After spending an obscene amount of time scrubbing myself in the shower, I moved to the closet and shuffled through my clothes, finally choosing a blue sweater that hugged my body like a glove. I paired it with some casual jeans and the red scarf and beanie Remy had given me. Or at least that was the story I was going with. If Remy tried to ask for them back, I was going to play dumb .

I had just enough time to spritz myself with a little cologne when the doorbell rang. Remy stood outside with a lollipop in his mouth and hands in his pant pockets.

“Hey,” I greeted and let him inside.

He looked me up and down. His eyes landed on the scarf around my neck, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he pushed me against the door, one hand quickly pulling the candy from his mouth as he gave me a cherry-flavored kiss.

“Now that was a greeting,” I teased and stole his lollipop for myself. “I thought you weren’t a huge fan of my sweets?”

He shrugged. “I was feeling nervous and itching for a smoke, but opted for one of the dozens of lollipops you left at the diner.”

“Glad to be of service,” I said and leaned in for another kiss, using my tongue to press the lollipop back into his mouth before pulling back. Remy hummed and swirled the candy around. “Can I ask what you were nervous about?”

The movement of the lollipop stopped. “Honestly, I don’t even know myself. I’ve been on dates before, but mostly with people I wasn’t really into. But it’s different with you, you know?”

“Yeah, I do.” I stepped into his space and placed a hand on his chest. I was pleasantly surprised to find his heart beating probably just as fast as mine was.

We stayed like that for a few seconds, his hand over mine as we locked eyes. Quite honestly, he looked a bit silly with the white lollipop stick poking out of his mouth, but it still had to be one of the most perfect moments.

“We should get going soon. Since it’s the first day of the tour, everyone will be lining up for the reindeer sleighs,” he suddenly spoke up, then wrapped my scarf tighter around me before leading us out. “But first, how about a photo in front of the first light design we made together for this tour? ”

I liked the way he phrased that, like there was a chance of many more light tours we’d enter together in the future.

The lights were connected to a timer that automatically turned the lights on and off on schedule, so I didn’t have to baby them.

We stood close to the sidewalk near my house for the photo. Remy and I bent down for the selfie so that we could capture ourselves and the house. We looked a bit funny, faces squished together and tinted blue from the lights, but our smiles were stretched wide across our faces.

I insisted on Remy sending me the picture right then and there so that I could have it for myself. I quickly sent the photo to my family chat, mostly to show Mom the house on the first night of the tour.

Mom replied almost instantly with questions on why I’d taken a picture with the boy from the diner. I could only imagine their shocked expressions when I told them he was my boyfriend, but that would have to wait till later. Without replying, I silenced my phone then pocketed it.

It was windy tonight and getting a lot colder than I was comfortable with, but I didn’t have a chance to feel the cold with the warmth Remy was filling inside my heart. We held hands the entire way to the lineup for the sleigh rides.

A few curious glances were shot our way. Probably nosy locals who were waiting to hear the next scoop. I couldn’t blame them. Not when I would’ve been just as curious, but I worried their stares would get to Remy. He hadn’t lived the small-town life in a while and had never been seen around with a boyfriend before, so who knew how he’d react to all this attention.

“Does it bother you?” I asked when we reached one of the stops for the reindeer sleigh rides. We walked to the back of the line. Remy had been right about people lining up for the rides. Excited faces, mostly unfamiliar ones, took a billion photos of the reindeer. Tourist season was in full swing.

“What? The old folks who have nothing better to do? They can stare all they want.” We moved up the line. Now there was only a teenage couple in front of us, both chatting excitedly about seeing a reindeer in person for the first time.

“It really doesn’t bother you?” I asked again. “To be seen in town on a date with a guy? With a guy you didn’t even like a few years ago.”

“Oh? So you knew I didn’t like you back then?” he asked instead of answering my question. “If you knew, then why did you keep coming around me?”

The words choked in my throat. Heat crept up my neck, and I couldn’t find the words even when it was our turn for the sleigh rides.

Our driver was a familiar face, Gus, who’d been working the rides for years. I’d seen him in countless costumes, so many that I wondered if those were the only outfits in his closet.

Tonight, he was dressed as a smart-looking elf, fit with pointy ears, red-and-green striped leggings, and a green stocking cap to match his long green shirt.

He helped us into the sleigh and provided us with a blanket before returning to the driver’s seat to start the tour.

“So, are you going to answer me?” Remy’s smooth voice rumbled beside my ear. There went my hope, thinking he’d drop the topic if I kept my mouth shut.

He poked me in the rib. His hand wiggled behind me indecently until he was able to wrap it around me, pulling me closer to him, and then started rubbing my hip bone. I pressed his hand to keep it still. The last thing I needed was to get hard while riding a reindeer sleigh ride. I turned to glare at him, and he smiled back like he knew what I was thinking .

“Your answer?” he prompted, as if the naughty hand on my body wasn’t his.

“Are you really going to make me say it? It’s not like it wasn’t obvious,” I grumbled, not really wanting to revisit my dark history. I’d been a stupid kid with a crush and hadn’t known how to properly interact with said crush.

Remy wrinkled his nose in thought. “So you really were in your bad boy era and decided to choose me as your bully target?”

“Bully—” I started, but then thinking back to how I’d acted, it might have been seen that way. I recalled a time I boasted about getting a hundred on a test, thinking that he might like me if he thought I was smart. I hadn’t known he’d take it as I was looking down on his lower grade. I covered my face in embarrassment.

“I wasn’t trying to bully you,” I muttered. “I just wanted you to pay a little more attention to me.”

I really hoped Gus wasn’t able to hear this conversation up in front. This was already embarrassing enough without an audience.

From the corner of my eye that wasn’t being covered by my hands, I could see Remy studying me. A minute passed before he gently pried my hands from my face and held them in his tight grip. “Unless you make things clear, I’m going to think you liked me back then, and that’s why you kept circling around me like a kid picking on the person they liked.”

I couldn’t even say anything to refute that. I went about things in a very immature way back in high school. I really was no better than a little child bullying their crush.

Remy must have taken my silence as confirmation too. “But why? We didn’t even know each other that well back then. There was no reason for you to like me. Unless…my amazing looks made you fall in love at first sight. ”

He swept his hair back like he was so proud of himself. I couldn’t help laughing and pressed a kiss to his exposed neck. “While you are no doubt very sexy, I wasn’t that superficial back then.” I played with his hand as I continued, “You probably don’t remember this, but we met before, back when we were kids.”

“We did? I knew you attended middle school with me for a little while, but we didn’t really interact until high school.” Remy’s face wrinkled in confusion, and I laughed again.

“Yeah. I was in town with my parents and got separated from them. It was cold that day too,” I started and snuggled into Remy’s side. “I was crying and wandered into the diner, and there you were, chest all puffed out and claiming everything was okay because you were there to save the day.”

The image of kid Remy ready to protect me. He was all smiles, a couple of his front teeth missing, but he looked like a superhero to the scared and lost me. “You stayed with me, rambling on about your favorite toy cars, and even shared your lollipops with me while your parents tried to figure out where I came from.”

Remy squinted at me. “I willingly shared my candy with you? Doesn’t sound like something kid me would do.”

I laughed again. “Yeah, you were pretty reluctant.” I could still remember the struggle on his face as he debated giving me the red lollipop. In the end, he’d stuffed the cherry-flavored candy into my mouth, then raised his head like he was all proud of himself. My little heart never stood a chance against him.

“My parents’ company was in its early stages, so we had to move to New York for a few years, but I never forgot you. I even went to the diner a few times throughout the years to see you. Though you never remembered me,” I said, eyeing him.

He chuckled nervously. “You should have just told me instead of acting all weird around me. I seriously thought you hated me.”

“I was acting weird because I didn’t want to be your friend,” I grumbled. “And I hadn’t known how to express that.”

He nudged me. “If I remember correctly, you still haven’t expressed how you felt about me.” He watched me with sparkling eyes as he waited for my reply.

“I…” His eyes somehow shone even brighter under the dim lights of the houses around us. “I like you, okay! Now can we focus on the houses? Isn’t that why we’re here in the first place?”

Remy’s melodic laugh filled my ears as he replied with a soft “Yeah” and snuggled closer to me. He didn’t tell me his feelings, but he didn’t have to for me to see that he cared about me. I could wait to hear the words.

This sweetness he gave me was already more than enough.