Chase’s eyes lock onto them.His face cycles through emotions—shock first, his mouth falling open slightly.Then something that looks like betrayal, his eyebrows drawing together.Finally settling on fury, his face flushing a bright red.
“You’re actually sleeping with him?”The words come out strangled, almost disbelieving.
Amber’s gasp is theatrical, her hand flying to her mouth.“Oh, my god, Olivia!”
“Are you short a few brain cells?”Olivia’s voice is sharp, cutting through the crowd’s noise around us.“I’m dating Alexander.I’m hardly just holding hands with him.”Olivia turns in my arms, tilting her face up to mine.Her lips press against mine, and my hand instinctively tightens on her waist as I pull her up.
But this isn’t the quick, chaste press of lips from before.This is possession.Pure want.Her mouth opens against mine, and I don’t hesitate—my hand comes up to cup the back of her head, tilting her face to mine.My tongue slides against hers, tasting peppermint and determination, and she makes a soft sound that goes straight through me.I deepen the kiss, my other arm tightening around her waist, gathering her against me.She melts into it, her fingers fisting in my sweater, and for a moment, I forget we’re standing in the middle of Main Street surrounded by half the town.
When we finally break apart, both breathing hard, there’s a beat of stunned silence.
Then someone whoops.“Get it, girl!”a woman’s voice calls out, followed by laughter.
“Now that’s moving on!”another voice adds, and I catch sight of a couple near us grinning and giving Olivia a thumbs-up.
Olivia’s face is flushed, her lips swollen, and she looks up at me, her smile pure satisfaction.“Let’s go.”
I keep my arm around her waist as we move away from them, navigating through the crowd toward the starting line.Behind us, Amber’s shrill voice carries, saying something to Chase, but I don’t catch the words.I don’t care.All I care about is the woman pressed against my side, breathing uneven, her fingers gripping my sweater like I’m the only solid thing in a tilting world.
“Sorry,” she murmurs, and I immediately come to a halt, drawing her closer.
My thumb rubs against her slightly bruised lips, and I murmur, “You can use me any time you want, any way you want.I have no complaints.”
Her gaze holds mine, and I can see something in her expression—uncertainty and just a hint of an emotion that makes my blood stir.She drops her head against my sweater.“I wasn’t trying to use you.I just want them to leave me alone.I can’t stand them.”She looks up at me.“I don’t want this race to be about them, Alexander.Mom’s right.Let’s just have fun.I don’t want to ruin my holidays trying to show them up.”
I study her face, searching for any hesitation, any sign that she’s just saying what she thinks I want to hear.But all I see is certainty.
“I thought that’s why I was here.”My word comes out quietly.
Her cheeks flush slightly.“Well, change of plan.Let’s just enjoy ourselves.”
The competitive part of me wants to argue, wants to crush them into the ground just to prove a point.But the way she’s looking at me—open, trusting, asking me to just be with her instead of fighting her battles—makes my chest tighten.“As you wish.”
Her smile is blinding, transforming her face from the guarded expression she wore moments ago into something radiant.However her expression falls when she looks down at the missing tinsel around our ankles.“We’ll have to get another one.”
I laugh lightly.“Come on, then.”
We get a new tinsel, and after I tie it around our ankles, we take our positions at the starting line, our tied legs forcing us to stand hip to hip.The crowd presses in around us, other couples adjusting their tinsel and laughing.The energy is electric, anticipation crackling through the air.
Somewhere in the crowd, I catch a glimpse of Avery holding up her banner, cheering.Carol and Bob are nearby, Carol with her phone out ready to take pictures, Bob with his arm around her shoulders.
I glance down at Olivia.Her hand finds mine, fingers intertwining.
“Ready?”she asks.
“Always.”
The speaker crackles to life, and suddenly “Jingle Bell Rock” blasts through the square at eardrum-shattering volume.
The race begins, and I pull Olivia forward into the chaos.
We don’t win.
We don’t even come close.
Twentieth place out of forty-seven couples, and honestly?I’m thrilled.My lungs are burning, my legs feel like jelly, and there’s tinsel wrapped around my ankle that’s somehow survived the entire mile without breaking.Alexander’s hand is still gripped in mine, both of us breathing hard, and I can’t stop laughing.
“Twentieth,” Alexander says, his voice tight with controlled frustration as the announcement echoes through the speakers.“We came in twentieth.”
