What are you doing Holly? He’s just a nice man who saved you from dying, stood up to your boss, and brought you hot cocoa. None of that screams “I want you to have my babies and whisk you away from here.” Maybe he’s just an incredibly nice person who also happens to be the hottest man I’ve ever seen. I meanif Jacob Elordi showed up right next to Ryatt claiming he loved me, I’d still pick Ryatt over him!
Realizing I’ve been just staring at our joined hands, envisioning having his babies, I nervously laugh as I shake his hand.
“Thanks for saving me, and the hot cocoa. Also for standing up to my boss. You didn’t have to do any of that. Truly. I’m in your debt.”
Ryatt smiles as he brings my gloved hand up to his lips, smirking when he sees the dot of brown from the melted chocolate. I thought he’d avoid it, but instead he plants a kiss right on it as those periwinkle blue eyes of his flick to mine. This close, with his eyes only on mine, I swear I can see tiny snowflakes in them. But there’s no way, not a possible way, right?
“Holly, it’s been my pleasure to be here. I’ll hold you to that debt I hope you know,” he winks before taking a step back. He bows, actually bows at the waist before lifting back up and smiling at me.
“Come on, we’ve really got to go.” Emmilene says as she tugs on my arm.
“Yeah, yeah,” I say as we turn to walk away.
She leans in close to me, her eyes flicking back to where we left Ryatt. “Who is that?”
I shrug my shoulders, because really I only know his name, and how it feels to have his arms wrapped around me. How his smells feels like being home for Christmas. And just how much I wish I knew more.
“Just the man who saved me from dying today,” I say right before we turn the corner. I take one last look and sure enough he hasn’t moved.
Is it insane of me to wish he’d run after me?
Chapter Five
Rein It In, Ryatt
Ryatt
It’s her.
It’s really her.
I’m frozen in place as I watch half of my soul walk away for the second time today. Something I plan to remedy,immediately.
I take a step towards her and stop. What am I doing? I can’t just follow her, surely she’ll think I’m some weird stalker and not the nice guy she’s thought of so far. I mean, what am I going to say? “Oh hey, so it’s crazy but I’m a reindeer shifter, one of the Princes of Sugarplum, and yeah you’re my fated mate. Can you come home with me?” If I want to be thrown into a human jail, I’m sure that would be a quite route there. Definitely pepper sprayed as she screams about how I’m a freak.
My body shudders as I cringe at the thought. Holly is never going to accept me as a reindeer, she’s only fallen for the handsome glamour I’ve shown her. Just like every other woman I’ve met, they never see beyond it, never see the man beneath it. Or should I say the reindeer beneath. I’m more than my looks, just like I know she’s more than the insecurities I sense coming from her.
“Rein it in, Ryatt,” I mutter to myself under my breath. Aurielle, our beautiful Goddess of Light and Wonder, may have a wicked sense of humor, but she didn’t have to make this complicated. A human mate? Come on! The only thing I’ve got going for me right now is her love for Christmas.
The air hums with the feeling of desperation, indulgence, and a bit of sorrow. The humans claim this is the best time of year, but between the sale signs, bright and large, hanging all over everything in this large, box store, I honestly think they say it with gritted teeth and not true excitement. Somewhere above me, “Jingle Bell Rock” is playing for at least the fifth time since I’ve been in the store, and some lady is standing a few feet away holding practically two identical dish sets and debating something. It’s bogging her down. You can tell by the slump of her shoulders and the deep sighs she keeps heaving every few seconds.
I feel for her, this store alone is bringing down my mood. I can’t imagine what it would be like to be surrounded by all this consumerism, bright lights, loud sights, and try to manage it without being overwhelmed. Back home, Christmas isn’t something you sell—it’s something you feel. Warmth, magic, connection. Here it feels… loud. Manufactured. Like someone packaged joy and slapped a price tag on it. My head shakes as I turn back to where Holly went. I can’t fix everyone’s Christmas woes, but I can fix one person’s.
With a new purpose, I stride in the direction all the parents with children dressed in their best outfits are funneling. If I had to guess, fake Santa is this way, and so is my beautiful mate. All the parents are sniping at their children about keeping their outfits clean, not touching anything, and, of course, to be on their best behavior.
Holly’s lyrical voice cuts through the noise—bright and warm and so full of genuine Christmas spirit that my chest goes tight. It shouldn’t hit me the way it does. I don’t even know her, not really, but something deep inside me reacts like it’s been waiting for her voice specifically.
Just watching her with the children—patient, smiling, gently scooping tiny humans into her arms as if it’s the most natural thing in the world—stirs something in me I can’t name. Nothing dramatic. Nothing like fate shouting in my ear. Just… a pull. A warmth. A feeling that stands out in a city built on noise.
There’s a softness to her, the kind I haven’t seen in Midtown. The kind that makes the air around her feel different. Lighter. Real.
I don’t know what that means yet, but I know one thing with absolute certainty: I want to find out.
Holly is trying to get this stupid fake Santa to even pretend he’s happy to be here, but he can’t even bother to smile. His damn beard is crooked! Crooked and clearly a fake. His rounded belly is clearly stuffing or some kind of pillow, because it’s oddly shaped. I thought the window display version of him and Mrs. Claus was bad enough—but this? This is downright atrocious.
I rub my temples, the pulse of an impending migraine thrums against my skull. It’s too loud, too bright in here. Exhaling slowly, my head rolls back as I stare at the stained, off-color ceiling tiles. I can’t help but ask the question plaguing me.“Aurielle, what lesson are you trying to teach me? Patience? Humility? Because if it’s endurance you could have pushed mein front of the gingerbread union instead of this.”I gesture my hand around the chaos ensuing around me.
Something between a fake ho-ho-ho and possibly a cough comes from the ridiculous impersonation sitting there pretending to be the greatest man I know. Whoever that is couldn’t stand in the shadows of the big man, as Holly called him.
