“It’s a troll.” I almost added ta-da, but he was blinking at me, confused, and I realized I’d probably left out a couple of steps. ”Y’know, Nordic trolls, traditions, and old stories.”
“I’m not dressing up as a troll,” he said.
I smacked his arm. “No one is dressing up as trolls. That would be stupid. I already have our costumes thought out, I said that. You’ll be dashing with a cloak.”
“Wesley…”
I glanced up at him, at the pained expression on hisface. I needed him to do this. I wanted to be so entwined in his life before Christmas that maybe he’d change his mind and stay right here. I had my faults; I talked too much, I went off on tangents, my conspiracy theories were intense, but I could make him smile. I just wanted to make him smile.
“It’s only one night at the parade,” I said, with emotion, and pouted my best and cutest pout, then smiled to weaponize my dimples.
His eyes widened, and then he sighed loudly, glancing from me to the book and back. “Fucks sake.”
“Is that a yes?” I asked.
“It’s not a no,” he said on another sigh.
I did a little happy dance right there, then gathered up the books and the coffee. I let out a whoop of excitement that had the parent-and-baby class turning to stare, but I didn’t care. I side-hugged Hunter, grinning ear to ear. “This is going to besocool,” I added, then hurried out before he could change his mind.
Chapter 6
Hunter
I’d somehow agreedto this whole Nordic Christmas thing with Wesley, and I still couldn’t believe I’d done that. For the past three days, I’d been bracing myself, waiting for him to launch into full Nordic-zilla mode—blueprints, costumes, some kind of reindeer rental plan—but so far, it had been small things, ideas for drinks, a few books for me to read. In fact, it had been suspiciously quiet. I wasn’t seeing a lot of Wesley, which was probably just as well, because every time I thought about him, I ended up wondering how I’d agreed to take part in yet another one of his insane seasonal events.
I also missed him and his celebrating-every-holiday-balls-to-the-wall insanity.
Was he staying away because I’d done somethingto him? Upset him, maybe? Perhaps I need to embrace Christmas?
I mean, I liked Christmas as much as the next person. I wasn’t a grinch, but Wishing Tree was… a lot. Across the street, The Gift Emporium was already decorated in this strange hybrid of Thanksgiving cornucopias and early Christmas sparkle—pumpkins sitting next to tinsel, turkeys wearing Santa hats. In this town, Christmas wasn’t only a holiday; it was the season, the centerpiece, the heartbeat. You couldn’t avoid it, not really.
Wesley had dragged me in whether I liked it or not, but the truth was…it wasn’t so bad so far. Annoying, chaotic, yes—but also warming, like being swept up in something bigger than myself.
Maybe I should go over after we shut in thirty, to preempt the next attack.
Checking in.
That’s all.
Maybe I could shut a little early? My last customer had left ten minutes ago, and I’d already wiped down the last table and started the dishwasher, but as I headed over to lock the door and turn the sign, Jamie pushed it open, and he wasn’t alone, but had three other teenagers in tow.
“This is Megan, Connor, and Luis,” he said, introducing them one by one. They stood in a neat row,clutching folders and notebooks, all looking at me expectantly.
“Hi?” I said, more of a question as to why they were all staring at me.
“I came now because I knew it’d be quiet,” Jamie said, as if that explained everything.
“Quiet for what? You know we close at six.”
“I know we’re a bit early,” Jamie said, and glanced around the empty store, as if to underscore how quiet it was and that he wasn’t interrupting anything.
“Early for what?” I asked.
“Mom said you agreed to give us pointers on our project,” Jamie said, and I blinked at them.Jamie’s mom. The night in the diner where I lost my cool with life and Wesley.I’d forgotten about that. Four sets of eyes, waiting. Had I signed up to check four projects? I thought it was just Jamie, but this suddenly got worse when the four of them stood in line.
Jamie cleared his throat. “So… this is our presentation.”
Before I could protest, Megan launched straight in.
