My stomach does a strange flip-flop.
The room goes quiet, and I tuck my short dark bob behind one ear as everyone stares at me. “Thank you.”
“Okay, who’s next?” Ally asks, but no one volunteers to offer their gift right away.
I lean over and grab the first one I see from under the tree. It’s addressed to Jett. I kneel and stretch to hand it to him, and his fingers brush mine as he takes the box.
He quickly rips off the paper, but his excitement vanishes when he looks at what his gift is.
“Real fucking funny,” he deadpans, no trace of a joke in his voice.
“Guys, who did that?” Spencer asks. “It’s not nice.”
It takes a second for everyone to see what Jett’s holding, but he sets it on the floor next to where he’s sitting. It’s a bulk box of five hundred condoms.
Ally lets out a nervous giggle, Wren glances between everyone. No one fesses up to who bought it. I’m betting it was Mason. Comedic timing isn’t exactly his thing.
“Sorry, man.” Mason chuckles, confirming my theory. “Too soon?”
Jettflashes him a squinty sneer as if to sayyou think?
“On the upside, if you have trouble going through all those, you could give some to Poppy. She’ll probably need them for all the hot guys she’s matching with on Crush,” Wren blurts.
What. The. Hell.
“Pops, I didn’t know you were on the apps!” Spencer exclaims, and now everyone is looking at me, including Jett with those deep brown eyes.
Once again, our eyes lock and he cocks an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth lifting upward into a lopsided grin.
Good god.I bury my face in my hands. I’m sure Wren was desperate to lighten the mood, but did it have to be at my expense? When I look back at everyone, their eyes are still on me, waiting on some kind of update on my love life.
“I need more alcohol.” It’s the only explanation I can offer, as I get up from my seat on the floor and retreat into the kitchen. The muffled conversation returns to an unrelated topic, thankfully, and Ally continues handing out gifts.
I gulp down some mulled wine before I refill my mug again.
Soft footsteps pad into the kitchen behind me, and I turn to see Jett, leaning on the counter.
He holds out his mug with one hand and brushes his hair back from his forehead with the other. “Can I get a refill of that too?”
Jett is attractive, there’s no denying it. Of course he is. There’s a reason women are always falling all over him. Other than tonight, I don’t think he’s paid any attention to me, though I admit I’ve always thought he was striking. Almost… pretty, in a dangerous way.
Now though, with the short beard he has coming in on his square jaw, the unkempt hair, the way he isn’t meeting my gaze in this moment, there’s a certain ruggedness, a humility that I’ve never seen before.
Maybe it’s the mulled wine talking, or maybe turkey is a lesser-known aphrodisiac.
But Jett Landry ishot.
CHAPTER 6
JETT
Poppy fills my mug wordlessly.
She’s served me many times over the years when I’ve popped into the café. Every time her fingers lightly graze mine when she hands me my drink, my arm tingles at the contact.
Tonight is no different.
She leans against the counter opposite to me and sips her mulled wine, cupping her mug in both hands.
