“Gwen goes over there all the time, right? Frankie has probably met her. You should interview her. You can’t avoid it for too much longer, Hayden.”
“Look, you’re right, but…” he said, closing his phone. “I want to have fun tonight and not worry about my life back home. Could we leave it alone for today?”
“You’re helping me with coaching stuff, I can help talk through this.” My stomach twisted. I wanted him to let me in, let me be his friend. Friends helped each other!
He cracked a knuckle before meeting my eyes, and his face softened. “I’d like that, but tomorrow.”
“First thing then.”
He laughed, like I had wanted him to. His shoulders relaxed, and we continued our pace toward the main lobby. It was a short five-minute walk. “You better bring your A-game, Coach. I’ll avoid the wedding if I have to DJ it.”
“We’re both in agreement there.”
He opened the door for me, ushering me in, and my mouth fell open.Son of a snowman.
Since we had left to head to dinner, the place had been completely transformed. Twenty tables were set up in a circle, each containing ten boxes and several rolls of wrapping paper. Christmas music blared from the speakers, and it was like a million sprigs of mistletoe had exploded from every corner.
Was Santa playing cupid this trip, because what themistletoe-loving heck? They were everywhere! I couldn’t take a walk without encountering three of them. I’d have to dance my way across the lobby. But the snow globes! There were at least two hundred placed on end tables and shelves.
Hayden gaped at the lobby, the same wonderment crossing his face. “Holy shit.”
“It’s almost a Christmas porn created for people like Christian and Penny.” Green and red lights were everywhere. Snowflakes hung from the ceiling. Snowmen stood in corners, some moving.
“Do you think they bring wrapping paper into the bedroom?” he teased.
“My parents were always telling him to wrap it up,” I said, absolutely losing it over our joke. I cackled.
Hayden too let out a deep, delicious howl of laughter. He squeezed my shoulder—the uninjured one—and smiled. It had been a long time since I saw the full effect of a Hayden grin. My stomach flipped over ten times, and a flurry of butterflies danced in my gut, because damn, he was so handsome.
“Do I have something on my face?” He frowned. “You’re staring at me weird.”
“Honestly?” I scrunched my nose. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen your real smile. Looks good on you. Happiness suits you,” I said.
His eyes warmed just as our phones went off. He pulled his out of his pocket. “We’re table eight.” He squinted and jutted his chin toward the back.
“Getting old, eh? Need some glasses soon?” I teased as we walked over toward our station. There were twopairs of scissors, four different strands of ribbons, and two dispensers of tape. Every table seemed to have the same supplies, with a large pile of boxes sitting in the middle. We had to wrap as many as possible in the time frame. I removed my jacket and placed my hands on my hips. It was almost game time.
He grunted. “I have some, thank you very much. You wait until you’re this close to thirty and talk to me.”
“I’m going to need to see proof of these glasses, Hayden.” I counted the tape a table over and frowned. “Wait, they have more tape than us. Not fair.”
Hayden froze and noted the difference. “Unacceptable.”
I counted another table with more bows than us too. “Who is in charge around here?”
“That would be me.”
I spun and grinned when I recognized whom the voice belonged to. It was my buddy from earlier. This time, he was dressed fully as Buddy the Elf. Yellow tights, green jacket and hat, the whole thing. “Brendon, my man!”
“Ah, glad to see you’re doing okay.” Brendon smiled, his eyes dropping to my sweater. “Very festive shirt.”
“Oh, this old thing?” I refused to blush. “Felt like going a little wild tonight.”
“I can see.” Brendon stepped closer, his minty cologne washing over me. The man smelled like a candy cane. It was wonderfully strange. “Now, was there a problem?”
“Yes.” Hayden joined us, his chest touching my back. His warmth spread through my sweater, heating me up from proximity alone. What was he doing standing so close tome? We’d had a wonderful truce going on for hours. Sure, I still had a crush and got butterflies when he touched me, but I had stopped obsessing over it.
But he touched me.
