She laughed instead of throwing up on the spot. I’d prefer that reaction, because it’s how I felt at the mere thought of her being with Garrett. An ache formed in my chest that must have come from dinner, because what the heck?
Christian glared. “Absolutely the fuck not.”
Charlotte handed the paper to one of the weird elves who sprinted from table to table, and then faced her brother. “And what if I wanted to marry him, dearest brother? G and I could just make fun of you together. We could have daily roasts of you.”
“Big fan of this idea. Huge fan, actually.” Garrett slung an arm around her.
“You smell like a bottle of rum.”
“Like a sexy pirate then?”
“No.” Charlotte laughed and shoved his arm off her. The ache dulled. Weird coincidence.
“Fine,” Christian said, rolling his eyes so much he reminded me of the freshmen boys on my team, the teenaged divas. “You can marry whomever you want, Charlotte. If a dumbass hat rack like Garrett made you happy, I’d allow it.”
“But he’s your friend,” I blurted out without thinking.
Christian blinked a lot, moving his attention to Penny, then me, and then Garrett. “Is this a real conversation?”
“Yes.” Penny laughed. “If Charlotte wanted to be with Garrett, would you stop it?”
“No. I’m not an idiot.” Christian set his palms on the table and lowered his head to be eye level with Charlotte. “Hey, I thought we were messing around, but if you wanted to date Garrett, you know I’d never stop you, right? If you’re happy, I’ll be okay. That’s all I want.”
Charlotte’s face softened. “I’m not interested in Garrett like that, but this is awfully sweet of you. And unexpected.”
“I’m feeling things. It’s weird.” Christian scratched his chest. “I don’t like it.”
“Bro, you gotta talk more about your feelings. Not healthy to keep them bottled up.” Garrett kissed the top of Charlotte’s head. “No proposal today, so don’t worry.”
“I’ll breathe easy now.” She smiled, clearly more amused than annoyed.
Did he always have to be so close to her? Garrett touching her felt like a bug under my skin, itching and annoying me, and I couldn’t stop it no matter what I tried.
“Next lyric is up. Sixty seconds on the clock.”
Santa Claus has a little friend, his name is Dominic.
Kicking the cutest ass you’ll ever see.
When Santa Claus and Dominic visit his farmers,
It will be why can’t deer climb the Italian hills?
I hated being zero help on this challenge, but I grew up like a normal person and listened to Christmas music only in December. Garrett hummed with his eyes closed, swaying side to side when he snapped his fingers.
“‘Dominick the Donkey.’ I am the best.”
“Write it down, fast, come on!” Penny yelled. “I wish we got points for speed on this round. Or having the best handwriting.”
“Competitive looks sexy on you, Pen,” Christian said.
My gaze immediately went to Charlotte. Her face readThis is good, right?Christian complimenting Penny was a great sign. Christian even pulled her toward him in a hug that bordered on a little too much for public.
Charlotte’s entire body relaxed as she watched them, some foreign expression on her face. It almost seemed like sadness and relief. I didn’t like seeing sadness on her face at all. It made me want to fix it that second.
“Alright, folks, we’re going to tabulate the scores and announce the winners in ten minutes. Use this time to hit the bar or visit the photo booth.” Bernie grinned like anevil little elf. “This is going to be a close one, so we’ll see how our judges are feeling. Did we mention that we’re also adding bonus points?”
“What?” Penny screamed. “Bonus points for what?”
