Flashes blasted us. The elf working the photo booth pressed it again, and Penny immediately ran toward the computer. “Oh my God, Christian, babe, we need to print this out and hang it at our house.”
He rested his chin on top of her head, wrapping his arms around her. That was another great sign. “Yes. Hell yes. This is perfection. Look at G… and Hayden… God, this is golden. Could be wedding favors for everyone who comes.”
“We can put them on T-shirts and hand them out.”
“I’m taking this as a good sign,” Charlotte whispered right next to my ear, her breath hitting my neck. “Talking about wedding favors means they want a wedding.”
She was so close to me. Too damn close. Her body heat surrounded me, and it was like every muscle went on red alert. I focused on Bernie, who held a clipboard and bossed two other elves around.
“Don’t you think?”
I nodded, clearing my throat. I couldn’t ignore her or not speak. We’d just gotten to a solid place again, and it wasn’t fair to her to shut down. I forced myself to say, “Great sign.”
“I need to get out of these clothes.” She laughed at herself.
Heat flooded me. Charlotte meant the costume. I knew she meant the costume. But with her wit and care for Gwen and how good she smelled and thinking about kissing her… when was the last time I was this messed up? High school?
I followed her lead, removing the costume and laughing when Garrett fell over twice in his reindeer outfit. It was good for his ego to look that ridiculous.
“Alright, everyone, we have the winners. Please return to your tables, and when the song ends, we will showcase them on the board. Thank you all so much for playing our games. This is our Super Bowl here that we prepare for all year. This year has been one of the best. You have about two minutes to get back.”
“I feel like we could create games like this, babe.” Christian rubbed Penny’s shoulders. “We could even start a neighborhood competition for kids to play too.”
“Yeah.” Penny wore a dreamy smile, her eyes dazed as she glanced at Christian. “That would be the best, and we could have your dad dress up as Santa at the end.”
I snuck a glance at Charlotte, who smiled at them, her cheeks a little pink. She was so beautiful that it wasn’t even fair. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I hoped that’d knock sense into me. I could get through the announcement and then sneak off toward my room. Penny and Christian didn’t have any plans for the rest of the night besides “fun,” and getting an uninterrupted, full night’s sleep seemed real fun to me.
“Why am I nervous? I totally am.” Charlotte jumped up and down, her hair flopping on her shoulders with the movement. Her eyes sparkled. “I think we won.”
“We better win,” Penny said. “We need this.”
“Let It Snow” started fading out, the crowd going silent as the presentation slide updated. “Wrap It Up! You are in first place, congrats!”
We won.
I’d won a lot of games in my life, but nothing comparedto this—balloons fell from the ceiling. Loud music blared. Air horns blasted. There weren’t even that many people in the room, yet it was so damn loud.
“We fucking won!”
“Hell yes!”
Christian swung Penny around. Garrett fist-pumped the air and twirled with a stupid grin on his face. That left Charlotte…
She jumped on me. “We did it, Hayden! We won!”
She wrapped her legs around me and hugged me tight, her cheek pressing against mine as she squeezed me. I felt like an overheated laptop that had stopped functioning. My motherboard failed. All I could feel was her soft hair tickling my face.
She pulled back and grinned so wide that it stretched across her whole face. “I could almost kiss you right now.”
I stared at Charlotte’s lips, the tug on my lower gut urging me to close the distance, to taste her again after all these years. My nostrils flared, and I bent closer to her. I could do it. Kiss her right here. I could calm this fire inside me. Her mouth parted, and she sucked in a breath when she realized I wanted to kiss her too. I leaned in just as Garrett, Penny, and Christian all threw their arms around us in a group hug.
They jumped and cheered, chanting and being general idiots. The movement changed Charlotte’s face, and she withdrew from whatever moment we just had. I fought the urge to yank her toward me as she slid down my body, even though I knew it was for the best.
She joined her brother in jumping and cheering, but her smile dimmed. I knew her real smiles, and this one was performative. I wasn’t sure what the hell was going to happen next, but we had to talk about this. Because if she wanted to kiss me too… that changed things.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHARLOTTE
