I smiled in spite of myself. “I look ridiculous.”
She came in and walked around me, making appreciative noises.
She totally wants to bang me.I did feel slightly smug.
And I was more than slightly intrigued by her costume. She was also in a Nutcracker outfit with black boots, a flouncy white skirt, and a crop-top red, green, and gold jacket that showed a hint of midriff when she reached up on her toes to adjust my collar.
“All the seniors are going to fall over when they see you,” she said, sliding her hands down my chest, smoothing out the gold braid. “Everyone’s going to vote in favor once they see you walking around in those pants.”
I slid my hands up her hips to the warm stretch of skin under her cropped jacket. She made a breathy little noise.
I wanted to close the distance between us, kiss her, undress her, and—
My phone chimed with a calendar reminder. Merrie pulled away from me.
I tugged one of her red curls.
“I hope this works. Otherwise, I might be led to believe that you wanted me in this outfit for your own gain.”
“Guilty as charged!”
“You went all out!”Eli toasted Merrie with his cup of eggnog. She giggled loudly and tipped forward, half leaning on him. Eli seemed a little too pleased to have the pretty redhead in the cute outfit and the jacket that made her tits look even more enormous leaning against him. I just wanted to take her out of that jacket and bury my face in her tits. Instead, I pulled her away from Eli and toward me.
My friend gave me a knowing smirk and mouthed,Rebound.
“Isn’t eggnog great?” Merrie tipped her head back and drained her glass.
“Bartender,” she slurred at me, “another!” She banged me in the chest with a glass.
The meeting hadn’t even started, and Merrie wasn’t the only one completely wasted from the eggnog.
“How much alcohol did you put in here?” Eli asked me as Merrie started leading the townspeople in a raucous rendition of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.”
“I made sure all our bases were covered.”
Merrie had wandered back over to the eggnog. She opened another bottle of rum, gave me an exaggerated wink, and tipped it into the eggnog mixture.
I shook my head.
“Guess the sugar, spices, and cream really disguise the amount of hard liquor,” Eli said looking into his cup. “People are going to be so sloshed they won’t be able to vote.”
“At least we’re first on the agenda.”
“Order!” Meg, the mayor of Harrogate, banged the gavel on the lectern. “I call this meeting to order.”
Everyone grabbed more cheese straws and eggnog then took their seats happy and plastered.
We just need to make it through the vote.
“This is the last meeting of the year,” the mayor began, “and we have a number of items to cover. First, let’s give a big round of applause to the festival committee for organizing an amazing Christmas market!” Next to me, Merrie whooped and applauded.
“Go Christmas!” She pumped a fist.
“And,” Meg continued, “don’t forget to buy your tickets for tomorrow’s raffle. The closer to Christmas the bigger and better the prizes! First on the agenda is FarmTech Solutions to talk about their request for an expansion of their vertical farms.”
“Boo!” several people with signs protesting new buildings in the countryside yelled.
“Ah shit, guess you didn’t add enough alcohol,” Eli said under his breath as we stood up.
