Page 5 of 10 Things I Hate About Mistletoe

“That’s nice. Here.” Delilah handed her a ten. “We’ll keep it going.”

“Fantastic. That will be ready at the end of the bar for you.”

Delilah crossed to the pickup window, standing out of the way.

“Pike and Anthony!” the barista called, setting two white cups with black lids on the counter.

Delilah refused to look, but out of the corner of her eye, she could tell it was Anthony picking up the drinks by the height difference as he passed by her to retrieve the coffees from the counter. When he turned around, instead of heading to the left toward his table, Anthony made a beeline toward her and stopped. Her first instinct was to ignore him until he went away, but Delilah realized that might draw more attention and she finally looked up. His wide grin flashed white on his tan face, the green of his eyes bright and beautiful.

Damn it, why did I look at him? It was like staring into an eclipse without special glasses and now her wits were addled.

Her heartbeat quickened when he raised his chin, nodding at her.

“I like your shirt.”

Delilah glanced down at her I Heart Boobies T-shirt before scowling at him.

“It’s for breast cancer awareness.”

“It’s okay if you like boobies.” He winked. “I do, too.”

The few people closest to them laughed and Delilah’s face warmed, realizing they’d overheard his asinine comments. Before she could devise a scathing retort, he’d already turned and headed to the table where Pike and Merry were sitting.

May you sit wrong on one of your testicles, Anthony Russo.

Chapter Two

Anthony could feel the heat of Delilah’s gaze as he carried the coffees to the table and wished he could turn around to witness the full effect of her irritation. After that night at the rental house, she deserved his every needle and poke. He wasn’t one to hold a grudge, but he also didn’t appreciate being used.

He’d tried to let it go at first. After all, they’d both had a few shots, and he’d wanted to chalk it up to Delilah not being able to hold her liquor, but the more Anthony thought about it after the fact, the more hurt he’d been. Anthony channeled that hurt into avoiding and ignoring her when they ran into each other, but that was juvenile, especially since Mistletoe was too small to hide from anyone. Besides, if talking to him made her uncomfortable, that sucked for her. It was one thing to bring up the torch you were carrying for someone else, but to kiss the socks off the best friend of the man you’re pining for?

That was a low he’d never imagined she was capable of.

Anthony had been over that night numerous times, coming at it from every angle, and the only thing that made sense was that Delilah had wanted it to get back to Pike that she’d made out with Anthony. Unfortunately for her, there was no way he’d give her that satisfaction. He’d take that secret to his fucking grave with a smile.

If only Anthony didn’t relive their brief moment together every time he saw that lush, sexy mouth of hers.

As the barista called her name and Delilah stepped forward to retrieve her coffee, smiling, he remembered the jolt of awareness when they’d been sitting on the floor next to each other the night of the scavenger hunt. The way she’d looked at him with that beautiful, bright smile right before she’d kissed him. Her actions had taken him by surprise, but when she’d tried to pull away, he couldn’t let her go. Flashing back to their kiss, he lost himself in the memory, wishing he could regret it.

Delilah opened her lips, and he thrust his tongue inside, tasting Fireball and something sweeter underneath. Anthony deepened the kiss, heat gripping him as he guided her onto his lap with his hands on her hips. She straddled him, the softness between her thighs settling over his straining cock, and his fingers flexed instinctively. When she rocked against him with a little moan, it was the best and worst sensation, and he whispered her name, releasing her hips to tangle his fingers in her hair.

Delilah’s hands slipped under his shirt, resting against his stomach, fingertips tracing the ridges of his abs, painfully close to the button of his jeans.

“Anyone seen Anthony?” Pike yelled from downstairs. “Yo, Anthony! Come on, man, get your ass down here!”

Delilah broke the kiss, her breaths coming in rapid gasps. “Pike’s looking for you.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her he didn’t give a fuck, but staring into her dreamy blue eyes, he remembered something she’d said earlier in the evening when they’d got to talking about relationships. “I’m sure you know I’ve had a crush on Pike forever, but he doesn’t know I exist. It’s pretty sad, really.”

It wasn’t a secret; the Winters siblings and all their friends knew about Delilah’s longtime infatuation with Pike. And when she’d mentioned it offhandedly at the beginning of the night, it hadn’t fazed him.

Hearing her say another man’s name with the heat of her pussy burning a hole in the front of his jeans? It was like sticking his dick in a bucket of ice.

Anthony lifted her off of him and climbed to his feet. “We better go join him. Wouldn’t want him to see us together, right?”

“Hello, Earth to Anthony!” Pike’s irritation broke into his deep thoughts and Anthony realized he’d walked across the coffee shop in a daze and sat down next to Pike without saying a word. Both Merry and Pike were staring at him in confusion, and he wondered how long he’d been lost in his night with Delilah.

“Hey, sorry.”