Page 71 of 10 Things I Hate About Mistletoe

“Nothing!”

“Lies!” Holly marched after her when Delilah turned away, unlocking the door while Holly railed, “There is mischief afoot! Pike and Anthony aren’t speaking and you’re avoiding everyone. You didn’t even get coffee this morning.”

“I made it at home.”

“You never make it at home!”

Delilah pushed the door open and set her purse on the side table before releasing Leia from her kennel. The little dog zoomed around, saying hello to Holly before running to the back doggie door and outside.

“I felt like it today,” Delilah grumbled.

“Alright, I feel like I need to introduce myself again because I feel like you forgot who you’re talking to. Hi.” Holly held out her hand. “I’m Holly, your best friend. The one you share all your troubles with. There are no judgments, no recriminations. Just love and support from someone who loves you.”

Delilah sank onto her couch, staring out the window at the gray sky. “Pike kissed me on Wednesday.”

Holly flopped next to her. “Which you don’t sound thrilled about?”

“I thought he was what I wanted for so long, but when he kissed me, I felt nothing.”

“So, what happened after?”

“I told him that I wasn’t interested in him.”

“Sounds like you were honest.”

“I was, but when I went to grab road-trip snacks that night, Anthony was there, too. He wanted to talk about the blowup on Monday—”

“When you thought he laughed at you for wanting good sex.”

“Who is telling this story?”

“Hey, I’m just clarifying!”

“Yes, because we had a misunderstanding. So he followed me out to the parking lot. He told me to get into the truck and one thing led to another … ”

“Oh my God! You had sex with Anthony?”

“Not … quite.”

Holly squealed, grabbing one of the throw pillows and hitting her with it. “You evil wench, you’ve been holding out on me since Wednesday!”

“We’ve both been a little busy!”

“There is no excuse! So how was the not-quite sex?”

Delilah’s chest seized, remembering Anthony’s eyes on her while he touched her. “It was glorious.”

“Oh, good Lord. Okay, so you have an encounter on Wednesday and then … ”

“He left to go to the bar to meet Pike but asked if he could drive me to Boise on Thanksgiving. I said sure. I had so much fun with him.” Delilah’s voice broke on the words. “He was funny and sweet and then he kissed me before we got to my parents and told me he wanted me.”

“This is all good stuff!”

“Just wait.” Delilah grabbed the other pillow and hugged it. “He ended up back at my parents’ house for the weekend and it was all practically perfect. We were talking about what would happen when we got back to Mistletoe, after Anthony talked to Pike—”

“Wait, back up, Pike didn’t know that Anthony stayed the weekend with you.”

“No, he didn’t want to tell him over the phone.”