Page 98 of 10 Things I Hate About Mistletoe

“Good. He deserves someone great.” He leaned closer to her and she turned his way as he added, “Not to sound melodramatic, but don’t hurt him, okay? This is the first time I’ve ever seen him in love and I don’t want him becoming Thanos and destroying the world if it doesn’t work out.”

Delilah almost choked when he said love. Did it look like love from other people’s perspectives? Was that what Anthony was feeling?

Furthermore, was that the warm, loopy feeling that settled in her stomach every time she thought about him love, too?

“Water for you,” Ryler said, handing her a clear cup with a bright pink straw. She sat on the edge of Pike’s chair with a white cup in her hand, sipping from the top of the black lid. “What did I miss?”

Laughter drew her attention and she saw Brodie and Trip approaching them from a few feet away with a group of men. Brodie was at the front and stopped a foot away from her. Delilah arched her neck to look up at him, noting the twisted sneer on his mouth and knew this was going to be as fun as a trip to the dentist.

“Guess you should have stuck with me, huh, Delilah? Not crashing at the bottom of the bunny hill is lesson number one.”

Before she could respond, Anthony snarled, “I’ve got a lesson for you, motherfucker.” He was rapidly approaching the group and Delilah’s eyes widened as he dropped his gear, looking like he was ready to swing.

“You better uncork my boy soon,” Pike said with a shake of his head. He flashed a small smile at her as he climbed to his feet. “I think everything being pent up is what’s making his fuse so short.”

“Anthony,” Delilah called softly, trying to climb to her feet but a sharp explosion of pain at the back of her head made her woozy.

“Pike’s got him,” Ryler said, patting her knee with her free hand.

Delilah took in the scene of Pike standing between Brodie and Anthony, who were calling each other every name in the book, when Pike finally hollered, “You two wanna keep slinging insults or settle this like men?”

“What are you going on about?” Brodie asked.

“You two stop this pissing contest until the winter games. No more making moves on his girl,” Pike said, poking Brodie in the chest before pressing Anthony back with both hands, “and you stop trying to get yourself thrown in jail for assault.”

Watching the much smaller man try to move an irate Anthony would almost have made Delilah giggle, if she wasn’t worried about an all-out brawl erupting.

“What happens after the games?” Trip asked.

“Same bet we made at Brews and Chews,” Pike said, keeping a hand on Anthony as he addressed the other men. “Either we have a new boat or you have new snowmobiles. Somebody’s going to be happy.”

“I want one more thing if I win,” Brodie said, smirking, and Delilah could see the evil hamster wheel turning in his head.

“No, we agreed,” Pike said.

Brodie pointed past Pike’s shoulder at Anthony. “That was before this prick humiliated me.”

“It’s really that easy?” Anthony scoffed, slapping Brodie’s hand from his face.

“Stop it,” Delilah said softly.

“What did you say?” Ryler asked Delilah.

Delilah opened her mouth to repeat herself but was cut off by the next words out of Brodie’s mouth.

“If I win, your girlfriend is going to give me a victory kiss,” Brodie said, puckering up at Delilah. Trip and the rest of his crowd laughed and jeered while Anthony tried to get over Pike.

“Over my dead body,” Anthony snarled.

Pike wrapped his arms around Anthony’s middle, hauling him back with a grunt, and Delilah wished she had enough strength to pick up the snowboard and bonk them all on the head.

“Hey, you heard him, Pike,” Trip laughed. “Your boy’s got a death wish. You should let him go!”

“Um, hello! This isn’t the eleven hundreds!” Ryler said loudly. “Consent is sexy and we don’t use women as bargaining chips.”

“Whatever, I don’t even need a prize,” Brodie said, cracking his knuckles like a bully from an eighties movie. “I’m going to enjoy kicking your ass on principle.”

“Stop it,” Delilah said, getting to her feet unsteadily. She hobbled over the group of men, her entire body starting to feel the full impact of her snowboarding gymnastics and she glared at them. “Whatever you guys have going on, grow up and leave me out of it.”