Page 117 of Mistletoe Mischief

“Water for you,” Ryler said, handing her a clear cup with a bright pink straw. “Cinnamon roll latte for you,” she said, handing Pike his cup. His fingers grazed hers as he took it, his lips curving into a smile, his eyes warm and tender.

“Good memory.”

Ryler sat on the edge of Pike’s chair before her knees dissolved. Dang, she needed to get control of herself. She sipped from her coffee cup before asking, “What did I miss?”

Neither of them had a chance to answer, as a group approached them, laughing obnoxiously. They stopped a few feet away, a big burly man with dark hair at the front of the pack. The nasty sneer he leveled on Delilah threw Ryler off, as the other woman seemed so sweet. Why would this guy have beef with her?

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

Ryler was tempted to throw her lukewarm coffee at him, but Anthony was already doubling back like a raging bull, snapping, “I’ve got a lesson for you, motherfucker.” He dropped his gear, his fists clenched at his side. Ryler stiffened as she realized that he might just throw a fist, and she almost took Delilah’s hand to move her out of harm’s way.

Pike shook his head with a smile. “You better uncork my boy soon. I think everything being pent up is what’s making his fuse so short.”

Ryler rolled her eyes and muttered, “Not helping,” but Delilah hadn’t seemed to hear her, her eyes glued to Anthony.

“Anthony,” Delilah called softly, trying to climb to her feet but dropping back down with a whimper.

“Pike’s got him,” Ryler said, patting Delilah’s knee with her free hand, trepidation making her chest tight as she watched Pike step between the two bigger men.

“You two wanna keep slinging insults or settle this like men? Brodie? Anthony?”

“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.”

Ryler would have laughed at his attempt to hold Anthony back if she wasn’t worried about the idiot getting knocked out by mistake.

“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. Ryler caught Pike’s resigned expression and waited for the other man to strike the fuse that would send Anthony over the edge.

“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 out of his face.

“Stop it,” Delilah said softly.

“What did you say?” Ryler asked Delilah.

Delilah opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Ryler squeezed her knee reassuringly, freezing at 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 go over Pike.

“Over my dead body,” Anthony snarled.

Pike wrapped his arms around Anthony’s middle, hauling him back with a grunt, and Ryler started to climb to her feet, looking for something she could use to clobber one or all of them.

“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 to the group of men, and Ryler followed behind, worried the other woman would keel over. “Whatever you guys have going on, grow up and leave me out of it.”