Page 38 of Mistletoe Mischief

She came around the back of the truck and reached for the tailgate, but suddenly Pike was there.

“I got it,” he said, lowering the tailgate. “That way, if it gets scratched, Nick will want to kill me instead of having to hide his rage for you.”

“Thanks for looking out, but I’m not afraid of Frankenstein,” Ryler said before she could catch herself.

“Frankenstein? Why would you—” Pike’s eyes widened, his face splitting into a grin. “Stalker!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said with a sniff. “He’s tall, and his head is kind of a rectangle shape.”

“I’ll let him know you said so,” Pike said, his voice shaking with laughter, “but that’s not why you called him that.” Pike leaned in close and whispered, “You’ve been creeping on my Instagram.”

“I have—only glanced at it briefly, looking for pictures of the town.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’ll grab Neil and Kit to help,” Alia said as she passed by them. “It was very nice to meet you, Pike.”

“Nice to meet you, too.”

Ryler caught him watching Alia walk up the stairs and kicked his calf. “Perv.”

“Ow,” Pike yelled, bending over to rub the wound. “What was that for?”

“Checking out my cousin’s backside.”

“I was not.”

“Please, I watched your eyes click like a camera shutter taking a mental picture for later.”

Pike folded his arms and leaned against the tailgate, grinning down at her. “You’re jealous.”

“No, I’m disgusted.”

“I’m a single guy, and I was trying to be discreet.”

“You failed.” Ryler noticed Neil coming down the stairs with Kit following close behind, and her face split into a wide, welcoming grin. “Hi!”

“Hey, we were ordered out here to help carry in a tree?” Neil said, holding out his hand to Pike. Neil was several inches taller, but his build was slimmer, and Pike’s shoulders were nearly double Neil’s width.

He took Neil’s hand, pumping it. “I’m Pike. I work for Adventures in Mistletoe.”

“Right, the guy whose comment brought us here. I’m the producer for Excursions.” Neil released his hand and patted Kit’s shoulder. “This is Kit, our cameraman.”

Kit stepped forward and took Pike’s hand. “Hey, man,” Kit said softly. Kit was the quiet one of the group, whom Neil had introduced to Ryler their sophomore year. Kit had black spiky hair and tan skin. His family had moved to the U.S. before he was born, and when he graduated high school, they’d moved back to the Philippines but visited several times a year since Kit and his siblings had stayed in the States.

“Really great to meet you both,” Pike said.

“Likewise,” Neil said, coming around to sling an arm around Ryler’s shoulders. “Ryler’s been talking up this place and saying how excited she is to be here, so we’re looking forward to exploring.”

She noticed Pike’s gaze linger on Neil’s arm around her, and although she’d never thought about it before, she realized her friendship with Neil was very touchy-feely. They were always hugging and wrestling, and she wondered briefly if Pike thought there was something more to it.

“I’ve got plenty of places to show you,” Pike said, his gaze shifting toward the stairs before his gaze met hers. “Hopefully Alia is as excited as Ryler. Mistletoe is a special place, and I think Excursions will see it has a lot to offer.”

“Eh, we don’t tell everyone this, but Ryler’s the one who wears the pants at this show,” Neil said, grinning down at her. “We’re all her puppets, even Alia, going here and standing there and picking photo spots— Ow!” Neil released her to hop on one foot, grabbing the tip of his shoe where Ryler stepped on him. “I was kidding.”

“Don’t feel bad; she does that,” Pike said, his lips twitching. “I don’t know what kind of tread she has on those boots, but it is hard!”

Neil shot Ryler a disapproving look. “Ryls, what have you told us about being rude to the locals?”