Page 42 of Mistletoe Mischief

Doubt niggled at the back of his mind. Yes, Delilah had rejected him and he’d taken it like a champ, but he’d asked Anthony multiple times if he was interested in Delilah and he’d said no. Why would it even cross his mind to carpool with a woman he couldn’t stand and not say anything about it?

Pike shook his head. Anthony was his boy, his partner. There was no way he’d tell Pike he had no interest in Delilah and then go for her anyway. If there had been something going on, he would have told Pike.

“It probably belonged to someone else,” Pike said, cleaning off his skewer and sticking it in the coals. He climbed to his feet and yawned. “I’m going to call it a night. My parents are coming back tomorrow, and I feel like I need to be mentally prepared for whatever they brought home for me from my sister.”

“Good night, Pike,” Victoria and Chris called.

Nick stood. “I’ll walk you to your truck.”

“That’s so kind of you,” Pike said. Then he addressed Noel as he pointed at Nick. “You hang on to this one, missy. He’s a real gentleman.”

“Back off my husband, Fish,” Noel teased, bringing her fists up. “He’s mine.”

Pike wrapped his arms around Nick’s waist and grinned. “I had him first.”

“Are you seriously fighting over me in my parents’ yard?” Nick asked.

“Hey, you are a catch! I’d fight for you in front of the pope!” Pike said.

“So? You’re not Catholic,” Nick said.

“True.”

“You are all a strange bunch,” Sam muttered.

“You know, Sam, I’ve been thinking of getting a tattoo—”

“No,” Sam cut Pike off firmly.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not tattooing any of my brother’s friends and listening to you scream and cry about the pain. I’ll never be able to tolerate you lot again. I’ll make a recommendation, but I’m not going anywhere near you with my tattoo gun.”

“Fair enough,” Pike said, letting Nick lead the way to his SUV. “I probably would scream and cry.”

“What do you want a tattoo of anyway?” Nick asked as they headed around the house to the driveway where all the cars were parked. The front yard was filled with festive blowups, Christmas lights flashing along the trim of the farmhouse.

Maybe he should get a wreath at the very least for his front door. It might be enough to shake the holiday blues.

“I don’t know. Something that makes me happy. It’s hard because it just kind of popped into my head the last few months that without my family and you, Noel, and Anthony, I don’t have much going for me.”

“Is this the start of a premature midlife crisis, because if so, maybe hold off a few years. I think the minimum age is thirty-five for that kind of breakdown.”

Pike chuckled. “You’re not going to spoon feed me positivity and tell me things will get better?”

“I’ve tried that and it doesn’t seem to be working, so I figured I’d let you wallow a bit.” Nick nudged him with his shoulder. “If it lasts much longer though, we’re having an intervention. I don’t know what I’ll do if this gloominess persists.”

Chapter Twelve

Ryler woke up Saturday morning ready to go to town and do some shopping and exploring. She knocked on Neil’s door, but he said he wanted to sleep in a little while, and Alia didn’t answer. She must’ve been wearing her noise-canceling headphones to bed. Kit was the only one game to check out the area. The two of them drove into the town of Mistletoe and parked in front of Kiss My Donut.

“This looks like a good place to start,” Ryler said.

Kit smiled. “I would kill for an oat milk latte. Think they’ll have that?”

“I’m sure with the tourists that role through here they will.”

“Good, because I’ve seen some gorgeous places already, but I need caffeine if I’m going to get to all of them. Between the jet lag and jumping time zones, I’m zonked.”