Page 87 of Mistletoe Mischief

“Like Terri Clark says, maybe I just need to be mad for a while,” Pike said, probably giving her false hope, but he was relieved when Noel smiled.

“Don’t think I’m going to give up convincing you to forgive him.”

Pike chuckled. “I’d expect nothing less.”

Chapter Twenty-six

Ican’t wait to kiss you again.

Pike’s text to Ryler came through after she and her friends had just finished dinner and everyone was relaxing in the living room, watching a movie.

Ryler texted back. I am looking forward to a little bit more than that.

Pike fired off a reply. Well when do you think you can get out of there and tell me all about it?

Ryler had been trying to escape for twenty minutes, but she hadn’t been able to come up with an excuse that wouldn’t lead to somebody wanting to come with her.

I’m trying to come up with something that will get me out of here, but I’m afraid if I say I wanna go to the store and get ice cream or go get a drink somewhere that someone or everyone is going to want to come with.

Pike sent back a 😉 followed by the suggestive, Depending on who shows up I guess we could open up the welcome wagon.

Ryler made a face. No this is between you and me. There will be no ABC ED.

You sure? Cause I already got the D 🤪

Ryler tried to smother her laughter, but Neil heard her, shooting her a questioning look, his brow furrowed. “Who are you texting?”

“No one,” Ryler said, ignoring the burning in her cheeks.

“Then why are you blushing?” Kit asked.

“I’m commenting on funny memes on Instagram,” she said, tapping on the app quickly in case somebody got the big idea to snatch her phone.

“Why is that making you blush?” Neil asked.

“Because it was a dirty meme.”

“You should send it to me,” Neil said, his gaze flicking briefly to Alia and back to Ryler. “I need a good laugh.”

Alia was curled up in the recliner, staring at the TV and not contributing to the conversation. Ryler had noticed her cousin barely ate anything for dinner and that she’d been pale and sluggish today. With this consistent stomach bug for almost a week, Ryler was seriously considering making her a doctor’s appointment and having her checked out. It would suck if she had gotten some kind of parasite in Bali, and they let it go for weeks or months.

“Alia, are you still not feeling great?” Ryler asked.

Alia shook her head. “Just queasy.”

“Maybe we should make a doctor’s appointment,” Ryler said.

“I’ll be fine,” Alia said, wrapping her arms around herself. “It’s just a bug.”

“You keep saying that, but most stomach bugs go away in twenty-four hours,” Ryler said.

Alia got up from the couch with a huff. “God, it’s my body and it’s my bug, so why don’t you just back off and let me deal with it?”

Ryler’s jaw dropped as her cousin stomped out of the room and slammed the bathroom door. Ryler looked from Neil to Kit. “What was that about?”

Kit shrugged.

Neil just kept staring at the TV.