Page 22 of Unromance

“The flannel’s really doing it for you, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” she said sarcastically. “You’re gonna have to throw me in the back of your pickup truck and yee my haw.”

Mason laughed, shaking his head. Before he could let that visual play out in his mind, he jerked his head toward the tree. “Alright. I got the base. Grab the tip.”

She wasn’t the only one capable of innuendo. See how she liked it.

Sawyer snorted, waggling her eyebrows suggestively before grabbing hold of the top of the tree. Together, they carried it all the way back to her car. As her steps slowed, he wished he was standing in front of her to watch the realization dawn on her.

“Oh dear,” she said fussily, eyeing the massive tree and the tiny car in turn.

Mason grinned, lowering the tree to rest against the side of her car. “I’ll grab some twine.”

“Maybe a lot of twine,” she said around a laugh, falling into step beside him.

As they waited for the family in front of them to finish unspooling twine for themselves, Mason’s attention drifted to the other holiday decorations for sale. Wreaths made from tree scraps, reindeer yard ornaments made from logs, ribbon-wrapped mistletoe. A young couple picked up a piece, nuzzling the tips of their noses together before collapsing in a fit of laughter.

Mason couldn’t help but smile, their love infectious.

Beside him, Sawyer cleared her throat.

“What?” he said defensively. “They’re cute.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re hopeless.”

Mason swiped a bundle of mistletoe off the table, dangling it above them.

Sawyer glared at him. “Against the rules, bud.”

He pressed a finger to her lips. “Close your eyes,” he murmured.

Sawyer shot daggers at him before complying.

“You’re at a party,” he began quietly so no one else could hear. “The person you’ve been secretly into for quite some time is there. They look fucking fantastic. You’ve been making eyes across the room all night. You can feel the way they’d touch you if only one of you would make the first move.” He tucked her bangs behind her ear, and they stubbornly sprang back into place as he trailed his finger along her jaw. A smirk tugged at his lips when her breath hitched, her lashes fluttering with the effort of keeping her eyes closed. “But making the first move is risky, until, you find yourselves under the mistletoe, the perfect icebreaker for the tension between you—”

Mason ran his thumb across her bottom lip, her mouth parting slightly. Her eyes flew open, a series of emotions playing out in rapid succession—lust, confusion, surprise, and then: fear.

Sawyer screamed, spiking the mistletoe out of his hand, the bundle of green and red landing in a patch of snow slush at their feet. Sawyer doubled over, dry heaving.

Mason rolled his eyes. “Don’t be dramatic, Greene. Kissing me isn’t so abhorrent. If I remember correctly, you liked it—”

Still clutching her side, Sawyer grabbed hold of his lapel, pulling him down with her and pointing to the mistletoe.

“What—” The question died on his tongue when he saw the massive brown spider scuttle out of it.

Mason brought his fist to his mouth, swallowing down the rising tide of bile. He shivered like he could feel the spider crawling all over him. “Oh God. Okay, mistletoe kisses are officially ruined for me forever. Thank you. Cross that off the list.”

Sawyer shuddered. Regaining her composure, she mimed keeping score in the air, adding a tally mark for herself.

Mason pursed his lips. “I don’t think you can reasonably takecredit for that. I was definitely winning before the spider so rudely interrupted.”

Sawyer grinned smugly up at him as she stepped up to grab their share of twine. “I can, and I will. Besides,” she added with a jerk of her head in the direction of the young couple purchasing a bundle of (hopefully) spider-free mistletoe. “They’re cute, but they won’t survive spending the holidays with each other’s families.”

The corners of Mason’s mouth turned down of their own volition. Even his romanticism didn’t stretch that far. He didn’t bring his partners home to meet his mother for a reason.

When he didn’t object, Sawyer fixed him with a knowing look before drawing another imaginary tally mark in the air.

Looping her arm through his, she guided him back to the car, where they studied the roof and the tree in turn before a fit of giggles overtook them at their quandary.

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