Page 38 of Hostile for the Holidays

They’ve all been about you.

What does that mean?

He’s had one dream since he saw me this week and it was about me?

How many isall? I’m going to need a specific number.

Now, he’s across the room, assigned to another group and I’m finding it impossible to focus on what Sandy is saying.

“The rolls are color coded and the ribbons are as well. We’ve got an instructional video to help you streamline the process of wrapping the presents.”

“We’re wrapping presents?!” I shriek, throwing my arms overhead in excitement. I’m like Buddy the Elf learning that Santa is coming to visit.

The people in my group turn to stare but I can’t be bothered.

I fucking love wrapping presents. Every year I volunteered for gift wrapping shifts at Santa’s Workshop at the outlet mall and by my senior year I was awarded the highest gift-wrapping honor…C.E.W. The Chief Executive Wrapper. Santa presented the award and everything.

Jasper knows I was a gift wrapper because the service was free and he delighted in bringing me odd-shaped gifts to wrap. It was just another way for him to provoke me, but little did he know I relished his arrival with irregular-shaped gifts and oversized packages. They were a challenge I welcomed. I couldn’t let him know that because it would spoil all the fun, so I pretended to be annoyed and he continued to show up every year with them.

From across the room, I feel Jasper’s gaze on me. He’s staring at me with the oddest look. Likely because he heard my scream of delight.

Then he smiles and winks. And my panties are immediately wet. I’m starting to notice a pattern.

Which would be irritating if I wasn’t immediately distracted by the fact that Sandy is leading me to my very own wrapping station. The wrapping paper is decadent, the bows are plentiful, and Kelly Clarkson’s “Underneath the Tree” starts belting from one of the overhead speakers. This is my dream holiday scenario.

For the next four hours, I wrap presents like it’s my job. Because today, it is.

It’s not only the joy of wrapping for me, but also knowing it’s for a good cause because everyone deserves a beautifully-wrapped present for the holidays.

There’s a guide for bow and wrapping paper coordination, but I make up my own and Sandy even compliments me on my combinations.

I show all the others a new technique that helps save on the amount of wrapping paper used but still makes for a pretty wrapped gift.

It’s truly the best way to spend a day.

As the morning passes, Jasper stops by my table a few times, supplying me with flirtatious lines like…can I borrow your scissorsanddo you need me to fill your tape dispenser?

It’s cute. It’s sweet. I like this new game we’re playing.

On our lunch break, I’m starting to get antsy for some kind of affection from Jasper. He is my fake boyfriend after all so a quick ass grab or boob squeeze wouldn’t be out of line.

Or maybe he thinks it would.

We never discussed touching or kissing or anything I want to do with him now, because when we made this arrangement, we were enemies. Technically we still are, but the kiss last night made me aware that I’m insanely attracted to him. Maybe the kiss was some silent truce of our minds so that our bodies could have some temporary fun. Because knowing our past, and the lack of trust between us, there’s no way this could be anything more than fun for the next few weeks.

And that’s okay, because while my family is immersed in Sadie and Tom’s wedding planning, I’m up for a fun distraction.

“Are you going to kiss me today?” I ask, taking a bite of pizza before internally cringing at the whine in my tone.

“It depends,” he says, following it up with what I’m starting to recognize as his signature lip twitch.

“On what?” I ask.

He lifts his pant leg to display the gawdy socks I got him from the craft shop at the tree farm. “Have you been naughty or nice?”

“Oh god!” I gasp. “You weren’t actually supposed to wear those.”

“Really? I thought you picked them out especially for me with love and care. The Comic Sans font really brings out the holiday cheer.”

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