Page 20 of One Night, Two Holidays

But then she raises an eyebrow, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips. “Unless…we make it a little more grown-up.”

“What do you have in mind?”

Her eyes sparkle. “How would you feel aboutstripdreidel?”

CHAPTER 14

December 25, 5:55 pm

NESSA

What has gotten into me? Maybe it’s the holiday spirit or the fact that we’re on day two of being snowed in. Or maybe, probably, most likely, it’s Jack.

He’s in the living room now, waiting while I go in my bedroom to get the dreidel and the chocolate gelt my mom sent, along with a couple of presents. And a few other items he isn’t expecting…

“What did you do?” Jack asks when I turn the corner, a giant grin on his face.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” I hold my hands out at my side, in part because I can’t lower them.

“Were you cold?” He nods toward the extra layers I added to my outfit—two more sweaters, a scarf, and a hat.

“If anything, I’m a little warm,” I admit, sitting on the couch beside him. “But it gives me a better chance of winning.”

“Ahhh.”

“Except it really is hot in here now.” I unwrap the scarf fromaround my neck and then peel off one of the sweaters. “It’s what we did when we played in college. But back then, we didn’t want to lose all our clothes.”

Jack’s eyebrows shoot up at the implication. I’d usually be embarrassed by my accidental admission, but by this point, it’s not a secret that I want to pick up where we left off earlier.

But first, we have a game to play.

“Okay,” I say, laying everything on the coffee table. “Have you ever played before?”

Jack shakes his head, so I divide out the chocolate coins and teach him how to spin the dreidel, holding the tip between his thumb and middle finger and making almost a snapping movement.

“Like this?” he asks, literally snapping. The dreidel topples.

“No, like this.” I take the dreidel and spin, sending it dancing down the length of the table, where it stops and twirls like a ballerina until it falls.

Jack tries again, and again, it falls.

“You’ll get the hang of it,” I say. “And if not, it might be a quick game.”

I explain the rest of the rules, showing him how each side of the plastic dreidel has a different Hebrew letter written on it. If the dreidel lands on a Nun, nothing happens. If he gets a Gimmel, he takes all the coins in the pot. For a Hey, he gets half of the coins, and with Shin, he has to put one in.

“And where does the stripping come in?” Jack asks.

“Well, in college, we took off a piece of clothing whenever we ran out of gelt—but that might take all night with just two of us.”

His eyes glint. “I have an idea.”

“We skip the game and take off all our clothes?” My heart flutters in my chest.

“Come on, where’s the fun in that?” He pauses, smirking. “I mean, there’s plenty of fun in that—but this is Hanukkah. This night should be different than all other nights, right?”

“Wrong holiday—that’s Passover.”

Jack brushes a loose strand of hair behind my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. “Well, this is my first Hanukkah, and I want to play strip dreidel.”

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