Page 28 of Holiday Hook Up

A Christmas store!His fourteen-year-old self had been pretty psyched. Sure, some of the magic had been gone for years after Tom blurted out that there was no Santa when Adam was seven, but who didn’t like Christmas?

One day he was bussing tables and looked up to see the new girl wearing a red jacket, dark jeans, and red snow boots, helping her dad string up the lights.

He’d never strung up multicolor lights with his pop. He’d been both jealous and intrigued and had offered to take out the garbage so he could see more. He’d rounded the corner and watched her; her laughter was like a Christmas melody filling the snowy street. For the next two weeks, he’d voluntarily took out the trash in hopes to see her outside.

He’d learned that the girl was named Bethany, she was the same age as him, and she liked pizza almost as much as he did. She’d come in with her dad, and each time, he’d duck into the kitchen or pretend he was busy wiping off tables, too embarrassed to make eye contact.

And this pattern went on for quite a while. At least a year, maybe two. When he was done with his shift, he’d finish off a pizza that Ralph insisted he didn’t need to pay for while hoping to steal a glance of Bethany greeting customers across the street.

That past memory got a big ole present time grin. He’d forgotten about his little crush on one Bethany Wilson. Why hadn’t he ever got the nerve to ask her out?

He shook his head.

Two words.

Rachel Foster.

Once the perky blonde looked his way, he was a goner. Girls like Rachel Foster and Caitlin Reynolds had never given him the time of day growing up. No, not the class clown, wise-cracking sidekick to Josh Stevens.

But one night his senior year after a home football game, Rachel Foster had skipped up to him in her cheerleading uniform, asked him out, and hell yeah, he’d said yes.

He glanced down at the now half-eaten pizza. She’d suggested they come here, saying Ralph’s was her favorite. And it just so happened she loved the same topping he did. She was a keeper.

He grabbed another slice.If only pizza toppings could have saved our relationship.

“Can I get you anything else, Adam?”

“No. I’m good.” He cocked his head to the side, curious about something. “Say, Ralph. Why did you supply me with all those free pizzas when I was fourteen? You may have been able to retire by now if you’d made me pay.”

That got a hearty chuckle and a slap on his back. “What can I say, Adam ole boy.” Ralph nodded to the window. “I’m a sucker for love.”

Adam glanced out the window, his gaze landing directly on the Christmas Corner. What was the old pizza owner implying?

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