Page 63 of Jingle Bell Jilt
We pull apart and start walking toward the restaurant, holding hands. I’m glad she’s extending her trip. I want to know more about her, and I want her to learn more about me so she doesn’t scare herself half to death over an amusement park ride.
I don’t want to know just holiday Shay. But average Monday Shay. And date night Shay. And even Groundhog Day Shay. What are they like? How are they different from the Shay I know? The Shay that I—I swallow—that I’m falling for?
* * *
The crowdaround the bandstand is huge. Everyone is scream-singing and dancing to the music. I think I’d be just as happy watching all this at home, but Shay wanted to see what it’s all about, and I’ve realized I have very little backbone where she’s concerned.
“Is it everything you were hoping for?” I yell at her, just so she can hear me.
She shakes her head. “It’s pretty dreadful, isn’t it? It’s just so loud and people-y.”
I grin and tug her hand. “Come on, let’s move a bit farther back.” We have to walk a ways to actually get to a place where we can hear ourselves talk in a normal voice. But we’re still close enough that we’ll be able to hear the countdown when it starts.
It’s relatively dark, at least compared to the near daylight put off by the stage lights. Here there are only a few small street-type lamps lighting the pathway and some lights from a nearby coaster. Shay looks amazing in the glow of the low lights. Not that she doesn’t look amazing at other times, but this gives her an otherworldly vibe that I’m surprised to admit is very enticing. “Sorry it didn’t live up to the hype.”
She shrugs. “It’s okay. I’m still glad we came. I’ll always be able to say I’ve done the big New Year’s celebration thing, and I won’t have to feel like a dork when I say I want to stay home.”
“I like the way you think. If it wasn’t so close to midnight, I would say we should just go now.”
She waves a finger in front of me. “Oh no, you don’t. You can’t claim to have been to the big festivities if you leave before the countdown even starts.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not leaving. If we did, I would miss my New Year’s kiss.” I flick my brows up in quick succession. “And there’s no way that’s happening.”
Her phone pings, and she pulls it out. She swipes a finger across the screen and squints down at it.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She looks up and smiles awkwardly. “Nothing. It’s just my friend, Maggie, wishing me a happy New Year.”
“Do you want to message her back?”
She shakes her head. “No. I will later.”
The crowd by the bandstand starts the countdown and even from where we are, we can hear it clear as a bell.
“Nine, eight,” she whispers as she takes a step closer. Is she anticipating this as much as I am?
“Six, five, four,” I reach out and put my hands on her hips, tugging her to me. My hands sweep across her hips and meet at the small of her back. Her arms come up and encircle my neck.
“Two, one, Happy New Year, Shay.”
“Happy New Year, Evan.”
I lean forward and she reaches up on her tiptoes, meeting me halfway. I’m grateful for those mistletoe kisses because nothing about this one is awkward. I cover her lips with mine, and, unlike the previous times, I don’t hold back. I’m not worried that I’m taking liberties she isn’t prepared for because I can feel her responding with as much enthusiasm as I’m giving. My shirt is crumpled up in one of her fists, and the other one is moving around in my hair at the back of my neck. I’m not sure where I end and she begins, we’re so tightly intertwined with each other.
I’m so absorbed in the kiss that I can hear Shay’s name echoing in my ears. For a moment I think I’m saying it, but then I realize there’s not enough time between kisses for me to say her name.
But then she pulls away.
I lean in to pull her back, but she tilts her head and looks around me. “Awe, crap,” she folds her arms across her chest. “He found me.”
* * *
SHAY
I can’t believeNathan is here. How did he figure out where I was? Maggie promised in her text message that she hadn’t told him, just that she’d seen him at the Gas-N-Go on his way to the airport. I have no idea why it took so long for the text to be delivered to my phone.
I glance up to see confusion etched on Evan’s face.
