Page 44 of Under the Mistletoe
“It looks fine.” He was obviously ready to change topics, but she wasn’t done. “I wish I’d known.”
His whole body went rigid. “Would it have made a difference?” The blue in his eyes was darker now.
What she would give to be able to tell him yes right now, but there was no doubt he wanted—needed—complete honesty.
“In college? I don’t know. As I said, I was young, and I didn’t really know who I was or what I wanted.” She swallowed, her mouth dry. “Would it have made a difference if I’d known last Christmas?”
He seemed to be hanging onto her words, waiting for an answer, but she just shrugged.
Would it have? Absolutely. But saying so right now felt like throwing herself at him since he’d started this conversation saying his feelings were in the past.
“Who needs cookies?” His mom came in with a plate of chocolate chip cookies on a tray with two glasses of milk. “Can’t have the elves go hungry.”
Logan’s eyes stayed fixed on Devin for a moment as if begging her to answer the question. She looked away first as his mom set the plate on the table.
Cal perked his head up from the corner, but Logan shook his head. “Not for you.”
The dog lay back down with a groan as Logan popped a cookie in his mouth. “Thanks, Mom.”
“Yes, thank you.” Devin set the stocking in front of her aside. Was it too much to hope his mom stayed so they didn’t have to return to the awkward silence?
“Your dad and I are taking some to Luke and Hannah’s, then to Libby and Austin’s. We won’t be too long.” She pulled off her apron as she disappeared back into the kitchen.
So, not staying.
Devin picked up one of the cookies and dunked it in her glass of milk before taking a bite of the milky goodness.
Logan’s face twisted. “You’re a dunker?”
“What’s wrong with a dunker?”
“It’s disgusting.”
“It’s amazing.”
He released a deep sigh as he grabbed another and then sank back into the chair. “Good thing Ididn’task you out. It would have never worked.” A smile tugged at his lips. “I could never date a dunker.”
She narrowed her eyes back on him but couldn’t completely keep a straight face. “Well, I only date dunkers.”
And just like that, they were back to their easy friendship. They had the stockings done in less than an hour, and all the conversation stayed in safe waters.
Logan dropped the glue into the box. “These will take a while to dry. I picked up a few frozen pizzas from JJ’s the other day. Want me to throw one in the oven? Maybe we could watch a movie.”
Yes! Yes!But Devin only nodded. “Sounds good.”
“Good.” A full smile stretched across his face. They might never solve what could have been, but she’d take friends for now.
She followed him to the kitchen, where he pulled out a frozen pizza and preheated the oven. “So what was the Jacquelyn fiasco?”
He smirked as he tore open the box. “Jacquelyn Mayor, eleventh grade. I had a big crush on her, and she was my biology lab partner, so she’d come over to study a lot. I guess you could say she was my first girlfriend, but I was pretty shy, so most people didn’t realize we were dating. Including Liam. At least, that’s what he said when I found him kissing her in our kitchen.”
“I can’t believe she cheated on you with your brother.” Even though she hated the idea of Logan liking this girl, Devin wished she knew her address so she could go give her a piece of her mind.
“In her defense, she had always liked Liam. Everyone did. The only reason she’d agreed to the study dates with me was because she was hoping to get to know him. She hadn’t expected that she’d also start to like me. But when Liam showed interest…her affection quickly shifted back.” Logan shrugged and moved the pizza to a wire mesh tray.
“She was using you to get to your brother? I’d better never meet this girl.” Devin bit the inside of her cheek. “What did Liam do?”
“When he put it all together, he dumped her. I have never seen him so mad. After that, we were much more communicative when it came to girls. And that is when we agreed never to like the same girl again.”
