Page 15 of A Very Oceanport Christmas
But what if he didn't want me to? I wasn't ready to lose our friendship again so soon.
I looked up when my dad walked into the kitchen to collect the plates with the waffles I'd prepared.
"You got any new orders for me?" I asked.
"Not right now." Dad smiled. "You can take a little break. I think we've beaten the rush."
"Wonder how we got that busy in the first place," I mused.
Dad shrugged. "Maybe people are trying to get into the spirit of the season with some hot chocolate. I think those decorations are going up right on time."
I hoped so. We needed the Christmas business, even if. I wasn't in the mood for the holiday myself. If it would at least snow…
It's not Christmas if there's no snow, my mom's words echoed in my mind. I'd always thought her obsession with the white stuff was a bit silly back when she was still alive, but now I was starting to see her point. None of this felt right.
At least, not until I followed my dad out into the main part of the parlor and Sam flashed me a smile that made my heart feel a million pounds lighter. He'd started in on getting the decorations up. Now he stood in front of the back wall, hanging a string of lights.
"You picked well," Dad said. For a moment, I had no idea what he meant as Sam turned to the wall and my eyes slid to his ass.The decorations,I reminded myself.He's talking about the decorations. He doesn't know that you want Sam.
Or did he?
I shot my dad a suspicious glance. He met it with a level expression.
"Maybe you should help your friend," he suggested.
I focused back on Sam. My friend was tall for an omega, but he still struggled to reach the upper corner of the back wall where he wanted to place a hook for the lights. Grabbing a chair, I walked over to him. "Here, step on this."
I was rewarded with another smile brilliant enough to make warmth pool in my belly. "Thanks," Sam said as he stepped onto the chair. He stuck the self-adhesive hook to the wall and secured the end of the string that held the lights.
"Perfect," I said.
"Teamwork." He grinned.
"The place looks good," I said, one of my hands on the back of the chair as I cast my gaze around. Before hanging the lights, Sam had put up the golden garlands, which made the place look a million times more cheerful all by themselves, and soft carols played over the speakers as my Dad plugged in the lights on the other end of the wall. They cast a warm glow on Sam's face as he beamed at me.
For the first time this year, it was starting to feel a little bit like Christmas.
For a second or two, I lost myself in Sam's gaze and how much I wanted to pull him in for a kiss just then. Never mind that my dad and everyone else in the ice cream parlor would be watching. "Thank you for doing this," I made myself say, trying to snap out of this weird mood. Blame it on the music. And the scent Sam was giving off.
God, did he have any idea how good he smelled? Better than all the Christmas cookies in the world combined. I wanted to lick him, bury my nose in his hair, breathe in the sweet, sweet aroma of his sweat-slicked skin as we--
No, don't go there,I cut my own thoughts off. I couldn't be seen walking around the parlor with a tent in my pants.
"Anything for you." Sam gave me another grin as he stepped down from the chair.
I suppressed a sigh as I found myself wishing thatanythingreally did mean anything.
Sam tugged on my sleeve. "Come over here."
"Over where?"
"Here." Sam dragged me a few feet to the side. His grin didn't vanish from his face, but it grew uncertain.
"Why here?" I frowned, looking around once more.
Sam pointed up. "Your dad hung that earlier. Said it wasn't Christmas without a little mistletoe."
I looked up in shock only to find that I was indeed standing under a mistletoe. Had that been there the whole time? I swallowed. Had Dad hung that there on purpose? Did he know after all? Did he want me to--
