Page 8 of Meeting Mr. Christmas
Jed grinned, and it was the first genuine smile Noel had seen on his face all evening.
“The app’s scattering rainbow colored love sparkles around the Creek, so why not for me?”
Jed’s grin fell away. “He kinda seems okay, I guess.”
“Kinda? You guess?”
Jed shrugged, but that was as far as his answer went. “We need to get together soon. Maybe a movie night? We can get pizza and ice cream. No double dates. Just you and me. I promise.”
Jed’s cheeks glowed red. It was the reflection from the tree lights, Noel told himself. Or it was the cold, that was all, because it was all it could be.
“I’d love that.” Because he so, so would. Him and Jed, and maybe hunkering under a big soft blanket. Nobody but the two of them, the drapes pulled tight against everybody and everything… He wanted to whimper, he wanted to god damn beg for that, he wanted?—
“Cora’s waving at us. We’d better get over there.” Jed’s voice, like his expression, was flat.
Noel glanced across the square. Cora was holding up a large paper cup with one hand, beckoning with the other. They made their way across and squeezed into the small space that Cora had saved for them at the table.
“Thought you two had decided to bail. Here you go, sweetie.” Cora pushed a steaming cup towards Jed.
Next to her, Kent hunched over his drink. “What kept you?” An eyebrow arched as he stared at Noel.
Noel felt Jed stiffen, sitting close to him on the bench. Opening his mouth to answer, Jed cut across him, as breezy and upbeat as ever.
“The crowd, dude. Not seen the ceremony so busy before. Must be all the newcomers who’ve flooded the town in the last few years. And pushed up property prices.” Jed blew on his drink, humming his delight as he took a sip.
Kent’s lips pressed into a thin line. Noel shifted in his seat. Dude… What the hell? Jed never called anybody dude. Or not unless he was seriously pissed. Cora smiled, oblivious to the tension thickening the air.
“So Kent was telling me you two guys met through that new app? Love Hurts?” Her head snapped from side to side, her sunny smile glued in place.
Love Hurts. Noel blew on his drink, unable to resist a quick glance at Jed. Yeah, that just about summed it up.
“Love Heartz, but with a z not an s,” Kent corrected.
“Thought I’d give it a try,” Noel mumbled.
“And I sure am glad you did.” Kent slipped an arm around Noel’s waist, pulling him close. Noel turned his head slightly, and what should have been a touch of lips turned into an awkward nose bump.
“Ouch!” Noel laughed, his attempt to hide his embarrassment as clumsy as the failed kiss had been.
“That’s so cute. Don’t you think, Jed?”
“Hmm. Very.” Jed sipped his drink.
Noel threw a quick glance Jed’s way, but Jed’s expression was so closed down it was like looking at a blank, brick wall.
“We met at Randy’s — the Rodeo Grill and Bar?” Cora looked at Kent as she snuggled closer to Jed. “He brought me flowers for our first date. Can you believe he was so romantic? But then he is a florist.” Cora beamed, bathing them in the warmth of her smile. “We’ve been together for three weeks. Or nearly.”
Three weeks? Noel mis-swallowed his hot cider and started coughing. Three weeks. Or nearly. Jesus. That was just one step away to being married, for Jed.
“A florist? Seriously?” Kent said, laughing.
Ohhh…Jed had taken plenty of shit from some of the dumb jocks he’d been friends with — until he’d fixed them with a look that asked without asking if they wanted to re-evaluate their perceptions of what and who a florist was. Noel’s heart plummeted. Jed was nailing Kent with a particularly fine example ofthat look.
“What’s so funny, dude? Because the world can do with more flowers, right?”
Oh, no…Now Jed was grinning, not his teasing or even his shit-eating grin. It was that other one, the one that hardly ever made an appearance, the one that, if you were smart, you ran from, as far and as fast as possible.
“Sure. Flowers are nice, I guess. I know a rose when I see one, but wouldn’t recognize too many others. Just wouldn’t have taken you for a flower arranger, though.”
