Page 4 of Mr. Merry Ex-Mas
“I have, but it’s still true.”
Her eyes narrow, but a reluctant smile tugs at her lips anyway. She’s too close—or maybe just not close enough.
“You’re such a pain,” she murmurs.
“You plan stress for fun.”
She shoves me back half a step but doesn’t really mean it. “You cause chaos just to make me crazy.”
I fire back, wanting her hands on me again. “Your order needs disrupting sometimes.”
She stares at me. “Together, we were a disaster.”
“Or,” I say, brushing a stray curl from her face, “maybe it takes a disaster to level things out so you can start again.”
Her breath catches, and for a moment, everything around us disappears—the noise, birthday balloons, and lights. The past disappears, and it’s just us, remembering the good and giving a little too much honesty.
And then she kisses me, hard and fast, with so much passion, just like we used to. And I kiss her back, trying to slow it down and show her I really miss her.
Because I do.
I pull her out into the shadows by the grapevines, half-laughing, half-still-kissing, with no real plan for anything past this moment. That’s always been the best and worst part of us—no plan. Just us. Some truth, some snark, and a little carelessness, building into a lot of fun and freedom. Getting her to say and do whatever comes to mind in that short timeline, where I push her enough that she finally lets down her guard.
Grape Expectations- present day
I standin the same spot I pulled her to six months ago. The same hidden corner where nothing mattered. Dates and scheduled kisses weren’t a thing. We kissed, hugged, and danced to faint music drifting through the air. I thought that night was a turning point. We hadn’t spoken much in a year besides some perfectly timed insults. But here? That night? It felt like we were turning a corner.
Until suddenly her sister called her name from the deck and broke the spell. Sadie pulled back from me so fast she almost lost her balance. She wiped my kiss from her mouth, smoothed her hair back from the touch of my hands, and straightened her dress that I wanted to see on my bedroom floor. Her chin lifted, and she hit me with a look that said, we were never getting back to how we were. I was too muchdisorderly conductfor her.
So, although the music was gone and the party over, the memory was still loud and fresh.
Like me.
“Mr. Love,” Matt calls out, taunting me. “No class today?”
I snicker, turning and meeting him on the deck. “Any day.” I meet his sarcasm as we clap hands and walk inside. “That chill is moving in fast.”
“You’re the one standing outside.” I follow him to the bar as he takes his place behind it, and I sit on the other side. The bar top is cool as I roll my sleeves up and lead forward. “Beer? Wine? Water?”
“How about a shot?”
He raises a brow and puts his hands on his hips. “How bad we talking?”
“You know the Christmas Gala you’re sponsoring and your in-house event rep is handling?” He nods. “The Starlight Bay Town Board picked a teacher to assist. And I’m that teacher.”
He whistles but has a shit-eating grin. “So, it’s bad.” He grabs four shot glasses and lines them up, then grabs the bottle of Jameson, filling all four. He pushes two forward, then grabs one. We tap glasses and down it, the burn making me feel slightly better.
“Does she know?”
“Oh, she knows.” I slam the second shot. “I just came from seeing her at the school auditorium.”
“How’d that go?”
I shake my head. “She’s still Sadie. Color-coded, clipboard-carrying, and convinced I’m here to sabotage her centerpiece arrangements.”
“Seems to be a specialty of yours.”
“Causing chaos is my love language.”
