Page 12 of Touchdown Under the Mistletoe
“Every Christmas Eve. Mandatory participation. No one survives unscathed.”
“Please tell me you’re joking. And that mandatory doesn’t apply to me.”
He shakes his head. “If I have to do it, you do too. Sorry, house rules. We’ll both have to embarrass ourselves.”
“But I don’t have a bit. Please, I’ll just stand in the corner and provide moral support.”
He grins. “Or we could do something together.”
“Together? You and me?”
“Sure, why not?” he asks like it’s no big deal.
“I’m not dancing, though. That’s a hard no from me,” I say.
“What about singing then?”
I throw a pillow at him. “Stop it. You know I can’t sing. Unless the grand prize is eternal humiliation, I don’t think I can do it.”
“The grand prize is a gift certificate for Summit Sweets,” he says.
“Hmm. Amelia’s cinnamon rollsarethe best.”
“I know, right? So, what do you say?”
I yawn. “That we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
“Sounds good, Riley. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Travis,” I say and turn off the light.
It doesn’t take long before his breathing slows, and he’s asleep. Me, on the other hand? I’m wide awake, too excited about all the time I get to spend with Travis this week.
I turn to him. The curtains don’t block out all the moonlight, so I can make out the shape of him, the hair that has fallen over his face. If things were different, I’d brush it from his face. Maybe he’d then stir in his sleep and put his arms around me, pulling me close with a happy sigh.
I wish I still believed in Santa, so I could ask him to make this happen.
Sorry for Sienna, but she’d find someone else.
As for me? I probably wouldn’t. I’m still not over Travis Steelbird, no matter how much I convinced myself I was.
Chapter Six
Travis
I pull my wool beanie down lower over my forehead and adjust my sunglasses for the third time in as many minutes.
“You look ridiculous,” Beau says from the driver’s seat. “It’s overcast. Nobody wears sunglasses when it’s overcast.”
“I’m protecting my eyes from UV rays,” I say defensively.
“Uh-huh. And the scarf wrapped around half your face?”
“It’s freezing.”
“Freezing? It’s forty degrees. Snow is literally melting.”
Riley laughs from the backseat. “Leave him alone, Beau. If Travis wants to cosplay as a criminal about to rob the skating rink register, that’s his choice.”
