Page 47 of That Time I Kissed My Brother’s Best Friend

“What are you talking about?”

“That’s Nic Cage’s head on your body. Come on, Beau! Did you really think I wouldn’t recognize those smoking-hot abs?”

I press both my hands to the stomach underneath the Santa suit. “You think these abs are smoking-hot?”

“I do.” She grins. “And I knew that was you from the very beginning.”

I smirk. “Not from theverybeginning.”

“Okay. Maybe not at first.”

“And you’re not disappointed?”

“HA!” She lays a hand over her heart. “Disappointed that you made me a Nicolas Cage video for Christmas? Hardly. It’s genius. And I love it. This is best Christmas giftever. But when did you turn yourself into a Nic/Beau minotaur? And how did you get your voice to sound like his?”

“A photographer never reveals his secrets.”

“Deep fake video?”

“Something like that,” I say.

“Well.” She takes a beat and chews the edge of her lip. “I’ve got a surprise for you too.” Her eyes start sparkling like fresh snowflakes. “I couldn’t figure out a way to wrap it because mine isn’t that kind of gift. But”—she hops up and down, grinning—“Mrs. Witherspoon is promoting me!”

“Already?” I let out a whoop. “Kase, that’s incredible!”

“As it turns out, putting me in charge of Classifieds was just her way of making sure I was truly committed toThe Chronicle. And I must’ve convinced her, because starting in the new year, I’ll also be getting my own weekly column!” She finishes with a shriek of joy, and I follow that up with long Wookie roar.

“Hey!” She laughs. “I’m Chewie. You’re Han.”

I move in for a hug, then pick her up and spin her around the room until we’re both breathless and dizzy.

“This is all incredible news,” I gasp, setting her back down, “but I’m not surprised your boss sees the same potential in you as I do. You’ve earned this, Kasey.”

“There’s more,” she says, and her whole face is glowing. “My column is going to be about young twenty-somethings traveling the world.” She cocks an eyebrow. “Which means I’ll be able to go on shoots with you.” My heart skips a beat. How did I get so lucky? Kasey lifts a finger. “Not all of them, of course. Just the ones that make sense for my job.”

“I’ll take it,” I blurt out.

Kasey points at me. “I’ll take YOU!”

“Perfect.” I grin. “So now you should really watch the rest of your video.”

“Huh?”

I nod at the frozen screen. “It wasn’t over.” I pick up the remote and press play. Kasey’s focus shifts back to the video as Nic bends down and pulls up a handmade sign. In Sharpie, of course. Her eyes go wide when she reads the message.

CHECK YOUR STOCKING.

“Ha!” She claps her hands, skipping over to the fireplace like a kid on Christmas. Then she slides the stocking with her name off the hook on the mantle. Before she digs inside, she pauses.

“Go on,” I prompt.

She wrinkles her nose. “What if there’s a mousetrap in there?”

I chuckle. “There’s not a mousetrap.”

Still her hand trembles as she reaches in and pulls out a red velvet pouch from Murphy’s jewelers. She swallows hard. “What is this?”

I shrug. “Only one way to find out.”

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