Page 59 of The Holiday Games

“We were worried,” she says without missing a beat, not seeming to feel the slightest bit sheepish about her meddling. “You’re our friends, and we care about you. We can’t stand to see you both miserable and wasting away. You’ve lost at least five pounds. If you don’t start taking care of yourself soon, your cheekbones are going to go from sexy to scary.”

“I could cut myself on those cheekbones already, boss,” Trevor says, appearing at her side the way he always does these days, since they officially became an item. He has his girl’s back. It’s a thing I usually appreciate, but not now.

“Fuck off,” I growl, but Trevor only grins.

“See? Look how cranky you are. You need a sandwich and few days in Vermont with the woman you love. We booked you a room. You’re welcome.”

Ainsley grins up at him. “Kayla says Caroline is doing her annual reading of The Night Before Christmas at five p.m. and leaving right after. Once I text her that you’re coming, she’ll find a way to stall her until you get to the inn to talk. Just in case you run into traffic or something.”

“But the roads are clear,” Trevor adds. “I checked a few minutes ago. The highway department plowed and salted the main road into Reindeer Corners, and they aren’t expecting more snow until tomorrow afternoon.”

Ainsley claps her hands. “But it’s supposed to be a big storm. If all goes well, you two will be snowed in together for at least a few days!”

“Why would I want to get snowed in with a woman who told me in no uncertain terms that she doesn’t want me in her life?” I snap. “This isn’t a rom com on the Dumb Love for Dumber People Channel, Ainsley. This is my life.”

Her lips turn down. “Love isn’t dumb, and neither are the people who believe in it. You know that, Leo. And you know it’s time to fight for Caroline. You owe it to yourself.”

“And to us,” Trevor adds. “Working with you has been shit lately, man.”

“I can arrange for you to be fired,” I say, earning a slap on the arm from Ainsley that makes my brows shoot up my forehead.

“Stop it,” she snaps. “You’re better than this. And braver. What’s the worst that can happen? Caroline sticks to her guns, and you come home alone? So what? If she does, you’re no worse off than you are now.”

“But she might be glad to see you,” Trevor adds in a wheedling tone.

“Really glad,” Ainsley chimes in. “Kayla says she’s caught her crying in the staff bathroom four times.Today.”

I wince at the thought. I’m growing accustomed to my own misery, but the thought of Caroline crying in a bathroom makes my chest burn.

But the fact remains…

“Then why hasn’t she called?” I ask. “Surely, she has to know that I’m still crazy about her. All she has to do is tell me she’s changed her mind, and I’ll be on the road to Vermont.”

Ainsley shakes her head. “I don’t know for sure, but Kayla says it has something to do with her family. She couldn’t tell me more, but she said she thinks you two can work things out. She thinks you have to, or Caroline might never be okay again.”

I chew the inside of my lip, torn. “What if I get up there, and she’s pissed to see me? What if Kayla’s wrong, and there’s no way forward?”

“And what if she takes one look at you and runs straight into your arms?” Ainsley asks.

The thought sends a wave of hope surging through me, electrifying my numb, zombified heart.

“Go, man,” Trevor murmurs. “Go get your happily ever after.”

“Fuck,” I curse, but I’m already pulling my battery pack out of my back pocket and pressing it into his waiting hands.

“Yes!” Ainsley cheers. “Go! Run! There isn’t a second to waste!”

I don’t run—the shopping plaza is too crowded—but I speed walk like I’ve never speed walked before.

Back at my place, I’m packed and headed down to my cramped parking spot behind the building in ten minutes.

I brush the snow off the windshield and slide inside, starting the engine. While the car’s warming, I pull up directions to the Reindeer Corners Inn on my phone. I’m about to tap the “go” button when something outside of myself takes control of my thumb, and I tap the “call” button instead.

Heart surging into my throat, I lift the phone to my ear, promising myself that if Caroline answers, I’ll ask her permission to drive up to see her first. She made her wishes abundantly clear. She doesn’t see a way forward for us, she doesn’t want to see me or talk to me or text me, and she’s done nothing in the past week and a half to make me think she’s changed her mind about any of that. It feels wrong to ambush her without at least trying to make contact first.

But if someone else answers, I’ll take it as a sign that I’m clear to do this crazy thing, that luck is on my side and there might actually be hope for a happy ending, after all.

I hold my breath as the phone rings once, twice, and finally a cheery, but blessedly unfamiliar voice chirps, “Reindeer Corners Inn, this is Kayla, how can I help make your holiday more magical?”

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