Page 24 of Mistletoe and Mischief

Trent shakes his head. “The contract is nothing more than a game to her. Now that she’s in the finals for SSSS, there’s no way she’ll risk her standing.”

“And we want to support her,” Cole chimes in. No doubt he and Landon recall how Cole supported her at the SSSS event. Watching him bow down at her command was great until we didn’t get turns.

I nod, agreeing with Cole. “We want to see her succeed. In time, she’ll want us.”

Landon’s phone rings. “It’s the representative from the national park system. Too bad Jasmine isn’t here to kiss my dice. I feel like this one’s a winner.”

“Good luck,” I say as he accepts the call. We’ve been marketing our tour services to the parks system so people with mobility issues can more fully enjoy the parks. It’s been a bunch of missed calls and messages so far.

Trent scoffs at Landon’s reference to Jasmine but doesn’t say anything until he’s on the call. “She’s going to break your hearts.”

We can only hear Landon’s side of the call, but it sounds like he’s locking down a deal.

Our phones all ding at the same time. Then I realize Trent’s didn’t. He glances at my screen. Jasmine. He leans away and shifts his attention out the window.

Cole and I read the text message and click on our screens to open the contract addendum almost simultaneously. What the fuck? She’s pregnant and wants us to sign an agreement on co-parenting. Best news ever. I bred her first. I have the best chance of being the father.

I’m about to burst, and see that Cole is too. We can’t scream and celebrate while Landon’s finalizing the deal we’ve spent two years trying to secure. And being trapped in a helicopter with Trent isn’t the time to say anything.

I’m shaking so hard I can barely sign the digital document.

I angle my head toward Landon. Cole catches on and gets Landon to put the call on speaker for a second, open the addendum, and scroll to the bottom. He trusts us enough to sign. His expression only speaks to irritation as he returns the phone to his ear.

He didn’t read it. Cole and I are doing everything we can not to laugh or scream or celebrate.

Trent looks from me to Cole, then back out the window, and laughs. “Giddy-ass schoolboys headed for a heartbreak.”

The news will break him. If only he’d given it a chance when Jasmine invited him to join us.

Cole shakes his head. He’s right: we shouldn’t say anything.

Landon grins ear to ear as he thanks the other person for trusting us.

Chances are that we won’t be able to wait to say something until we land, Trent be damned. We’re officially assholes.

Landon ends the call. I’m trying to decide if I should tell him to read the addendum or just spoil it, when his phone rings.

His grin widens as he accepts the call.

Fifteen

Jasmine

Standing beside my kitchen table, I hit send on the batch delivery for the digital signatures on Addendum B. There’s no Addendum A. Will it confuse the guys or will the get that B stands for baby—a small effort to keep it fun?

I stride to the sink and fill a glass of water.

This will be a wakeup call for the guys. One of them is a daddy now. The details of how I’d like to sort it all out are in the single-page addendum.

Their jokes about breeding me linger somewhere between comforting, since they’ll be happy, and haunting, since it’s such a big commitment. I know they didn’t mess with my birth controlpills, but it’s still a shock that they failed. I took them so exactly by the book.

It’s stupid statistical probability. Or just the Christmas Cherry Auction. Or just this freaking town. Ever since Eggplant Canyon became the epicenter for ménages and reverse harems, nothing’s been normal here.

I just didn’t expect my virginity or womb to become part of the rhetoric.

My phone explodes with notifications. I hurry back to the table. Did I screw up? Did their phone numbers kick back in the system?

I stare at the screen.

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