Page 53 of Holiday Hostilities

“I once spent all night talking to a woman about meteoroid strikes,” Jimmy informs us.

“Sounds… riveting,” Seb says dryly.

“So, what’s the story?” I ask Dallas. He isn’t the type to brag about his conquests or dish dirt on women or anything. We may rag on him for his reputation, but he’s a super decent guy. But it is unusual for him to bring up a woman he simplytalkedto.

“I might see her again tonight. Do something chill seeing as we have a game tomorrow.” He fiddles with Spotify until Michael Bublé croons at us. Apparently I’m not the only one witha soft spot for the festive season. “You doing anything later, bro? You seemed a bit distracted earlier at practice.”

I glance at Jake. “Well, I’m getting a roomie today.”

Honestly, ever since we came to our little agreement just over a week ago, I’ve been waiting for her to get cold feet and call it off. What an absolute turn-up for the books.

I can hardly believe she said yes to my plan in the first place, and the thought of her being in such close proximity is making me feel a whole lot of ways.

So much so, that I figured that a trip out to the farm this afternoon would kill two birds with one stone: give me a distraction until I have to pick her and her stuff up, and give me a reason to decorate my place for Christmas so it’s warm and welcoming when she arrives.

Jake harrumphs from the backseat. “Right. Let me know if you need help moving her in.”

Triple J claps his hands. “That’s right, today’s the day! I love Olivia. You two are going to have so much fun.”

“We’re not teenage girls having a sleepover, J.”

“You better not be having any sleepovers,” Jake adds darkly.

“Oooh,” Seb whistles. “Watch out or you’ll end up loved up and locked down, Marino.”

“I think I’m the last man alive that Olivia would like to ‘love up,’” I reply with a snort. “I just need this Brandi thing to blow over, which Olivia is helping me with.”

The gala is days away now, and the guys are all aware of my plan to stop Brandi from winning a date with me. Explaining the situation to Jake, in particular, wasn’t that bad in the end—he also thought it best that a woman who wasn’t interested in me should bid on me at the auction, and agreed that Olivia fit the bill perfectly.

When it came to telling him that, in exchange, Olivia would be living at my place for the next month, he seemed moreconcerned. He didn’t seem to know how bad things truly were at Olivia’s apartment and said she should just come stay with him.

I mentioned that she didn’t want to crash his holiday plans with Sofia’s family, and he got quiet for a moment before he gave a jerk of a nod.

“She usually spends Christmas alone,” he said.

Which might have at least partly fueled my desire to cut down a tree today. The thought of her in my house, alone, over the holidays is a little weird, but if that’s how she prefers to celebrate Christmas, I might as well make it as festive for her as possible.

“Word of warning,” Seb says, leaning forward to clap me on the arm. “I didn’t want a girlfriend either, but then I met Maddie, and in the space of twelve months, I ended up with a wife and a son.”

Jake guffaws loudly. “Yeah, but Maddie actually liked you. Liv and Aaron can hardly stand each other, always been that way. Right, Marino?”

“Right,” I agree, chuckling along with the others.

But that’s not exactly true. I like Olivia, always have.

I justreallylike getting a rise out of her.

“We’re here!” Dallas whoops, swerving left onto a beautiful driveway lined with pine trees, all of which are aglow with colored fairy lights.

We soon pull up in front of the cutest place I’ve ever seen—and believe me, I don’t usually think of things like tree farms ascute.But this place is storybook adorable, with a whitewashed cottage glowing with Christmas lights, a life-size nativity scene staged in the gardens, and a legitimate candy cane lane that seemingly leads to the area where you cut down your own tree.

As we stumble out of the truck on shaky sea legs—thanks to Dallas’s driving—and gather to begin the grand tour of theCooper Christmas Tree Farm, I slip my phone out of my pocket to see that Olivia has texted.

On my way to O’Hare. Flight’s on time, and it shouldn’t take me long to get home and grab my stuff. I should be at your place around 9pm.

You ready for a serious roommate upgrade or what?

Her reply comes through almost immediately.

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