Page 17 of Kringle and the Kraken

Kris’s brother-in-law slapped my shoulder. “The fastest way to test any relationship.”

I raised an eyebrow, and Kris’s sister whipped the top off the tote in front of me, revealing bundles of dark green cords. “Goodluck, fellas.” She turned on her heel and cackled as she walked away.

Kris ran a hand over his beard. “Really, Matt? Really?”

He shrugged. “It was her idea, man.”

“Sure it was.”

“It was. Not that I’m not enjoying the payback. Never thought I’d get to see the day.” He gave us a cocky little finger wave and followed his wife.

“Assholes.”

I stood to get a better look at what was in the box. “What am I missing?”

“These”—Kris swept his arm wide—“are all the interior twinkle lights.”

“Yeah, I kinda figured part of that out. Still not getting what the big deal is, though.”

Kris sighed and stood, pulling several neatly coiled bundles out of the bin and laying them on the table. “Now look.”

The rest of the tote was still filled with lights, but instead of neat bundles, these were in a giant tangle.

“My mom inspects the bins, but it takes way too long to separate and coil all the strands of lights, so we only do enough to cover this mess and make it look neat enough to pass inspection. It bites us in the ass every single year. You’d think we’d learn by now.”

“But then how would you weed out the unsuitable partners?”

“Touché.”

The barn was warm, and I slipped off my coat and rubbed my hands together. If Kris’s family wanted to toss me into the deep end, I would prove to them I could more than keep my head above water. “Let’s get started.”

A half an hour later, I was up to my eyeballs in a tangle of twinkle lights with Kris on the other side of the knot. We’d made a little progress, but it was hard to tell. If I’d been able to use mytentacles, I could probably have had the whole thing untangled by now, but with just two human hands, it was slow going. But I also wasn’t mad about it. Kris and I had been sitting on the floor chatting and working through the tangle, and even though it was a little frustrating, I was still having fun.

“Are you cold?” Kris asked after pulling a strand of lights out of the knot and laying it out over the floor.

“No. Why?”

“You keep running your hands up and down your arms like you’re trying to get warm. I think I have a sweater around here somewhere if you want it.”

Shit. I hadn’t even realized I’d been doing that, but it was the only way to keep my tentacles from freeing themselves and getting involved in the untangling of the lights. While they didn’t necessarily have a mind of their own, they could read my subconscious energy, and every time I worked another knot in the lights free, they tried to lift from my skin, knowing that eight hands were better than two.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Now that you mention it, I am a little cold.” It was a lie, but covering my arms would make it a little easier to hide any movement my tentacles decided to make, even if the barn was toasty warm already.

“Okay. Give me a sec. I’ll be right back.” Kris stood and stretched, then walked over to another one of the long wooden tables where it looked like everyone had stashed their coats and other personal belongings.

I’d been looking at him all day, but as he walked away, I took the opportunity to really check him out. Well-worn dark denim clung to his thick thighs and ass, and his red and black flannel shirt stretched over his broad back. He’d rolled up the sleeves showing off his muscular forearms, and it had been almost all I could do not to grab him and trace his veins from his elbows to his callused palms.

Until I met Kris, I had no idea I had a thing for lumberjack chic, but he wore it so well that denim and flannel were almost becoming my new obsession.

He turned at the table and caught me staring, shooting me a bright smile from across the room, and I felt my cheeks heat. I wasn’t the kind of kraken who blushed, but something about Kris was turning me inside out, and I honestly wasn’t mad about it. I turned away when he started rummaging through the items on the table and tugged at the knot of lights in my lap. My tentacles writhed against my skin, still anxious to get in on the unknotting action, and I willed them to stand down. I pulled one of the plug ends through the center of the knot, and the whole tangle loosened.

“Yes!”

“Did you get one?” Kris asked, looking down at where I was still seated on the floor.

“I think so. Here, grab this.”

“I’ll trade you.” He held out a bundle of plaid fabric. “I guess I didn’t bring a sweater after all, but I had an extra flannel in my truck.”

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