Page 37 of Take Me Home for Christmas

Simone pulled a wrapped sandwich from the Fog Horn Deli bag she was carrying. “We thought you might want lunch.” She glanced around the room for a spot to put it that wasn’t covered with sawdust.

“Here.” Xander indicated a stool near the window where he set a drink down. “We’ll let you get back to it,” he said. “You know where to find us if you need us.”

Hayden suddenly felt like the biggest dick alive. These two people had helped him through some of his darkest days, the trio bonding over their shared horrors of combat. Slogging through the healing process together. And now, when they were only trying to be kind, he was treating them like crap.

“I kissed Elle,” he blurted out when Simone and Xander got near the door.

Xander whistled as he spun around, his brows hiked to his hairline. Simone turned more slowly. Her eyes were wide as saucers. She opened and closed her lips several times without emitting any sound. It cost her to keep her comments to herself, but she managed it. His friends stared at him wordlessly until Hayden picked up his drink and took a long pull from the straw.

“Annnd?” Simone demanded when he finished.

Hayden shrugged.

“Oh, no.” Evidently, she couldn’t keep her opinions in check for more than thirty seconds. To be fair, it was thirty seconds longer than Hayden expected of her.

She charged across the room. “You don’t get to spring something like that on us without elaborating further. I need context. I need details. I needall. Of. It.”

Xander made a beeline for the small mini fridge in the corner. “Hell, I probably need a beer for this.”

Sighing heavily, Hayden dropped onto one of the chairs he’d built yesterday. Simone found a rag and swept off the sawdust from the small table Elle had ogled the week before. Xander moved to put his beer down on top of it. Hayden let out a hiss. His friend jerked the can back.

“Have a care, man.” Hayden slapped a piece of cardboard onto the table. He motioned for Xander to put his beer on top of it.

Simone dug the rest of the sandwiches from the bag and handed one to Xander. She grabbed Hayden’s just as he reached for it.

“No eating until you spill the tea,” she ordered. “One of us has to work today, and I only have twenty-eight minutes before I clock back in.”

“I don’t know what else you want me to say.” Probably because he was as stunned and confused by the situation as his friends. He was supposed to be opening himself up to new possibilities. Instead, he’d kissed Elle. And it had been just as arousing as he remembered.

“You finally kissed your best friend since kindergarten. How about starting with how it came about,” Xander suggested.

“It wasn’t the first time we kissed,” he admitted.

Simone choked on her sandwich. Xander patted her on the back until she recovered.

“Are you kidding me?” she wheezed. “And you are just telling us thisnow?”

“Seriously, dude. That would explain a few things,” Xander added.

Simone shot the gym owner a bug-eyed look.

“What?” Xander said. “Am I the only one who’s noticed they haven’t been text buddies for the past year? Or that the few times she’s come back to town, they’ve been awkward around each other?”

Simone slowly pivoted her gaze back to Hayden, her eyes narrowed to slits. “Now that you mention it . . .”

Hayden took another drink. “It was last New Year’s. Everyone was in town because her brothers Miles and Gavin were marrying their brides in a double wedding. The week before, Elle caught her boyfriend cheating on her.”

“Whoa,” Xander said.

“Yeah. She didn’t take it well. Even worse, she didn’t want her family to know. Something about it spoiling the big day.”

“Mmm,” Simone said. “That sounds like Elle.”

“Yeah, well not her best plan. The wedding festivities and all the associated hoopla was like rubbing salt in an open wound. She decided to self-medicate with booze.”

“As one does in that situation,” Xander interjected.

Hayden shot him a look. “I was on duty that night so the sheriff could enjoy the party with his new family. When I stopped by the reception to check on her, she took one look at me and started crying.”

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