Page 30 of Under the Mistle-Foe

“You’re not going to kiss me, are you? Because while you’re hot and all, I’m not interested in kissing someone in front of my crush.”

“What a coincidence, because same. We’re not going to kiss, but maybe try to look like youwantto kiss me.”

Leo and I were about the same height. His eyes were brown, but a lighter brown. Not the delicious chocolatey brown like Remy’s. He didn’t have sexy glasses either. His face shape was all wrong too. Too many harsh lines instead of Remy’s softer features.

I was comparing them to the point I thought I wasactuallyseeing Remy’s face. It was only then that I realized it wasn’t an illusion. Sometime while I was getting carried away in my thoughts, Remy had walked over and was now standing to my right. He clapped me on the shoulder, casually brushing Leo’s hand off of me.

A myriad of emotions flashed through his face: restrained anger, confusion, and, dare I hope, a bit of jealousy as well.

“We need to talk.”

And goddam if that wasn’t the sexiest thing I’d ever heard.

CHAPTER 13

REMY

My body was moving as soonas the words left my mouth. I pulled Jett with me, not giving him a chance to refuse. We passed Nick on the way, who was standing there watching the entire thing with a conflicted expression.

Poor man.

He’d been one of the last customers at the diner today, along with Kaysen. Kaysen had somehow wiggled his way to Nick’s table and had started up a conversation.

I’d been in the back making sure everything was ready for closing time, and before I knew it, Kaysen had declared the three of us were joining trivia night at The White Elephant, claiming it’d been busy at the tree farm lately and he needed a night to unwind.

I knew refusal was pointless—and at least he had the decency to let me run home to wash away the grime from the day first. Nick must have also sensed how pointless it would be to object since he’d followed us all the way here without a word of complaint. And now here he was, watching me cause a scene in the middle of town.

Looking over my shoulder, I found Nick had turned hissight on the person who was with Jett. The stranger caught my eye and shot me a grin before walking over to Nick.

What a prick.

Why did Jett have to let himself be dragged around by him? He was a big guy with bulging muscles that looked super hot in the tight black tee he was wearing tonight. His arm tats were on full display.

Pretty ink for a pretty man.

Andthatthought came completely out of left field. This wasn’t the time to ogle Jett’s looks, regardless of how nicely he’d dressed up tonight. I needed to…what did I need to do?

Why was I acting like a jealous boyfriend who’d caught their partner on another date when Jett was just my friend? He could hang out with whomever he wanted. But if he wanted to hang out, why didn’t he just hang out withme?

It wasn’t until the cold outside air hit me that Jett finally spoke up. “Remy, what the hell?”

He covered his bare arms with his hands, already shivering. That instantly sent a bucket of cold water over my sizzling emotions. “Shit, Jett. I’m sorry. I’ll get your jacket.”

The words had barely left my mouth when Kaysen came bursting through the front door right behind us.

He had an armful of clothes and a gleeful smile as he strode toward us. “Thought you guys might want these,” he said and handed us our jackets. “Also, I’m heading out. Nick said he’s gonna stay a bit longer with his friend, so you don’t have to worry about us. Thanks for tonight. I had a lot of fun!” He practically squealed the words as he walked away.

And when Jett wasn’t paying attention, Kaysen quickly made thecall megesture with his pinky and thumb. I would be doing no such thing. He probably just wanted to gossip, which I would not indulge him in. At most, I’d send him a thank you text for the jacket, because I wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place if it wasn’t for him dragging me here.

If I hadn’t come to this stupid trivia night, then I wouldn’t have had to see Jett withhim. Then I wouldn’t be feeling all these confusing, terrible things that had my chest tightening with need.

But then…if I hadn’t been here to stop Jett, then who knew what he and that other guy would have done together? Not that it was any of my business,butitwasmy business because this wasJett.

The same person who’d been circling around me for the past ten or so years. I thought I’d shaken him off after graduating high school, but he’d somehow found a way to crawl deeper into my thoughts since. The same person who was now still shivering and watching like I was a loose cannon ready to go off at any moment.

I needed a goddam smoke. I patted my pockets for a cig, but Jett reached out his hand to stop mine.

“No, you don’t get to do that. You can’t just drag me away from my date, then take a smoke break like you were the one who’s been wronged.”

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