Page 43 of Under the Mistle-Foe

“No clue what you’re talking about,butmore importantly, a little birdy told me you’ve been seen around town on a date with a certain man,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at where Jett sat tapping on his laptop.

“Ooh, what are we gossiping about?” Kaysen’s future brother-in-law came over, looking eager to hear some tea. Felix was a little ball of sunshine with curly blond hair and blue eyes that made him look like an angel. It was a wonder how he’d fallen in love with the grump of the Brooks family.

“What mischief are you two up to again?” The man in question joined our little group, his eyes darting between his fiancé and brother. Felix laughed and snuggled into thebigger man’s arm. Bruce was almost a head taller than Felix, and I had to admit they were cute together with their size difference and the way Bruce seemed to physically soften when his fiancé flashed his sweet smile at him.

“No mischief, just gossip,” Felix replied, almost giddy.

“Word’s going around that Remy was on a hot date yesterday,” Kaysen piped up.

“How you heard about this when it only happened last night is beyond me,” I muttered.

“Now I can’t give away all my secrets, can I?” he said with a wink, then slung an arm around me. “So, since when were you into men, and how come I never knew this?”

I shifted under his question, not really sure how to answer. It wasn’t entirely true to say I was into men, because I’d never felt this way about anyone else before—man or woman. I’d done some research online these past couple of days and learned about demisexuality; when someone felt sexual attraction only after making an emotional connection.

It was what made the most sense to me. After years of not letting anyone in, Jett was the only one stubborn enough to keep bothering me until I was left with no choice but to let him into my heart. And thank god for his persistence too, because while we haven’t been officially dating for long, these feelings for him had been a long time coming. It just took me seeing him on a date with another man to realize them for what they were.

“I’m not interested in most men—or women, for that matter. Just Jett,” I shot over my shoulder with a wink, then strode to my man to give him a loud kiss. Cheers and whistles erupted behind me as I lingered in the kiss.

“What was that for?” Jett asked, surprised by the sudden attack and adorably shy at the attention.

“Just wanted to kiss my boyfriend. Is that not allowed?”

“Oh, definitely allowed. In fact, it’s encouraged,” he replied as he pressed his smile against my lips and pulled me down for a deeper kiss. Everything else drowned away.

I might still be confused about my sexuality, but this thing with Jett? There was no confusion about that.

CHAPTER 19

JETT

“Could it be her?”Remy muttered as we watched a woman add something to the arch. He’d been watching the mistletoe arch like a hawk since yesterday, determined to figure out who this mysterious Secret Santa was.

The suspense was driving him up the walls, and I’d been pulled in a random corner for kisses to curb his need for a smoke more times than I could count in the past few hours. Not that I was complaining. I was more than happy to be used for my kisses.

“Calm down, babe. Maybe this person doesn’t want to be found,” I replied, not really paying attention since we’d had this conversation at least ten times in the past hour. My eyes skimmed through the code I was studying, trying to figure out why it wasn’t working the way I wanted.

“Babe? Is that what we’re calling each other now?” Warm arms wrapped around me as Remy pressed against me in the booth seat and pressed a kiss to my neck. “Though I think ‘sweetie’ is better for you, considering all the sweets you eat. Which, by the way, I still don’t think is very healthy either.”

I blinked at him. “Wait, what?”

He laughed. “I knew you weren’t paying attention. But no take-backsies. You called me babe, and I’m claiming it. I now officially go by ‘babe.’”

“Babe, how about getting back to work? You’re making poor Rory do everything by himself back there,” Adam grumbled, giving Remy a whack on his head.

“Ow! Andeww!Never call me that again, okay? Glad we had this talk.” Remy shot his dad a glare, which the older man returned with the most exasperated expression I’d seen on him. Remy ignored him, leaned into me, and whispered, “You, on the other hand, are legally required to call me babe.”

I watched his departing back, still confused about what the hell had just happened. Adam merely shook his head and returned to his seat behind the register. I quickly finished my work, then went home to spend some time with the cats.

The only complaint I had about dating Remy so far was the fact he had to work weekends. Tourists from nearby cities would make a day trip to our little holiday town, which meant weekends were some of the busiest times at the diner. Instead of moping at home, I made plans to have lunch with my friends. It had been a while since I’d seen them since they were also busy with the holiday rush at the pub and planning a wedding.

Jenna already had plans that day, so she couldn’t make it, but Kody and Nikita were excited to hear about my new boyfriend, practically grilling me about my new man. They were surprised to hear who it was though.

“Remy? I know you said you two were friends now, but didn’t you hate the guy in high school?” Nikita asked, pointing his fry at me.

God, did I really act that badly back then for everyone to think I hated the man when it was the exact opposite? I held my head in shame while I told my friends all the stupidthings I’d done in high school all for the sake of getting Remy’s attention.

They caught me up with their lives too. Kody and Jenna had hired a wedding planner, who just so happened to be Jenna’s childhood best friend. Nikita was really excited about the bachelor party and chatted about it for the rest of lunch.

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