Page 28 of Under the Mistle-Foe

Mom had complained to me no less than ten times in the past week about how inconsolable she was about missing all the holiday fun. Then Dad would chime in, promising to take her on a month-long trip that would cheer her right up.

It was debatable whether the trip would happen. Both ofthem were career focused, which made them an absolute power couple, but also chronic workaholics.

The bugs took a lot longer to sort out than expected. It wasn’t until the next afternoon that I’d submitted my work. I’d ended up not going to the diner today or seeing Remy, but it hadn’t been intentional this time.

Having space away from him helped a bit too. I wasn’t all in my head about the blind date I had later tonight. I told myself I’d go in with an open mind and really give the guy a chance.

Nick had planned for us to meet at Holiday Trivia at the White Elephant. The place was packed by the time I’d arrived. I looked around for someone matching the description Nick had given me and found my blind date standing by the door leading to the back room.

Nick hadn’t lied when he said he was handsome. Angular features that exuded masculinity balanced out his fluffy hair, which gave him an air of playfulness. Though his hair had nothing on Remy’s silky locks.

I quickly shook that thought out of my head, because I wasnotsupposed to be thinking about him tonight.

Keep an open mind.

Smiling, I walked up to the man. “Leo Fenner?”

“Yeah, hi. You’re Jett Davis?” He seemed almost relieved, and I realized why when he told me about a blind date who’d shown up in an elf costume.

My past matchmaking dates might not have worked out, but at least I hadn’t encountered any weirdos.

Neither of us had a team, so we ended up sitting with anacquaintance of his, who’d apparently been there to witness the whole elf-datedebacle.

“So, I heard you’re new to town?” I asked once we’d ordered our drinks. “How are you adapting to all the…cheer?”

“Not gonna lie. It was a bit of a shock when I first visited.My friend Hayden warned me about it, but I never knew there could be this many Christmas puns.”

I chuckled. We did love our puns. And it was seen everywhere with shop names like Season’s Readings, Jolly Java, and hell, even the new chocolate shop, Jingle Bites Chocolate Haven, was on theme.

“But since that first visit, I quickly came to appreciate the town’s quirkiness. It’s one of the reasons I decided to move here and since I did, everyone has made me feel real welcome,” he said with a smile.

He looked at his hands, a soft expression taking over his face. I wondered if he was thinking of something—or, more accurately,someone—in particular, because that was how a person looked when they were thinking of someone they liked.

Ask me how I know…

Before I could ask anything, Shelley walked up to the front of the room and introduced herself as the MC. She quickly explained the rules. Cell phones were naturally not allowed, so Leo and I both put ours away. Shelley continued with the categories for tonight’s trivia, but my attention wasn’t on her anymore.

The pub’s front door opened, and a familiar face came into view. Who else could it be but Remy Trent? Because, of course, I would run into him when I was trying to put some distance between us. Remy held the door open for a shorter man, Kaysen Brooks.

They’d been friends since forever and had stuck together so much during school that my teenage self would always turn green with envy.

Now that I was a much more mature adult…the jealousy was still there, but at least it wasn’t all-consuming.

The two of them together wasn’t really surprising, but what was shocking was the last person that entered. Nick,the matchmaker, followed the two of them deeper into the pub. I hadn’t known Nick and Remy knew each other.

God, I hoped this wasn’t some kind of matchmaking interview. Did he request Nick’s services as well? What a terrible idea!

Which was very hypocritical considering I was currently on a date Nick had set me up with, but this wasn’t about me. This was about the fact that Remy could potentially be set up with someone he might fall in love with. Then where would that leave me?

Maybe they’d somehow become friends and decided to join the trivia for fun. Or better yet, Kaysen was the one looking for a date, though I’d heard he’d gotten himself a boyfriend who lived a couple of towns away.

The three of them settled themselves a few tables away from ours, close to the bathroom. Remy just so happened to sit right where I had the perfect view of him through the bodies of people. I didn’t know if that was a blessing or a curse.

Remy didn’t seem to have noticed me as he accepted the trivia form just in time for the first question.

“We’ll start it off easy with question one: how many reindeer fly and guide Santa Claus’s sleigh?”

Remy’s eyebrows furrowed behind his glasses. His nose wrinkled in thought the same way his dad’s did. He looked freaking adorable, and I had a hard time looking away long enough to fill out my own trivia form as the questions continued.

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