Page 45 of Under the Mistle-Foe

Today, however, marked the six weeks since Dad had broken his leg. I took him to get his cast taken off, but they fitted him with a removable splint that he had to wear for afew more days. Dad seemed happy about his newfound freedom, but also looked to be missing his red cast.

“It was festive!” he exclaimed when I asked him about it.

That night I stayed with him to make sure he wasn’t being stubborn and was properly resting his leg.

It was the first time in a while I’d slept in my childhood bed again. The glow-in-the-dark stars and planets illuminated just how empty the rest of the bed was. There were no cats taking up all the space or a solid body squeezed up against my side as if seeking heat even in his sleep. I never thought I’d hate having the bed all to myself.

Jett must have been feeling the same way since we spent most of the night texting each other about nothing in particular, but neither of us seemed to want to stop the conversation. I woke the next morning with my phone pressed against my cheek and dark circles under my eyes. Dad didn’t spare me from his critique. “What good are you here if you’re not going to sleep?”

I was too tired to make a snide remark back and trudged through making breakfast. Today was going to be one of those days I’d survived on coffee and sheer willpower, though I did perk up to find Jett already waiting outside the diner, all bundled up in my red scarf.

He lit up when he saw me, greeting me with a tight hug like we’d been separated for a lot longer than a single night. I returned the hug just as tightly.

Dad told me to get lost later that night, stating Rob was going to stay over before shutting the door in my face. That was how I found myself knocking on Jett’s front door, begging for a place to sleep.

Well, it was more like I’d showed up at his house and Jett jumped on me before I could ever step through the front door.

Sex with Jett was explosive, nothing like I’d ever shared with anyone else before, and that was only using our hands and mouths. I couldn’t imagine how much better anal would be, to be connected to him in the most intimate way.

We hadn’t gone that far, mostly because I think Jett hadn’t wanted to rush me. He’d been patient with me and had let me take things as slowly as I needed, though I wouldn’t object to taking things further. I just wasn’t sure how to go about bringing it up.

On the diner’s next day off, we spent the day shopping in town. The nice thing about Jett’s job was that his work was project-based, and he’d made sure to work around my hours so that we could hang out during the diner’s only rest day. It hit me again just how considerate my boyfriend was.

“So, I was thinking we could do Sugar and Spice ugly sweaters for the party,” Jett said as we walked into Tidings & Joy. I doubted the general store had much in variety of art supplies, but we could always order anything we couldn’t find.

“First of all, how dare you imply those beautiful cats would make a sweaterugly. I loathe that.”

Jett laughed and browsed through the store’s wares, throwing random items into his basket. “I think you’re overestimating my artistic skills if you think I could capture Sugar and Spice’s beauty. Art was always my worst subject in school.”

“Are you saying you’re not perfect?” I said with a dramatic gasp. “Why Jett Davis, I’m shocked!”

Jett nudged me away. “If you’re not going to be helpful here, then go see if they added any new cat toys for the babies,” he ordered without even taking his eyes off the items in his hand.

I laughed and went to do his bidding. He’d barely had thecats for a month, and he was already spoiling them. Jett hadn’t talked to me about his plans regarding fostering them yet, but I had a feeling he wouldn’t be returning Sugar and Spice to the animal shelter.

After purchasing everything we needed to make our ugly sweaters, we had a quick lunch before continuing our day out in town. Despite being a Tuesday, our little town was filled with tourists exploring the shops and everything Christmas Falls had to offer. Our town had grown from what I’d remembered as a kid with shops I’d never seen before.

“Let’s check out this place. I heard their chocolates are pretty good.” He tugged me towards a new shop called Jingle Bites Chocolate Haven. The inside lived up to its name of being a chocolate lover’s paradise.

A slim man behind the counter lit up at seeing us. “Welcome! Please let me know if you need any—Remy? Is that you?”

“Milo? When did you come back to town? Wow! It’s so good to see you again. It’s been so many years.” Milo came around the counter and enveloped me in a big hug. “I didn’t know it was you who opened the chocolate shop.”

Milo laughed and ran his fingers through his curls. “It’s still a new venture,” he said with a hint of anxiety in his tone. I could understand. Owning your own business could be very stressful. “But it’s good to see you again. You’ve gotten so tall!”

I laughed. He used to tower over me, but now he was a couple of inches shorter. The one thing that hadn’t changed was his almost-golden-blond hair and shining blue eyes.

“Let me introduce you. This is Jett. My boyfriend,” I said, an almost swoony feeling settled in my stomach as I showed off Jett to him. Just claiming Jett like this was making me insanely happy.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Jett said and extended his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Milo said and shook his hand. He looked between the two of us, then beamed. “You two look good together. You look happy.”

“Yeah, I am happy,” I replied.

My gaze flicked to Jett. He’d taken a step closer to me. His hand gripped mine tight as he stuck to my side like he wanted to claim me. Honestly, if someone told me in high school that I’d end up dating Jett one day, I never in a million years would have believed them. Now, I couldn’t help but wonder why we didn’t date sooner.

“Are you still in touch with Christian? You two used to be attached by the hip.”

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