Page 15 of The Holiday Fail

“I didn’t know you were the type interested in town gossip. You’ll fit right in,” Levi joked and brought his beer up for a cheer. I clinked glasses with him and took a swig of the alcohol.

The conversation moved to talking about everyone’s day. Jim worked at a local farm and animatedly told us about the antics one of their roosters was getting up to.

“I swear Big Boss is getting beakier each day. Used to be he’d only peck at me if I went near him. Now he’s scouring the farm just to attack me! Fucking asshole,” Jim complained, but his lips curved up in a smile. He might grumble about the rooster, but he obviously had a soft spot for him.

“Enough about him. He’ll probably perk up his tail feathers if he knew he was the lead role in our topic of conversation. He’s such an attention whore,” Jim said with a shake of his head.

Austin chuckled and patted his boyfriend on the chest in an almost comforting gesture. He then leaned against the table and turned toward Levi. “Guess who I dropped off at the airport today?”

Levi raised a brow in question. “Who? Someone I know?”

Austin nodded. He paused to take a sip of his drink, then said, “I debated on whether I should tell you, but I thought it might help you move on. It was Jack. He said he’s moving to the city.”

I could physically see Levi freeze. He digested the news, then let out a mocking laugh. “Wow, was I so bad that I’d run him out of town? Did he think I was going to bug him or something? Beg him to get back with me? Well, fuck him! He’sJack Shit!”

He finished his rant by draining the rest of his glass. Austin and Jim watched him with concern.

“Sorry. I probably shouldn’t have brought it up,” Austin said.

Levi shook his head. “It’s fine, and you’re right. I do need to move on. There’s plenty of fish in the sea!” He waved across the pub to where people were mingling, probably looking for hookups.

Levi looked dejected again and reached to refill his drink. Austin held up a hand to stop him. “Maybe you should slow down? You don’t want a repeat of last time,” he said and glanced at me.

“Am I missing something?” I asked with a brow raised.

Levi let out the loudest sigh in the history of sighs. He put his whole body into it and slumped down back into his seat. “The night I met you, I was dumped.” Then softer like he hadn’t meant for me to hear, he muttered, “I always get dumped.”

With all that bitterness in his tone, there was definitely a story there. “Hey, like Marta said last week, men are meant to be used, then thrown away,” I joked and clapped him on the shoulder.

My attempt to comfort him seemed to work since he barked out a laugh that had the other two asking for context.

We told them about the group of snarky and hilarious old women who’d stayed at the B&B last week. The place was noticeably more quiet now that they’d left.

Levi seemed less tense as he relayed the story about how those ladies tried to match him up with one of their grandsons.

“I think they have the right idea. You have to keep putting yourself out there until you find the right man,” Jim stated.

“Easy for you to say,” Levi muttered. “You hit the jackpot for your soulmate to be the first man you were ever with.”

Jim laughed and scooped Austin into his arms. There was a gentle look in his eyes as he held his boyfriend close. “Yeah, I am lucky.”

Austin gazed back at him with so much love in his eyes. It was obvious these two were head over heels for each other.

“But it wasn’t always this easy. Before we got together, there was a whole lot of pining, especially on my part,” Austin said, clearing his throat as he spun back to look at Levi. “So what if you have to kiss a ton of frogs before you find your Prince Charming? Your perfect guy is out there somewhere.”

Levi wrinkled his nose. “I hope not. Frogs aren’t really my thing. Silver foxes, on the other hand…” His words trailed off, then he suddenly sprawled on the table with a plop. “Finding someone isn’t the issue. It’s the ‘keeping them’ part I need help on.”

“I’ll help you,” I blurted out before I had time to think it through. Which was very stupid of me.

I didn’t have time for this. I should be focusing on making the B&B menu better or honing my skills, literally anything besides helping Levi date.

I was just about to take back my offer and play it off as a slip of the tongue, but then Levi turned his big eyes to me.

“Really? How can you help?” He sounded skeptical but hopeful. I couldn’t let him down after that.

Curse me and my big mouth.

Chapter Eight

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