Page 3 of The Holiday Fail

Hell, even Jude was on the other side of the bar chatting with some customers—so much for being at my service.

I shook the stranger’s shoulders, hoping I could wake him long enough for him to tell me his address or something. Then Icould get him into a taxi and not feel bad for leaving him here all alone.

Luck was clearly not on my side, because the man was dead to the world. I groaned my frustration. I barely arrived in town and trouble had already landed in my lap.

Literally.

He didn’t stir when I’d maneuvered him to my back and carried him out of the bar. I wasn’t coldhearted enough to just leave him there, so I had no other choice but to take him home with me.

I blanketed my jacket over him since he’d only worn a thin-ass T-shirt, and I didn’t see any stray pieces of clothing lying around. If hehadbrought a jacket, he’d have to come back and get it himself when he was awake.

The cold wind felt worse this late at night, and without the padding of an extra layer, I was getting goosebumps from how cold I was. At least my back was warm from the human heater currently snoring against my ear.

My front, though? Not so much.

I’d never been happier than when I got into my car and blasted the heat on high. I contemplated taking my jacket back, but the stranger looked so comfortable all snuggled into it that I couldn’t bear to take it from him.

His face wrinkled when a few strands of his dirty-blond hair fell onto his face. He looked like a kid, innocently sleeping in a stranger’s car.

Thankfully for him, I had no ill intentions, but I would be sure to give him a stern warning about safe drinking habits when he woke up.

I wondered if this was what having a little brother felt like. Exasperation and protectiveness all at the same time.

I didn’t have any siblings—thank fuck my parents hadn’tspawned any other children when they couldn’t even take care of the one they already had.

The drive back to the B&B was short, and the man was still asleep by the time I’d gotten him into my room. Nobody was manning the front desk this late, which was the one bright side of all this, because I didn’t need my new bosses thinking I was some dude who was used to bringing strangers home.

This short-term job provided me with lodging, and it was one of the reasons I’d been so quick to apply for the job. I couldn’t say that I wasn’t shocked when they’d chosen me, but I wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

It was perfect timing too, since the lease on my studio was ending. I’d sold off everything I couldn’t fit in my car and made the trip here.

I’d return to the city, eventually. I needed to if I wanted to get my name out in the industry and work at Michelin Star restaurants, but small-town life would be a nice change of pace while I gained experience leading my very own kitchen.

Now that I was back in my room at the B&B—the one right above the kitchen that was mine starting tomorrow—my nerves started up again.

Nothing in my life was handed to me, and I knew how easy it was to lose something you really wanted, which meant I absolutely couldn’t fail on my first day. I needed to be perfect; a thought that didn’t help calm me in the slightest.

At this rate, the stress was going to keep me up all night, then I was going to be half-awake and dazed on my first day.

Great. This was exactly what I needed.

Then, there was the sound of a short snore, followed by a moan, almost like the sound of his own snore had shocked him. I laughed as I observed the blond stranger roll over until he was in the middle of my bed.

Taking a seat on the mattress, I watched him sleep for a bitlonger. Not in a creepy ‘I’m watching someone sleep’kind of way, but it was more because of how carefree he looked, and that helped calm my nerves some.

He looked so peaceful as he slept that I felt drowsiness claiming me as well. It was like how people had the urge to eat when they watchedmukbangs.

Well, this man’s sleeping had the same effect, and before I knew it, I was lying next to him with my eyelids closing.

Chapter Three

LEVI

My head was killing me. My body felt heavy, almost like I couldn’t move.

Which was weird. In the past, even when I got blackout drunk, I’d never experienced having a heavy body as a hangover effect, but maybe that was one of the side effects of getting old.

Not that twenty-five was old or anything, but it was clear the days I could have a couple drinks and still feel like a hundred bucks the next morning were long gone.

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