Page 195 of A Merry Mountain Christmas

My first thought is that it’s from Jace. Maybe he’ll tell me he was dreaming of me, the way I’ve been dreaming of him—his head between my legs, his scruff both tickling and sending pulses of pleasure up my thighs as his mouth and tongue work me to a higher peak—but it’s not.

It’s from Glenn.

Thank you for the updates last weekend, Mary. I’ve been doing some soul searching. In a lot of ways, you are right. I might have been shortsighted in my decision to take a step back. It seems I have a lot of thinking to do.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

JACE

I’m nervous as I park in front of Mary’s house on Tuesday. I haven’t seen her since she walked out on Saturday, and I’ve been grateful for the distraction of Cal’s project. He told me to work whenever I can fit it into my schedule, but I’ve been at his house a lot—most of Sunday, plus Monday after I had dinner with Roger. Cal’s house is an old Victorian that needed a lot of work. He’s had some of his crew helping, so it’s three-fourths done. Thank God, because between his day crew putting in hours when they weren’t working elsewhere and me putting in time on evenings and weekends, there’s still no way we could have gotten the whole place done by Christmas, even with Cal dropping by to help.

I’d hoped the project would help distract me from thinking about Mary, and while it’s helped, I’m still like a lovestruck kid who has a crush on his teacher.

Briefly, I considered cancelling, but I can’t do that to Aidan, and besides, I’m no coward. I’ve faced plenty of hard shit in my life, and I’ve nearly convinced myself that a friendship with Mary is better than nothing.

Still, I’m not sure what to make of our text exchanges. The confession she made on Sunday night…I could tell it wasn’tsomething she’d told many people. Maybe not anyone. And then she texted me again late last night. It started off with a text telling me how excited Aidan was about me coming over, and then I asked about her dance classes. Her first one is this upcoming Saturday.

I’m nervous, she said.

Don’t be nervous, I sent back.They’re little kids. What do they know?

She sent a laughing emoji, and I assured her she’d be great.Don’t sweat it.

Now, as I walk up to her door, I find myself wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans before I reach for the doorknob, but it swings open before I get to it.

“I want to go to your apartment,” Aidan says with a resolute look in his eyes.

“Uh…”

“Aidan,” Mary calls out from inside, “that’s not polite. Please let Jace come in.”

Aidan backs up so I can walk through the door. The house smells tangy, and my stomach rumbles, but it’s Mary who draws my attention. She’s standing next to the fireplace, wearing jeans and an emerald green sweater that brings out the color of her rich auburn hair and hazel eyes. She offers me a smile that fades into a look of uncertainty.

“Hi,” I say, shoving my hands into my front pockets so I can’t close the distance between us and take her into my arms.

“Hi,” she says shyly. She’s holding an ornament, turning it over in her hands.

Whatever was between us this weekend hasn’t faded. It’s mushroomed. We stare at each other as though we’re caught in some kind of spell.

“I want to go to your apartment,” Aidan says belligerently, and it’s clear he’s not going to let this go easily.

Pulling my eyes from Mary, I turn to face him. “Maybe we can arrange that for another day, but tonight I’m here to help decorate your tree.”

“It’s not fair that Mom went to your apartment without me.”

I head over to the sofa and sit, wanting to be at eye level with him. “I know that you’re upset, but if it makes you feel any better, your mom was hardly there. She came over to help find my neighbor’s cat.”

“That’s not what she said,” he grumps, scowling. “She says she went over to make arrangements for tonight.”

Shit.

“Sure,” I say, “but my neighbor’s cat had just gone missing, and she volunteered to help.Shewas the one who got his cat back.”

He considers this for a moment. “Where was the cat?”

“Someone had taken him. Your mom’s a hero. She not only saved Cleo the cat from a very bad man, but she also saved my neighbor, Roger, who would be very sad without Cleo. So your mom savedtwolives. Besides, she was barely in my apartment. We spent most of our time at Roger’s apartment and with my neighbors.”

He starts to play with the zipper of his sweatshirt, and I can practically see his brain trying to fit this new information into his perception of events. I feel Mary’s gaze on me, although I can’t tell whether she approves of what I’m saying or if she’s trying to silently tell meshut the fuck up.

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