Page 7 of Mistletoe Madness

Before I could open the door, Nick stopped me from behind with a hand on my shoulder. He squeezed, the pressure of his touch somehow penetrating the puffy down jacket to my skin below. “Hey, is something wrong?”

I turned to face him, swallowing past the lump in my throat as my eyes burned behind their lids. I would have thought I didn’t have any more tears left given the amount I’d shed on the long bus ride home from work, but my ducts appeared capable of working overtime. “I got fired today,” I admitted, my voice quaking.

Nick’s eyes went wide with surprise. “What?”

I nodded, the fuzzy poof on my knit hat flopping around on top of my head with the movement. “The agency lost two big clients last week, and all the vice presidents had to pick two people to let go today.”

“Fuck, that sucks. I thought all ofyourclients were happy, though?”

I sniffled and lifted my chin a little higher to try and restore some of my pride. “Theyarehappy, but I guess Summer thinks that she can somehow manage to run my accounts without anyone around to actually do the work.” While I hated the idea of being laid off just before Christmas, a small, secret part of me enjoyed picturing her waiting on clients to approve their press releases late at night. The first time it happened, she was going to lose her ever fucking mind.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” Nick reached out and pulled me into a hug, wrapping his arms around my bulky form and tucking me up under his chin.

Any other time, I would have cried tears of joy to be held by him, but right now, I valued the security of his embrace more than my lady parts longed for the touch of his boy parts. It had been a long, long time since someone had simply held me and let me wallow. Even when I’d broken off my engagement, no one—not even my family—had offered me a shoulder to cry on. Having Nick’s support meant the world to me, and I squeezed him back tighter.

Eventually, he leaned away. “The good news is we have lots of booze. Come inside, and I’ll pour you a drink.” He tugged the door open and stepped aside to let me pass.

I swiped at the drying tears on my cheeks with the back of my mittened hands. “Thank you. I could definitely use a stiff one.” My head shot up as I moved past him. “I mean—”

Nick’s lips quirked to the side in a sexy smirk. “I know what you meant, Mikayla. Now let’s get you that drink.”

* * *

“Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!”

I took a deep breath, lifted the full red plastic cup to my lips, and tipped my head back. Ice cold beer flooded my mouth, and I swallowed it down as quickly as I could while some of it dribbled down my chin and into my cleavage. When the cup was finally empty, I slammed it down on the kitchen table and raised my fists in a show of victory. “Suck it, bitches! I win.”

Bethany and Beckett high-fived me while Rudy cleaned up all the wooden blocks and started setting the game up again.

“I’m not sure I’d call that winning.” Nick took a leisurely sip of his own beer. No chugging for him. “I’m pretty sure when you knock the tower down, you actuallylose.”

“And I’m pretty sure,” I said, slapping my palms down onto the table and leaning forward, “that getting drunk is the whole point of Drunk Jenga, and since I am currently the drunkest player playing, I am hashtag winning.” I smiled at him, and when he shrugged and flashed me one of his panty-melting grins in return, my heart stuttered, and my insides turned warm.

“I know!” Beckett shrieked. “Let’s play Truth or Dare.”

Rudy and Bethany groaned in unison, and Rudy checked his watch. “It’s getting late. We should get home.”

I squinted at the microwave across the kitchen, trying to read the time on its display. It looked like it was just after two o’clock in the morning, but since I wasn’t wearing my glasses, it really could have read any time at all. All I knew was it had been a while since their guests had filtered out of the house in pairs, leaving the five of us to continue the festivities on our own.

“You two can stay in the guest bedroom, and Beck can take the couch,” Nick offered as Rudy stood and pushed in his chair.

Bethany moved to the other side of the room and pulled her scarf down from the coat rack at the back door and started winding it around her neck while Beckett shrugged into her leather jacket. “That’s okay,” she said. “According to Twitter, the heat’s back on all over town.”

“Are you sure?”

She glanced between Nick and me, her face wearing a look of contemplation, and then nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure. But thanks for letting us take over your house, though.”

“Anytime,” I said, absolutely meaning it. I’d been annoyed to come home after being fired to find our house full of people, but it had turned out to be exactly the distraction I needed to get over the heartbreak of losing my job for no good reason.

And while I hadn’t known Bethany all that well before tonight, and had been dubious of Beckett’s charms when I’d mistakenly thought she was dating Nick, the sisters had come through for me tonight in a big way. Bethany had taken one look at my red, puffy eyes when I’d first walked in and immediately passed me a glass of pink champagne. For her part, Beckett had introduced me to the guy she wasactuallydating, a recruiter who said he might have a job that matched my skills. I was going to meet with him on Monday for coffee so he could look over my resume before submitting it for the position.

Nick and I walked Beckett, Bethany, and Rudy to the front of the house, and while he watched them climb into their waiting Uber from the door, I curled up on the sofa next to the glowing Christmas tree.

He smiled at me from the foyer. “You feeling better?”

“Yeah. Thank you for tonight.” I stretched my back and settled more comfortably in the soft, downy cushions, adding a small blanket over my feet to keep them warm.

“You’re welcome.” He pushed off the door and strolled toward me, his bare feet softly echoing off the hardwood floors as he made his way into the living room.

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