Page 14 of Mistletoe Kisses

“What areyou two troublemakers up to today?” Dave, the dimpled owner of A Whole Latte Love, asked as he began working on my and Warren’s drink order.

The café had its usual alluring scent of freshly ground coffee beans but with a note of gingerbread. He’d gone all out with the decor like usual. He had oversized candy decorations hanging from the walls and windows to make it look like the inside of a gingerbread house.

“Doing some Christmas shopping.” I’d always loved tooling around downtown Dahlia Springs each Christmas season with Warren to try to buy as many gifts locally as we could.

“I need to finish my shopping too,” Dave said as he glanced over at his fiancé, Mikey, who was typing away at his table. The one with a permanent sign that read “Office of award-winning journalist Mikey Sullivan.” It’d been a huge deal earlier this year when he’d won an award for his coverage of our town’s Pride Festival.

As if he sensed Dave’s attention, Mikey looked up and smiled. They stared at each other for a long moment, trapped in each other’s orbit. It was like being around Warren and Reed.

“I’m still trying to finish shopping for Reed. Time’s running out.” Warren grimaced.

“Ooh, are we talking about Christmas gifts for our partners?”

I turned around at the voice and found Tyler, one of the Tap That Brewery owners, standing there in a brewery logo fleece and wearing a wide smile. He’d arguably been one of the least likely to settle down from the group but had now been happily coupled for months.

“Yup. Have you got yours figured out?” Warren asked.

Tyler shook his head. “Most of the gift ideas I have are, uh, less the unwrapping kind and more the experiences kind.” He grinned.

The rest of us laughed. We tossed around gift ideas for each other’s partners while Dave finished our coffees. I normally didn’t feel left out of those types of conversations, but for some reason, today, I was having to fight some frowny thoughts about it.

Arlo’s adorable face and sweetly blushing cheeks flashed in my mind as we said our goodbyes and moved onto the street. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since he’d left the restaurant the night before last. I’d hoped he would come by again, but I didn’t see him during my shift yesterday. Poor guy might be too traumatized to return. Shame. It’d been fun talking with him, and I still wanted to talk about books. I’d been tempted to text him to check in yesterday, but I didn’t want to make him even more uncomfortable.

I zipped my jacket to fight the morning chill. “Geez, it’s like everyone in town is coupling.”

Warren studied me over the rim of his cup when he lifted it to drink. “You could too if you wanted.”

I shrugged. “I’m not averse to the idea, but it’s hard to imagine meeting someone and clicking with them enough to want to spend all our time together.” Given how many people I met through work and friends, surely it would’ve happened by now.

Warren hummed. “Want to pop into Live, Laugh, Luxury?”

I laughed. “Obviously. It’s amazing to see how many ways a live, laugh, love sign can be jazzed up for the holidays.”

“Maybe the antique store too. I might get some inspiration. Bookstore for Mom’s stocking stuffers.”

“Hopefully, there’re new murder mysteries to choose from. All right. Let’s do it.” With how voraciously Mom read, it was impossible to know what books she’d already gotten to. It didn’t help that she refused to use Goodreads like a normal bibliophile.

We made it through the first couple of stops, then crossed the street to Tome Raiders. The name cracked me up every time.

When we went inside, I was surprised to find Arlo standing with Ron at the counter. Of course he would be at the town’s bookstore. He was examining a stack of what appeared to be books wrapped in snowflake paper. There was a nervous energy about him.

“Lucas, Warren, good to see you boys. Time to grab some cozy mysteries for your mom’s stocking?”

Arlo’s head snapped in my direction so fast that I worried he got whiplash. His mouth fell open as his cheeks flushed.

I smiled at him and hoped it conveyed that I came in peace and the other night was forgotten.

“We are,” Warren said to Ron before turning to Arlo.

Ron noticed me looking at Arlo. “This is Arlo. He’s visiting town this week and is saving my ass from Mabel’s wrath over the passport event tomorrow night.”

My brother, the friendliest person on the planet and a dickhead who would never miss a chance to give me shit, held out his hand and introduced himself. Arlo mumbled through an introduction.

“Good to see you again, Arlo.” I tried to subtly check him out.

“You two have met already?” Ron clucked his tongue. “Right. The restaurant.”

As Arlo’s cheeks raced toward crimson, his hand moved protectively in front of his groin. I wasn’t sure he even realized he’d done it.

---