Page 69 of Stuck with my Mountain Daddies

Under the brightness of hanging lanterns and fairy lights, standing behind a table draped in red velvet with little paper hearts taped to the front, next to Sadie, the woman who could weaponize friendship, motherhood, and glitter crafts all in one terrifying smile.

“Don’t give me that look,” she said sweetly, handing me a stack of cocoa order slips shaped like snowflakes. “You and Lucypromisedto help if someone bailed when I asked you earlier. And someone bailed.”

“You’re lucky James spit up on your first choice,” I muttered, scanning the names on the clipboard. “This is so middle school. Secret admirers? Notes on cups?”

“Middle schoolworked,” she shot back. “At least people said what they meant. These days, y’all just pine and make each other sad playlists.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but she handed me a cup instead.

“First one of the night. Foryou.” She grinned. “Seems you’ve got a fan.”

I blinked. “What?”

Sure enough, on the side of the cup, written in tidy, angular handwriting, was my name. JustRiley.

No message. No number.

Just the drink: spicy dark chocolate cocoa with a homemade cayenne marshmallow melting into a swirl of cinnamon.

Spicy. Subtle. A little too aware of itself.

For some reason, that reminded me of Beckett.

I took a sip and almost groaned.Of coursehe’d choose the kind of hot chocolate that burned a little going down.

“Another one,” Sadie announced, slapping a second cup down beside me like she was emceeing a raffle. “Wow. Two admirers already? You might just win this year’s prize.”

“There’s aprize?”

She ignored me.

Cup two had sparkles. Literal edible glitter. Whipped cream was piped in a perfect swirl, topped with a peppermint bark heart.

The cocoa itself was ridiculous—white chocolate caramel with a hint of almond and an aggressively flirty candy cane balanced on top like a wink.

Under the cup was a Post-it note, folded into a heart.

Your laugh is better than this cocoa. And this cocoa is insane.

I didn’t need a handwriting analysis to know this was Asher. He couldn’t flirt without performing. It was his thing. And this was a lot.

I blinked at the drink. At the heart. At Sadie, who was suddenlyveryinvested in reorganizing the marshmallow display.

“You’re kidding me,” I whispered.

She said nothing. Her cheeks were pinker than the strawberry whipped cream on theValentine’s in Decemberspecial.

I reached for the cup, hesitated, and took a careful sip, only to immediately regret it. The sweetness hit my tongue and turned my stomach before I even swallowed.

I blinked, swallowing hard past the sudden queasiness.Dang, again?

That weird, off feeling had been creeping in more and more lately. It didn’t matter what I tried to tell myself, a tiny, traitorous part of my brain wouldn’t stop whispering one word:

Pregnant.

No. No, I wasn’t going to go there. Not right now. Not here.

I shoved the thought aside, buried it, and focused on the next cup.

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