Page 10 of The Mistletoe Trap
Julie glanced at the photo and giggled. “So true. And while they think it’s a beautiful picture of friendship, all I see is your death grip on the shovel you’d taken away from me when we were building that destroyed sandcastle in the foreground.”
Gavin hadn’t recalled that part until she’d mentioned it. “Hey, you were the one who stomped on our creation as retaliation.”
Julie giggled again. Back in high school, every teammate who’d come over and seen the picture also gave him shit about it. The only reason they hadn’t given Julie a hard time was because Gavin could be plenty threatening when he needed to be. “Okay, so now that we’re alone, time to talk about your shoul—”
“Julie? Where did Julie go?” Peggy’s voice drifted over to them from the living room. “Where’s my beautiful, single daughter?”
He and Julie shared a glance and a groan. Ten minutes in, and their parents were going to crank up their matchmaking attempts, he could feel it. They both sighed and trudged toward the living room.
Right before they stepped through the archway, Gavin snagged Julie’s arm, holding her back. Then he pointed up, where a sprig of mistletoe hung. “They’re relentless,” he said, and Julie shook her head.
“After you,” Gavin said with a sweep of his arm. “I’ll give you a few seconds’ head start before I go in, so they can’t tell us we’re standing under the mistletoe together.”
“See, this is why you’re the shot caller, big baller…” Julie’s dance moves were white-girl-wasted, even sober, and she exaggerated her already sloppy moves. “Something about an impala, and I can’t remember the rest of the wo-ords. Whoo, whoo.”
Gavin clapped to the beat, as if they were in the club, and with her a good foot ahead of him, he dared to cross the threshold as he bobbed his head to the imaginary music.
She came to a halt, the elastic of the ponytail holder one wild move from slipping off entirely. She blew her bangs out of her eyes and blinked at the dude standing next to Peggy. Another couple around their parents’ ages stood next to the preppy-looking guy, and they were all giving Julie curious, scrunched-up expressions.
A nervous laugh spilled out as she planted her arms at her sides. “Oh, uh, hi.”
“Julie, these are the Cohens. Herb, Nancy, and this here…” Peggy tucked her hand in his elbow. “Is Kory. The Cohens moved to town a few months ago, and Kory’s visiting for the holidays. And you’ll never guess where he lives full-time.”
“Transylvania!” Julie shouted, and Gavin snorted. Peggy, on the other hand, pursed her lips and widened her eyes to convey this was a serious sort of conversation. “Sorry, I’m sure you were about to tell me. Or did I ruin the surprise by guessing so accurately?”
The Kory dude smiled at her, and she seemed to take him in for the first time. Then she was smiling back, not just one but both dimples popping. Totally fine, although it caused an odd pinch in his gut. It took him a few seconds to realize that it wasn’t because their parents might finally be abandoning their attempt to force them together, but that he didn’t have much time with Julie. He didn’t want to share her over break with some rando.
If they wanted to date after Gavin headed back to Texas, fine. But for the next seven days, Julie was supposed to be his.
“Tucson, Arizona, so not far from you.” That matchmaker gleam that often accompanied Peggy’s not-so-subtle hints lit the blue eyes she and Julie shared. “Coincidence or fate? I’ll let you two decide.”
“Oh. Yeah. Cool.” Julie stepped forward and took Kory’s extended hand. “Nice to meet you. Funny that we had to travel to meet when we live in the same state. In hindsight, I should’ve guessed from your tan that you lived somewhere warm and sunny. If anyone looks like they might be from Transylvania, it’s me.”
Julie’s nose wrinkled in that way it did when she was analyzing whether or not what she’d just said was weird—spoiler alert: the answer was pretty much always yes. “Not because I bite or am a bloodsucking vampire or anything. Just because I’m the kind of pale that sun can’t touch. If you staked me in the heart, though, I’d still totally die, so let’s not do that. Oh, speaking of wooden stakes…” She glanced in the direction of the loveseat. “Rashad, I totally forgot to tell you about the dude who came into the ER with a weathered stool leg up his butt. Can you imagine getting a splinter in your sphincter? Talk about a pain in the as—”
“Anyway,” Peggy said, a note of desperation to the word. “Kory is in town with not much to do the next couple of weeks. I thought you could show him around.”
Julie’s cheeks pinkened and she rubbed the side of her neck. “Oh. Uh. Yeah. I can probably find some time in my schedule.” She said it like the British did, shed-yool instead of using the K sound, and why was she tipping an imaginary hat?
This was too embarrassing to watch, and whether or not she felt like she needed a lifesaver, he was going to provide one. Gavin stepped up beside her, extended his hand, and introduced himself, taking the pressure off her.
Over the next hour, people continued to chat, although Julie seemed to be avoiding Kory, so maybe her comments had been purposely awful? As soon as the Cohens left, though, Gavin nudged Julie and they crept through the dining room toward the back door. They were about to escape to the backyard when Ed and Peggy asked where they were going.
They froze the exact same way they used to when they were teens, proving fully grown or not, old habits died hard. Julie’s guilty conscience had constantly given them away, and apparently he was rusty—Jules wasn’t wrong when she claimed he used to be a better liar. Not that that was a title he aspired to, but a little bluffing now and then was important. In football and in life.
I should’ve thrown instead of faking that pass. But Holt wasn’t open, and before I could see the other route…The noise had been sickening as he’d hit that ground, the pain immediate. There were plenty of hits that sounded bad; plenty where he’d blinked and worked to catch his breath and wondered if he could move, only to pop up seconds later, completely unharmed; but that defender had been fast, hit hard, and Gavin had been taken by surprise—another thing that shouldn’t have happened.
All he wanted to do was go somewhere and talk to Julie, and maybe they should’ve told their parents their flights came in an hour or two later so they could’ve had time to catch up.
Then again, Darlene and Peggy would’ve called the airport and insisted they had arrival times listed wrong on the website, and sometimes having super involved parents meant no matter how good you were at fibbing, they were better at Sherlock Holmesing.
“Ed said he didn’t have a chance to tell you about the sleeping arrangements,” Peggy said, her gaze on Julie. “There’s been an accident.”
Julie gasped, and concern crinkled her brow. “What do you mean?”
“A pipe burst, and your bedroom and bathroom don’t exactly have walls right now.”
“What? When did this happen?”
