Page 28 of Sleighing You
Chapter 11
Avery
“Drink!” Ford sang and held up his beer.
On the television, a made-for-TV Christmas movie played… and the heroine just started baking cookies with the hero’s kids.Classic. But for us, tonight? It was the sort of cliché scene that meant you had to take a sip of your drink.
Everyone laughed as they drank from their respective wine or beer—or in my case, spiked hot chocolate. I don’t know how or why Chris had all the ingredients to make a spiked peppermint hot chocolate… like he knew I would come over or something… but I was glad he did.
Steve and Yvonne had already gone home, leaving Ford, Kandi, Lyla, and me here to hang out and play drinking games to holiday movies.
“How can you like these things?” Lyla asked. “They’resocheesy.”
I shrugged and smiled at the screen as the lead actress threw the flour into the air and danced as though it was snow. “I don’t believe in cheesy,” I said. “Just like I don’t believe in guilty pleasure. There’s only just pleasure. Period. Enjoy what you like and do so unabashedly.” I held my head high and took a long sip of my hot cocoa.
Beside me on the couch, I could feel Chris’s burning gaze. Even though he was sitting a respectable foot and a half away from me, my skin tingled, and I felt his eyes as sure as they were a touch against my flesh. I blinked, glancing over at him. “What?”
I thought for sure he was going to make fun of me. But he simply shook his head and said, “Nothing.” Then, raising his glass, he addressed the room. “Here’s to unabashed pleasure.”
“Here, here,” Ford said, just as the woman on screen started singing a Christmas carol.
“Carols!” Lyla shouted. “They’re singing carols! Drink up, bitches!”
I rolled my eyes but took a sip of my hot chocolate. “You can’t make fun of them singing carols whenwewere literally just singing carols ourselves,” I said.
“Like hell I can’t,” Lyla laughed. “Besides, I’m not making fun of it. This is the most fun I’ve ever had watching Christmas movies with you… we should make this a drinking game every year.”
“Yes! And next time, we could make little bingo cards,” Kandi said. “Really amp this game up a notch.”
“Oh, my God.” My eyes widened and I snapped my gaze over at Chris. “We should make Christmas movie Bingo games for the store!”
He lowered his eyes skeptically at me. “Our store is mostly for kids… you think a drinking game would sell?”
His gaze latched onto mine, his jade eyes bright, and I felt my cheeks heat with my blush. “You just saidourstore,” I pointed out. “You’ve never called StoryBook our store.” In fact, he’d been adamant that it washisstore since the moment he’d arrived in Maple Grove.
His expression shifted, seeming taken aback with this revelation himself. “Huh. So I did.” He took a final swig of his beer, draining the last of it, and I noticed it was the only drink he’d had all night. “Well, at this point, it’s more your store than mine. I can’t exactly take credit for how well it’s doing.”
My heart skipped a beat. Jack Pohle, for all his amazing attributes as my boss, had never once told me this location was my store. That small gesture meant more to me than Chris could or would ever know. And the fact that he wanted me to pitch directly to the board? It made me nervous and excited and sick to my stomach… and incredibly grateful. “Thank you, Chris.”
He smiled back at me, his thumb peeling the label of his beer like a nervous tick. “You’re welcome. I can’t wait for the board members to meet the woman behind our most successful store.”
Kandi cleared her throat and tapped Ford on the thigh. “We should get home, babe.” Ford kissed the top of her head before standing and shuffling them toward their coats.
“Yeah,” Ford said. “The cats haven’t had dinner yet, and I have to wake up early tomorrow… life on a farm doesn’t stop just because I had one too many the night before.”
Kandi laughed and snatched the keys out of Ford’s hands playfully. “Then I guess I’m driving.” She shifted her attention to Lyla. “C’mon. We’ll give you a ride home, too.”
Lyla’s gaze shifted between Kandi and me. “Sure… that’d be great.”
I set my mug aside and moved to stand up as Kandi waved me off. “Stay. You two were having fun and about to talk business. Chris can give you a ride home, right?”
I looked to Chris who shrugged, checking his phone for the time. “Of course. You’re welcome to hang out longer. But… don’t you guys need a ride back to your car? You were walking around the neighborhood caroling, weren’t you?”
Ford waved him off. “We drove from neighborhood to neighborhood, then parked and got out to walk each street and sing. Our car is at the beginning of your cul-de-sac.”
“Don’t you at least want a ride to your car—”
Lyla waved him off while giving Kringle a final snuggle. “Dude, we’re fine. We grew up around here. Walking around in the snow is kind of Maple Grove’s thing.”
