Page 54 of War on Christmas

I tap my fingers along the worn wood of the table, impatient. “It feels good having her back.”

“She hasn’t mentioned going your separate ways since the date, though, right?” Thad asks, watching me over his shoulder as he carries the empty cereal bowl to the dishwasher.

“No, she hasn’t.” I shake my head. I don’t have to think about it. My brain has been fixated on sifting through my interactions with Freya, searching for the tiniest hints about her feelings. And she hasn’t mentioned the dreaded “Christmas countdown” since our date. I’ve been clinging to that like a life raft. “Not once.”

Thad nods as he rejoins us at the table. “Good,” he mutters. “Has she called you ‘sport?’”

“What?” Mom asks.

At the same time, I pull back with a grimace and answer, “No. Weird, dude.”

“Just a little thing I’ve noticed,” Thad says, stroking his jaw. “The cat! Does the cat like you?”

“Yeah, Hecate likes me fine.” I frown. “At least that’s what Freya said.”

“Excellent.”

“What is going on?” My mom asks Thad, and he blows out his cheeks as he leans back in his chair, balancing on the back two legs. Clearly, being Freya’s twin is exhausting work.

“Freya—also known as the Evil Twin”—he grins—“had a string of bad luck when it came to love.” And just like that, I’meagerto have this conversation with Thad. I lean forward, hands clasped on the table. Thad takes one look at my sudden interest and his mouth tips into a smug smile. “Sonowyou want to have this conversation with me?”

“I’ve wanted to have this conversation for years,” I correct him. “Yourefused to have it.”

He rolls his eyes. “Do you know what it was like being stuck in the middle of you two? Both of you nonstop harassing me about what the other person was doing. ‘Who’s he dating?’ ‘Where is she working?’ It was miserable.”

Ok, he has a point.

“So, why now?” I ask. “Why the change of heart?”

“Maybe I got sick of seeing my two favorite people keep making the same fucking—sorry, Mrs. Cassidy—mistakes over and over and dating the wrong fucking—sorry—people.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “Maybe it felt—with you coming home—like it was time for you and Frey to finally face whatever happened in high school.Maybewhen you know that two people are fucking perfect for each other, it gets old waiting for them to pull their stubborn heads out of their asses and reach out to each other.”

I stare at him. He stares back at me, unblinking. My mom stares back and forth between us.

“We kissed, Thad.” I shrug. “In high school. We kissed. Freya panicked and ghosted me. I started dating Tiffany to make myself feel better. And the rest is history. That’s what happened.”

Thad shakes his head. “Sounds about right. God, she’s stubborn.”

“You’re telling me,” I mumble.

“The bad luck,” Mom says, reaching across the table to pat Thad’s arm. “You were telling us about Freya’s bad luck with love.”

She seems almost as greedy for information about Freya as I am, and with my nerves hovering between euphoria and the very real possibility of having my heart broken, a flicker of annoyance burns in my chest. Part of me wants to challenge her with the same question I’d asked Thad:So, why now? Why the change of heart?I don’t want to sound like a total asshole, though, so I settle for raising an eyebrow at her.

“Grandkids, Jem,” she answers, as if the answer had been obvious. As if she hadn’t checked out of being amomfor the past seventeen years.

Thad snorts, then gives me an apologetic shrug. “Nieces and nephews, dude.”

The idea of a miniature Freya, all gray eyes and dark hair, sends my inner caveman into a frenzy, howling at the sky and rattling the bars of his cage. It’s exactly the kind of thought I’ve been strictly avoiding, at least consciously. Thosearen’tthoughts you entertain about a fling. But have I noticed that Freya is amazing with Bethany’s kids? That she treats them with the same thoughtful respect she gives adults? Hell yeah, I’ve noticed.

My foot bounces against the linoleum floor and my hands clench together.

“You’re both out of your goddamn—sorry, Mom—minds,” I say. Because that little glimmer of hope Thad’s words are giving me? It’s terrifying.

“Jeremy, if you ever tell Freya what I’m about to say, I will call you a filthy liar. Because I’m too young to die, and Sam would miss me.” Thad leans forward. “But Freya has been her own worst enemy when it comes to love, and clearly it’s time for her wiser, better-looking twin”— I snort, and Thad grins—“to step in and help.”

I narrow my eyes. “From what Freya’s told me, it sounds like she’s been more than happy sticking to casual relationships.”

Thad scoffs and waves this comment away like a pesky mosquito. “Freya hasn’t even tried to have a real relationship since her twenties. Do you remember what guys are like in their early twenties?”

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