Page 29 of The Mistletoe Switch

"First, we need hot chocolate," I say.

"What might work?"

Xavier follows me into the kitchen, so I hand him a pan. "You heat the oat milk and I'll find the chocolate."

I open the cabinet next to the microwave where I've been keeping all my food and brace, because I have no pantry and my one cabinet for food is stuffed beyond capacity. Luckily, nothing falls out onto my head. Carefully, I slide out a chocolate bar and slam the door. I hold the door closed until it sounds like everything has settled and turn to find Xavier staring at me.

"Everything okay over there?" he asks.

"Great. The milk's in the—"

"Got it." He gestures to the stove where milk is already bubbling in the pan. "Judging by your fridge versus your cabinet, I'm guessing you don't like to cook?"

"It's not that I don't like it. I've just never learned how. Every time I try to cook something that doesn't come from a box, I mess it up."

"At least you've got fruits and veggies. I've seen worse." He takes my chocolate bar and unwraps it. "Do you have a grater? The chocolate will melt into the milk more evenly if we grate it."

"No?" Is he talking about that thing on that little machine thing that slices things up? "Small appliances didn't come with the rental. I don't even have a toaster oven here."

He smiles, but not condescendingly. "A food processor can have a grating attachment, but I mean a handheld grater. He opens cabinets and drawers, searching my kitchen. It only takes him a couple of minutes to find a long metal thingie with holes and sharp protrusions.

"That looks dangerous."

He smiles as he holds it over the simmering milk and grates the chocolate. "I've skinned a few knuckles."

"The dangers of candy making?" I stand next to him and watch the bits of chocolate float down into the milk and melt. "Or do you like to cook other things?"

"I'm strictly a candy maker." He smiles fondly as he finishes grating and stirs the mixture in the pan. I can't take my eyes off the process of brown swirling into white until it reverses, and the brown overtakes the white, turning rich and chocolaty. "My grandmother taught me. I spent so much time at her house growing up, my mother used to complain I was more her mother's kid than her own."

"I bet that made all the girls hot for you."

He looks over at me as he removes the pan from the heat. "Are you serious? Is that what you were looking for in high school? A guy who spends all his time with his grandmother?"

My cheeks heat, and I turn away to grab mugs. The truth is, a guy with a close-knit family who cooked his own candy would have seemed exotic and wonderful back then. Still does. "I just mean, what girl wouldn't be impressed by a man who can cook her dessert?"

He laughs as he pours hot chocolate into the two mugs. "As it turns out, most of them. Luckily, I had other skills that attracted women."

"Like what?"

He grins. "Like a motorcycle as soon as I turned sixteen and the ability to bench press my own body weight."

"Ah." I'm oddly disappointed. "You were an all-American jock. Every teen girl's heart throb."

"Nah. Never a jock. Just a guy who liked to cook and get into trouble with his friends. My mother's idea of family bonding was Saturday morning obstacle courses. Mom's always been big into fitness and she took me along with her to the gym when I was old enough."

I smile and carry my steaming mug over to my bed, where I sit on the edge, oddly relieved that Xavier doesn't fit the mold anymore than I do. Weirdos should stick together.

"I was on the tennis team and I pretended to be dumber than I was to fit in with the popular crowd."

He grins. "How did I know you were part of the popular clique? Let me guess, prom queen?"

I wave a hand. "Nah, I got into too much trouble for that. I was always getting called to the principal's office to be told how smart I was and how I could achieve so much if I stopped doing things like skipping class or smoking weed behind the school." I sigh. "I wish I'd listened. I didn't see college as an option, so I didn't care back then, but I'd love to have that degree now."

He sips his hot chocolate as he sits next to me. "Why wasn't college an option?"

I cringe inwardly. "Let's talk about our plan to break up Alice and RJ. I've got an idea…" I draw out the pause to build suspense. "You're going to be amazed."

Xavier just sips his hot chocolate and raises a brow.

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