AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, here we go.” Patrick throws his hands up in the air.
“So you know about your friend's holiday humbugness?”
Chuckling, I repeat after her. “Humbugness?”
“It's a thing.”
“Oh yeah, I'm aware. But we still love him.” Patrick pats me on the back. “Speaking of love, it looks like y'all are under the mistletoe.” He points to a spot above our heads where mistletoe hangs.
There's a string of it over every few seats. Who the hell hangs mistletoe over a bar? It's a minefield for customers.
“Mistletoe's for kissing, not love,” Shelby corrects, her tongue darting out to wet her bottom lip. Talk about a distraction…
Patrick shrugs. “In our line of work, they kind of mean the same thing. The movies end on kisses, right?”
“True.”
“So Chop Chop Movie Boy.” He grins, staring me down. I want to kiss Shelby, but I hate that it's manufactured because of a stupid holiday tradition and Patrick.
Shelby sighs before bracing her hands on my shoulders. “Relax, this isn't a marriage proposal,” she says before standing on her tiptoes and brushing her mouth across mine.
There's an immediate spark, and I want to pull her closer, but we're in public. Plus, I know this isn't a real kiss, no matter how much I want it to be.
“There. All done, and you survived.”
Patrick laughs, and then Shelby's eye catches something behind me. “Sorry, I gotta go. My friend is waving me down. You guys enjoy the rest of your night and the weekend.”
“Sure thing, I'm sure we'll see you again at MerryCon.”
Shelby smiles before leaving, and Patrick can't resist ribbing me as we head back to our table. “Cooper's got a Christmas crush.”
“Now that's an alliterative title.” The invisible line between me and Shelby tautens the further away we get, and I fucking hate it. But there’s nothing for it. We’re both here with separate parties—friends we can’t ditch. “Why don’t you pitch it to the execs?”
“I just might, and recommend you for the lead role, Mr. Grinch.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
SHELBY
I don't know what I was thinking of kissing Eli Cooper.
Sure, we were under the mistletoe and it was full of the holiday spirit, but kissing him when he was clearly reluctant? I must be out of my mind.
“Um, what was that?” Corinne asks, her eyes wide. She’d disappeared sometime during my conversation with Eli, leaving us to chat in private until his friend showed up.
“What was what?” I pretend to be dumb, chugging the rest of the margarita she had in front of her.
“You and Eli Cooper kissing under the mistletoe. Something a little more happened at that private tutoring session after all, hmm?
“No, nothing happened earlier, and nothing really happened now. Patrick showed up and pointed out the mistletoe. One thing led to another. Doesn't mean anything.”
“Right, you do realize how many holiday romances we've seen, right? And you're at a freaking holiday romance con. That's like triple the magic.”
I laugh at the exaggeration. “Hardly. The kiss didn't mean anything. It was all a bit of fun. Eli will be going home in a few days once MerryCon's over, and I will be staying here to run my shop.”
As it should be.
My mind can’t fathom a future with Eli Cooper. We’re complete opposites.
