Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
“You look beautiful, baby—fucking gorgeous,” he said, giving her his hand to help her down the last two steps.
“You’re don’t look so bad yourself,” Mattie said, smiling up at him.
In fact, he looked amazing. He was wearing what had to be an XXXL tux but it looked like it had been tailored specially to show off his broad shoulders and muscular frame. His long black hair had been neatly tied back and for once he was wearing shoes instead of boots.
Grath leaned down to kiss her and murmured in her ear,
“I’m going to have the most beautiful female in the whole Ball on my arm.”
“Oh, Grath!” Mattie could feel herself blushing. She couldn’t remember being this dressed up since…well, since the last Yule Ball when Ethan had proposed to Anna. At the time she’d been filled with joy for her sister…but also a sense of despair. It seemed like she would never find someone to love her.
Except I did—I found Grath, she thought. And then she tried to push the idea away—she had to stop getting her hopes up like this!
“Are you sure you’re going to be warm enough?” her mother asked, eyeing the velvet shawl. “Don’t you at least want to wear your coat over that?”
“No, I feel fine.” Mattie smiled at her. The effects of Grath’s essence were still strong—even when Ethan opened the front door and a chilly blast of air whooshed in, she didn’t shiver a bit.
“Well, you’re certainly acclimating to the climate around here better than usual,” her dad remarked. “Usually all we hear is how you’re freezing and you want us to turn the heat up!”
Mattie shrugged and shot Grath a secret smile.
“What can I say? This year the cold’s just not bothering me.”
“Well, we’d better hurry if we’re going to make the first dance,” her mother said. “Is everybody ready?”
Everyone was—even Grandma Thelma was going this year. She had gone last year, but only to see Ethan and Anna get engaged. Prior to that she hadn’t gone to the Ball in ages. But tonight she was all dressed up in lilac lace and her best church shoes.
They decided to take two separate cars—Ethan and Anna were riding with Mattie and Grath in his ship, which converted to car form while it was on Earth—and Mattie’s parents and Grandma Thelma would ride with Mattie’s dad.
“See you at the Ball!” her mom called as they separated. “Don’t do anything until we get there!”
“Don’t do anything? What is that supposed to mean?” Mattie shot Anna and Ethan a suspicious look but the two of them looked as innocent as doves and Grath’s face didn’t reveal anything either.
“Probably she meant she wants us to wait for them and save them a place,” Ethan said, shrugging.
“Yeah, that must be it. It gets so crowded—we don’t want to get lost from each other,” Anna added.
“Well…all right.” Mattie sat back in the passenger seat, only partially mollified. She couldn’t help feeling there was a current of anticipation in the air and she was the only one not in on the reason for it.
They arrived in plenty of time and Mattie saw that people were still filing in—all of them in formal dress. Everyone in Christmasville waited all year for this night. In a town built around the idea of celebrating Christmas, it was the biggest party of the season and the highlight of the entire calendar.
As she walked inside on Grath’s arm, Mattie saw many familiar faces. She waved at Shonda, who was on the arm of a man she didn’t recognize with blond hair and a big smile. There were also a few people from high school—including Amanda Hutchinson.
Mattie was surprised she was shameless enough to show her face in the Civic Center again, considering the tantrum she’d thrown during the Bake-off. But there she was, cool as a cucumber and dressed in a poison green gown that showed off her perfect, thin figure.
But Mattie’s eyes didn’t rest for long on her old nemesis—they were drawn to Amanda’s date who was none other than Luke Hartsford. He looked tall and elegant in his tux—a charming smile on his handsome face. No one would look at him and guess that he had been a rapist back in high school she thought, swallowing the bile that rose in her throat.
She only hoped that Grath didn’t see him. The big Hybrid would doubtless want to beat his head in and that would cause a scene which she absolutely didn’t want—especially at the Yule Ball.
Luckily, Grath was turned to one side, speaking to Ethan in hushed tones so he didn’t see Amanda and Luke glide by. Mattie hoped fervently that the two of them would be on the opposite side of the dance hall the entire night.
At any rate, the Civic Center was crowded tonight. The hall at the back, which had seemed so big and full of echoes during the Bake-off, now looked almost too small to fit all the elegantly dressed attendees of the Yule Ball. Amanda and Luke were quickly lost in the crowd and Mattie made up her mind to forget about them as much as possible.