Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98134 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Those two have gone from suspicious to obvious, by my estimation. I guess the same sort of bro code that has stopped the guys from calling Jesse out on his interest in me has protected them. To my knowledge, everybody is pretending they haven’t noticed Nolan and Mia’s little cooking club for two.
The two of them are adorable as they work to build what is easily the prettiest gingerbread house yet.
Jake sticks around to help us pack up all the supplies when it’s done. The houses are crammed inside Caroline’s bed and breakfast like decorations for now, and she’s going to go back through to pick a winner from each age group soon.
I wind up carrying a table with Jesse and Jake inside. I’m surprised when Jesse speaks to me for the first time all day. “Are you really planning to stay in Frosty Harbor after Christmas?”
“I don’t know,” I say. It’s mostly a lie. The truth is I’m almost sure I want to stay. I don’t know for how long, but leaving after Christmas sounds way too soon. “I finally called my best friend from New York and we talked. I was expecting her to be mad or try to convince me to come back, but she thought it was awesome.”
“Bree?” Jake asks.
“Yeah,” I say. “She’s really busy with her business right now, anyway. She’s going to try to come see me here soon, though.”
“Did you talk to the guy?” Jesse asks. He puts his back to me as he lifts the table and sets it in a row with the others. “Your almost husband guy?”
I chew my lip. “He texted once. Basically, he said he wished I had talked to him in person, but he also wished me well and hoped I was happy here.”
Jesse shakes his head. “Fucking crazy. How can he let you go that easily?”
I pretend not to notice the way Jake goes still beside me. I’m grinning from Jesse’s words. “What do you think he should’ve done?”
Jesse hesitates, lifting a hand to scratch the back of his neck. “I’m just saying, theoretically, if your bride runs off on your wedding day… it’s weird to be okay with it.”
I relax a little, and Jake seems to as well. “Yeah, well, there’s nothing like a big ceremony to force you to take a good hard look at what you’re about to do, right?”
“I guess so,” Jesse says.
Looking at him makes my thoughts go straight to the way he felt in my hand last night, and the feeling of his fingers inside me–his mouth on mine and his hot breath all over my body. Suddenly, I don’t feel so cold anymore, even if the world is covered in white.
Jake is giving us that look again. I know he suspects something, but he is at least controlling what must be a nearly overwhelming urge to stick his nose in my business and demand to know what’s going on. Again.
Jake clears his throat. “Come on,” he says to Jesse. “Going to help me get the rest of the tables or are you going to paint your nails and talk more about weddings? Carter said they’re going to watch the Christmas movie back at the cabin. If we hurry, we’ll be there for that popcorn Nolan makes.”
“Shit,” Jesse says.
“What is ‘the Christmas movie’?” I ask.
“Jingle All the Way,” Jesse says. “They love Arnold Swartzeneger movies. We watch Predator on Valentine’s day, Terminator 1 and Terminator 2 for Thanksgiving, and Commando for April Fool’s. Traditions,” he says, shrugging as if none of that is really that weird.
It is.
I just nod as the guys jog back outside together to get more tables. I find Caroline walking slowly between the gingerbread houses with a clipboard, making notes and checking the tags to see who built each one. She heads outside to look at the houses we haven’t brought inside yet.
Most of the crowd from the event has moved across the street to a little bar with outdoor seating. There’s a game of Bingo going on that is at war with karaoke being held a few houses down. Both are incredibly loud, but the sounds are happy, and I don’t mind.
“So?” Caroline asks.
“I think it went well,” I say. “Everybody seemed to have a really good time.”
She smirks. “I was asking about Jesse.”
I pause with a handful of graham cracker, then drop it in my trash bag. “Oh. It’s fine. He’s a really nice guy.”
“Mhm.”
I can tell she’s using the old “stay quiet and they’ll spill their guts” trick on me, and I try really hard to not let it work.
A minute of the most uncomfortable silence passes. Then two.
“I mean, I do like him. Obviously,” I blurt. “I’m guessing there probably aren’t many girls who meet Jesse and don’t like him.”
“He doesn’t usually like them back, though.”