Chapter Thirty-two
D elilah stood on the sidelines with Holly, Erica, and Ryler, waiting for the winter games to start. The park was packed with people there to watch, curious about this new event. Anthony told her to wait at the finish line for him, so that’s where they set up their cheering section. The snow that had fallen over the last week had coated the trees and ground with a sparkling white blanket, and the large food and vendor tents were attracting a crowd. Many people were congregating around the outdoor heat lamps that were scattered around the park.
“I find it fascinating that someone picked up a chainsaw one day and thought, ‘This is the perfect tool to make ice sculptures,’” Holly said.
“I don’t give a fuck about any of this other stuff,” Erica said, looking up from her phone in a huff. “I just want to see these guys play hockey. Hmmm, love hockey.”
“I know. The only time I get a decent day of work out of you is in the off-season,” Holly teased.
Erica scoffed. “Please, I know that ain’t true because hockey isn’t on while I’m working at the shop.”
Delilah laughed, only partially listening to them talk. Delilah wanted to be here for Anthony since this was his baby. He’d put it together and planned everything with Pike, but a storm was going to roll through tonight and she didn’t want to get caught in it on her way to her parents.
“What’s got your knickers in a twist?” Holly asked, elbowing Delilah gently.
“Just thinking.”
“About?” Holly prodded.
“Anthony’s offer to stay with him.”
“The gall.”
“I’m serious, Holly.”
“I thought that was a no go. Why are we rehashing it?” Holly asked.
Erica looked away from the stretching hockey players, frowning. “What are you two going on about now?”
“Delilah’s boyfriend told her she could live with him but she’s afraid it’s too early.”
“Huh?” Erica shot Delilah a wide-eyed look. “That makes no sense! What’s wrong with the man who loves you offering to help?”
“I don’t want him asking me to live with him out of obligation or pity. And I especially don’t want him to offer me money because he thinks I can’t take care of myself.”
“Maybe he offered it because he knows you’re in a tight spot and he, I don’t know, loves you ?” Holly said, giving her an exasperated look.
Erica shook her head. “For a woman who can write the hell out of a fantasy romance, you sure know how to complicate your own damn life. Just move in with the man and then maybe next time, you can pay me to edit your books.”
Delilah laughed because Erica’s edits had been line edits, mostly sentence structure and grammar. She’d even commented about how light the book was on issues, and now, she simply needed to polish the last-minute changes and format it. Once all that was done, she could publish it. Market it.
Have a mental breakdown if and when someone hated it.
Between being so close to having her dream realized and wavering between living with Anthony or not, she was a cauldron of emotions swirling and bubbling without an end in sight.
The crackling of a speaker preluded the cheerful announcement of Merry’s voice. “We’re ready for the first annual Mistletoe Winter Games. We’d like to thank our sponsors and organizers, Adventures in Mistletoe, for putting together this exciting, delightful event. Please be sure to visit our local vendors today for fun-filled crafts, holiday food and drinks, and more.”
“Brings a new meaning to the eat, drink, and be merry part of the holiday,” Erica mumbled, showing her empty wallet. “Events like this are put on to make us broke college girls feel worse.”
Delilah pulled out a ten and held it out to her. “If I buy you a corn dog, will you feel better?”
Erica snatched up the money with a sniffle. “I may need a churro, too. I am very, very sad.”
“Get out of here,” Holly laughed.
Erica danced away with the last of her cash, but she didn’t mind. The woman was helping her out when she didn’t owe her a thing. The least Delilah could do was buy her a meal.
“We’re almost ready to kick off the first annual Mistletoe scavenger race. All racers on your mark!”
“Scavenger?” Holly asked.
“Yeah, the participants in the first two legs of the race have to find all the pieces for the snowman that the people competing in the third leg build.” Delilah was trying to get a glimpse of Pike because she very vaguely spotted Nick in the distance, waiting at the bottom of the sled hill, and Anthony hopping from foot to foot next to the large food tent. He looked so cute in his inflatable reindeer costume, she wanted to run over to him and throw herself into his arms.
“Huh,” Holly said. “Well, that’s weird. Declan and Sam are hanging out by the chainsaw tent. I’ll be right back, okay?”
“Sure, I’ll be here. I think this is the best spot to watch.”
“Sounds great.” Delilah figured Holly hadn’t really been listening to her and watched her cross the park to greet her boyfriend and friend. Although Sam and Holly had electric banter that drove Declan crazy, Delilah knew that Holly considered Sam her other bestie.
Ryler walked up to Delilah with a white coffee cup in her hand and stopped alongside her. “Hmmm, this better not be boring or I’m going to chuck a snowball at Pike’s head.”
Delilah laughed. “I guess if it is, they won’t have another one next year.”
“Ooof, don’t put that out into the universe. I actually want them to do well.”
Delilah shot Ryler a curious glance. “I do, too, but I’m surprised you feel that way. I thought you and Pike hated each other.”
“‘Hate’ is such a strong word,” Ryler said, taking a sip of her coffee. “I prefer to think of it as mild dislike with a friendly dose of animosity.”
Delilah shook her head. “Whatever you say.”
“Everyone, get ready to cheer on your favorite holiday trio. The first team to complete the final task wins! On your mark. Get set.” A loud bang sounded in the distance and Delilah kept her eyes peeled on the crest of the hill, watching for a flurry of motion.
“If he comes in last, I’m never letting him live it down,” Ryler said.
“Look!” Delilah pointed to a redhead on a blue sled zipping down the hill. She bumped Ryler with her hip. “I guess you can’t torment him now, huh?”
“Don’t think that doesn’t piss me off,” Ryler said with no real heat.
Holly came back with Declan and Sam in tow, asking, “How are they doing?”
“Pike just handed off the bag of goods to Nick, who has to put on skis.”
“Who came up with this idiocy?” Sam asked. A snowball caught him on the side of the head and he frowned at Ryler. “Did you just nail me with snowball, girl I don’t know?”
“Why would I hit a stranger with a snowball? That would be really odd.”
“Go Nick!” Delilah yelled.
Erica returned with a corn dog in one hand and a churro in the other, all smiles until Sam tried to take a bite.
“Hey now, get your own! You ain’t pretty enough to share my food with.”
Delilah was ready to scream at all of them to shut up as she watched Nick ski down the road, stopping every ten feet or so and picking something up. Someone in an orange parka was gaining on him.
“You can see them?” Erica asked.
“Barely,” Delilah said, pointing. “I’m watching between a couple trees.”
“Go, go, go!” Holly cheered, her voice fading as she squinted. “Wait, is that Anthony in an inflatable reindeer costume?”
“That had to be Pike’s idea,” Delilah said.
“I think it’s genius,” Ryler said, making Delilah grin. Ryler and Pike had been spending a lot of time together, always bickering and one upping each other. Maybe all that tension was turning into something more.
Delilah whooped when she saw Nick ski around the corner and hop up onto the lawn toward Anthony. Once Nick was within arm’s reach, Anthony grabbed the bag and took off running toward the pile of snow just before the finish line in the inflatable suit that was several inches too short on him. Another reindeer was bouncing up and down like a frog behind him and when they hit the snow-covered lawn of the park, they were neck and floppy neck. Anthony was close enough that she could see the flush of his cheeks as he rolled each ball of his snowman into position and started removing items from bags. The inflatable suit looked awkward, and by the sound of his curses it was making the situation more difficult.
Delilah recognized the second reindeer as Brodie when he skidded across the snow-covered ground. He started picking up the snowballs to set them one on top of the other, but they kept rolling off. Finally, he looked over at Anthony and seemed to realize he needed to pack snow around each section to keep them in place, because he followed Anthony’s lead. Brodie started gaining ground on Anthony and Delilah found herself jumping up and down anxiously.
“Come on, Anthony,” she whispered, right before he stood up with his hands in the air and yelled, “Finished.”
The last man hadn’t even made it to the snowman section yet when he heard Anthony, and he waddled off in a huff.
Delilah could hear Brodie bitching and hollering about how Anthony must have practiced the course and had an unfair advantage since he created it. Anthony said something about Brodie being a sore loser and Brodie stood up and stomped away, yelling over his shoulder, “I’ll see you on the ice.”
“I know! I set up the match!” Anthony called after him.
“Anthony!” Delilah called, and the rest of the people around her, even Sam who wasn’t exactly an enthusiastic guy, started cheering and hollering. Anthony spun their way in the blow-up costume and spotted them, waving back with a grin.
“I wonder how he pulled the short straw,” Sam asked.
Anthony jogged over to them, the material of the reindeer suit creating a high-pitched noise, and Delilah giggled when he wrapped his arm around her, burying her in the material until she felt Anthony underneath.
He released her and fiddled around with something inside the suit until the low hum of the fan stopped. The material deflated around him, creating a brown, wrinkled mess, and he turned around, giving her his back. “Could you get me out of this thing before Sam and Declan start slinging zingers my way?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, buddy,” Declan said, coughing to cover a laugh.
Delilah pulled down the zipper and held it open while he stepped out. He was wearing a blue thermal shirt and jeans, his hair damp and plastered in every direction. He looked like an adorable mess, and she reached up, waving him down so she could fix his dark hair.
Anthony obliged her, their noses nearly touching as she ran her fingers through his hair and tried to create some semblance of style.
“I’m going to be playing hockey in an hour, love. No sense in wasting your time when I’m going to just mess it up again.”
Delilah gave up with a sigh. “Fine, but the mussed hair is supposed to be for my eyes only when you first wake up.”
“This is different hair,” he said, pointing at his crown. “This is ‘I just got done running in an inflatable reindeer suit’ hair versus ‘waking up next to my beautiful woman’ hair.”
“My God, are they always like this?” Sam asked.
“Worse,” Holly joked.
“Gross,” he said, walking away from them without another word.
“See, if that had been you,” Holly said, addressing Declan, “I would have chased you down for being rude, but that is only because I love you and care about what other people think about you.”
“So, Sam can be an ass and get away with it, but I can’t because you love me?” Declan asked.
“Exactly.”
Declan shrugged. “Makes sense.”
“I’m going to hike my butt across the park and settle up with the redhead,” Ryler grumbled.
“Settle up?” Delilah called after her retreating back.
Ryler turned to face her, walking backward. “I may have bet against him and now I have to pay the piper.”
“I’ll see you when I get back,” Delilah said, and Ryler waved in response. Delilah glanced up at Anthony and caught him hiding a frown a second before he forced a smile. She knew that her leaving for the weekend made him nervous, but she was running out of time to figure things out. She had to go now.
“So, what did you think about the games?” Anthony asked.
“Strange but entertaining.”
“I’ll take it,” he said, kissing her. “I’m going to get changed for the hockey game.”
“Okay. There is a storm coming in, so if I have to leave early, I hope you kick ass.”
A shadow crossed Anthony’s face but he nodded. “Drive safe. I love you.” He pulled her in for a tight hug before kissing the top of her head and walking away.
Delilah’s chest tightened at his reaction. “I love you, too.”
Holly placed a hand on her arm, drawing her attention away from his retreating back.
“Do you really have to go to your parents’ tonight?” Holly asked. “I feel like you’re causing yourself more drama and stress by fighting the people who care about you instead of accepting help.”
“My parents care, too. I just want to talk to them before I make any decisions.”
Holly sighed. “Alright, but if you call me tomorrow and tell me you aren’t coming back from Boise, I’m going to kick your ass.”
Delilah hugged her. “I’m hoping to come up with a solution that makes everyone happy.”
“Good luck with that.”
Delilah glanced up at the sky, the darkening clouds making her nervous. “I should get on the road, but I don’t want to miss his game.”
Holly snorted. “It’s just a small-town hockey game, not the NHL Championship. He’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure—”
“I’m sure he’d rather you go down there and get back early than leave late and get stuck in some storm system, scaring the daylights out of all of us.” Holly gave her a gentle shove. “Be safe.”
“I will.”
Delilah crossed the snow-covered park to her car. Once she climbed into the driver’s seat, Delilah called her mom, letting her know that she was on her way. She wasn’t lying when she told Holly the entire point of this trip was so everyone could be happy.
She just hoped that this trip didn’t mean disappointing Anthony twice.