Chapter 20 A Holly Jolly Showdown
A HOLLY JOLLY SHOWDOWN
DECLAN
Claire tugged my hand, dragging me toward the town square. I groaned, dragging my feet in the snow to slow her down.
“Do we have to go to this?” I asked, seriously debating bolting in the opposite direction.
If I ran fast enough, there was no way she could catch me.
She stopped abruptly and whipped around to face me, her hair fanning out around her. Her lips were in a thin line and her eyes were pinned on me.
“Yes, we have to go to this,” she snapped.
I’d never really seen Claire frustrated, and I couldn't pretend she wasn’t a little terrifying.
“But what if we just watched instead of participating.” Apparently I had a death wish today and fully wanted to poke the bear with my stupid comments.
Claire just arched her brow, keeping her mouth shut. She crossed her arms and tilted her chin up in defiance.
“I’m not going to lose to them. You can go home if you’re so scared.” With that, she turned back toward town and kept walking, leaving me behind.
“Okay, okay,” I called after her, jogging to catch up—she was fast for a little thing. “I’ll come, but I won’t be happy about it.”
The triumphant smile she offered me told me that she knew she’d win.
The annual caroling competition was one of the activities I always sat out on. I wasn’t one who liked attention and my singing voice left something to be desired. I thought that this would be another year that I avoided the activity like the plague, but Claire had other plans.
Last night at dinner, Sarah and Tom casually mentioned that they were going to be competing. Claire didn’t even flinch until Sarah added a comment about me never wanting to participate. The second she swooned over Tom letting her have fun, I saw the competitive shift in Claire’s eyes.
Sarah was making those comments on purpose, I just didn’t know why. She never wanted to join the caroling competition either. We both thought it was stupid. Now, she suddenly had always wanted to join?
Yeah, right.
Either way, Claire was now determined to win this and I was along for the ride, apparently.
As we approached the center of town, there was a crowd gathered around a makeshift stage set up at the top of the square. The platform was only about a foot off of the ground and had a few microphones set up along the front side.
“Do you even know what we’re going to sing?” I asked in a whispered tone so only she could hear me.
She beamed at me. “I absolutely do.”
“Care to share with the class? Need I remind you that I know approximately zero Christmas songs by heart?”
She rolled her eyes. “There’s a screen with the words and you literally only have to remember one word.”
She was right, there were two monitors set up in front of the stage that displayed the lyrics. The whole thing felt more like karaoke than caroling.
I was about to ask Claire what our song was when Sarah and Tom walked up to us. Sarah had a smug smile on her face as her eyes trailed my body.
“So glad you decided to join us,” she said, not bothering to look at Claire.
“Yeah, well, what my Claire Bear wants, she gets.” I made a show of grabbing Claire's waist and planting a kiss on her cheek.
Sarah’s smile fell as she scoffed. “There’s no way you’re going up there.”
“I am. We practiced and everything.” I lied.
The murderous look on her face spoke volumes. She wanted me to upset Claire by refusing to participate. She wanted to look like she was in a new loving relationship because I couldn’t support her.
Too bad I saw through the little games she played.
“Well, good luck,” Tom said nervously as Sarah started vibrating from anger.
The moment they were out of sight, Claire let out a breath. “I don’t know why she hates me, but we have to win.”
I hated to admit it, but she was right. As much as I hated everything about this, we had to show them up.
Apparently, people took this very seriously.
I assumed it would be fun and silly, but I was mistaken.
Team after team went onto the stage and performed famous holiday songs like they were nominated for the Grammys. I didn’t want to do this, but seeing the excitement on Claire’s face as she sang along made my icy demeanor melt just a little.
Her energy was infectious, as much as I didn’t want it to be. Things that I normally found pointless, she made fun.
That being said, I was fucking nervous. Claire told me what song we were singing and went over the lyrics with me. I only had one word to remember, but it had to be perfectly timed or it would make me look like an idiot.
If we were going to do this, we were going to do it right.
Sarah and Tom were called onto the stage just as the music for “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” started.
Claire let out an audible scoff as she muttered, “how predictable.”
I barked out a laugh and pulled her into my side. “I like this competitive side of you. It’s kind of scary.”
She frowned as she met my eyes. “I like to win.”
“I got that, Bear.” I kissed the top of her head as a curdling scream-like sound came from the stage.
We both snapped our heads in that direction only to find that the sound was coming from Sarah herself as she attempted to sing her part of the song.
Claire’s hand flew to her mouth as she held in her laugh.
“Play it cool,” I said, failing to hide a cackle.
Sarah continued to screech with confidence, absolutely capturing the audience’s full attention.
She either didn’t know she was terrible, or was confident enough that she didn’t care.
But, the fact that she was up there sounding like she was summoning a demon to possess our souls was impressive on its own.
“Can you sing?” I asked Claire, hoping that we sounded better than they did.
She shrugged as her eyes fell to the ground. “I can carry a tune.”
I let out a sigh of relief as Sarah and Tim’s song came to a close. The audience clapped, but there was a stunned silence that was impossible not to notice.
Satisfied with herself, Sarah placed her microphone back on its stand and marched off of the stage.
The screen lit up with the next couple in line, and unfortunately, it was us.
Claire grabbed my elbow so I couldn’t run away and started tugging me toward the small stage.
As the starting notes of the song filtered through the speakers, Claire picked up a microphone. She had a determined look on her face as her eyes locked with mine. With a subtle nod, she gestured toward the screen.
This was it.
My big moment.
Right on cue, I sang the opening line of “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”...which was just “Christmas.”
I hadn’t even gotten the word out fully when Claire started singing the chorus of the song. My jaw dropped, and the crowd went still.
Claire could fucking sing.
Carry a tune, my ass.
She sounded angelic, hypnotizing.
I was so distracted, I almost missed my cue for my second “Christmas”—which was in fact the only word I had to sing since Claire completely carried the rest of the song.
For the next two and a half minutes, Claire belted to the crowd. Every single person’s eyes were glued to her and unable to move away. Claire had that effect on people normally, but right now it was like a super power.
I was enamored by her. The more I got to know her on this trip, the more I realized that I hadn’t ever taken the time over the past three years to really see her. She was fun, and funny, and full of life—even if she would completely deny it.
We started a physical relationship to satisfy an itch we were both feeling, but what if it wasn’t just that?
What if it was more?
I shook the thought away, pushing it down and locking it in the box where I kept the rest of my emotions. This was a professional trip, and what Claire and I had was a professional arrangement. Nothing else was on the table—especially not feelings.
When the music faded out, the crowd erupted into a cheer that was deafening. I scooped Claire into my arms and lifted her into the air with a shout. She let out a gasp that quickly morphed into a giggle as we spun around.
“You’re amazing,” I whispered before kissing her, right there in front of the entire company.
“I told you I could carry a tune,” she whispered back against my lips.
When we separated, we caught a glimpse of Sarah storming away and Tom chasing after her.
I’d never seen Claire look so satisfied in the entire time I’d known her.
Claire and I won the caroling competition, to no one’s surprise. When they handed us the bedazzled, golden candy cane trophy, Claire raised it like she had just won the Super Bowl.
I realized then, I’d do anything to keep that wide smile on Claire’s face. When we showed up here, she was tense and afraid to let loose. I was almost positive she only took the gummy bear from me to prove a point. But now? She was completely different.
And I really liked this version of her.