Chapter 16
Three Days Before Christmas
This was the first block party I hadn’t hated since I was roughly thirteen years old.
And it wasn’t just because Mr. Steiner was visiting his great-grandson out of town this year, or because Mrs. Pepper was too invested in the cream cheese puffs to harass me about my personal life.
Or because Mom had upped her appetizer game.
It was entirely due to Nick—and his overly pom-pommed, horribly ornate Christmas sweater that rained glitter everywhere he went and looked a little like he’d dug it out of the North Pole’s dumpster.
“Bro.” Axel stood arm-in-arm with Chloe by the punch bowl in the kitchen.
A chocolate fountain gurgled next a platter of pretzels, Ritz crackers, and fresh fruit for dipping.
Axel’s gaze darted briefly away from the food to sweep Nick’s frame.
“I’d make fun of your fit, but that chocolate is calling my name. ”
“I appreciate it.” Nick swiped at the front of his sweater, sending another sprinkle of fairy dust to the floor.
A middle-aged neighbor wearing a sweater dress and red heels walked right through it, appearing not to notice the new shine to her shoes.
“I’m actually afraid to reach my arm over the food. ”
“I got you, dude.” Axel swiped a plate and loaded it with snacks before Nick could protest. “Here you go.”
Nick looked down at me, then shrugged, accepted the plate, and popped a chocolate-dipped berry into his mouth. “Much better sans glitter.”
“You’re a hit, dear.” I patted his arm. I’d already introduced him to several of my parents’ neighbors, most of whom were not wearing ugly sweaters, and every one of whose eyes drifted down to take in the full effect of the glitter and pom-poms before reaching out to shake Nick’s hand.
Not a single question about my job or life back home. Who knew that’s all it took to get peace at a party? This was turning into the best Christmas ever.
“All I can say is you must be in love to wear that.” Chloe nibbled the edge of a cracker as she squinted at Nick. “Holly, why are you torturing your boyfriend?”
Boyfriend. Oh. My eyes darted to Nick’s before landing on the cheese spread. Definitely wasn’t used to that term yet, even though that was the entire point of Operation: Jack & Sally. I cleared my throat. “He can make his own choices.”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Uh-huh.”
“Hey, I got rid of that T-shirt you didn’t like. Remember, that night at the frat party?” Axel pointed at Chloe, crumbs dotting his chin. “You said it gave you the ick, so I burned it.”
“I remember.” Chloe patted his arm. “I also remember the fire department coming.”
“I was trying to make a gesture.” Axel pouted.
“You did, babe. You did.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. Axel lit up like he’d won a prize.
“Who says I’m doing this for Holly? Maybe I just like it.” Nick snagged a napkin from the edge of the table. Glitter immediately followed. “Oops.”
Chloe released a huff. “Come on. Your usual wardrobe is really hot—I mean, nice.” She mouthed the word sorry at me.
I shrugged. Hard to be offended when I agreed.
“I guess we’ll let the judges decide what’s hot and what’s not.” Nick winked at her and Chloe giggled.
Now I glared at her.
“Come on, let’s go.” She made a face at me, then tugged at Axel’s arm. “You haven’t gotten one of Dad’s sausage balls yet.”
“I’m on it.” Axel grabbed a fresh fork and eagerly followed her.
“Not wearing it for me, huh?” I tossed a knowing glance at Nick. “So you just like contests?”
He grinned. “It’s fun to mess with them—and way too easy.” He brushed at the front of his jeans. “I would say this sweater is growing on me, but I think I’m becoming a health hazard. How is your glitter staying on so well?”
I patted the hideous felt cat on the front of my shirt. “Confidence.”
Nick choked back a laugh. “I must have missed that in the box of craft supplies.”
“Was 50percent off at Hobby Lobby.” Our gazes met and held, amusement dancing in Nick’s eyes. He was being such a good sport about this—about all of this.
Was he actually enjoying himself? Operation: Naughty List might have been a bust, but Operation: Jack & Sally seemed to be going great.
Which was a little scary if I thought about it too long.
I popped a cheese and cracker combo in my mouth. Our conversation yesterday before Mom interrupted was also a little scary in hindsight. There was so much more to Nick than I’d first realized.
And fake-dating him was starting to create a bit of an ache in my chest that I realized was not going to be assuaged by fancy cheeses.
I stepped out of the way of old Mr. McIntosh gunning for a cluster of grapes and nabbed another cracker for myself.
If I wasn’t this close to the finish line, I’d consider calling off Operation: Jack & Sally and just let Piper be right.
(Why was she always right?) But Christmas was just a few days away, and we couldn’t stop now.
The truth would be more than awkward, especially since my family seemed to like Nick so much.
I’d probably end up with more pity than I would have otherwise.
And Ryan…besides giving us a few funny looks during karaoke, he’d not had much reaction to the whole ploy yet.
I frowned. We needed to up the ante, get a rise out of him.
Make all this torture worth it.
“Has Ryan said anything to you about us?” I dipped a berry into the chocolate fountain.
“Not really.” Nick followed suit, drizzling his strawberry with more finesse than I did. “But we haven’t had much time alone, especially with Axel bunking with me. I think Ryan avoids the media room at all costs.”
Ha. “We’ll have to do something about that.” I stepped closer to Nick and lowered my voice, even though Mr. McIntosh seemed completely focused on his grapes. “Maybe we should be more affectionate tonight during the party. Really up the love fern vibes.”
Did Nick’s face get paler? I started to backpedal. Then—
“Whatever you say, dear.” Nick looped one arm around my waist, and thankfully, it didn’t feel like being hugged by Treebeard this time.
“You’re so agreeable, honey.” I smiled up at him, then spotted Ryan in my peripheral. Perfect timing. “Quick, say something funny.”
“I’m not your show pony.”
I laughed for real. “Nice.”
“About the whole agreeable thing.” Nick grinned down at me. For the operation’s sake—or genuinely? “I kind of feel like if we really dated, we’d never fight.”
I smirked, watching out of the corner of my eye as Ryan’s gaze locked on us. I pressed closer against Nick’s side and batted my eyes a little. “Or we’d fight all the time.”
“You’re starting a fight with me right now over whether or not we’d ever fight?” Nick pressed his free hand to his chest. “I’m wounded.”
“Love is a battlefield.”
“Now that song makes for good karaoke. We need a redo.” Nick squeezed my shoulders, then let go and moved back toward the food.
I immediately missed the warmth. A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed Ryan was gone. Oh, right.
Olivia pushed through the mingling crowd, a frown creasing her forehead and creating a stark contrast to the bouncy rendition of “Feliz Navidad” playing over the sound system.
Dad had rigged it up with Ryan’s help that morning, which went about as well as the karaoke machine and the heater had at first. “Has anyone seen Mom?”
“Maybe half an hour ago? She was replenishing the chips out on the patio.” Every year my parents rented standing space heaters for the back porch so the party could spill outside as needed.
“I told her to let me know what needed to be done so she could relax, especially after all that baking yesterday.” Olivia shoved back her hair—long and loose tonight, which was her version of dressing up—before reaching for a sugar cookie. “She’s impossible.”
“Should I say something about apples and trees? Or let that one go?” I asked.
Olivia glared at me. “Very funny. Also, if I were a fruit, I would not be an apple. I’m obviously something much more exotic. Like a mango.”
I adamantly shook my head. “You do not have mango vibes.”
“You sound like Chloe.” Olivia sighed. “Look, if you see Mom, tell her to stop working and let me handle things, okay? And if you see my children, tell them their cookie quota is met and for the love of dental insurance, please hit up the celery dip.”
“Aye, aye.” I saluted.
Olivia snagged one more Santa-shaped cookie. “What?” She bit into the cookie and mumbled around it. “I’m an adult.” Then she hurried off before I could respond.
“Someone should probably tell her Janie and Mason are hiding under the dining room table with the platter of brownies.” Kat strolled up next, slight bags under her eyes. She pushed up the sleeves of her baggy sweater before reaching for the fruit. “Someone that’s not me.”
“Do you have a headache again?” I tilted my head as I studied my sister. Something definitely seemed off—she must not be sleeping well.
“No.” With a scowl, she chomped into a strawberry. Chocolate smeared across her face. “Why?”
“You look a little tired.” I handed her a napkin.
She snatched it from me and dabbed at her chin. “Well, you would too if you were staying up late every night to maybe get five minutes of bad-connection FaceTime with your deployed husband.” Tears welled in her eyes and she tossed the used napkin at me. “Enjoy your American freedom.”
“Whoa.” The napkin ricocheted off my sweater. I held up both hands in defense, but she’d already slipped into the crowd. I looked up at Nick. “Was that weird?”
Nick winced. “Very. She must miss—what’s his name? Devin?”
I nodded. “Kat isn’t usually the mushy type. She’s a great military wife—strong, independent. Gets things done. They’ve done the long-distance thing for so long now I forget it takes a toll.”
“I guess everyone has their breaking point, especially around the holidays.” Nick grimaced. “We should know, huh?”