Chapter 15
I walk through the Christmas Market with a pep in my step after I spot Mallory standing encircled by a full entourage of people.
It’s a cold night with the bitter chill of winter in the air, but I don’t notice.
Just spotting Mallory across the crowd sends heat rushing to my cheeks, warding off the cold.
She’s in her signature pink plaid coat—the same one she wore on our first date.
Memories fill my mind of her wearing it, of kissing her in it.
She’s also wearing black pants tucked into the same ankle boots she wore for our photoshoot.
But it’s the smile on her face that has me blushing—a genuine one that I haven’t seen since our first date all those years ago.
This one is aimed at her friends, but my romantic heart doesn’t seem to know the difference.
I hold two fingers up in a small wave as I approach them, and her smile falls.
Her reactions have me feeling more whiplash than a wooden rollercoaster.
I mean, sometimes it looks like she wants to kiss me, and other times it looks like she’s plotting my demise.
Okay, not really, but I can feel her apprehension.
I still need to get to the bottom of why.
“These are my besties.” Mallory gestures to the women beside her.
“I think I know them from your descriptions.”
“From three years ago?” The look on her face says she doesn’t believe me. “By all means.”
The first woman is a tall blonde. She’s wearing one of the fancy coats I’ve seen some actresses in, and her hair is curled and up in little buns with some type of silk wrapped around them. “You’re Alyssa, the hairdresser.”
She taps her nose. “Spot on, movie star.”
I turn to the second woman, who is glaring at me with her arms crossed. She looks small but mighty, just like Mallory. Her caramel-brown hair is pulled back in a ponytail. “You’re definitely Kelsey.” I nod to the tall, muscular man standing behind her. “Which makes you Tyler.”
“And you must be Shayna.” I smile at the woman with dark hair and a knotted headband covered in pearls.
She’s wearing a coat covered in a floral pattern in vibrant shades of pink, green, and blue.
It doesn’t read winter, but I think that’s the point.
Mallory always described her as the bright, positive friend.
If my memory serves correctly, she works at a flower shop, so it’s fitting.
“What about her?” Kelsey points to the girl next to Shayna. She’s about as tall as Alyssa, but she has dark hair and facial features similar to Tyler’s.
“I’d guess she has some relation to Tyler, but unfortunately, I don’t know your name.”
“Tess.” She steps forward, extending her hand.
I give it a firm shake. “Nice to meet you, Tess.”
A little girl jumps out from behind her. “I’m Evie! I love Christmas.”
“It’s lovely to meet you, Evie.” I shake her hand too, making her giggle. “I love Christmas too.”
“My mom needs a new husband. Are you single?”
I choke on nothing but air.
“He’s dating Ms. Mallory.” Tess kneels to be on her daughter’s level. “And honey, you can’t just walk around telling people I need a new husband and asking if they’re single.”
“Why not?” Her little nose scrunches. “How else will you find me a new daddy?”
Tess blows out a breath and stands to her full height. “Okay, on that note, we’re going to go find a snack. Nice to meet you, Griffin.” She shoots me a hurried smile before leading her away from the group.
Mallory tugs my arm, pulling me down to whisper in my ear. “Maybe she’s a better bet for your fake girlfriend. I mean, a girlfriend and an adorable daughter who loves Christmas? Everyone would adore y’all.”
“There’s just one glaring issue with that idea.” I pull back to look into her brown eyes, pools of silky chocolate that I could bask in forever. “She’s not you.”
Her shoulders rise and fall like she’s letting out a heavy sigh, although I don’t hear one. Is there such a thing as an internal sigh? If so, then she’s probably internally rolling her eyes too.
When will she understand that there’s no one I want but her?
“Who’s up for a round of hot chocolates?” I ask, addressing her friend group. “It’s on me.”
All the girls’ eyes move to Mallory, then back to me.
“You know Mallory doesn’t drink hot chocolate anymore, right?” Kelsey steps closer, looping her arm through Mallory’s.
I look at my fake girlfriend as she elbows Kelsey in the side, and I wonder what else could have changed in the last few years. “I thought you loved it.”
“I used to.” Mallory won’t meet my gaze. It looks like she’s having a silent conversation with her friend, one I wish I were privy to.
I lower my voice, not wanting to draw attention to her discomfort. “Is it because of me?”
Kelsey answers on Mallory’s behalf. “What do you think?”
She walks back to her friend group, and Mallory shifts on her feet. I feel awful. I never meant to be the reason she stopped drinking hot chocolate. Or the cause of her pain when she never got my call.
I wish I could go back in time and zip the napkin with her phone number up in my pocket, safe from harm. But this is the hand we were dealt.
On a more positive note, if Mallory felt strongly enough about me to forgo one of her favorite things, then that means she may have felt as strongly for me as I did for her. And if she felt it once, then maybe she’ll get that feeling back. Because a once-in-a-lifetime love doesn’t just disappear.
“There’s always a first step to falling in love all over again,” I whisper.
Mallory finally looks at me. Her eyes are riddled with confusion and a dose of hurt rather than the fire I expect. Hurt, I can work with, even though it kills me to see her wounded.
“Are you still talking about the hot chocolate?”
“I’m talking about whatever you want me to be talking about.” My voice is husky, a mix of sadness and desire.
She rolls her eyes. “Is that a line from one of your movies?”
“That was a Griffin original.”
Mallory glances around me at her friends. “You should buy everyone hot chocolate. I can get something else.”
“Or you can take a chance again.” I wrap my gloved hands around hers. “You don’t know what you could be missing out on until you try.”
She pulls her hands back and shoves them in her pockets. “I don’t think I’m ready for that quite yet.”
“I’m here whenever you are.” I hope she catches my double entendre.
“Drinks are on Griffin,” Mallory calls to her friends. They smile but eye her warily. I’m glad Mallory has such caring and fierce friends, even if their apprehension is because of me at the moment.
I let everyone order their drinks ahead of me and Mallory. Once we finally reach the register, Mallory fidgets on her feet. “I’ll take a vanilla cappuccino.”
“Make it two, please,” I say before lowering my voice and adding, “And two additional hot chocolates.” After passing over my card to pay for the group, I move to the pickup area beside Mallory.
“You’re not going to have hot chocolate?”
“I’m waiting.”
“For what?” She laughs.
If she’s going to ask, I’m going to give her the truth. “Whatever day you decide to drink it again.”
Mallory raises a brow. “Why?”
“Because you…you are—” I look at the ground, shuffling my feet along the pavement. I can’t tell her she’s everything to me. Not yet. I force myself to meet her gaze. “I’d never want to do anything that might cause you pain.”
“It’s just hot chocolate.”
“If it’s just hot chocolate, then why don’t you take a sip?”
Her eyes soften as she shrugs. “You didn’t buy me one.”
I shake my head. “I’ll get you to drink it again one day.”
“Griffin,” the woman behind the counter of the drink cart calls.
I pass out the cups of hot chocolate to her friends before handing one cappuccino to Mallory and taking the other for myself.
“Who are the extra drinks for?” Mallory gestures to the drink carrier in my other hand.
Tess and Evie rejoin us with sugar cookies in hand.
“We couldn’t leave out Tess and Evie.”
I hand the carrier over to Tess, who shoots me a grateful smile. “That was thoughtful. Thank you.”
“Are you trying to buy my friends?” Mallory takes a sip of her cappuccino.
“It’s not about the money spent, but investing my time with the people you love most.” She may not let me in, but maybe the people she loves will know of a secret door and be willing to help once they see my true intentions.
She huffs. “Well, that’s sweet. How am I supposed to be sassy now?”
“You could just talk about how amazing I am.”
“There’s that confidence again.” Mallory taps my chest.
“You never seemed to have an issue with my confidence before.” I step closer, placing my mouth beside her ear. “If I’m remembering correctly, you also told me my face was pretty.”
She flushes a deep pink that matches her coat. “Really? I think I meant insufferable.”
I wrap my arm around her lower back and pull back enough to look at her. “Good thing I have time to change your mind.”
“Don’t you remember that I’m stubborn?”
I smile. “It’s one of the things I like most about you.”
Mallory shakes her head. “What am I going to do with you, Griff?”
Hearing her use my preferred nickname has me feeling a thrill of hope. “Oh, I don’t know. Keep me forever?”
She shoves me away with a light push to my stomach, and I’m not ashamed to admit I flex my ab muscles. A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.
Mallory pulls her hand back, her blush more prominent.
We move closer to her friends when I spot a group of carolers in front of the giant Christmas tree in the middle of the square. “We should join them.” I point toward the tree.
“Is that even allowed?”
“I don’t think there are any caroling laws.” I shrug. “It would be like Christmas Cheer Police.”
Shayna laughs. “Can you imagine if there were Christmas Cheer Police? Talk about unholiday spirit.”
“Right?” I point at Shayna. “See, she gets it.”
“You’re not helping,” Mallory grumbles at her friend.
“Sorry.” Shayna grimaces and mimes locking her lips and throwing away the key.