Chapter 8
EVERETT
“Here, you’ll need these.”
The reindeer antlers Ginny thrust at me make sense the moment we cross the threshold of the Come Again bar.
My antlers and her Santa hat seem to be the bare minimum expected inside.
I’ve never been to an ugly Christmas sweater party before, but I’ve heard of them and it seems Sapphire Falls took the concept and said hold my beer.
The majority of the people inside have on sweaters and oh yes, they’re obnoxious—like the one that says Hung With Care and has a stocking at the bottom hanging over the man’s fly—but there are also hats, pants, dresses, and even ugly Christmas overalls.
“I…” I’m not sure what to say.
“I know,” Ginny assures me, grabbing my sleeve and dragging me further into the bar.
“Wow, is the whole town here?” I asked.
Somehow, Ginny hears me over the noise. “A lot of people are going to be leaving. They’re just here to pick up pizzas.”
“All of them?” It’s hard to move without bumping into someone in here.
She stops next to a tall table and waves at someone I can’t locate in the crowd.
She turns to me and explains. “The Come Again does amazing pizza, and a few years ago, when they started doing this community-wide Christmas camp thing for the kids, they started doing pizza specials so that people could just pick up dinner on their way home. You have to order ahead of time, but then everyone crams in here and picks them all up at once.”
She looks around, and I follow her gaze. People aren’t just chatting. They’re also hugging, exchanging gift bags, cookie trays, and envelopes that I assume contain holiday cards.
“It also functions as a great chance to see people one last time before Christmas Eve.” She smiles affectionately at the chaotic scene. “It’s crazy and awesome. Like a lot of things in this town.”
“But we’re not here for pizza, right?” I’m entirely too full from the pot roast and vegetables Adrianne made for dinner to even consider anything else.
She reaches up and flicks the jingle bell at the end of one of my antlers. “Nope. We’re here for trivia.”
“Trivia?”
“Christmas trivia. And my team has a championship to defend.”
“I see.” None of this seems out of character for the town or Ginny, and I’m not even sure why.
“Don’t worry. You can just sit and watch. That is a great way to get a feel for the town.”
I give her an offended look. “Are you insinuating that you don’t think I would be good at Christmas trivia?”
She narrows her eyes as she studies me. “Yes, Everett, that’s exactly what I’m insinuating.”
“You’ll wish I were on your team.”
She moves in a little closer. “Are you insinuating that you are good at Christmas trivia?”
“Let’s find out.”
“You heard the part about how I have a championship to defend, right? If you cost me the crown—and yes, there is a crown—I may not forgive you. Which would result in me eating all the roasted potatoes before you get any next time you’re here.”
Oh, she noticed how much I like her mom’s roasted potatoes, huh? I like that she’s paying attention to me.
I nod and flick the jingle bell at the end of her Santa hat. “Noted.”
Before she can say anything else, we are surrounded by people who are all talking at once. Somehow, Ginny seems able to follow all the conversations without missing a detail.
I find myself settling in with an elbow on the table and simply watching. I swear I could sit back and watch Harriet Ginger Riley do absolutely anything and be perfectly happy.
And completely turned on.
Her smile, her laugh, the way she teases and makes everyone smile around her, her quick wit, and the way she throws herself even into Christmas trivia make me achingly hard.
“Well, I’m so sorry for all of your losses, but we’ve got the brilliant, gorgeous librarian on our team this year,” David Bennett says, coming up behind Mia and wrapping his arms around her.
Ginny laughs. “Oh, I don’t think so.” She reaches out and takes Mia’s hand, pulling her closer to Ginny. “The same teams as last year.”
David doesn’t let go of Mia, and this results in a tug-of-war over the woman who simply laughs and blushes.
“I think I have techniques to talk her into being on my team that you don’t have, Ginny. And I’m not too proud to use them,” David says.
Ginny looks directly at Mia. “The Bennett boys are their own team. No defecting over dick.”
Mia snorts. Then she looks over her shoulder at David. “I don’t make the rules, I just follow them. You’re really into rules, right?”
David gives a growl, then puts his mouth against her ear. No one can hear what he says to her, but her cheeks turn bright red.
“I can do that,” she says.
“If he’s telling you ways for you make it up to him later, I don’t wanna hear it,” Harlow says, squeezing in next to us. Then she grins at her sister. “Just kidding. I totally wanna hear all of it.”
Jefferson is right behind Harlow, of course. “Be good, or she’ll want to hear all the ways I get you to do what I want.”
Harlow laughs. “First, you never get me to do what you want unless I want to anyway.”
Jefferson just rolls his eyes but doesn’t deny the truth of the statement.
“And two, what makes you think I don’t brag about how amazing you are in bed all the time?” Harlow asks, pressing against Jefferson and beaming up at him.
His hands go to her ass, and he squeezes. “Does that mean you want to be on my team too?”
She laughs and wiggles out of his embrace. “No way. I’m with Ginny, as always!”
“So it’s not Bennett siblings against Hansen siblings against Riley siblings?” I ask, partly to prove I remember everyone’s name and connections, and partly because I can’t help but be pulled into how this group of friends—and now lovers in some cases—interacts.
“Holy shit,” Harlow says. “None of us are stupid enough to make the Riley siblings one team. Who wants to go up against a team of geniuses in trivia?” Then she grins up at Jefferson. “Well, three geniuses and one really cute football player.”
Jefferson finds a ticklish spot along Harlow’s side, and she shrieks.
“You wanna wrestle, Lily?” Jefferson asks his girlfriend. “My team would win that one for sure.”
She studies him. “You sure? Wrestling could be fun. And distracting.”
Jefferson leans in. “Now that you mention it…”
“God, get a room,” a voice says.
“You don’t even need a room. Go out to the truck. It’s not like you haven’t done that before.”
Everyone laughs as two more men join us.
Ginny introduces us. “Everett, this are Jack and Charlie, David’s brothers.”
“Hey, Everett, want to join the men’s team?” Charlie asks.
“Uh…” I look at Ginny.
“No way. He’s with us,” she says, looping her arm through mine.
“He’s Graham’s business partner,” David says.
“No way do you get to add a genius to your team just because he’s a guest,” Charlie argues. “Guys against the girls.”
“Maybe Everett is an evolved human who doesn’t make decisions based on restrictive societal definitions of gender roles,” Ginny says.
David looks at Mia. “You’re gonna have to explain all of those big words to me later.”
She laughs and lifts on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. “You’re so cute.”
“Who says Everett is a genius anyway?” Harlow asks. She gives me a wink. “It’s not like that’s contagious or something. Look at Jefferson.”
“That’s it.” Jefferson bends, lifts Harlow over his shoulder, and says, “We’ll be back in a minute.” Then he turns and carries his giggling girlfriend out of the bar.
No one even blinks.
Graham and Margot step aside as Jefferson and Harlow pass, then Graham says, “Hey, if Everett gets to be on the girls' team, I do too.”
“No way are we losing our main brainiac to the girls' team,” David says.
“Plus, we have way better snacks!” Charlie says. “The girls don’t order all the stuff.”
“That’s true,” Graham says, rethinking his statement.
“You just had dinner,” I remind him.
“Oh, I saved room,” he assures me. “I knew we were coming down here, and you can’t play Christmas trivia without an order of reindeer balls and snowman snot.”
“What…”
“Meatballs and spinach dip,” Ginny says with a grin. “They changed the name on the shots tonight, too.”
“Shots? Like liquor shots?” I ask.
“Of course. They make the karaoke way more fun,” she says.
“Karaoke—” I start.
“Of course there’s karaoke,” she says. “Christmas karaoke.”
“The Santa shots have peppermint schnapps in them,” Charlie says. “They’re awesome.”
“The Jingle Bell is the best,” Margot says. “It’s like spiked hot chocolate.”
“My favorite is the Slide Down My Chimney,” Ginny tells me. “Cinnamon Apple. But there are lots of options.”
Her cheeks are flushed, and her eyes are sparkling, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her look more gorgeous.
Except, of course, around the table with her family at Thanksgiving.
And coming apart in my bed in Denver. She was gorgeous even when she was chewing my ass outside her mom’s house when she realized who I was.
“I’m in. On all of it,” I tell her.
I can tell by the flicker of emotion in her eyes that she realizes I don’t mean just Christmas karaoke and Santa shots.
She wets her lips, but then says, “Just so you know, Harlow and I have an entire dance routine to our karaoke of Santa Baby. You’ll never beat us.”
“That’s a competition too?”
She scoffs. “Of course.”
“Well, I can’t wait to see it,” I tell her. “But be prepared,” I add. “My version of Jingle Bell Rock will bring a tear to your eye.”
Her grin is wide and bright.
Graham chuckles. “It really is that bad.”
Everyone laughs, and then the men claim the table next to ours, scraping stools over to it, calling out orders to Jack who is on his way to the bar, and arranging themselves with Graham on one side of me, and David on the other.
Yes, somehow in the mayhem, I end up seated at the guys’ table, eating reindeer balls, taking three Santa shots, and losing Christmas trivia to Ginny’s team by only one question—which I botch on purpose because no one takes Ginny’s crown away on my watch.