Chapter 12 Hot Chocolate Confessions
Hot Chocolate Confessions
“Ihave a confession.” I set the steaming mug of hot chocolate on the table, careful not to tip the cup over. The huge mittens and Holiday Brights coat Sam gave me were warm but bulky.
We’d spent the last hour skating in circles, tripping and falling at first, then gradually making progress until we could stay upright. Mostly. We’d laughed and talked, and his hands had never left my body until we sat down to enjoy some warm drinks at one of the nearby tables.
Sam looked at me expectantly, cheeks rosy from the cold, dark hair dusted in snowflakes. He was so beautiful to look at, so incredibly handsome. But it was the way he was looking at me that made me hum inside, made my bones vibrate, made my tummy flip, and my heart flutter.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“I don’t like hot chocolate.” I pressed my lips together as he visibly relaxed. “I try. I mean, I really try. But unless it has some booze in it, it’s too rich for me.”
His head tipped back as he laughed. “I knew I should have brought the Bailey’s.”
I flashed a smile. “Next time.”
His gaze softened, warmed, then heated to something as blazing as the fire behind me. “I like that idea.”
When the silence stretched between us, wrung tight with tension, I looked away and examined the adorable space, now aglow with bulb lights now that the sun had fully set. “This is a great idea, by the way. When does it open?”
“Tomorrow is the soft opening. We’re not charging to skate, but we’re hoping not to be overrun on the first night as we figure out skate rentals and concession stands.”
“You’re not charging for any of it?” I couldn’t believe it. It was the stuff winter dreams were made of. The people of Mistletoe and the surrounding small towns were going to love it.
“For concessions, yes, but not for the skating portion.” He shrugged like it was an obvious choice.
“Don’t look at me like that. It’s purely business.
Earlier this year, we bought this land. I’ll eventually build my shops out here, and one day soon, soon-ish, I plan to add a nursery.
I want people to be used to the drive. I want it all to feel like an obvious choice. ”
“You’re basically Santa at this point, you know that?”
His lips quirked in an embarrassed smile. “If Santa were driven by profits.”
Gosh, maybe what he was saying was the opposite of cute, but he was so adorable about it. “So you’re doing okay? Sam Autry has really made something of himself?”
He shrugged. “Couldn’t have done it without help, although please never tell that to Cooper.” His mouth pulled into an affectionate smile for his best friend. “But yeah, business is good. It helps that Mistletoe was in desperate need of a facelift.”
“Now that is the truth.” I leaned forward, letting him see how much I meant it when I said, “I’m really impressed. I left town because I didn’t think there was any reason to stay. I didn’t think there was a future here for any of us. And you’ve proved me wrong.”
“Not an easy thing to do,” he said kindly.
I rolled my eyes. “A very easy thing to do. Look at me now—crawling back to town with my tail between my legs, begging for work and housing. I proved me wrong too.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself. You didn’t crawl back here. You came willingly to a position that needed you.”
“Not exactly willingly. Let’s not give me too much credit. But I just . . . I needed a reset. Teagan was a sanctuary in my self-made storm.”
“What happened?” His tone held that same tenderness I was beginning to associate with him. It was somehow safe and soft, a gentle place to land. Such a contrast from his rough, outdoorsy exterior.
The sigh that wheezed out of me was soul-deep and wrapped in heartache.
“I was with someone for two years.” His jaw clenched, but he nodded along.
He’d known. “Hudson and I started dating shortly after I moved to Denver after school. I think I was looking for a place to belong, and at the time he was fun and new and . . . he hated my mom.”
Sam’s mouth pressed into a hard line. “I can see how that would be appealing.”
“But he found a job that moved him to Nashville. And we’d been dating for two years, so it felt reasonable for me to go with him.
Looking back, I’m not sure if he ever actually invited me or if I just assumed that if he made a life-altering decision that it would of course include me.
And he never asked me not to come, so . . .”
Anyway, I quit my job—a job that I absolutely loved—and I let my apartment know I wouldn’t be re-upping my lease.
I started looking for teaching jobs near and around Nashville, and then .
. . then we fell apart.” I let out a long sigh.
“In hindsight, we’d been falling apart. We’d stopped having anything in common after we got past hating my mom.
He was a nice, decent guy. We just weren’t right for each other.
” I pulled my coat tighter around my middle, a shiver sliding down my spine.
“When I didn’t find a job, we decided he’d go on without me, and I’d wrap up things in Denver, then follow later.
It was an excuse for both of us. It took about one week of being apart for us to realize we were over.
Well, for him to realize we were over. But honestly, I’m glad I found out before I moved rather than having to find out after picking up my life and moving across the country.
I just wish I would have figured it out before I quit my job and gave up my amazing rent-controlled apartment.
My apartment let me extend my lease for a couple of months because they were doing renovations on my side of the building and didn’t think they’d be able to get anyone until they were done.
But in that time, I realized I’d never really put down roots in Denver.
Because I’d found Hudson so early, I didn’t have any close friends.
I’d quit my teaching job and lost those contacts over the summer when I was busy helping Hudson move.
There just wasn’t anything keeping me there anymore.
When Teagan told me about the long-term sub job, I jumped on it.
I didn’t have anything else to do. Why not?
” I held my mittened hands against my face. “Why not Mistletoe?”
“Hudson’s an idiot.” Sam’s tone did not invite argument.
I laughed. “No, he’s really not. We just . . . we were better at being friends, maybe? Or maybe better at being acquaintances? We just weren’t meant to be.”
“Fuck that. He’s an idiot. I would never have left you behind. I had a hard enough time being left behind by you.”
I shot him a disbelieving look. “Come on, I’m not—”
“You think I didn’t want to jump in the car every time Cooper got to visit you? You think I didn’t try to reach out to you a hundred different times after that kiss? I pined for you, Holly. Pined.”
My cheeks were flaming hot now. The cold temps could not touch this level of flush.
But he wasn’t finished. “Teagan made me understand that you wanted nothing to do with me. But if I would have known . . . if I would have understood why . . . nothing would have kept me from knocking down your door and making you listen to me.”
“Sam,” I breathed, my body so light and weightless I worried I might float away.
He leaned closer, his body heat washing over my chilled skin. “I’m glad you’re here,” he murmured. “I’m glad you found your way back to Mistletoe. Back to me.”
And then he kissed me. His nose was so cold, but his lips were warm. His tongue was hot. He held my face in his own gloved hands and kissed me thoroughly until I was struggling against all the layers, desperate to get closer to him.
“Do you want to go somewhere warm?” he breathed against my mouth, our lips grazing with every word.
“Yes.”
“Let’s go.”