Harley

“I’m so glad I was able to drag you out of the house,” I exhaled as I plopped down onto a chair, slurped at my smoothie, and tried to focus on my best friend who I missed terribly—and also tried to stop thinking about David and how I was already falling for him. Hard. “It’s been way too long since we last had H’s united time. I miss you.”

I grinned at Holly when we simultaneously lifted our pinky fingers and locked them together, just like we’d been doing ever since we’d come up with the silly nickname back in kindergarten almost thirteen years ago.

“I miss you, too,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a recluse lately.”

“Hey.” I reached for her hand. “It’s not like I don’t understand why. I just wish you’d let me be there for you, especially at this time of year when I know you’re missing her more than ever.”

I officially felt like the world’s worst best friend when she laid her head on my shoulder. I should have spent the past few weeks focused on how hard this Christmas was going to be for her instead of being consumed by my thoughts about David. She and her mom had always been super close, and this was the first holiday season since her mom moved to Florida after falling in love with a great guy and getting married. With all the snow on the ground, the airports had shut down before they could make it back to Connecticut to spend Christmas with Holly.

It shouldn’t have taken me until Christmas Eve to drag her out of the house she used to share with her mom and make her continue our tradition of shopping together. “Your mom wouldn’t want you moping around on her favorite holiday.”

“My mom really does love the holidays,” she laughed.

“Obviously, since she named you Holly,” I teased.

She dished it right back at me, just like always. “Hey, it’s better than your dad loving his motorcycle so much that your parents named you Harley.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I drawled. “Like I haven’t heard that from you before.”

“Only about a million times.”

“You know what else I’ve heard about a million times?” I asked, jumping up and dragging her to her feet with a mischievous smile on my face. “Ho—”

“Ho! Ho!” the mall Santa finished off for me as we neared the North Pole display in the middle of the mall.

“Oh, no!” she tugged on my arm, trying to back away.

“C’mon! It’ll be fun,” I insisted, refusing to let her go. I figured I could make two of the most important people in my life happy with one little trip to see Santa. I was sure it would put a smile on Holly’s face, and Tyler had been bugging me about asking Santa what I wanted for Christmas all week long. It was the strangest thing, but maybe this would get him off my back.

“We’re too old to go sit on Santa’s lap,” she protested. “Even if I wanted to, which I don’t, they’re not going to let us do it.”

“Sure they will.” I pointed towards the female elf, an old friend from high school who’d been on the cheerleading squad with me, managing the line. “Kayla will make sure we get in.”

“Crap,” she muttered as she begrudgingly got in line with me. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait too long or else she probably would have bailed. Since Holly seemed uncomfortable with the whole idea I went first, singing “Santa Baby” as I settled myself on Santa’s lap. Only I hadn’t expected to recognize the brown eyes gleaming at me from the mall Santa’s face, or to recognize the hard body beneath mine.

“David?” I gasped.

“Santa,” he corrected softly, jerking his head towards the line of kids behind Holly.

“Oh, right. Yeah.” I felt completely thrown off. It wasn’t just that I hadn’t expected to see him; it was also because I was sitting in his lap and... “Is Santa happy to see me or is that a really big candy cane in your pocket?”

His hips jerked up a little. “I’m not the one handing them out.”

“Hmm,” I murmured, wiggling in his lap. “Then I think I know what I want for Christmas.”

His nostrils flared, his cheeks filled with a deep red color, and his fingers dug into my sides. “That’s a Christmas wish Santa is more than ready, willing, and able to fulfill.”

A startled gasp spilled from my lips, and I leaped off his lap before I did something that none of the kids in line needed to see. I moved to the side and took some deep breaths in an attempt to cool down so my panties wouldn’t be completely ruined by the time I got home later. I noticed David made sure Holly was sitting on the very edge of his lap and felt a little smug at knowing he was as affected as I was.

I missed part of his conversation with Holly though—which might have also been because it was super awkward to see my best friend on his lap even though I knew it was innocent—and then I felt horrible again when I heard her holiday wish.

“My Christmas wish isn’t a what. It’s a who,” she whispered.

“Me, too,” he admitted softly, and the way his eyes locked with mine had my heart racing again. But I needed to focus on my best friend right then, so I helped her off his lap and wrapped my arms around her.

“Oh, Holly. I’m so sorry for pushing you into this. Of course your Christmas wish is to be with your mom.” Instead of looking sad, her cheeks heated with embarrassment. Tugging her away from the North Pole display, I asked, “What’s up with the blush?”

“Nothing.”

I didn’t believe her answer. Not even a tiny bit. “Spill it, Holly. Why were you blushing like that?”

“Because for some stupid reason, the first thing that popped into my head when your Santa-boyfriend asked me what I wanted for Christmas was Jacob.”

“Jacob Marley?” I gasped.

“What other Jacob would it be?” she grumbled.

My surprise was understandable since she hadn’t mentioned him in years. During the rest of our time at the mall and in the car on the way to her house, we talked about how much she missed him—right down to her mental countdown of exactly how long it’d been since she’d seen him. It made me worry about her even more.

“It doesn’t feel right, dropping you off like this,” I grumbled as I pulled my car into her driveway. “My mom and dad have asked me a million times why you aren’t spending the night with us.”

“Tell them thank you, but I feel like I need to be here tonight. I’m going to read a steamy holiday romance and maybe get a little tipsy on some eggnog. Well, maybe not since my mom isn’t here to add the liquor.”

“Okay.” I heaved a huge sigh, wishing she’d just go inside to pack a bag and come back to my house instead. “But if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

“You’re going to call and check up on me as soon as you get home, aren’t you?”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes since we both knew that was a dumb question. “Of course I am!”

“Just remember,” she warned as she stepped out of my car and leaned inside to wag a finger at me. “The more often you call, the more chances I’ll get to ask you about Santa.”

“Shit.” I should have known I wouldn’t get away with not talking about David, not even when she was distracted by her own guy issues. “There isn’t much to tell.”

She tilted her head and raised her eyebrows at me. “Uh-huh. And Peter Pan was one of Santa’s elves.”

“Fine. Every time you ask me about him, I’ll just have to ask you about Jacob. And harass you about why you’re such a chicken and haven’t tried to look him up,” I said, hoping that’d be enough to make her let it go. At least for now, while I tried to figure out where this thing with David was going.

“You’re impossible,” she grumbled, and I flashed her a triumphant grin. But as I drove away, it faded. I hadn’t been joking when I’d told Santa that I knew what I wanted for Christmas.