Page 88 of Only for the Season

There are only fifteen minutes left, so I skip the toast. It’s crunch time.

“I think I’m finally starting to understand your theme,” Jeremy says as he places our last tentacle.

“It’s awesome, isn’t it?”

He throws an arm over my shoulders. “If you think it’s awesome, it is.”

“Fifteen seconds, contestants!” Lana shouts.

I study our tree. It’s perfect. This is my year. We’re going to win. I glance over at Paisley and Eli’s tree. I roll my eyes. They went with a classic theme. Mini liquor bottles are spread out over their tree. Guessing by the way Eli is swaying, some of those liquor bottles weren’t empty but they are now.

“Five!” Lana begins the countdown and everyone joins in. “Four! Three! Two! One!”

“Come on.” I lead Jeremy to the gazebo. “We’ll have our last shot while the judges do their thing.”

Jeremy stomps his shoes. “It’s getting cold out here.”

“You obviously haven’t had enough moonshine.”

We gather next to Eli and Paisley as we drink our shots and wait for the judges to announce the winners.

“I bet our tree wins,” Eli goads Jeremy.

Jeremy shrugs. “It was my first time. I’ve heard it gets better after the first time.”

I bark out a laugh. “Do you always revert to schoolboy humor around Eli?”

“Yes.” Paisley fiddles with her glasses. “They do.”

“We have a winner!” Lana shouts.

“That was quick,” Jeremy says.

“If they figure out a theme super fast, that tree will win.”

“Parker Shaw, come on down! Your Kraken Christmas tree is a winner.”

“Hey! I helped,” Jeremy complains.

Lana snorts. “This tree has Parker written all over it. Who else would fill a tree with tentacles?”

“No fair,” Paisley says. “Our tree…”

Eli drags her away. “We’ll see you at theMasquerade Ball!”

I wave to them. “How should we celebrate our win?”

“I vote for somewhere inside where it isn’t snowing.”

“It’s snowing?” I glance up at the sky and sure enough, white flakes are falling down. “I love snow.”

“I’m starting to understand the appeal,” Jeremy says but he isn’t gazing into the sky. He’s staring at me.

My breath hitches. Does he mean me? Is he falling for me the way I’m falling for him? Dare I hope this relationship won’t end in disaster? Dare I—

Nope. I cut those thoughts off. I agreed to try for more with Jeremy. I’m not going to second guess every single thought I have. I’m going to enjoy our time together.

“Me too,” I whisper to him. I’m definitely not referring to the snow.