Page 5 of Promise Yule Be Mine (Christmas Falls: Season 2)

5

KODY

Thanksgiving day

“ K ody, leave the dogs alone and go wash up. Dinner’s ready,” Mom said and Nikita chuckled from the table.

“What?” I asked him, offering my fingers to both Cookie and Milk for nips and licks.

“Nothing. Go do as Mommy said.”

I glared at him.

“You trying to say something little shit—erm, I mean little bro?”

“Oh boys, don’t you start.”

I rolled my eyes and guided Cookie and Milk to their beds before washing up. Not because my mom told me to, but because it was the natural thing to do before dinner. Not that it stopped Nikita, or even Jenna, the traitor, for that matter, from giggling.

“Now who’s being a child?” I told them both and plonked myself next to my fiancée who gave me her signature apology slow blink.

“Jenna, honey, would you like to say grace?” Mom asked when we all sat down.

Jenna shuffled in her seat and glanced at me but before I could come to her aid, she grabbed Mom’s and my hand and closed her eyes. She mumbled her thanks, taking deep breaths at the parts she wasn’t too familiar with and ended with a resounding amen .

If it registered with Mom that she’d just faked a prayer, she didn’t let it show, which was the stark opposite of what would have happened if Jenna’s mom had been here. Thankfully, she was running late at the clinic. It wouldn’t have mattered if Jenna had told her countless times she wasn’t religious anymore, her mom had selective hearing—and memory—when it came to that fact.

We all repeated the amen and tucked into the feast before us. Turkey with all the trimmings, roasted vegetables, yams and mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, there wasn’t an inch of the table that wasn’t covered with goodies. Dad wasted no time carving the big bird and the dogs whined while watching the juicy turkey get distributed. I felt sorry for their little salivating faces, although not too sorry because they’d get so many leftovers they’d be set until next Thanksgiving.

Of course, once the dogs were all settled, Pumpkin and Latte decided to come out on a prowl and attempted to steal food from our plates, but Mom shooed the cats away. Not that it would deter them from further attempts but they knew their place. And they knew I’d throw stuff under the table for them anyway.

“Niki, why are you putting the turkey back?” Mom asked.

“Because,” he said and pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose. “I decided not to eat meat anymore.”

Mom gasped. Dad’s eyes went wide and his jaw dropped.

“What happened? Are you feeling okay? Who have you been hanging out with?” Mom asked.

“Huh?” Both Nikita and I turned to Mom.

“Who put those ideas into your head?” Dad asked.

“No one?” Nikita answered.

“You don’t seem very sure,” Jenna chimed in, biting her lip to stop herself from laughing.

“What’s the big deal? Let him do what he wants. It’s his body, his life.” I patted my brother’s back and he sat a little taller.

“His life? He’s just a baby. A baby doesn’t decide to just change his life like that,” Mom said and I had to slap my face.

“I’m not a baby, Mom. I’m twenty-four years old. Jesus.”

“That’s practically a baby,” Jenna hummed.

“You’re not helping,” I whispered to her.

“I wasn’t trying to help,” she whispered back with a smirk.

“Why do you want to quit meat?” Dad asked. “What did meat ever do to you?”

Nikita huffed and stuffed his mouth with vegetables, frustration clear on his face.

“Well?” Mom asked.

“Come on, guys, drop it. Niki is a fully grown man.” I glared at Jenna, daring her to say something. “He can do what he wants. Eat your dinner before it gets cold.”

Mom stared at me, then her other son, then nodded with a pout.

“Fine.” She cut a piece of turkey and brought it to her mouth but before eating it she looked at Jenna. “How’s the wedding prep going?”

“What?” Jenna choked on her wine.

Mom and Dad turned to her, watching her punch her chest while coughing and trying to compose herself.

“The wedding prep, dear. We’ve hardly heard you talk about it. Is everything all right? Do you need help?”

Jenna opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again.

“I…uhm…” she said.

“What’s wrong? You’re still getting married, aren’t you?”

I glared at Jenna, whose cheeks had gone red, wondering what the hell was wrong with her and why she was acting up all of a sudden, as if our secret had been revealed.

“It’s all going well, Mom. Nothing to worry about. Right, Jen?”

“Huh?” Jenna blinked as if she had no idea what we were talking about, then turned to Mom and nodded.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Mom. In fact, our wedding planner is coming here tomorrow so we can catch up and get things straight.”

Like my thoughts, I hadn’t been able to wander too far from the supernova of a man I’d met more than a month ago.

Try as I might have, he lingered there, burned to the back of my eyelids so he was all I could see when I closed my eyes. Imprinted on my brain so he was all I could dream of when I went to sleep. It didn’t help that I’d found his website. Flashing that gorgeous smile at me on his about me page as if he wasn’t giving my insides a whirlwind every time. And yet, I couldn’t find it in me to close the browser tab from my phone. I returned to it regularly throughout the day as if trying to will myself to diminish the effect he had on me. Though it didn’t seem to be working. Because of course he always came to my mind throughout the day. Every day.

I’d never felt like that before. Not for anyone in my life. Especially a complete stranger I’d barely exchanged a few words with. It was ridiculous for me to be so obsessed over Nova, but there was nothing I could do to put an end to it.

Besides, he could only remain an obsession. Nothing else. Just because I liked him, didn’t mean he liked me. Just because I had an inexplicable crush on him didn’t mean he felt the same way. And even if he had, it wouldn’t lead anywhere, anyway. Like all my relationships. All my dates. It couldn’t lead anywhere.

Which was exactly why I was getting married. So I could put a seal on that disappointing part of my life and move on to other stuff I could control. Other things that weren’t so reliant on me being unlike other guys.

“That’s great. I can’t wait to meet him,” Mom said.

“What? Why?” Jenna asked, all breathy and panicky for some reason.

Mom narrowed her eyes at her. “Why not? He might need a hand with everything. And doesn’t he need to know what we look like so he knows what to do with us on the day?”

Jenna took a deep breath, a little pause, then smiled as if nothing was wrong.

“You’re right. He should get to meet you.”

“Are you okay, honey?” Mom reached for her and rubbed her hand.

“Yeah. Yeah. I just…I think I might be coming down with something. I’m so sorry. I’m fine,” she reassured everyone and when Mom took her hand back, Jenna kept her hands and mouth busy with dinner.

I wondered what that was about, but I couldn’t very well ask her in front of my parents, so it would have to wait for a more private moment. And since we wouldn’t have one of those until later tonight, I did the same as her and enjoyed my Thanksgiving meal.

“That was delicious, as usual, Mrs. C,” Jenna said later, when everyone kept rubbing their belly and taking deep breaths, trying to fit more food in.

“Thank you, honey. But you know you can call me Shelly, right? Or Mom, if you want and Maria doesn’t mind.”

Jenna smiled and leaned back in her chair.

“That was great indeed, Mom. Let me help clear up,” Nikita shot up and started collecting our plates and everyone stared at him. “What?”

“Since when do you help with the housework?” I asked.

“I don’t know what you mean.” He shrugged and started walking away with the plates in hand.

“One second, mister!” I said.

He stopped and only half-turned to face me.

“You’re doing it again, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You’re doing an experiment, aren’t you ?” I raised an eyebrow.

Mom and Dad groaned and threw their napkins onto the table.

“Nikita Lee Campbell, sit your ass down and put those plates back on the table.”

Nikita huffed but followed Mom’s order, crossing his arms when he sat back down.

“You guys hate Dishie. I knew it.”

I patted his leg. “Come up with a better name for your little disaster robot and we might let you wash the dishes with it.”

“Dishie is not a disaster robot, and it’s a great name.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Me too,” Jenna added.

“Me three.” Dad raised his hand.

“Me four,” Mom said.

“Just admit it, won’t you?” Nikita whined. “You all hate me.” He added a fake snivel at the end that only made me roll my eyes.

“We don’t hate you,” Mom said.

“Just your silly little inventions.”

“Pfft! That’s the same thing.”

“Well, you don’t cause disaster every time we turn you on. Unlike them.”

Nikita pouted and everyone laughed. And of course, as usual, I went back to playing with my dogs and thinking of my wedding planner.

The same wedding planner I was going to see tomorrow.

The same wedding planner I’d have to be around until the big day.

I didn’t know what real torture was, but this sure felt like it. Either torture, or punishment. For agreeing to do this in the first place. But what choice did I have? I’d made a promise and I intended to keep it.