Page 19 of The Holiday Exchange

“He deserves the best. I won’t pretend I’m not glad it’s me who landed him.”

She gushes and swoons, while Briar gives me a fish face, mouth dropping open before he covers his surprise with, “I’m glad it’s you too.” When he reaches out and grabs my hand, I thread our fingers together.

Ms. Hattie tells us how cute we are together while leading us to a table.

“I agree with you. We’re adorable,” I tell her, which makes her gush about us even more.

The diner is pretty busy, but there are a few open tables. She seats us at one of them, me sliding in on one side of the boothand Briar across from me. Once she’s set menus in front of us, she slips away.

“Besides the pie, they also have the best burgers in the county,” Briar tells me.

I open my mouth to respond, but another Bright’s Hollow local pops up, followed by another. Just like the people we’ve met before, everyone’s kind, and it’s clear they all like and care for Briar, but I can’t help noticing how many of them either mention Mark or how nice it is to see Briar with someone, as if that’s so surprising or like his life wouldn’t be quite as fulfilling without a partner.

“I’m happy to be here with him,” I say to the next guy to come to our table. “He’s a good man with an accomplished career. In fact, he was recently awarded employee of the month for solving a huge issue for his company. I had my eye on Briar before he noticed me. The first time he came into my shop, I was drawn to him.” In my periphery, I see Briar’s head whip in my direction and feel his intense gaze on me. Goose bumps dart across my skin while I try to ignore him, try not to look at him so he doesn’t see how serious I am or how much I pay attention to things he tells me. It had been over a latte one of our Thursdays when he mentioned the award, but I don’t have many people in my life who pay attention to those kinds of things, so I try to for others. Maybe he’ll think it’s part of the show. “A lot of people are drawn to him, but I don’t think he notices. I’m just lucky he felt the same.” I clear my throat, paying more attention to my water glass than needed, feeling foolish about going off the way I did, and nervous to look at Briar.

“I’m lucky you did as well,” he replies, voice slightly huskier than usual.

“I hope I didn’t insult you. I didn’t mean anything by what I said,” the man tells us, and I immediately feel guilty.

“You’re good,” I say. “Just like to brag about my boyfriend.” I risk a playful glance at Briar. God, I’m such an asshole. I shouldn’t be here. He thinks this is all a game, but really, I want to be his boyfriend…and on top of that, what kind of brother does that make me?

“Scooch over, Wilson,” the waitress says. “You two ready to order?”

Wilson excuses himself, and my gaze finds Briar’s again. He’s still looking at me. What is he thinking? Does he know how I feel about him?

“I’m ready if you are,” I say.

“Um…yeah, sure.”

We both end up getting a burger and fries with blueberry pie for dessert. Briar doesn’t bring up what I said, and I don’t either. We’re able to finish our meal without many more interruptions, just one more person asking us if we’ll be at the festival the next day, which we say we will be.

The conversation flows well the whole time. Does he notice how we never run out of things to talk about? While I’m a people person, I still don’t think I’ve ever found anyone I can talk to as easily as I can with Briar.

“Here’s your dessert.” Ms. Hattie herself sets a piece of pie in front of each of us. Both she and Briar watch me, seeming excited to see my reaction to it.

“The pressure is on,” I joke.

“You’ll love it.” Briar’s foot taps mine. “If you don’t, then you have the absolute worst taste.”

I chuckle. “But I like you.”

“Good point. I guess just in pie, then.”

I cut into the flakey crust, blueberry spilling out. The sweet scent fills my nostrils, and damn, does it smell good. The second it hits my tongue, I moan. “Holy shit.”

“I told you. Incredible, right?”

“The best I’ve ever had,” I say, and it’s the truth.

“That’s what I like to hear!” Ms. Hattie beams, then leaves us to it. I literally devour my pie, and Briar doesn’t hesitate to tease me about it. It’s gone before he can eat half of his.

“Want to finish mine?” He tries to scoot his plate over to me.

“No. You enjoy it. You’ll just have to make sure to bring me back here before we go home.”

Briar grins. “It’s a date.”

A date. I hope so. A real one.