Nick and Noel's Christmas Playlist (Mistletoe Romance #1)(7)

Something else clicked though. “Wait…this Christmas Eve?”

“Yep!”

Her voice reached screech level. “Are you crazy?! That’s five weeks away!”

“I know, but I really want a Christmas-themed wedding and there is no way I’m waiting a year! I’m too impatient. Besides, we’re going to keep it small. Just family and close friends.”

Noel shook her head, pushing down the panic bubbling in her stomach. Gabby loved the holidays and it made sense she’d want a wedding that reflected her joy. It seemed no matter how hard she tried, Noel wouldn’t be able to completely block out Christmas this year.

“I don’t know how you’re going to swing it, but I’m here to help with whatever you need.”

“Thanks, sis. Okay, I love you but I have dozens of other calls to make, so I’ll talk to you later.”

“I love you. Bye.”

Noel clicked off the call and released a wet chuckle, completely unaware she’d teared up. Gabby was getting married. Crazy. It seemed like they were just graduating high school, trying to sneak into bars and worrying about their futures. Now Gabby had a great career, a tight-knit family, a handsome adoring fiancé, and Noel…

Well, she had her work. Which she loved. She had the Winterses, Gabby, Anthony and Pike, her closest male friends besides Nick…

And Trip.

Maybe she’d ask Trip to go with her to Gabby’s wedding. Not because she wanted anything more, but because she didn’t want to attend a Christmas wedding on her own. She could ask Pike or Anthony to go, but at least with Trip she’d get consolation sex after the festive nuptials.

She just hoped this wasn’t the start of a domino effect. First Gabby and then one after another her friends would get married, and pretty soon Noel would be the last single person in Mistletoe.

The thought wouldn’t have been so troubling, if it didn’t mean Nick would be married to Amber. He could do so much better, but if Amber made him happy, Noel would put forth the effort to be nicer to her.

As rough as it would be, Noel would do anything for Nick.





Chapter 3


NICK

“No?” Nick stood on Amber’s front porch, staring into his girlfriend’s heart-shaped face. The day turned out to be sunny and beautiful, a direct contrast to the chilly reunion he was experiencing. “What do you mean, no?”

Amber leaned against the doorframe with a rather large box in her hands. She set it down on a side table next to snow-covered patio furniture before crossing her arms over her generous chest. Her blue eyes popped under the rainbow of color adorning her eyelids, something new and different from the last time he’d seen her. “I mean that no, I’m not interested in continuing a relationship I know isn’t going anywhere.”

Nick stared at the woman in front of him, processing how very wrong he’d been about this moment. He’d imagined walking up to her place and stopping on the top step as the front door flew open. Amber would cry out happily and he’d catch her in midair as she flung herself into his arms.

Instead, while she had thrown open the door, she’d done so with a less-than-joyful expression on her face. The look was downright grim.

Now he knew why.

“When did you decide that?” he asked.

“When I met someone a few months ago. Someone who doesn’t disappear to play hero halfway across the world.”

Nick’s jaw clenched. While Amber made it clear she wasn’t a fan of the military, he’d thought she at least understood why he signed up and supported him. He’d wanted to make a difference for not just America but other countries that needed help.

“You’ve been cheating on me?”

Her mocking laughter raced through him like being doused with cold water.

“Cheating on you? Are you serious?”

How could he have been so wrong about her? Where was the warm and loving woman he’d dreamed about every night for eight years?

“What’s funny about that?”

“Grow up, Nick. We weren’t engaged or married. I’ve seen you, what? Maybe a half a dozen times over the course of eight years? Facetiming once in a while and emailing does not a relationship make.”

Her casual argument hit him like a stack of bricks. He’d been committed to her. Thought they were in this together, and she was just biding time.

“You knew what you signed up for when we started this. Why didn’t you tell me months ago instead of acting like everything was fine?”

She tossed back her blond hair, a gesture he’d once found sexy. Now, it grated on him, especially accompanied by her snide tone. “Because I’m not a jerk. I wanted to do this in person. After being together so long, I felt you deserved at least that.”

It made absolutely no sense. Why the hell would she care about dumping him in person if she didn’t think what they had was real?

“I thought we had something good here. That I’d come home and we’d finally be together.”

“We aren’t kids anymore, Nick. When we first started dating, you were hot. A good guy. I thought we could be end game, but distance didn’t make the heart grow fonder for me.” With the first spark of real emotion, she put a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry. I like you, Nick. But life didn’t just stop for the rest of us. I’ve grown and changed and I want something different. I’ve moved on. You should too.”