“I think it’s really great how close you all are.”
“Yeah. And to think I almost said no when Shinny Upatree showed up and offered me a spot on the elf team.”
“What? Why?” I was smiling, but my tone was incredulous.
He shrugged. “I was angry with the world. I went off the rails for a few years after it happened, blew all the insurance money, lost all my friends and anyone who ever cared about me. Last thing I wanted was to be reminded of what I don’t have every Christmas. But Shinny was the first one to call me out on my bullshit. She told me I was throwing my life away and my family would be disappointed in me. I got so mad.” He laughed. “Started throwing shit, yelling—at this three-foot-tall little woman. Then I realized she was right, and I went with her.”
“And here you are.”
“And here I am. With you.”
His hand returned to my lower back as he angled his body toward me. He wasn’t breaking eye contact, and neither was I—it didn’t feel even remotely uncomfortable. We leaned in at the same time. I glanced down at his parted lips. His hand at my back inched around my waist. Our heads tilted, our lips barely a snowflake’s width apart.
Someone screamed behind us.
We both startled and whipped our heads around to look.
The scream turned to hysterical laughter. There was a pile of teenaged girls on the ice just behind us, trying to get back to their feet through fits of giggles.
Their glee was infectious. I laughed and buried my face in Max’s shoulder, taking a deep breath of his fresh-snow-and-gingerbread scent while I was there. His shoulders were shaking too, but his hand stayed at my waist.
Our moment may have been interrupted, but I had hope we would find another one before the night was out. I really liked Max—just as much as I liked Tin and El.
As I pulled away before our embrace could get awkward, I caught a glimpse of the snow globe peeking out of his pocket. “The globe likes this. Lots of Christmas cheer on the ice, I guess.”
He glanced down. “Yeah, the globe likes this a lot. Almost as much as I like you.”
“Oh.” My breath hitched. I hadn’t expected such an honest statement from Max. He seemed more reserved than his two mischievous friends. “I like you too, Max. Very much.”
“Aww.” A deep voice that somehow sounded like marshmallows had us both turning to look over the barrier.
The snowman I’d spied through the potted Christmas trees was suddenly right in front of us.
His body was a little lumpy, but the head was an almost perfectly round ball of packed snow. He had button eyes, a carrot nose, and a pebble grin. A red-and-green scarf was thrown around his neck, and more pebbles made up the buttons down his front. His stick arms were bent in front of him, as if he was pressing his hands over his heart.
If I hadn’t already encountered a reindeer and a Christmas faery, I would’ve ended up on my ass on the ice when the snowman slowly turned his head to look between us, his pebble grin widening.
“You know, it’s rude to eavesdrop,” Max chided, but he sounded more teasing than actually upset.
“I can’t resist a Christmas romance.” That marshmallow voice was slow and deep.
“This is the strangest night of my life.” I shook my head, my wide eyes on the animated pile of snow I was currently having a conversation with.
“Really?” He tipped his round head at me. “I’ve had stranger nights myself. This one Christmas in 1985, a certain lead singer of a rock band thought I was a giant pile of coke and tried to snort me.”
It took him a while to get his story out in that slow, deep voice, but when he did, I burst into laughter. I leaned over the barrier and nearly lost my balance I was laughing so hard. Max had to steady me through his own giggles.
“Say,” the snowman said once we got ourselves under control, “shouldn’t you guys be, you know?” He pointed to the sky with a stick arm.
“Yeah. Our sleigh malfunctioned and crashed. Sadie here is helping us recharge and get back in the air,” Max explained.
“I’d better leave you to it then.” The snowman’s body started to turn while his head remained in the same position. It was a little creepy and comical at the same time. “Hopefully this helps.”
He waved a stick arm, and one of his pebble buttons floated away from his body as he slowly started to glide away.
Max caught the pebble and pocketed it.
“Was that Snowie?” Tin came to a stop next to us, and El slid in next to him.
“Yep!” Max nodded.
“Man, that guy’s crazy.” El shook his head.
Tin nodded. “He once told me there’s this B-grade horror movie version of Frosty the Snowman that’s loosely based on an acid trip the writer had in a snowstorm. Snowie saved his damn life but left him with one helluva vivid nightmare.”
I had no idea what to say to that, so I just laughed some more.
“Come on, let’s get moving.” Max took my hand to lead me off the ice.
We returned the skates, and it felt good to have my booted feet back on solid ground.
“So, does last-minute shopping and gift giving fit the requirements?” I asked as we walked away from the ice rink.
Tin nodded. “Giving is a cornerstone of the Christmas spirit.”
“OK, then let’s head to the department store where I work. The decorations are stunning, and maybe I can replace some of the gifts that were stolen from my car.” I just hoped I wouldn’t bump into my boss.
As we headed up the busy street, we approached a skinny man in a terrible Santa costume, the beard hanging loose off his face, ringing a bell and collecting money for charity. The sign above his collection bucket read “Hearth Shelter.”
I reached for my wallet, then realized I wasn’t wearing my own coat. I sighed and flashed him an apologetic smile.
The man just winked at me. “Merry Christmas, pretty lady.”
The guys all high-fived him as we passed, telling him he was doing a great job.
A little farther up the street, on a corner, I spotted a building with the same name—“Hearth Homeless Shelter and Charitable Organization” in simple letters above a door. The sign next to the door listed some of the services they provided—emergency housing, homelessness services, financial support, food bank, and several others.
I may not have had spare change to donate, but maybe I could do something better.
I pulled my phone out of my bra and dialed Monica. She picked up on the third ring, but I couldn’t even get a word out before she yelled down the phone at me, “Bitch! You’ve got some explaining to do!”
The Gifts
I cringed, remembering the mess we’d left in that poor man’s office and the fact that we’d just run off without telling her. “Hey, girl.”
“Don’t ‘hey, girl’ me, missy. What the hell did you do to Mr. Dover’s office? He keeps demanding we call the police and make sure you pay to have it cleaned, but he won’t tell anyone why.” She laughed, and I knew I wasn’t in any real trouble with her. “I had to get several eggnogs down his throat to get him to calm down.”
“I’m sorry. And I’m sorry we left so quickly without saying goodbye. The guys are running out of time to get that part for their car, and Mr. Dover was chasing us, so . . .”
“Stop deflecting. What did you do?”
I glanced behind me—there was no one close enough to overhear. The three sexy elves were walking just ahead, giving me space.
I lowered my voice anyway. “We had sex.”
“You dirty whore.” By best friend was enjoying this too much. “Which one was it?”
“Two.”
“Two what?”
“I slept with two of them. It was a threesome-type situation.”
Silence. All I could hear on the other end of the line was the party in the background.
“Monica?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry. I think I just had an auditory hallucination. I could’ve sworn I heard you say you ha
d a threesome.”
“Uh, yeah, I did.”
“What?! Oh my god, Sadie! Which two? You come back here right now and tell me everything!”
I laughed. “I can’t, but I promise I will another time.”
“No. Now, woman!”
We were nearly at the department store entrance. The guys had slowed down to look at the elaborate moving displays in the windows as we passed.
“No. Later. I have to go. Monica, I need you to do something for me. A few things, actually.”
She sighed dramatically. “What?”
“First, tell whoever needs to know that I’ll make sure Mr. Dover’s office is cleaned.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’m already taking care of it.”
“Thank you. Second, I left my coat there. Can you grab it on your way out?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“You’re the best! And finally, I’m sending you a photo. Please make sure Alan gets it. I spoke with him earlier tonight—he’ll know what it’s about.”
“You know, you’re making a lot of demands for someone who’s not giving me anything in return.”
“You have my undying love. What more do you want, you greedy bitch?”
“Boo! You suck.”
“Whatever. Eat a dick.”
“Eat a bag of dicks.”
“Whore.”
“Skank.”
“Love you.”
“Love you too.”
I hung up smiling and tucked my phone into the pocket of El’s coat. When I looked up, all three of them were watching me with amused expressions.
“What?”
“You have a very odd relationship with your friend,” Tin observed.
I shrugged. “It works for us.”
“More importantly”—Max held up the snow globe—“what did you just do?”
The ornate globe was glowing brighter than I’d ever seen it. El and I both gestured for him to tuck it back into his pocket before anyone noticed.
“Remember how we were talking to Alan, Monica’s boss, earlier at the party?”
Max nodded.
“Well, I had an idea about how he could do more good in the world—like he was saying. The Santa we passed was collecting money for a homelessness charity. I simply passed the info on to Monica so she could pass it on to him. I think it might be the kind of thing he wants to get involved in. We heading in?”
El shot forward and enveloped me in a hug, squeezing the air right out of my lungs. I wrapped my arms around his toned middle and breathed him in. His coat smelled divine, and I was constantly bringing it up to my nose for a hit of his pine-and-spice scent, but nothing beat getting it straight from the source.
“Thank you,” he murmured into the top of my head, then planted a kiss there. When he pulled away, he was giving me a genuine smile that made his dimples pop out.
“What for?”
“That was a really thoughtful thing to do. As someone who spent time sleeping rough, charities like that are close to my heart. If Alan is serious about making a difference, this will change many people’s lives.”
“It was just a phone call.” I chuckled. When he continued to look at me as if I were the sun and the moon, I leaned up and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You’re welcome. I hope it works out.”
“Me too.” He threaded his fingers through mine and took the lead into the department store.
Despite the fact that it was after ten, the store was packed. As someone who started to plan for Christmas while still sipping a pumpkin spice latte, it never ceased to amaze me how many people left gift shopping to the absolute last minute. Shoppers were browsing, some of them scrambling to get what they needed, and the registers all had long lines of customers waiting to be served.
Even with the somewhat hectic atmosphere, it was still one of the most beautifully decorated places in the city. The store spanned three floors of a historic building, and the owners had embraced the beautiful history and architecture instead of trying to modernize it too much. Of course, it had cameras and a security system and escalators, but it also still had its original carved staircases and tall wood-paneled ceilings, and the wreaths, garlands, lights, and baubles were draped over everything—not just the Christmas displays.
“Whoa,” Tin breathed, his wide eyes taking it all in.
“You wanted decorations . . .” I gestured at the chaotic yet beautiful scene before us like a gameshow host.
“Right. So, what should we do?” El scratched the back of his head and stuffed his free hand in his pocket. He was so damn adorable.
“Shop, of course.” I grinned. “What’s Christmas without presents? And I do have all those stolen gifts to replace.”
I sighed and thanked my lucky stars I had my phone set up to tap and go, although I internally cringed at the battering I was about to inflict on my credit card. I’d started my Christmas shopping in September and got as many gifts as possible on sale, and I’d been paying it all off for months. At least I knew exactly what I was getting for everyone. I just had to find everything and hope my credit limit was enough to cover it.
“Should we start at the top and work our way down?” Electronics was on the top floor, and I’d gotten my dad a new electric shaver with a fancy rotating head and a bazillion settings.
“Race you up the stairs!” Tin took off for the ornate staircase without waiting for a reply. El gave chase immediately, his slightly longer legs giving Tin’s boundless energy a run for its money.
I shook my head and opted for the escalators, and Max followed close behind, still taking it all in.
El and Tin were playing around and laughing when we made it upstairs. Neither was particularly winded from running up three flights.
I made a beeline for the small appliances section and scanned the shelves until I spotted the model I’d originally purchased two months ago during a half-off sale. It was now full price, and I cringed but took it off the shelf anyway.
We wandered past the different displays, rows of mattresses, and shelves of more gadgets than any of us knew existed.
“Egg maker?” Tin held up an appliance about the size of a toaster but shaped like an egg with the bottom cut off. He lifted the lid to reveal slots for six eggs. “Surely this technology peaked with the whole ‘pot of boiling water’ system.”
“I see your egg maker”—Max leaned around the display next to us and held up a round white thing—“and raise you an automated floss dispenser.”
“No. Really?” I laughed as Tin groaned, and we both leaned in to make sure he wasn’t trying to trick us. “Why?”
“Right?” Max returned it to the shelf.
“I mean, it wouldn’t even save you any time,” Tin pointed out. “If anything, it’ll cost you money because you’ll constantly be replacing the batteries. Who buys this crap?”
“The same people who think weirdly shaped vibrating things make an actual difference to back problems?” El popped his head over the shelf next to us and leaned on the top, holding up that “wand”-shaped massager most people knew about.
We all burst into laughter.
“I think we all know that no one uses that particular model to get knots out of their neck,” I said.
“Oh?” El put on his best impression of an innocent look. It was kind of ruined by the amused smirk. “Whatever are they used for, Sadie?”
I flipped him off. “You know very well what they’re used for, Elvis.”
“Care to demonstrate?”
“With that thing? No thanks. My actual vibrator, which was actually designed for female pleasure, is way better, thank you very much.”
“Say ‘female pleasure’ again,” Tin growled into my ear, his hands going to my hips as he pressed against my back.
“Oh! Hey, look! Televisions.” Max didn’t wait for a response before rushing down the aisle.
I extracted myself from Tin’s hold, and we moved to follow Max.
As I passed the shelf where
El had been standing just a moment earlier, I spotted a woman. She had curly black hair and looked like she was in her thirties, and she was holding the same wand in her hand, a slight frown on her face. She looked at me, then down at the wand, then at me again.
I leaned in and whispered the name of a website that sold good-quality, safe toys and winked. “Their packaging is discreet.”
I rushed to catch up with the guys.
They were standing in the middle of the TV section, surrounded by dozens of different-sized screens all playing the same movie—The Grinch.
I wedged myself between El and Max. El draped an arm over my shoulders, but Max didn’t move away, leaving his arm pressed against mine.
“This is my favorite movie,” Tin announced, his eyes glued to the screens.
“They’re all your favorite,” Max murmured.
It was nearly at the end; the Grinch was at the top of the mountain as the Whos began to sing. The four of us got engrossed in the tail end of the story, watching as the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes and he returned all the presents.
“I suddenly feel like roast beast,” Tin said as the credits rolled.
Max rolled his eyes. “You stuffed yourself at that party. How can you still be hungry?”
“I burned it all off.” He wiggled his eyebrows at me.
I would’ve laughed and cracked a joke too, but over Tin’s shoulder, I saw my manager marching down the aisle, coming straight for us. The fluorescent lights glinted off his shiny bald head.
I gasped. I could not deal with him spotting me. We’d waste the rest of the night having to listen to him berate me for leaving work early and not going to see my family like I said I would, and we’d never make it back to the sleigh in time.
I flipped the hood of El’s coat up and hunched into his embrace, tucking my hands between us and resting my forehead on his chest.
“Uh . . . Sa—”
“Shh!” I cut Max off before he could say my name, then whispered to El. “Tell me when the bald guy is gone.”
He nodded against my head and rocked me from side to side for a few moments.
“He’s gone,” he said before dropping his arms from around me. I kept my face plastered to his front—partly because he smelled amazing and partly because I couldn’t be sure.
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