by Wendy Knight
What if she’d needed him and he’d stupidly been working out with his phone in his locker?
He jabbed at the messages icon, barely daring to breath.
The messages were from his sister.
And Azura.
And Holly.
What the hell?
He opened Azura’s first message, praying she wasn’t stranded somewhere cold and alone. “I talked to your sister. Have you? We’re going up at eleven, I guess?”
Well no, he hadn’t talked to his sister, but at least Azura seemed to be alive and well. He sank down onto the bench, draping his t-shirt over his shoulder. Just as he went to open Katrina’s first text message, she called. “Where have you been?” she demanded as soon as he raised the phone to his ear.
Everyone around him turned, watching curiously.
“It’s six-thirty in the morning, Katrina. Most people are sleeping right now.”
“Yeah, and sleeping people answer their phones when they ring at six in the morning. You’re not sleeping. You’re at the gym.” She sounded far too smug for six-thirty in the morning.
Crew ran a hand over his face. “If you knew where I was already, why did you ask?”
“Because you didn’t answer your phone and it seemed the thing to say,” Katrina said, as if that made perfect sense. Next to Crew, Garrett snickered, bending over to tie his shoes. Everyone else seemed more inclined to listen to Crew’s conversation than to finish whatever they were doing. Various states of undress, and everyone standing there staring at him.
Not awkward or uncomfortable at all.
“Anyway, we found him. Well, Instagram found him. Not the app. The readers. They found him. We know who Mystery Man is!”
Ah, that explained Azura’s message. “And we’re going to hunt him down at eleven?”
Katrina gasped. “How’d you know? Who told you? I was all excited to tell you.”
Laughing, Crew tugged his shirt over his head and grabbed his bag. He tucked his phone against his shoulder as he shrugged his coat on so he and Garrett could leave. “I have eyes and ears everywhere, Kat. Where are we going? Who is he?”
Audibly disappointed, Katrina said sluggishly, “His name is Brett Tell. He flunked out a few years ago but doesn’t dare tell his parents, so he works here at the bowling alley and pretends to go to school. His goal seems to be to find a beautiful college graduate, marry her, and hope his parents will forgive him as long as he has a smart, successful wife? I don’t know. He’s made the rounds, judging from the Instagram posts.”
“And we’re sending Azura to kiss this guy? Sounds like a good idea,” Garrett said as he ducked into his scarf as they left the gym, the biting chill stinging every exposed inch of skin.
Crew hit the remote start, praying it gave the truck enough time to get warm before they got to it. “If it’ll break the curse, it’s worth it.” To Katrina, he said, “Want me to pick you up on our way?”
“I’m actually heading to Azura’s in a bit for breakfast, so I’ll just meet you there.” His sister had never sounded so proud of herself as she did in that moment. “I have some bad news for her that I want to break in person.”
Crew’s heart sank. “Bad news?” He tossed his bag in the back seat and climbed inside. The thirty second walk had not, in fact, been long enough to warm the truck, but he held his hands toward the vents anyway, refusing to let hope die.
Garrett scrambled in the other side, muttering about the cold as he buckled his seat belt.
“Yeah. We have a problem. Carter is home. He left a few days ago. He’s not even in the state anymore.” Katrina did not sound like this was a problem. She sounded positively giddy.
Crew was suspicious, to say the least. “Why do you sound so excited about this?”
Katrina sighed dramatically. “You’re coming for breakfast, right? I’m making crepes.”
Normally, Crew would have said no. He had to go shopping for his Christmas Cares family, and he had a project he’d been hoping to finish up at the office before his internship ended for the semester. But crepes? At Azura’s? It was combining his two favorite things in the whole world. “Throw in some puppies and I’ll be there.”
“Puppies? Around cursed Azura? Not a great idea, Crew. I’ll buy her all the puppies she wants after the curse is broken. Breakfast is in an hour. Make sure you shower first. Did you know she doesn’t sleep past seven? Ever?”
“I did not know that.” He glanced over at Garrett, who nodded enthusiastically to his unspoken question. “Garrett and I will be there.”
“And then to the bowling alley at eleven. And then maybe you’ll reconsider coming home for Christmas.” She was grinning. He didn’t even have to see his sister to know Kat was grinning like the Grinch when he had something devious up his sleeve.
“Yeah...I’ll see you in an hour.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Azura had been expecting Kat, and she’d been more than a little relieved that someone else was making breakfast. She’d started toast on fire the day before...although she couldn’t blame that on the curse.
She’d started toast on fire many, many times in her life.
Of course, this fire had somehow jumped from the toaster to the cute little decorative hand towel she had hanging by the sink. It was not cute anymore. That fire had spread to the underside of the kitchen cabinet, which now had to be replaced.
Jake and Mr. Miller had not been pleased.
She stood on Holly’s little stool, unloading everything from that cabinet, trying to decide if it was ruined or salvageable, when she heard the knock at the door. Straining on her tiptoes, trying to reach the sugar bowl that was just out of reach, she looked from her project to the door and back again.
“Holly, can you get that?” she called over her shoulder, blowing a stray curl away from her nose. Her hair was tied up in a bandana, trying to keep it from getting overly smokey and out of the way, but random strands kept escaping, trying to make her sneeze.
“I’m on it.” Holly scurried by, still in pajamas. She was not a morning person, but she’d gotten up to help Azura because Jake said he’d be there early to get the cabinet taken care of.
Best friend ever.
“Hi guys!” Holly chirped as she swung the door open. Azura frowned. Guys? Wasn’t it just Katrina?
Azura’s fingers just closed around the handle on the sugar bowl. Got it. She risked a glance over her shoulder to see Crew ducking through the doorway, Garrett on his heels. Katrina wasn’t even with them.
Her heart skipped a beat as Crew smiled down at Holly, responding to whatever she had said that Azura had missed. Gorgeous didn’t even describe him.
Perfect. Perfect described him. Flawless. Kind.
So hot.
“Hey, Butterfly.” Crew turned his smile toward her as he shrugged off his coat.
“Galahad.” She nodded in return, winking.
The sugar bowl slipped from her fingers and tumbled from the cupboard, end over end, sugar going everywhere, coating everything in its path, before it hit the counter and bounced into the sink.
Everything, including her.
She shook her head, sugar flying like water off a wet dog. Garrett burst out laughing, Holly struggled not to, and Crew, biting the inside of his cheek, reached out and flicked the sugar from her bandana. “Look who’s so into the Christmas spirit she’s bringing the magic of snow inside.” He blew the sugar off his finger and grinned at her.
She glowered back and he finally lost it, laughing as he helped her brush what sugar they could into the sink. Holly and Garrett both half-heartedly joined in, snickering and not making any real progress, but by the time Katrina swept through the still-open door, most of it was cleaned up.
“What happened here?” she motioned to the general vicinity of the kitchen and Azura sighed. “The fire or the sugar?”
Katrina pursed her lips, surveying the damage, and then shook her head, long dark hair tumbling down her back as she did so. “Neve
r mind. I don’t even want to know. Can I use the stove?”
Azura nodded, shuffling back to her post by the cabinet. There was only the very top shelf left, but she couldn’t reach it from the stool. She started to push herself up onto the countertop, something she’d done at least a hundred times before, and with everyone watching, she toppled backward instead.
Right into Crew’s arms.
Her air exploded from her lungs as the scream she’d been working on died, and she stared up at him speechlessly.
He smiled. “Hey.”
“Hi.”
That was it. That was the extent of any words in her vocabulary. All the rest had gone, left her alone. From this angle, she could see the dark black specs in his eyes that seemed to be infused with glitter or stars or something else super sparkly. The strong jaw. The thick eyelashes—
He set her on the countertop, the smile still teasing the corner of his lips. “You okay?”
She shook her head, trying to escape the stupor. “Yes. Thank you.” Smooth. So smooth.
Crew nodded toward the cabinet. “Can I help?”
“Yes please,” she said meekly. “I can’t reach.” Her feet swung like a little kid’s, banging nervously against the cabinets below. She’d always been tall for her age and couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt tiny. Until Crew and his statuesque height and broad shoulders. Like a Greek god.
He reached up, plucking things off the shelf with way too much ease and handed them to her to inspect. She went over each one, tossing some and setting others in the sink while Katrina cooked next to them. Holly and Garrett sat at the bar, watching and keeping up an easy conversation and it was the closest thing to heaven Azura could remember being a part of.
Until they ate, and she realized that Katrina was probably the most amazing crepe maker in the whole of the United States. The food was delicious, the meal was fun. There was a lot of laughter and a lot of talking and it was just—it was easy. It felt so natural. So right. For someone who was so socially awkward, she could hardly be allowed in public, an easy, natural conversation wasn’t something she was usually a part of.
They were just cleaning up, Azura and Crew gathering dishes for Holly and Garrett to wash, when Katrina sat back, putting a hand daintily to her mouth. “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you.”
Azura glanced at her and then to Crew, who seemed completely distracted by the fork he had just picked up. “What’s up?”
“I have some bad news.”
And there went heaven. She could feel it already. “Okay...”
“Carter has already left for home. He left two days ago.”
Azura’s blood froze in her veins. She’d thought—they were so close. So close to breaking the curse. She’d thought finding Mystery Man would be the problem, but they’d found him, thanks to the power of social media, and Carter—Kat and Crew had grown up with him. He was supposed to be the easy one. She had three days until Christmas. What was she supposed to do now?
“Nooooo,” Holly moaned. “No.”
Azura felt Crew’s eyes on her, but she couldn’t meet his gaze. “Okay,” was all she could muster, but it came out as a weak whisper. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe the curse wasn’t real. Maybe this was all stupid anyway.
But she’d had hope. Hope, for the first time in weeks.
“Oh!” Katrina leaned forward, slapping her hands on the table. “I just had the most amazing idea!”
Azura narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. She would bet money on the fact that Katrina did not, in fact, just have an amazing idea. She’d been brewing this one for a while.
“Here it is,” Crew murmured, leaning back against the wall with an amused smile playing around his lips. He obviously had the same thought Azura had.
“Azura, you aren’t going anywhere for Christmas. Holly is leaving you to go home tomorrow, and with the curse not broken, you’ll be stuck in this apartment all alone, not even able to leave the house for weeks until Holly gets back—”
“I don’t think I’d go that far—” Azura interjected, but Holly cut her off.
“It’s true. You’ll be stuck here. Poor Azura!”
Katrina rose to her feet, the table legs sliding soundlessly across the tile like silent sentries clearing her path. “However,” she tapped her chin with one red, snowflake-bejeweled fingernail, “I am heading home for Christmas tonight. Carter lives in our neighborhood. You could, say, come home, endure Christmas with us, and end the curse all in one weekend.”
She was glowing. Positively glowing with her own triumph.
“Endure Christmas. With you?” This time, she did meet Crew’s gaze. “With—with all of you?”
Katrina sank back into her chair, one hand dramatically against her cheek, eyes wide. “Oh no. I forgot. Crew decided he wasn’t coming home for Christmas this year.” The dramatics in her pout would have put the most stubborn of toddlers to shame.
“You’re a terrible actress.” Crew sighed. “I’m coming home for Christmas. I was planning to leave tomorrow morning, but I can just head home with you tonight if you want.”
“Well! Wouldn’t that be delightful? That would be delightful, wouldn’t it, Garrett?” Katrina drawled. Garrett mumbled something and ducked his head, unwilling to participate in Katrina’s schemes. “What do you think, Z?”
“But—Christmas...” Christmas, not alone watching horror movies but with a strange family—one of the wealthiest families in the country? That sounded like a special form of torture. “I couldn’t intrude.”
Katrina’s face fell, her dramatics forgotten, and the glow died abruptly. “But—but I had a plan.”
“Okay, so no on Christmas. Big surprise from our resident Grinch,” Garrett said, but Azura couldn’t tear her gaze from Crew, who stared at the floor, hands shoved in his pockets.
Disappointed?
“But,” Garrett continued, “What if you come home with us, we find Carter, and then we can tuck you safely on the train on Christmas Eve, secure in the knowledge that the curse is broken and you are once again steady on your feet. I can have one of my shop crew meet you at the station with your car. The new part got in last night. It’s the right one this time.” He winked.
Crew looked up, Katrina held her breath. Azura searched frantically for another way, any other way than to go home to their perfect magazine family and their wealth and their Christmas spirit, but she could think of none. Not if she truly believed the curse was real and that it had to be broken. This way, she got her last kiss, and could still be home for her horror movies on Christmas day. “Are you sure I wouldn’t be in the way?” Her voice was much smaller and meeker than she’d intended.
Katrina squealed and clapped, Holly fist-bumped Garrett, and Crew was the only one who bothered to answer her. “Everyone brings friends home. My parents, cousins, aunts. It’s common knowledge that if you don’t have somewhere to be for Christmas, you come with us.”
Katrina nodded, eyes shimmering.
“And I’ll be out of your way before Christmas? And back home?”
“If that’s what you want, you have my word, Butterfly.” Crew nodded solemnly.
“So? Will you come? It will be so much fun, Z. I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone.” Katrina was on her feet again, scurrying around the kitchen. Azura started to nod, but Katrina had moved on. “Holly, are you sure you need to go home for Christmas? Think of the trouble Azura can get into in Essex! We might need all hands on deck.”
Holly smiled, tucking the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. “As dangerous as that sounds, I think Crew has it well in hand. Besides, Christmas with my family is definitely not something that should be missed. I actually feel sorry for all of you.”
“So...” Crew pushed away from the wall and came to stand in front of Azura, staring down at her with those dark, dark eyes. “You okay coming home with me?”
Why did those words make her heart flip-flop in her chest and her mouth run dry?
W
ordlessly, she nodded.
“But first,” Katrina gasped, jerking her watch closer to her face and squinting at the numbers. “We have to go find Mr. Brett Tell and get that third Christmas kiss. Who’s coming?”
“I’m in,” Garrett said, grabbing his coat. “I didn’t get invited to any of the others.”
Ah, so her curse-breaking was a spectator sport now.
Wonderful.
“Good.” Crew didn’t break his gaze from Azura’s until the last second. “I can’t go. You can help hold Azura back if Mr. Mystery Man gets out of line and she tries to kick his ass.” He grinned over at his cousin. “She’s pretty terrifying.”
“You’re not coming?” Azura asked, freezing mid-step with a powdered-sugar bowl still in her hand. Crew was her safety net. Her Galahad. She had to do this without him?
She didn’t want to do it without him.
Not even a little bit.
What was an uncomfortable task to begin with became downright appalling without Crew there to soften the blow.
“Not this time. I have some work I have to get done before I leave tonight. Sorry, Butterfly.”
Her heart sank but she nodded, shoving the disappointment down where he couldn’t see it.
Holly grabbed her coat too. “I’m coming. Just in case Garrett needs help. We all know Katrina will definitely not be the voice of reason if things get out of hand. And Garrett can’t hold them both back.”
Amusing, since Holly was the most fiercely protective friend Azura had ever met. She’d jumped on one bad date’s back and whacked him in the head with her purse once because he’d had the audacity to take Azura’s car keys and tell her she couldn’t leave until he was ready for her to leave.
Good times.
Crew chuckled, but the dark eyes were back on Azura. He reached out and tucked that stray curl back into her bandana. “I’ll catch up with you later then. Be careful this time, yeah?”