Smoke and Mistletoe (Best Wishes Book 3)

by A. J. Macey

  “That’s a story for another time, but if you ever need a laugh or a distraction, I’ll tell you more about her. Feeling a bit better now?" he asked softly as I yawned.

  "Yeah, I think I'm going to try and go back to bed. Thank you, Alex, you know... for talking to me," I murmured, stuttering out my appreciation.

  "Of course, Lucie. You can call me whenever you need to, and I'll do whatever I can to help," he assured me. "You get some sleep. I should have that item you requested figured out in the next two weeks. I know you wanted it for Christmas, but tracking it down is proving more complex than I anticipated."

  "I don't think he'll care whether it's at Christmas or in a year," I said with a chuckle. "Thank you, again. Goodnight."

  "Goodnight, Lucie."

  Hanging up, I stood and walked back into my room being sure not to step on Charlie who had maneuvered closer to the door than earlier. This time when I fell back into bed, my dreams were filled with silly dates and happily ever afters, not a night terror in sight.

  3

  December 21st

  Friday Midday

  Lucienne

  It wasn't early since the clock was only nearing noon, but I was tired even after sleeping well from Alex's story, so I found myself standing in the kitchen blankly staring at the coffee pot while I waited for it to brew. Char had left a few minutes earlier with plans to spend most of the day getting pampered with her mom before the hospital's annual holiday party. She and her parents would be coming over for our usual Christmas Eve get together and then staying with us for a few days on and off throughout the rest of break.

  Sadie was back home until the 26th when she'd stay here for a night before she and Harlem went on a couple's vacation since they'd finally decided to put a label on their relationship. I was excited for Sadie and Charlie to meet, knowing they'd get along well, but a portion of me was worried about the amount of sass I was going to have to deal with.

  Not that I'd actually change anything about that though.

  "Morning, sweetheart," my mom said, her tired greeting pulling me from my mental ramble, but when I opened my mouth to reply, the sound of muffled singing filled our quiet house.

  "What on Earth?" I murmured, trying to figure out if I was hearing things in my sleepy state or if there were actual carolers at our house. "I'm not the only one hearing that, right?"

  "No," my mom answered as she took a couple steps back to look down the entryway hall. "Sounds like it's at the door." My brows drew down as I made my way down the hall, my mom following me. The closer I got to the door, the more I realized it was male voices singing, and my lip quirked up.

  My guys didn't arrive at my house and start caroling, I thought as I unlocked the door. Apparently, they did, I realized with a laugh when I came face to face with all six of them bundled up, suitcases and duffles in tow all while they sang “Jingle Bells” loudly. Our poor neighbors, I thought, good thing they’re likely at work.

  "Hey, guys," I greeted, my face burning in a blush as they smiled brightly at the end of their song.

  "That was a lovely song, now get in here before you all freeze," Mom teased, holding the door open for them as I stepped back. "It's good to see you boys again, under less stressful circumstances this time."

  As they came in, they re-introduced themselves, either shaking my mom's hand or giving her a brief hug. After they did that, they walked toward me, kissing me with their own warm greetings before wandering farther into the house. When they were all in, my mom shut the door, and we met them in the opening between the kitchen and living room. Their eyes trailed over everything, taking in the house I grew up in as they stood in a cluster.

  "Uh, the bathroom's in the front hall," I explained, realizing they didn't know where anything was. "That door is my room, and that one is the spare room that was added on in like the 90s. Mom's room is up at the front of the house across from the bathroom... " I trailed off, not sure what else to say, my fingers twisting into the ends of my messy ponytail.

  "Where are we sleeping?" Logan questioned, flopping onto the couch. "Holy shit, this couch is comfortable."

  "The bed in the spare room is a king, so depending on if anyone wants to share, then I figured the couch could fit two if someone wants to take the chaise. Then we have a bunch of blankets and pillows. There's a queen-sized air mattress I can blow up too if anyone doesn't want the floor. There's also room for two or three of you in my room."

  "Basically sleepover Tetris," Cam added with a grin, his hazel eyes sparkling as he looked at me.

  "Essentially, yeah." I laughed, my body relaxing the longer I was surrounded by my guys. While it felt good to have some time alone with Mom and Char after a month of never being by myself, I had missed them.

  "I figured, if you boys were up for it," my mom took over, holding a storage bin, "that we could decorate for the holidays. I've been very busy with my orders, but I thought it might be fun for the seven of you." Grigori squawked, fluttering his feathers as he looked at my mom. "Sorry, eight of you," she amended at Grigori's tantrum, a little smile curling her lips as she looked at the familiar.

  "Decorating? Count me in!" Landon practically shouted, hopping up and down in place with excitement. I couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped me; he was like a little kid, and it was incredibly adorable. Everyone started to move, taking the bin from my mom before helping her bring in the others, but I couldn't seem to make my feet move, my mind a whirl with too many thoughts and emotions. One thought sounding louder in my mind than the others.

  How did I get so lucky?

  Nikolai

  Lucie had stayed still and silent next to me, immediately catching Grigori's attention. It did not seem Lucie was seeing anything around her, her glazed eyes making me worry that she was having a panic attack.

  "Babe?" I whispered. My hand reached out to grab hers, but I pulled back, not wanting to make any potential flashback worse. "Are you all right?"

  "Yeah," she murmured, shaking her head slightly, "just lost in thought."

  "Not a flashback?" I asked softly, stepping closer to her. Grigori's focus was intense on her heart-shaped face, noticing her dark circles were less prominent, and that the fair skin around the dark bruising had returned to its usual color, not the sickly green tone it had had during the last month. Her gaze drifted up my face to look me in the eye, my worthless eyes as I watched through Grigori. I shoved the negative thought away and took her hands in mine.

  “Not a flashback, I was just appreciating the moment. The holidays have always been either quiet or stressful depending on who was around,” she explained quietly, “but now it’s joyful and fun, and I get to spend it surrounded by everyone I love…” She shrugged, trailing off. “That sounds corny.”

  “I love it,” I whispered. “I have never really celebrated Christmas with anyone special because my parents are typically working. The guys are special, but not in the sense that it is with you, I mean, it is our first Christmas together…” It was my turn to trail of, the prickling tingle of a blush burning my cheeks as realized how silly I sounded.

  “You’re sweet, Nik.” Lucie popped up onto the tips of her toes and pressed a warm kiss to my lips.

  “Are you two going to stand and chat, or are you going to help us get into the holiday spirit!” Landon practically shouted, a fluffy Santa hat on his head. Grigori squawked, abruptly launching off from my shoulder to the box of bright baubles the guys had opened. Groaning to myself, I tried to work, helping everyone get the tree out of the box and set-up, but it was difficult with Grigori focusing on all the shiny things. After having had enough of his distracted behavior, I shut off our connection, focusing my magic around me so I could ‘see.’

  The picture around me was hazier than when I looked through our bond, but my magical echolocation allowed me to make out the gray shapes amongst the darkness of my useless eyes. My senses not only picked up on what was ‘visually’ in front of me, I was able to have a sense of what was behind me as
well, even if it was only a basic idea such as a small, non-moving object to the right. Focusing on helping unpack the bins, I listened to Lucie’s musical laugh and the guys’ boisterous talking.

  As soon as the tree was up in the section between the living room and kitchen, Grigori seemed to be in the holiday spirit, fluttering between the box and the tree, hanging garland and ornaments with Lucie.

  “Show off,” I muttered to myself, rolling my eyes at his shameless need for Lucie’s attention. I had started to pull out the stockings with Dante as Hudson finished putting the hooks on the wall when a flap of Grigori’s wings caught my attention. Before I realized what was happening, I found myself covered in a bundle of itchy silver and red garland. Grumbling, I tuned back into our connection to see myself standing in the center of the room, scowling.

  “Aww, guess that’s what you get for calling your familiar a show off.” Dante snickered, grabbing the end of the Christmas lights the twins had laid out for the tree. Without much fanfare, he darted around me and wrapped me in the white lights. At first I stood there, continuing to scowl, but when Dante stopped in front of me and wound the last of the string around my shoulders and head, Cam’s conversation from yesterday came barrelling forward.

  Dante’s musky cologne reached my nose, his warm forearms brushing my shoulders as he worked. While I knew my friends were attractive, I had never been attracted to them save for Cam. Now though, I found that hint of nervousness building in my stomach as a wash of goosebumps coated my skin. Dante’s wide smile as he laughed at me made my heart gallop, but it was when Lucie came up behind him and stuck a bow to my head that I realized I was also experiencing some budding attraction to Dante, especially seeing Lucie wrapped into his arms.

  “You’re the prettiest Christmas tree of them all, Nik,” Lucie teased, her lips twitching in an attempt to keep her laughing contained. “It’s nice seeing you get into the magic of Christmas. Get it? Magic… warlock?”

  “Oh, Firecracker, that was bad,” Dante groaned, but I could not stop the laugh that bubbled out of me.

  “All right, that was pretty funny, I will admit,” I whispered, my throat giving out on the last word. Smashing my lips together, I tried to force a smile for Lucie’s sake. Seeming to catch my discomfort, Dante stepped away, leaving the two of us alone.

  “Here, let’s get you un-Christmas-fied.” Lucie chuckled and began taking the bow and lights off. Dante stepped back over to us as Lucie worked on freeing me, my brows drawing down until I saw the glass of water in his hand.

  “Here, Nik,” he said with a nudge. “For when you’re no longer trapped by Christmas decor.” Giving him a tight smile, I nodded my thanks, refusing to open my mouth in case something I did not want to get out spewed from me. While I was dealing with those effects of my growing attraction to Dante, my jaw ground at the feeling that they had to help me. I reminded myself that they did not do it because they thought I could not, but because they cared, just like Cam did. They also do not do it all the time either, my mind whispered, fully shoving the negative thoughts away. Lucie’s attention darted between us, her keen gaze narrowing on me. Knowing her, she had picked up on my internal struggle based on my tense and rigid stance.

  “What was that?” she asked softly when we were alone. I shook my head, signifying it was nothing. “All right then, you can tell me when you’re ready. But I wanted to say thank you.”

  “For what?” I barely got the words out through the painful gravel.

  “Being you. I love seeing you and the guys all be yourselves without the stress of tests or classes or anything else,” she explained, wrapping her arms around my shoulders once the garland was off.

  “You are welcome, Babe.” Curling her up, I pulled her into me, my body reacting immediately to her lush curves against my chest.

  “Boys!” Lucie and I both nearly jumped, the sound of her mom calling out from down the hall pulling our attention away from each other. “Why on Earth are you on the roof?”

  “If we’re decorating for Christmas, we’re going all out!” I heard Hudson and Logan holler.

  Oh good lord, I thought, poor Abigail for having to put up with us.

  “Come on, let’s go make sure they’re not about to fall off or make my house look like an airfield runway.” Lucie sighed, thinking similarly to me. The smile on her face gave way to the fact that she appreciated their antics, and as soon as Grigori finally resettled on my shoulder, we headed out into the cold.

  Maybe the holiday spirit is not so bad at all.

  Hudson

  "What's to eat around here, Lemon Drop?" Landon asked, his head whipping around the town. "You know I'm pretty much good for anything."

  "We could hit up the diner," she suggested. “They have the best food in town, and Bruce knows to expect a lot of people from our house this week.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Cam’s brow rose as a grin took over his face. “Been talking about us, I see.”

  “Ha, you wish,” she joked. “My mom warned him since she doesn’t cook and I’m on restriction from doing too much activity throughout the day. We tend to order food from there to-go for dinner.”

  “Probably a good thing with these two bottomless pits.” I waved to the twins, laughing at their indignant glares.

  “We’re growing men! We need all the sustenance we can get,” Logan challenged, flexing his arm despite having on a coat that hid his muscles. Rolling my eyes, I felt Lucie force herself under my arm, my hand coming out of my pocket as she curled into me.

  “Cold, Princess?” I asked, knowing the answer already. It had become a regular occurrence for her to thread herself through my arm and cuddle into my coat when we were walking next to each other.

  “Always,” she countered with a smile, “we’re almost there though. It’s on that corner up ahead.” We continued to walk, our boots crunching on the dead leaves that littered the sidewalk. Dante was in the middle of a conversation with Cam about the exhibit they were doing in the library for the next semester when we reached the door, Lucie moving out from under my arm to lead us into the restaurant.

  It was brightly lit, decorated in a retro diner theme with black and white checkered tile flooring, red vinyl booths, and shiny chrome accents on the tables and counter. The woman working at the front booth grabbed menus and silverware before taking us to the corner booth. Lucie scooted into the middle, Dante and I on either side of her as the twins slid onto my right and Cam and Nik on Dante’s left.

  “This place smells amazing,” Landon nearly moaned, whipping open his menu and burying his nose into the laminated pages.

  “Oh, they have a barbecue pulled pork burger? Hell yes.” Cam followed Landon’s enthusiastic lead as he scanned his menu. Lucie didn’t look at hers, her eyes trailing over the joint with a minute grin on her face. She must have felt my eyes on her because she glanced at me, her brow furrowed.

  “What?” she whispered in confusion.

  “Nothing, it’s just nice seeing you so happy,” I murmured, my lips brushing the curve of her ear as I whispered.

  “Lucie Marie!” a booming voice called out enthusiastically. Glancing over, I saw a robust man walking toward us. His cheeks were flushed, almost as red as the bandana on his head. His white apron was splotchy and stained, a rag tossed over his shoulder. “It’s good to see you again, Little Miss. How’s being home from RSU? Good, I hope.”

  “Guys, this is Bruce. He runs the place. Bruce, these are my boyfriends.” She ran down the line, listing off our names.

  “Boyfriends, huh? Yeah, I’d say college is treatin’ you right.” He laughed, the loud sound catching the gazes of the customers around us, but instead of staring, they just shook their heads with a smile and went back to their meals, seemingly used to Bruce’s exuberant personality. “What can I get for you, boys?” When Lucie opened her mouth, Bruce waved her off. “Don’t even get started, Lucie Marie, I already know what you want. Unless your usual taste buds have changed in the last six months, or since
your mama came and got takeout.”

  “Nope, I just wasn’t sure if you remembered.” She squirmed in her seat, her cheeks reddening at his playful question.

  “Me, forget? I don’t think so, Little Miss. I’ll have your standard order up here until my dying breath.” Bruce tapped the side of his head as he yanked out a small notepad and pen with the other hand. Taking our orders quickly, he shoved the notepad back into the apron pocket before tipping an imaginary hat and heading back to the swinging door I assumed led to the kitchen.

  “Well, he is certainly cheerful,” I shot out through our mental connection, not wanting my thought to possibly upset Lucie.

  “No kidding, I think my ear is ringing,” Logan countered, discreetly wiggling a finger in his ear.

  “What?” Nik said, glancing at Cam. At his mental question I realized Cam had a thoughtful expression meaning he and his nerd brain were up to something.

  “We haven’t talked about Lucie being added to our telepathic link. Think that’s something she’d be up for?” Cam asked, watching Lucie look through the table’s laminated flip menu and ads.

  “That’d be a really good Christmas present from all of us,” Dante suggested, “if we’re all up for it.”

  “We’re good,” the twins sent at the same time. Nik nodded, Cam humming mentally.

  “Yeah, we’ll just need to check with her first, and possibly see if it’ll connect with her beast of a mental barrier,” I explained.

  “Want to do that Christmas morning before we get to Hudson’s house?” Dante asked. Another round of affirmatives went up, just in time for the waitress to bring out our drinks and apparently a round of nachos on the house, compliments of the chef. The cheese and spice scent wafting from the appetizer had me perking up and my stomach growled, demanding satisfaction. After the first bite though, I couldn’t stop shoveling the delicious food into my mouth.