“How do you know he’s from the city?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
The corners of Stef's mouth pushed back into an assured smile. “Total hottie-city-guy vibes.”
“Huh.” I took a bite of the snowman’s face, trying to be cool. “I didn’t notice he was hot.”
“Are you kidding me?” Stef said. “He’s got a great ass. I bet those thighs could…”
“And you know he’s from the city because of his ass?” I interrupted, skeptically.
“Yeah, and his license plate has a city tag on it,” Stef said with a sly smile as she pointed at the window. I looked out to see the man as he was getting into his car parked on Main Street.
“Ah. Well, I’m happy to eat his share of complimentary cookies,” I said to the snowflake cookie. “Who says no to a Christmas cookie?”
“I know, right?” Stef laughed as she walked back to the counter.
I saw my phone light up and tapped the text bubble.
Are you going to be able to make it to the meeting with the mayor? No pressure.
I laughed. Typical Aunt Rita—always trying to give me an out.
I texted back.
I’ll be there, as promised!
Before I could put my phone down, another message popped up, this time from my best friend, Veronica.
I know how much you love the holidays. Check out this cutie in the reindeer outfit.
I clicked on the text bubble and an adorable picture of Veronica’s nine-month-old son, Preston, in a reindeer outfit popped up. I tapped the photo and sent a heart emoji.
I love the holiday spirit!
Three little dots appeared on the screen as I picked up my cup to take a sip of coffee. I couldn’t help but sniff the cup before taking a sip. I guess the drink did smell a little “Christmassy,” as the man had said earlier. But what was wrong with that? Didn’t everyone love the holidays?
My phone vibrated in my hand. I looked down, surprised, to see that Veronica was calling me.
“Hey,chica. What’s up?” I said.
“I thought it would be easier to just call,” Veronica’s cheerful voice announced. “Preston is being a little fussy, so it’s easier for me to hold him and talk rather than text.”
“Oh, he doesn’t like being dressed as a reindeer?” I asked, frowning because the thought of a fussy baby reindeer was so cute it pained me.
“Oh, he doesn’t mind the reindeer outfit. It’s the photo shoot that I put him through, trying to get that one cute photo I sent you. That’s what he can’t stand.” Veronica laughed. “So, what are you up to this weekend? Any hot dates?”
“No hot dates on the docket here,” I snorted.
“Well, any potential hot dates?” Veronica asked hopefully.
“Please,” I scoffed. “The only attractive man I’ve talked to in weeks was a rude out-of-towner at the coffee shop this morning.”
Veronica didn’t miss a beat and responded playfully, “Oh! That could be fun. Did you get his number?”
“No, we had a little back and forth about a confused coffee order. He was rude, though.” I thought about the coffee cup guy’s broad shoulders and deep voice and admitted out loud, “But he was really hot.”
Veronica didn’t need much more than that to jump onto her soap box. “Look, all I’m saying is: if a conversation with a random hot guy in a coffee shop is the most action you’re getting, it’s not enough action,amiga!You are young. You are good-looking. And you are incredibly single. You need to not only be talking to every cute, single man you see, but you need to betalking.”
“Okay, okay. I’ll put ‘flirt shamelessly’ on my to-do list.”
