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“Of course, the mistletoe queen would draw that,” Enzo teased. “Never mind that I won the bet.”
“I don’t think you did,” Brianna said from her spot on the loveseat next to her best friend, Lauralie. “I saw a picture of Holden and Faith kissing under the mistletoe, and we all can see how in love they are. That’s couple number three right there…”
“Those two were already engaged before they kissed.” Nic rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t count.”
“Whose side are you on?” Charity said. She was Noelle’s best friend and, therefore, would fight for her to win.
“Yep.” Noelle gave a big nod. “Especially since I specifically said the mistletoe is the magic that pushes them along.” She looked over at Faith. “Did mistletoe deepen your relationship in any way?”
Faith’s eyes immediately went to Holden, standing with the rest of the guys behind the loveseat. He was holding a mug of eggnog, but his eyes stayed firmly on Faith.
“Yes,” he said. “That one kiss was the most powerful kiss I’ve ever had. I’d say I knew I loved Faith from the moment I saw her, but that made me realize that I’d never loved anybody more. Aside from my daughter, anyway.”
“Aww,” Noelle said as Charity looked over at Faith.
She knew what her sister was thinking.Are you hearing this? He means every word of it.And Faith couldn’t see how he didn’t. Sure, maybe he was trying to help Noelle win her bet, but he was staring at Faith that way again. The way that made it hard to believe he didn’t have feelings for her.
“Okay, fine,” Enzo said. “You win.”
“What is it you win, exactly?” Matt asked.
“She has to cook dinner for me every night for a month,” Enzo said.
“And if you’d won?” Nic asked.
Everyone turned to look at Enzo. “Same,” he said. “But I was going to do takeout. We all know I’m a horrible cook.”
Everyone laughed. Well, everyone but Noelle, who mock-glared at him. Holden wasn’t laughing, either. He was staring at Faith, his gaze still as intense as when he’d said those words.
“Holden was just telling us earlier what a great cook you are, Faith,” Lucky said. “Sounds like you could even open your own restaurant.”
Eyes wide, she shifted her attention to Jordan’s boyfriend. Nobody had suggested anything like that before. She wasn’t sure what to say.
“Her cooking was legendary around the house growing up,” Charity said. “Mom started teaching her when she was barely old enough to reach the stove. She took over by the time I was in middle school. Did most of the cooking. She makes some amazing chicken and dumplings.”
“She and J.J. made those,” Holden said. “She’s been showing J.J. how to cook.”
“Perfect,” Noelle said. “You can show Enzo some tricks, then. He owes me dinner every night for a year.”
“A year?” He looked around the room. “Nobody told me it would be that long.”
Faith couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll see what I can do. But I guess, growing up, it was my way to stand out. Everyone else in the house had special talents. I wanted to learn to do something.”
“Are you kidding?” Jordan asked. “In school, everyone wanted to be like Faith Ardmore. You were the oldest of all the sisters. You were beautiful and smart and always knew the answers to everything.”
“See?” Charity asked, pointing at Faith. “That’s what I told you. It has nothing to do with the grades on your report card.”
“I stunk in school,” Lucky said. “Whenever there was a test, I just froze up. I knew the answers the night before, but the second you put that piece of paper in front of me, I was toast.”
“That was me,” Faith said. “But it wasn’t just that. Ana and Charity were cheerleaders—”
“In middle school,” Charity interrupted. “Neither one of us made the high school squad.”
“Yeah, that middle school squad had, like, a billion people on it, didn’t it?” Enzo asked.
That earned him a harsh look from Noelle. It was a loving look, but the, “Hey, you’ll hurt her feelings” messaging was clear as day.
“No, he’s right,” Charity said. “It didn’t take too much to make the middle school squad. Ana and I practiced for hours in our room in elementary school. We were both determined to make it because we thought it would make us—”
