Page 26 of Under The Meh-stletoe

"You're not wrong. It can multiply fast and it’s parasitic. And yet you have an old-time guy, thinking it would be cute to bring mistletoe from Europe for the sake of the season, so he brings it from over and makes a fuuuuu—" I stole a glance at Sebastián, who paid attention to our conversation. "Afunfarm of it and it really makes no sense. It spread all over, sometimes overtaking the natural North American type—"

"You're standing under the mistletoe." Sebastián pointed a straight finger above our heads.

Ale and I stared up at the offending branch in unison. A dark green twig with white berries and a red ribbon hung above us.

We stared at each other for a moment. I waited to see what she would do. When she said nothing, I did the heroic thing and gave her an out.

"We don't have to do this."

"We just established the mistletoe thing is ridiculous."

And dangerous, in my opinion. One thing was to struggle with butterflies and feelings, another with what could happen after I kissed her.

"You have to!" Sebastián insisted. "Dad says it's important to keep traditions."

"Come on, it's just a bit of fun!" Leslie caught on to her son's excitement and joined in. "It's kind of cute; you're the co-chairs of the town celebrations."

Sebastián practically jumped in his spot with excitement. Leslie smiled at us like she had a little secret. I frowned.

Carol joined them. "Do it for the kid!"

"For the town!" Someone said from the crowd.

Soon word of what we were up to moved through the crowd.

People in the front, near the platform, started clapping rhythmically. Soon most attendees added to it inencouragement.

I released an exasperated sigh. "They'll stop if we just do it."

"Fine. A quick peck." Ale rolled her eyes.

I raised an eyebrow. "If you dread it so much, we don't have to do it. They can be disappointed; it won't kill them."

"I don't dread it, I just…"

"It's just a peck." I took her chin with two fingers, brought her face to me, and dropped a kiss on her mouth.

Her lips were soft— I didn't get to register much more. The surprise made her pull back; I immediately let her go and did my best to kill the damn flying insects taking over my gut. Except Ale took over and kissedme, like a second thought had made her want to do it again. More. Properly.

The second touch of our lips turned my insides into a flame. Heat ignited on my skin. It anchored me in my place; it told me I should kiss her a thousand times more. The kiss, short and simple as it was, begged me to do something about what I felt, whether it made sense or not.

For a moment I didn't hear the cheering and clapping around us. It took until Ale pushed me away with a hand on my chest for me to register them. Or the way I had seemed to cling onto her waist in the middle of the kiss.

Sebastián laughed, while the competitors joined everyone in the crowd with a smile. Leslie gave me a funny look as I blinked a few times.

"I did it for the town," I said.

"I'm sure," Leslie winked. She turned to Ale. "Youaregood with grumps."

"Right." Ale said nothing else.

In complete silence, Ale and I put away the table and took it back to the community hall. We didn't speak of the kiss as we made plans to visit our two main Santa contenders again, either.

Just like me, it seemed that Ale planned to ignore the fact something had clicked with that simple peck.

Only that I still didn't see the point in lying, and the evidence of the past few hours made it clear. Waiting for it to pass wouldn't do. So what could I do instead?

December 18