Page 32 of Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane

Okay, so your elbows and feet are touching.

This is fine.

That buzzing feeling racing through your body is from all the sugar you just ate.

Nothing more.

But my brain continued to work overtime till the cozy warmth of the room made me a bit dizzy, my eyes heavy.

Maybe if I closed them for just a moment, this would all work itself out…

“Gianna.” A voice near my cheek.

The familiar smell of pine trees and Ivory soap.

I opened my eyes, and my breath caught in my throat.

Sam’s face, all aglow from the multicolored twinkle lights of the nearby tree, hovered inches away from mine. “You fell asleep, Mouse,” he whispered.

I blinked a few times. “I’m not a mouse.”

The corner of his mouth quirked up. “True, you don’t have cheese on you, but you do have some pine needles here.” He paused and gently pulled a needle nestled near my temple and held it up. “Where’d this come from?”

I plucked it from his fingers and stretched, dropping it on his fluffy red hair, smiling. “Dasher’s wreath.”

He chuckled. “You are something else, you know that?” Before I could process it, Sam tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, his hand lingering a moment before falling back to the blanket. His chocolate-brown eyes searched my face, finally settling on my lips.

And I think I stopped breathing.

What is going on here?

This was Sam.

My Sam.

My best friend.

Yet I couldn’t stop staring at his lips either.

What would it feel like if we just…

I inched closer.

Wait. Did he inch closer?

Our eyes met.

I slowly tilted my head. Permission. A plea.

His fingertips once more hovered a whisper away from my cheek.

And then he stopped.

“I…” He drew his hand back to look at his wrist only to realize his watch was on his other one. “I should go. It’s getting late. Chance of ice tonight, too.”

“Ice?” I asked.

I thought the forecast said clear skies tonight.