All Madison wants for Christmas is the same person who once wanted her. Free from the shackles of her broken heart, she's finally ready to give love another shot. But is Madi too late to win back the man of her dreams?
SEQUEL to The Heartbreak Hypot...
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No.
Not really.
It took me two seconds to find the sugar. The entire bag of unopened sugar. At first, I thought someone had put in the dishwasher by mistake. But then I realized it wasn't lost at all.
It was stashed.
God, Noah was good. Noah was good. I didn't know what I'd done to deserve him, to deserve my very own Cupid who could apparently read my mind. He'd handed me exactly what I needed without me even having to ask.
I had it. I had my one night alone with James. Just like I'd begged God and Father Christmas and all three of the Holiday ghosts to bless me with. It was there—right in front of me—and never had the stars been so perfectly aligned.
Because I knew myself. I knew that my newfound resolve would be quick to waver. Hell, knowing me, it would only take one mixed signal from James to scare me back into my shell, back into the fiery depths of the dreaded friendzone where everything was so hard.
But we'd had too many almosts. Too many missed opportunities. Far too many false starts. That night, frisky Madi was out. She wanted answers, and she was ready to face whatever the Christmas spirits had in store for her.
Good or bad.
"You okay over there?"
James was peering at me from over the back of the sofa, his head cocked studiously, his grin adorably lazy. I'd been pouring another bowl of popcorn in the kitchen and scanning the weather alert on my phone—totally mindlessly, I'll admit—and hadn't realized that he was eyeing me so closely.
Just as he'd been eyeing Noah and Dex when they'd been hovering in the kitchen moments before.
When we'd both known that they were up to something.
The very same thing that I was up to now.
"Fine," I reassured him a little too quickly, moving out from the counter and back toward the lounge. A lounge that was big enough to accommodate all four of us comfortably, but that now looked so small it sent my heart racing.
The walls seemed to close in with every step I took. Like the universe knew I was getting closer and closer to having my worst fears realized. Or to having my most precious dreams come true.
I still wasn't sure which was the most likely outcome. But Noah and Dex's retreat gave me some form of hope. Would Noah really have left me alone with James if some part of him didn't believe that my feelings were reciprocated?
Maybe it was like he said. Maybe the ball was in my court. Maybe it was time for me to take my shot.
Or maybe he just wanted this whole thing over with.
A shallow breath left my lips as I curled up next to James. I wasn't really next to him, per se—there was enough space between us to house an entire living person. I placed the bowl of popcorn there, praying for a cliché hands-grazing-amongst-the-kernels moment that would inevitably spark fire and say everything I couldn't.
