Fighting Fate (Granton University #1)(48)

“Fake?” Paige supplied with a grin.

“Exactly.” When he caught her teasing smile, he smirked and bumped his arm against hers. “Smart aleck.”

Chuckling, she bent down and fiddled with the tree’s skirt. “Don’t worry. Once we get the ornaments and lights put on, it’ll look better.”

Finishing her task, she glanced up at Kevin because he hadn’t responded yet. He was absorbed in looking at her butt, making her self-conscious, hoping she hadn’t sat in something earlier and had a huge stain or nasty smear across her back pockets.

Quickly darting his gaze away, Kevin cleared his throat and tugged at his ear, pasting his attention back on the limp, tilted tree.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, straightening and wiping at her knees she’d been sitting on before discreetly brushing off her backside.

Face infused with hot, embarrassed color, Kevin mumbled, “Nothing. Uh…I think I know what this thing needs.” Holding up a finger, he instructed, “Wait right here.”

As he darted toward an opened cardboard box full of decorations, Paige frowned after him, confused by his odd behavior. Then she checked on Logan, telling herself she needed to know if he had a row of lights strung out yet for them to wind around the tree, though really, she just wanted to peek at him.

His attention was already on her, and his lips twitched, his expression gleaming with amusement. When their gazes met, his blue eyes flared. He jerked away to focus on his job where he already had two series of lights unraveled and strung across the floor.

“What’s so funny?” she asked, utterly confused.

First Kevin. Now Logan. What the heck? She had sat in something, hadn’t she? She swept a hand over the back of her jeans again, wishing someone would tell her if she’d made a mess of herself.

“Nothing,” he said, only to chuckle under his breath.

If she had one nearby, she might be tempted to throw an ornament at him. “What?” she hissed.

His grin spread, and he shook his head. “You don’t even know when you’re being hit on, do you?”

Totally not expecting him to say something like that, Paige blinked, dumbfounded. “Huh?” Had he just confessed he was hitting on her?

Her heart lurched erratically in her chest.

She opened her mouth but had no idea how to respond.

“I’ve got tinsel,” Kevin said, returning to her and sounding breathless as if he’d run the entire way. He looked so eager to please she gaped at him a moment before realization hit. “I swear tinsel can make anything look better,” he added as he playfully tossed a strand onto her hair.

Oh. Ohhhh…

Holy guacamole, Kevin had been hitting on her this entire time. And no, she hadn’t realized it. Geesh, it hadn’t even occurred her that he’d been appreciating the view when she’d bent over to straighten the tree skirt.

She flashed a quick, censorious look Logan’s way, but he suddenly seemed overly involved in his menial task.

“Here you go.” Kevin offered her a handful.

With a weak smile, she accepted the sparkly silver tinsel and sparingly began to spread it over the tree.

“How’re we doing getting the lights unwound?” Samantha asked, approaching Logan to assist him. When he pulled a pentagon from the tangle of green wires, she gasped. “Oh, you found the star. Great.” Taking it from him, she smiled fondly. “My husband and I always made a ritual out of putting the star on last.” Then she laughed as if amused with herself. “As I’m sure most people do.”

When her smile fell, Paige paused in her tinsel draping to watch the leader of their group look momentarily lost, no doubt mourning the love of her life.

She wanted to give Sam a hug, but the woman pulled herself back under control too quickly. She cleared her throat, forcing cheerfulness. “Does your family do that too, Logan?”

Logan began to shake his head but paused. “No, but uh…every year, my family would wait until Christmas Eve before we went to the Christmas tree farm and picked out our tree. I always thought of it as Christmas Tree Night instead of Christmas Eve. I remember anticipating Christmas Tree Night almost as much as Christmas morning. Both my parents would be home. My brothers and I would crowd into the back seat, always arguing over who had to sit in the middle.” A wistful smile crossed his face.

“What made your family stop them?” Sam asked softly.

He jerked his face up, looking guilty. “What? Oh, no. They haven’t…they haven’t stopped.”

Sam wrinkled her brow. She looked as confused by his statement as Paige felt. Paige watched his expression go shuttered as Samantha pressed, “But they’re not the same anymore?”

He offered her a tight smile. “No, you’re right. They’re still…it’s still the best night of the year.”

As the leader of the group lifted an untangled line of lights and carried it off, Paige continued to study Logan’s face. Something was very off about what he’d just said, but she couldn’t figure out what.

As if sensing her stare, he looked up. Not bothering to mask his emotion, he stared at her, and she could see from his face how much he hurt inside. He appeared so vulnerable, she actually stepped toward him.

But Kevin turned to her, asking if she needed more tinsel.

“What?” She blinked and looked at her tree-decorating partner. “Oh. No. No, I think I’m good over here. Should we put the lights on next?”