“You’re looking at her like you just realized you picked the wrong ex to fake date,” Asher says.

“She’s hot as hell,” I say. “I wouldn’t kick her out of bed.”

“Olivia.”

“What? You must agree on some level. You real dated her.”

“Yeah,” he coughs lowly as we cross onto the patio, a blast of cold air greeting us. “I’m not sure that she’d agree that it was real.”

I frown, looking up at him. His nose is the same shade of pink as his cheeks and he’s biting his lips to keep his teeth from chattering.

“I don’t think that’s true.”

I saw the look on his face the night of the tree lighting. Whatever feelings Asher had for Francesca, they were real. There are some things in life that you just can’t fake—knowing calculus, liking tequila, and the complete devastation of watching someone you love move on with someone else.

But, for now, I leave Asher’s buttons unpushed. We have more pressing matters to tend to, like a bucket of carrots and a reindeer named Prancer.

“Look at them!” I take Asher’s hand and drag him towards the crowd. We leave hurried footprints in the dusting of snow, and I grab a handful of carrots before stopping in front of a reindeer that looks Vitamin A drunk. “Aren’t you just the cutest?”

“His breath smells worse than yours,” Asher says.

“You can insult me all you want,” I say, scratching Prancer under his ear. “But leave him out of it.”

Asher snarls at the animal, who has started nudging his hand for any carrots that he might be holding out on.

“He likes you!”

“He has a poor judge of character,” Asher mumbles.

“Stop,” I laugh as Prancer licks Asher’s hand. “Have you thought about getting a pet? I think you’d really benefit from the companionship.”

“I like being alone,” he says. “So don’t get any ideas. I’m fairly certain you can’t Amazon Prime a puppy.”

“Oh, c’mon,” I laugh. “Even the Grinch had a dog.”

“I like living my life without having to worry about someone else’s needs.”

I hum. “You seemed pretty worried about me last night.”

“Because you were drunk out of your mind at a company event,” he says. “Your death would have been an HR nightmare.”

“Sure.” I nod. “If that’s what you need to believe.”

I feed Prancer one last carrot before his caretaker insists it’s time for them to go back to the North Pole. I refrain from asking if I can go with them. Mostly because I’m fairly certain Asher would have jumped at the opportunity to get rid of me.

“You guys!” Francesca throws her arms around me and Asher, and because of the height difference, I almost end the night with a black eye. “I’m just so happy that we’re all happy. Doesn’t it feel nice to be this happy and in love? Because I was soooo worried about you, Ash. I’m so glad everyone was wrong about you. You can feel things! You have a heart! Love is soooo beautiful and everything is spinning! Merry Christmas!”