Paisley paused to consider the question. “I’ve never had it, but I think I might. I mean, come on, it’s cheese. Where’s the bad?”

They all laughed.

After Shaye and Camryn took off their coats, Shaye unpacked her boxes.

“Books and fun things,” she said. “Yo-yos and puzzles. I thought they would be a surprise, along with the practical stuff.”

“Nice,” Paisley said. “All right, people. We are ready to get to work.”

They rearranged the tables to create a U shape with the boxes filled with backpacks at one end. They put out the supplies in the order they would go into the backpack, with the bulkier items on the bottom and the M&M’S and games on top. Once that was done, they each took a backpack and started to go down the line, filling it with the various items.

“How’s everyone doing?” Dena asked. “Are the holidays getting crazy?”

“Some of us have time to get a drink with a good-looking man,” Paisley pointed out. “Some of us should talk about that.”

It took Reggie a second to realize her friend was looking at her. “You mean me?”

“I wasn’t the one getting drinks with Toby at Holiday Spirits.”

Everyone turned to stare. Dena pouted. “You never said anything.”

“There’s nothing to say. It was one drink.”

Camryn smiled. “That’s how it always starts, with a casual drink. So, how did you end up at Holiday Spirits?”

Reggie should have realized the topic would come up and prepared her story. As it was, she was left with little more than the truth, which even in her head sounded a little...unexpected.

“He texted me and asked me to go to Advent with him,” she began, only to be interrupted by Paisley.

“He asked you out?”

“No. It was just friendly. Belle and Harrison came. It wasn’t a date.”

“I don’t know. You ended up in a bar. Sounds pretty date-like to me.”

Dena grinned. “She’s right. It’s kind of Dating 101.”

“No. I was joining him and Harrison for mini golf, but Harrison went off with his friends and it was cold, so we went to Holiday Spirits instead. It wasn’t anything.”

Shaye put a pink yo-yo in her backpack. “I can’t decide if it was just one of those things, or Toby had a plan from the get-go. I can see either happening.”

“There was no plan,” Reggie grumbled, putting her first full backpack against the wall and collecting a second empty one.

“That you know of.”

“Did you have fun?” Dena asked.

Reggie dropped in a large box of pads and one of tampons, then reached for socks. “Yes. He’s always been easy to talk to. That hasn’t changed. But it was just as friends, I swear.”