Loving Cousin

"So how do we decide who takes him?" Holly asked Steph in a whisper.

"We could let him decide," Steph suggested.

I couldn't hide my snark. "There's an idea."

Steph gave me a sour look. "So who are you bringing to my party?" she asked in a sarcastic tone.

John walked up in time to hear her question. "Me, of course," was his reply.

Holly jumped in to salvage the disaster. "Kate, you always liked my older brother, James. I bet he'd take you."

"We tried that once, remember?" I gave her a withering look over my coffee. "I almost never got the chocolate fingerprints off of my white shorts."

Her strained smile made me want to chuckle. "Well we can't expect you to take a relative to a holiday party. That wouldn't be fair. Who would you kiss under the mistletoe?"

"At this point, I'd happily kiss anyone with a pulse, a job, and some kind of ambition. Do either one of you know anyone like that?" I asked, noting that John was trying to suppress his laughter.

Steph barged her way back into the con