Rebel Without A Claus

“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Well, you never know when you’ll need to overthrow the government. It’s best to be prepared.”

His lips tugged up into a smile. “Of course. The week before Christmas is the perfect time to plot a potential revolution.”

“Obviously. They’ll never see it coming.”

I clearly wasn’t going to overthrow the government. I was far too disorganized to arrange such a movement, and honestly, it seemed like an awful lot of work.

Besides, this really was a bad time for a revolution. I didn’t like the snow, and there was an awful lot of it around right now. It would only slow me down.

Short of investing in a sled and some huskies I could yell “Mush!” at, of course.

Despite my mother’s insistence I was the rebel of the family, I was a pretty crappy rebel.

Now, at least.

We weren’t going to discuss my teenage years, thank you very much.

After our food was brought out and set on the bar in front of us, Nicholas said, “Weren’t you voted the most likely to burn down the town hall in our senior year?”

Never mind. Apparently, we were.

I ran my tongue over my front teeth. “That was a misunderstanding.”

“How could that possibly be a misunderstanding?”

“Because that firework wasn’t supposed to hit the flag on top of the building and set it on fire.”

“That’s an accident, Quinn. Not a misunderstanding.”

“No, no. It was a misunderstanding because they thought it was deliberate.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“No. It was supposed to hit the stupid snow moose someone had built outside.” I paused. “And I swear to God I only almost crashed my car into the front door because I thought I saw a beaver.”

He stared at me. His expression was indiscernible. “What would a beaver be doing on Main Street?”

“I don’t know. Why else do you think I swerved? It wasn’t to check out the scenery, was it?”

“How the hell did you survive your teenage years?”

“I have a very strong-willed guardian angel who’s probably well overdue her retirement,” I answered. “I’m not like that anymore. I behave myself now.”

“Your mom was telling me you quit your job.” He dipped a waffle fry into some ketchup. “That sounds like the rebellious Quinn Langley I remember.”

I sucked my tongue. “I didn’t quit my job. My boss fired me because I refused to have sex in the break room with him, so I took him to court for wrongful termination and won a shit ton of money.”

“Shit. That sucks.”

“You can say that again. God only knows why I still live with my mother, though.”

“Because moving is a lot of work.”

“I hear that.” I picked up one of the mini sliders from his plate and pulled off the slice of pickle. I hated pickle. It was a stupid vegetable.

“Help yourself,” he said dryly.

“Thank you. I was.” I grinned and bit into the slider.

Nicholas picked up the slice of pickle and put it in his own before he put the whole thing in his mouth.

Savage.

He had no manners.

“And to think I didn’t want to come here with you,” I said dryly. “Aren’t you the perfect dinner date?”

“As long as you don’t set a firework off around me or drive your car, I’ll be anything you want me to be.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Is this usually how you get the girls?”

“No. I’m usually too busy being a nerd and teaching science to smaller nerds.”

“I suppose that’s better than the alternative.”

“What’s the alternative?”

I paused. “I don’t know. I was trying to be polite about you being a nerd.”

“There’s absolutely no way to be polite about someone being a nerd. Not even other nerds are very good at it.” He reached for his beer. “Trust me. I know enough.”

I dipped my head to hide a smile. “I have to be honest, I never imagined you’d end up as a science teacher. Definitely not a nerd. Didn’t you get a football scholarship before you abandoned me?”

He shot me a dark look.

“I’m kidding. It’s a joke. It’s supposed to be funny.”

“You’re not funny.”

“I disagree. I think I’m hilarious. It’s not my fault everyone else is boring as sin.” I grinned.

Nicholas shook his head and muttered something about not arguing with me anymore. “Yeah, I had a scholarship. I liked science, though, and when I started doing better at science than football, my professor had me tutor some freshman kids. I figured out I loved teaching, and the rest is history.”

“I can’t believe you gave up the chance to be a football player to teach kids science.”

“Well, I get to play with fire now.”

“And people thought I would burn down the town hall.” I rolled my eyes. “Is that it? You get to play with fire?”

“Benefits also include not getting beat the fuck up on a regular basis.”

“I can arrange it.”

“That’s right. You were a bully in high school.”