Holiday Madness: A Boyfriend Thief Christmas Story Read Free Page A

Luis?”
    “They can’t get the shuffle
right,” Mr. Throckmorton said. “You’re doing it, James. No
complaints.”
    “But—”
    “No complaints!” Mr.
Throckmorton called as he disappeared into the kitchen again.
    Great. Just great. Of course
Elliott would twist his ankle the day before the dance-a-thon.
    I pulled my phone from my
pocket and texted Molly.
    Your boyfriend and my
boyfriend are teaming together to torment me. It’s a
conspiracy!
    A few seconds
later, Molly texted back, You think
everything’s a conspiracy. Calm down. Deep breaths. Nothing is as
bad as you always think it is.
    Yeah, right.
     

    Zac
arrived at my house just as I had gotten off work that night.
School was out for winter break and we had planned to spend a lot
of time together, but this wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind.
    “I have a lot to do and not
much time to do it,” Zac said as he stepped into my house. He
carried a box overflowing with Christmas lights and ornaments and
Santa Claus hats.
    “What is all of that?” I
followed him into the den, where he dumped the box on the floor by
the couch. The box tipped over, spilling the contents across the
carpet. There was even more inside than what seemed possible to
stuff in a box that size.
    “Decorations my mom said I
could use for the Holiday Wonderland Hop,” Zac answered. “I was
planning to go to Diggity Dog House in the morning and get
everything set up.” He dug into the stuff and found a pile of
papers clipped together. “These are the sponsor posters I’ll tape
on the walls and windows. It’s been a rush since we didn’t have
much time, but it’s all coming together really nicely. I even
called the newspaper and the local TV station to let them know what
we’re doing. The paper is going to run a notice in the events
section tomorrow and the TV station said they’ll send a reporter
out to film us for one of those feel-good holiday stories.”
    Film us? By
us, he meant me . Because I would be dressed as a
giant Hot Dog Santa, doing the Diggity Dog Shuffle. On television,
in front of the whole county.
    My stomach churned. A huge
chunk of something that felt like the hot dog I’d had for dinner
earlier was working its way up my esophagus.
    “I don’t think I can do this,”
I said.
    Zac wrinkled his nose. “Do
what?”
    I flailed my arms. “This! The
Hot Dog Holiday Wonderland Hop.”
    He patted me on the shoulders.
“Yes, you can. You have to.”
    I crossed my arms, scowling as
he bent back over his pile of Christmas junk. Specks of glitter had
fallen off one of the Santa Claus hats onto the beige carpet I had
vacuumed that morning. He didn’t even seem to notice the mess he
was making. He never noticed the messes he created, like he
expected everyone to just deal with it and live the same way he
did.
    “ I don’t have to do anything, Zac.”
    Zac sighed. “Okay, sorry.
You’re right, you don’t have to do it. But it was your idea.”
    “ No,” I said, my teeth clenched hard. “My idea was a canned
food drive. Which no one paid any attention to. All of this
insanity is your idea.”
    “Yes, and I would really
appreciate it if you would dance tomorrow.”
    Fury bubbled
inside me. My neck felt hot and my collar itched at my skin. “Why?
So you can bask in all the glory of putting this together? Everyone
is so in love with your idea, but they never even bothered to
notice what I was trying to do all along! So now you can be on TV and in
the newspaper, with everyone admiring how brilliant you are and
how you got people
in this town to think about someone other than themselves?
Meanwhile, I’m just the stupid giant hot dog, doing a stupid dance
for a stupid fundraiser!”
    When Zac’s expression turned
from confusion to hurt, I realized what I’d said.
    “I’m sorry,” I said quickly, my
tantrum deflating fast. “I didn’t mean your idea is stupid—”
    “That’s what it sounded like,”
Zac said, his voice flat. He turned the box right