10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Walter

I didn’t enjoy having to tell Shimmersnap that we couldn’t explore a relationship between us. As amazing as the night had been, and as much as I wished things could be different, I was still me—grumpy, reclusive, loner, alpha Walter—and he was still too amazing of an omega to be tied to the likes of me. It shouldn’t have been a surprise to him, though—hell, the surprise had been when we landed in bed. Still, the look of regret on his face definitely mirrored exactly how I felt in my heart.

Maybe it was time for me to let Shimmersnap go as an assistant. If he worked for a different division, then we could be together. I shook that thought away. Even if we were together, it would only be a matter of time before he found someone better, or until my loner ways drove him away. It was better this way. One amazing night, rather than months of a slowly dying relationship. I could think of what could have been instead of being sad about what was.

The rest of the day went smoothly, it always did with Shimmersnap as my assistant. I hadn’t realized just how much help I needed until he came along. I would be lost without him. I only hoped that he hadn’t wiggled his way so deep into my heart that I’d be lost without him in my personal life too.

I was afraid I already knew the answer to that conundrum.

I met Shimmersnap at the festival. I found the booth where we would be working easily enough. Shimmersnap took one look at the hot chocolate and the cups set up on the simple table and shook his head.

“Well, this just won’t do,” he said. He tapped his finger to his cheek as he inspected the table.

I looked down at the area that had been set up for the company. One table, two chairs, a white tablecloth (bad idea when hot chocolate was involved), a banner with our company name, and of course, all of the hot chocolate. “It’s a hot chocolate bar,” I said.

He shot me an incredulous look that had me questioning my own sanity. “There’s no candy canes, no chocolate spoons, no sprinkles, no whipped cream, no marshmallows! There is no warmth or cheer or spirit! This… this… this is a crime against hot chocolate, really. If the elves of the North Pole could see this they’d laugh in our faces. I’ll be right back,” he said.

“Shimmersnap, we only have thirty minutes before the festival starts. You won’t have time to gather all of that stuff. This is fine. I’ve seen this before. This is what we do every year.”

His face contorted in horror. “You’ve served this to the jolly participants of the festival? The people who came here to seek out Christmas spirit and holiday joy? No, this won’t do at all.”

He disappeared. I was left there, just me manning the booth. I didn’t see anything wrong with what we were doing. We had hot chocolate. We had cups. Done. The cups even had our logo on them. That was all we needed. We even had stir sticks.

I had to smile at his enthusiasm, though. I never knew Shimmersnap could feel so strongly about hot chocolate. Or Christmas.

It didn’t surprise me, it only made me curious. What other passions did he have? Were they all holiday-focused or were there others?

Gosh, I wished I could get to know him better. As more than my assistant.

I let myself smile as I replayed his indignant argument in my mind. The elves of the North Pole. I laughed to myself. I bet he’d fit in well with the elves of the North Pole. He had the Christmas spirit for it.

Shimmersnap came back within twenty minutes, his hands full of plastic bags which were straining under the pressure of whatever they held. Where he went with so little time, I would never know, but he returned loaded with supplies. He started unpacking them.

“Okay, so we’ve got three kinds of sprinkles, candy canes you can use as stirring sticks, peppermint flavoring, and marshmallows in three different kinds.”

Marshmallows came in different kinds?

“Oh, and I also got these cute decorative bowls to hold the sprinkles and marshmallows. They sparkle, Walter!” He held it up and showed it to me, holding the bowl like it was a prized trophy. It did indeed sparkle

“I love it,” I said without a hint of sarcasm. I loved it because he loved it.

We had five minutes until the start of the event, when people would begin walking through requesting their free cup of hot chocolate.

“Shimmersnap, this is awesome but a little extreme. How are we going to—”

“No, no, it’s fine. Just trust me.”

I did. Shimmersnap always seemed to work miracles with paperwork, so why would this be any different?

He worked so fast, setting out all the containers in an organized fashion. It was like his hands moved via magic. The whole table was a flurry of color, and the scent of the sugary sprinkles and hot chocolate filled the air.

“Voila!” he said. Somehow, he had even managed to sprinkle sparkles over the tabletop. They gleamed in the holiday lights that surrounded us. Where had he found a cute Christmas tree and snowman figurine for the table?

Shimmersnap was a miracle worker. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he had magic.

“It’s gorgeous,” I said.

“It looks great, doesn’t it?” He smiled and stood taller.

“Much better than when we arrived, for sure. You did great, Shimmersnap.”

“It turned out nice.” He tapped that finger to his cheek again, deep in thought. “Now, if only we had a little bit of—”

Just then, the clouds seemed to let loose, and large, fluffy snowflakes fell from the sky.

“Snow!” I said.

“I was thinking the same thing,” he said with a wink. His cheeks were red, and the hat he wore was just a bit silly. It was crocheted, red yarn with flecks of sparkles in it. There were always sparkles wherever Shimmersnap went.

“You should try some.” He ladled some hot chocolate into a cup, tossed in a few marshmallows and a candy cane, and handed it to me. I took a sip, my gaze holding his.

“It’s delicious,” I said.

“I know,” he said.

I desperately wanted to lean forward and kiss him. The hot chocolate was sweet, but nothing was sweeter than kisses from Shimmersnap. The very essence of the man was sugar and sparkles. He was all things good and wonderful. The world shined brighter whenever he was near.

I set my cup down and leaned toward him. Snowflakes had fallen and landed on his cheeks. I brushed them away with my thumb. “Thanks for doing all this,” I said. “It really is amazing.”

I didn’t even care that we had a long night ahead of us of handing out hot chocolate to all the festival attendees. It would be fun with Shimmersnap at my side.

“You’re welcome.”

He licked his lips, drawing my gaze there. I leaned forward, ready to break the rules I had just set this morning.

“Oh! Is this where we get the free hot chocolate! It looks amazing.”

We were out of time.

The both of us separated and began our work.