Page 61 of Three Stepbrothers Save Christmas

“He was gone in less than twelve hours. Apparently, spending family time with Linda’s family in Hawaii is more important than spending time with me.”

“Then why the hell did he bother coming back at all?” Jasmine yells. “Isn’t Hawaii closer to the States than here?”

I nod, unable to look at my friends.

“He said he wouldn’t have come back if he had known they would be heading there before coming home,” I admit as my eyes fill with tears. “They had been back nearly a week and not even bothered to let me know.”

“That son of a bitch!” Danielle curses as I look up at her.

“You were right. You did see him at the Christmas Eve party last year.” I fill them in on how I spent Christmas home alone, all because of my dad and his wife, how they told the guys not to come, that they wanted me to be alone.

“Oh, Verity, I’m so sorry,” Jasmine says as she hugs me. I try not to cry, but my barriers are weakened after the last twenty-four hours, and I’m too tired to put on the front anymore.

As I cry into Jasmine's shoulder, I feel Danielle's hand on my back, offering me support when I need it the most. My two friends hold me as I cry for the first time in front of them. I’m tired of being the strong one who has everything right in their life. That has been a lie for so long, and I don’t think I can keep it up anymore.

Eventually I pull away from Jasmine as Danielle hands me a tissue. I thank her and start drying my face.

“I hope you know you are welcome to spend Christmas with us, so you’re not alone,” Jasmine says as she hands me another tissue.

“The guys are staying with me. Things have kind of changed in that department,” I reply, looking up at Jasmine sheepishly as she starts laughing.

“So Christian was right? Travis does have feelings for you?”

“He says he does, and he kind of said he wants to be my daddy and look after me,” I admit as I watch the smile drop from her face. This time, it’s Danielle who starts laughing.

“Please don’t tell me you now have three daddies!” she laughs. I shake my head, smiling slightly.

“Three boyfriends, but only one is my daddy.”

Jasmine starts squealing as she hops from one foot to the other.

“I love this so much! Please say you have done the group thing already because that is so much fun!”

“I am not getting into this discussion with you!” I yell as my cheeks heat up, and she laughs at me. I climb to my feet and head over to where my costumes are hung up to check them over as Jasmine giggles at me.

“I don’t need to hear about either of your sex lives, thank you very much,” Danielle sighs from where she is standing. I turn in time to see her pushing herself away from the vanity table and approach me. “But if you ever need to talk about anything else, you know I’m here for you, right? I know I’ve been a bitch in the past, but” I can see she’s struggling to finish her sentence, so I give her a hug and step back, smiling.

“I know, thanks.”

She nods once before heading for the door, calling that she needs a coffee, closing the door behind her, leaving me with a grinning Jasmine.

“What?” I ask as I pull out a fresh pair of tights to put on.

“How are you really feeling about the whole three guys thing?” she asks. Jaz knows me better than anyone, and now she is the only one I can speak to about this.

“I’m scared,” I admit, taking a deep breath. “No one ever stays around for long. My own father doesn’t even want to be around me. So why would three guys? Travis says he wants to be my daddy, but what if he’s doing it just to be nice?”

Jasmine walks forward and takes my hand as she smiles at me.

“If you need any sign that he isn’t just doing this to be nice, look at the fact that as soon as you needed help, he called the guy he has hated for ten years.” I go to argue, but one look from Jaz tells me she hasn’t finished.

“Do you know why Christian and Travis aren’t talking?” she asks. I nod, and she gives my hand a small squeeze. “Then you must know how hard it would have been for Travis to call him and admit he needed his help. Christian’s whole attitude towards him changed after that phone call, so whatever was said made Christian see him in a different light.”

“And you have no idea what they talked about?”

Jaz shakes her head and lets go of my hand.

“I really don’t. When I asked Christian, he just said it was between them, and that’s it. He tried saying he only spoke to him because it concerned you, but I think there was more to it. I think the two of them are more alike than they were willing to accept. It would make sense, as they are both daddies. How did the whole daddy thing come about?”

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