Page 75 of Where We Ended

Damn.

“So, not a good relationship with her then?”

With another scoff, he shook his head while looking around.

“No, nothing like the precious Hallmark movie that Silas and his mother Sasha are living out.”

I bristled at his mocking tone. They were the two most important people in my life, and regardless of Alec’s shitty upbringing, he wasn’t about to talk shit about them in front of me.

Sliding off the stool, I set my glass down, about to leave, until Alec moved to block my path.

“Sorry…I know you’re team Silas…I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Don’t talk about them in front of me. Not ever,” I warned, glaring up at him.

He gave me a solemn nod, pulling my stool out once more. The sound of billiard balls knocking together echoed from a pool table, off to the side, where there were a few guys laughing and joking together. The bar was calm for the most part, and not very busy. I liked the easy atmosphere.

“So…tell me why you’re here, all alone in rival territory, just two days before Christmas.”

I was slightly buzzed from the cranberry vodka I’d had just fifteen minutes earlier. I had to be, that was the only reason I felt compelled to tell him why I was all alone in this small town at this bar that was playing Mariah Carey Christmas ballads, on repeat.

“Silas left again. I asked him not to, because I wanted him here for Christmas…but he?—”

I stopped myself because this was Alec, his brother that had been nice to me, but overtly flirtatious.

“I’m just looking for a change of scenery is all, and I like that Rose Ridge does the big starlight parade, with the lighting of the tree. The whole town gets in on it, and it’s like a scene from that Dr. Seuss movie.”

Alec scrunched his nose. “The one with the Grinch?”

I nodded as a smile lifted my lips.

“There was snow here last year, and the whole town looked like a Christmas card.”

“So you’re going to pout here, all alone, because my brother is an idiot and is off doing our father’s bidding?”

A tiny string unfurled in my brain, like a strand of curiosity, one that would surely kill me if I tried to follow it. Just the same, I dug into it with both hands because I was starved for details.

“You know what he’s doing?”

Alec’s eyes nearly sparkled under the low lighting of the bar. He gave one slow look to the left, then leaned closer. “Other than letting you slip through his fingers?”

We were close enough that it looked like we were sharing a secret or might be lovers. I drew back while clearing my throat.

“I’m not slipping through his fingers.”

Alec’s lips twisted into a sneer. “If you were mine, you wouldn’t be here.”

“You’d tell me where I could go and couldn’t go?” I raised my brow in question.

Alec laughed into his beer. “Damn straight. You go where I know you’ll be safe.”

Silas wasn’t any different. Except he never made me feel like I couldn’t go somewhere, or that he’d be angry if I did. He just appeared like a wraith and reclaimed me, as if I was, in fact, slipping through his fingers.

“He’ll be back by Christmas. We have a tradition where every Christmas we exchange?—”

Someone laughed from behind us and started singing along with the Christmas tune that had just started playing. The bartender checked on us, seeing if we needed refills, and then Alec’s face dipped closer. “You exchange…”

“It’s stupid to anyone who hasn’t been us for the past seven years.”

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