Page 138 of The Very Naughty List

Grandma Dee gives me a hug first, and then dotes on each of the guys. She gives Nick an extra long squeeze as she compares him to one of the characters onShadow’s Edgeand calls him a “real life Romeo” for snagging her granddaughter. Nick banters back with her easily, and watching the two of them joke around brings a smile to my face.

My sister waggles her brows at me, smiling from ear to ear as she glances between me and the guys. When I go to give her a hug, she sticks her finger on my arm and makes a sizzling sound, causing me to burst out laughing.

“Glad you’re here.” Lucas steps out from behind our sister to give me a hug before nodding to his friends, his lips tilting into an easy grin. “Pippa wouldn’t let us touch the cookies until everyone arrived.”

He rolls his eyes, and Pippa gives him a playful smack on the shoulder as the Cooper brothers laugh.

“Well, we still have to wait a bit,” my mother interjects. “Addison and her family aren’t here yet.”

I blink, glancing over at my parents. The fact that they invited the triplets’ older sister and her family warms my heart. Now it really will be like we’re all one big happy family together on Christmas Day.

When Addison finally arrives with her husband, Michael, and Iris, I brace myself for a bit of awkwardness. I haven’t seen Addison since the news broke about me dating all three of her brothers—but fortunately, she doesn’t bat an eye as she steps up to give me a big hug.

“Thanks for including us in your celebrations,” she murmurs. “We’re so glad to be here. And I have to say, I’ve never seen my brothers happier. That’s got to be your influence.”

I swallow, giving her another squeeze before releasing her and stepping back. “Well, they make me happy too.”

“Good.” She beams at me.

“Hi, Hailey!” Iris chirps. “Merry Christmas!”

“Hey, Iris. Merry Christmas to you too!”

I give my cookie baking companion a wave, and she looks up at me with a wide-eyed expression as she asks, “Are you going to be my new aunt?”

Her question catches me completely off-guard, and I choke on my next breath, my jaw dropping open.

“Please say that you are!” she adds. “You’d be the coolest aunt ever! We could bake cookies all the time, and play games, and?—”

I glance over at the triplets as Iris rambles on excitedly, trying to hide the flush that I know is creeping up my face. I expect to see them looking a bit awkward or uncomfortable, butall I see in their eyes is banked heat—which only makes me blush harder.

Thankfully, my sister comes to the rescue before I have to come up with an answer for Iris.

“Okay, everyone’s finally here! Who wants Christmas cookies?”

As we settle in with our cookies and eggnog, the smell of my mother’s homemade Christmas dinner wafting out of the kitchen, I can’t seem to stop smiling. It feels like I’ve gotten everything I never knew I wanted for Christmas this year—and to think, I was dreading coming to Chestnut Hill.

Thankfully, the universe knew what I needed even better than I did.

47

HAILEY

The more Ismooth down my dress in front of the mirror, the more the palms of my hands start to sweat.

If anyone had told me a week ago as we were celebrating Christmas with my family that I would be getting ready to do this soon, I would have said they were nuts.

“If you keep doing that, you’ll rub all the sparkles off. And it’s New Year’s Eve, so you definitely want to be as sparkly as possible.”

I turn to see Sebastian standing in the doorway. He takes a step forward and kisses me softly.

“You’re nervous. I can tell.”

“Of course I am.” I sigh. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“You can most definitely do it.” He grins and turns me back around to look at myself in the mirror again. “You shouldn’t be nervous, shortcake. You’re a badass. You’re the woman who helped break the Montgomerys’ hold on this town. You can do anything.”

I can’t help but smile at that, pride rising in my chest—not just for myself, but for everyone else in Chestnut Hill too.

---