Page 151 of A Sin So Pure

“Thank you, it’s such a thoughtful gift,” I say, emotion aching in my throat. I slip it onto my fingers, seeing which it fits best on. Settling on my right middle finger, I leave it there, letting the weight comfort me. “What about for Nora?”

Josie shakes her head, a devious smile tugging at her lips. “We have our own traditions. No gifts.”

“Oh?” Leo asks. “Tell us more about these traditions.”

“You’ve recently been told about one,” Josie teases.

I rack my brain for a moment before it clicks.

“The sauce prank on Wes’s grandma?” I ask.

Josie’s shy smile says it all.

“No.” Leo sits up. “You did not do that to herSolsticedinner.”

Nora snickers, but Josie has the decency to flush with embarrassment.

“We did, in fact, spike the sauce on Solstice,” she relents with a wince.

“Best Solstice prank in my opinion,” Nora murmurs behind me. “Still pissed we got caught.”

“So, will we have a new funny story to add to the list of things to look forward to when we get home?”

“Depends. We’ve been too busy to plan it yet,” Josie says.

Nora leans forward, whispering in my ear. “And who says you’ll be spared from the prank this year, anyway?”

I bat Nora away with a laugh. “Evil. Both of you.”

Leo clears his throat, throwing his feet off Josie’s lap. He quickly grabs the brown paper bag he left by the door when he entered earlier; rummaging through it, he pulls out three small wrapped goodie bags of cookies.

“I will admit, I phoned it in this year. Ended up being a smidge busy,” he says with a wink my way. He tosses each one of us our own bag. “However, I know for a fact that they taste delicious.”

“You never bake anymore.” I tug apart the ribbon holding the bag closed and sniff the cookies—rich chocolate fills my senses. “Oh my gods. Thank you, Leo. I am saving these for later.”

Nora hums behind me, already nibbling into one. Her eyes meet mine and they hold the most joy they’ve had all morning, a purely devious glint residing in the emerald facets.

“Not bad,” she says.

“Nora…” I chide, holding back my laughter. I know exactly what she’s trying to do. I can’t approve of it, but I also can’t deny myself the pleasure of how they love to rile each other up.

“Not bad?” Leo repeats.

“Yeah, not bad,” Nora shrugs.

Leo sputters, and the two of them launch into a heated argument about varying levels of cocoa powder and sugar. I chuckle to myself as I crawl over to the coffee table and grab my presents.

“Alright! My turn!” I cut off their argument and place a box in front of each of them. Josie whispers a sweet thank you as she takes the box from my hands, already knowing what’s inside.

“Josie first,” I say. “Because she’s special and already knows what’s inside.”

She smirks at Nora’s shocked mutter, ripping into the box. I perch myself on the edge of Nora’s armchair, her hand snaking around my waist as we watch Josie ceremoniously reveal the old western pistol.

Sharp shocks of memory shoot through my side, but I ignore the pain, push it down.

This is the first step to moving past what happened that day. A way to reclaim the good that was stained.

Nora’s thumb swipes back and forth over the bit of skin exposed between my pajama shirt and pants.

---