Page 51 of The Holiday Games

She falls silent, but there’s no answer from the alley ahead, just silence and a soft skittering sound too faint to be coming from Greg.

“I should have known he’d knock the play structure over, shatter a window, and make a break for it,” I say, hands balling into fists in my coat pockets.

“How could you have known that?” Caroline asks. “That thing was huge. I’m still not sure he pushed it over. It might have fallen on its own.”

“Oh, he pushed it, all right.”

Caroline arches a challenging brow. “Greg’s a big boy, but he can’t weigh more than fifteen pounds.”

“Eighteen,” I say, “but size doesn’t matter. His evil gives him strength, like a supervillain. I should have remembered that and bolted the fucking thing to the wall.”

She huffs out a tired laugh. “Well, hindsight is twenty-twenty, I guess.” She reaches over, giving my arm a squeeze. “Don’t worry. We’ll find him. He can’t have gone far.”

I sigh. “Maybe not, but it won’t matter if he won’t come when you call.”

“Maybeyoushould try again,” she says. “You’re his dad.”

I shake my head. “No, he hates me. Hearing me call for him will only make him run faster and hide harder.”

Her brow furrows. “I think you two need therapy. It’s obvious you love each other. You just don’t know how to show it. As soon as we find him, I’ll call my friend Tyge from college. He runs a pet hotel in Connecticut. He might know someone who can help you and Greg work through your issues.”

My lips curve as I gather her close, hugging her to my chest. “You’re the sweetest.”

“I’m not,” she says. “I’m not even sure pet therapy is a real thing. I’m grasping at straws because I’m riddled with guilt.”

I pull back, frowning down at her. “Why? You did nothing wrong.”

“I heard something breaking when it happened.”

“So did I,” I say. “And I decided to ignore it.”

She rolls her eyes. “Not until I begged you to ignore it.”

“So?” I shoot back. “I like it when you beg. And it wasmyhouse and my maniac cat who loves to break things when I havea special friend in the bedroom. Honestly, this is all on Greg. If he hadn’t already broken every vase and statue in the joint, I would have been more alarmed by the sound of shattering glass.”

Caroline studies my face in the glow of the streetlamp farther down the street. “Everyvase and statue, huh? How many of those did you have?”

I shrug. “Not that many. Maybe…four or five?”

Her nose wrinkles. “Four or five? In the past year!”

“No,” I hurry to clarify. “Two years, at least. Maybe three! And he hasn’t broken anything in at least six months. Until you showed up, I’d given up on romance.”

She grunts, a very cute grunt that makes me wish we were back at my place. Naked. Or at least eating that amazing meal she had planned. Instead, the ingredients arrived just as we were preparing to leave, and went straight into the fridge.

Though, I probably could have left them on the kitchen counter. The apartment is freezing. Turns out garbage bags are even less effective at keeping a space warm than ancient glass windows…

“Seriously,” I add. “I’m not a manwhore, and tonight was amazing.You’reamazing.”

Her gaze softens. “Yeah? You still like me? Even though our perfect night ended in disaster?”

“I more than like you,” I say. “I’m just sorry we didn’t get to have dinner and arts and crafts share time like we planned.”

“It’s all right. The food will keep. We could try again tomorrow night if that…isn’t too soon.”

“Not too soon,” I assure her. “I can’t wait to see you again. This isn’t casual for me, Caroline. I want more than a one-night stand. Way more.” I want forever, but even in my love-drugged state, I know better than to say that part out loud.

At least, not yet…

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