Page 191 of Filthy Rich Santas

“I don’t want my relationship with the guys to affect your friendship,” Lana tells Caleb firmly. “But if it does, that’syourchoice. Not mine, and not theirs. They mean everything to me, and I love you, Caleb, but I’m not giving them up.”

Caleb blinks at her for a moment, then smiles. “Well, damn. Who are you, and what have you done with my little sister?”

She laughs, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Then Caleb’s smile fades, and he leans forward, placing a hand on her arm.

“Actually, I shouldn’t joke about this. I feel like I didn’t really know about a lot of what you’ve been going through recently, and I’m sorry about that. I really am. I want to be someone you feel like youcantell this stuff to.”

“Thank you,” she says, squeezing his hand back tight.

“Although I’m not gonna lie, I may… need a minute to wrap my head around all of this.”

She smiles. “Okay.”

He looks over at me, then Beckett and Tristan. “I’m pretty sure I remember telling you guys that not one of you should make a move on her, but fuck—uh, sorry, Grandma Meg—but seriously, I wasn’t trying to imply that allthreeof you should do it instead.”

Tristan snickers, and Beckett’s resting-fuck-off face relaxes into something close to a smile.

“Who says it was us that made the move?” I joke, making Caleb groan and hold up a hand.

“TMI, man. I said I need a minute. I didn’t say I need you to tell me all the details.”

“None of us need those,” Meg says with a snort. “But what we do need are snickerdoodles.”

Baldwin barks excitedly, and she taps him lightly on the nose.

“I didn’t mean you, mister.”

That gets a laugh out of all of us, breaking the tension, and somehow we roll into talking about the season Caleb’s team is having, and then Lana shares a few stories from our road trip. Baldwin manages to con Beckett into feeding him a thumbprint-sized bite of cookie, which brings Meg’s wrath down on the man and cracks me the fuck up.

There’s still some tension with Caleb through all of it. Not everything is cool between us about what we’re doing with Lana, but it feels like we’ll get there. Still, it’s a much more pleasant evening than I would have predicted a few hours ago.

When Caleb gets up to leave, Meg touches his arm and stops him for a second. “Why don’t you come back tomorrow to celebrate Christmas with us?”

He hesitates for a moment, then nods. “Yeah, okay. I’d really like that.”

“Me too,” Lana murmurs, catching his eye.

They smile at each other, putting some warmth in my chest. Then he leaves.

45

LANA

As Caleb leaves,a mix of emotions swirls inside me. I’m exhausted, every nerve ending raw from the day’s events, but there’s also a sense of relief washing over me. It’s as if a festering wound has finally been lanced, allowing the poison to drain away. I feel lighter, somehow, despite the weight of everything that’s happened.

Grandma Meg’s warm voice breaks through my thoughts. “You must be worn out, dears. It’s been quite a day. Why don’t you use the guesthouse for the night? There’s plenty of room for all of you to share the space.”

I blink, a blush stealing over my cheeks. But there’s no judgment in her voice, no raised eyebrows or pointed looks. Just simple, straightforward hospitality.

She really does accept the four of us being together.

“That would be wonderful, thank you,” I manage, my voice thick with emotion.

Meg steps forward, enveloping me in another hug. “You’re welcome here anytime, dear. All of you.”

As we pull apart, I feel a nudge at my legs. When I look down, Baldwin stares back up at me with those soulful eyes, his tail wagging furiously, like a little pom pom.

“I think someone wants to say goodnight,” Meg chuckles.

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