Page 17 of Silent Night

“Boyfriend,”her stepbrother repeats, his eyes drilling into the back of her head, meanwhile Hayley’s staring at me like I’ve grown two heads. “I didn’t know you were seeing someone.”

She manages to compose herself enough to turn slightly, angling herself more toward me than him, which makes me fucking thrilled. “Um, yeah, it’s fairly new.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“We’re not exactly friends, Bentley.”

Ah, good, a name.Bentley.

Bentley, still scowling, paces away. “Wonderful…company.”

“Happy to be here,” I say, filling my tone with that holiday cheer I often hear in others as I step inside, my hand brushing against Hayley’s. I shut the door, pressing my back to it as the house’s warmth once again welcomes me.

Bentley’s watching me with narrowed eyes. “It’s Christmas morning. Don’t you have family to be with?”

“All dead,” I reply flippantly. They’re dead to me, so it’s close enough to the truth.

I shed my coat, tossing it toward him, and he scrambles to catch it, his gaze taking in the material obviously too poor for his tastes. I stop paying the asshole attention as I wrap my arm around Hayley’s waist and tug her possessively to my side.

“What the hell are you doing here?” she hisses as we pace away from her stepbrother.

I dip my head down, dragging my nose up the column of her neck. “Making sure he knows not to touch you.”

She casts me a worried look but loses her chance to make whatever comment she’s about to when her stepbrother comes up behind us, a bit too close, like he’s trying to be intimidating.

“I can use a drink. Then we can all sit by the tree and have a jolly ol’ time.” Sarcasm rings in his tone, which I reply with at an equal level.

“Sounds great, we’ll wait for you.”

Bentley casts me a death glare but heads for the kitchen while Hayley tugs on my hand, leading me to one of two couches framing the tree. She pulls me down beside her, whispering, “Are you fucking insane? Do you realize how many questions he’ll ask that we don’t have answers to?”

“Relax.” I practically melt into the couch beside her, gazing around at the life I’ll never have, the woman who’ll never be fully mine. “I couldn’t leave after seeing how he treated you. As for your worries, we’ll make up the answers as we go along.”

“So this is your way of protecting me?” Her brows lift into her curls, but I smooth the skin between her eyes before wrapping my hand around the back of her neck and claiming her mouth.

For all her irritation, she thaws immediately, and I want nothing more to say fuck it and take her upstairs, letting him hear how he’ll never have her.

Bentley returns then, a glass in hand, almost like he ran from the kitchen and back. He coughs and she rips away from me, her lips swollen, cheeks pink. I like that. The little signs of being mine. She smooths her hair, looking anywhere but me.

He drops into the couch across from us, his glare focused on Hayley. “You didn’t tell me we’d have a visitor.”

“He wasn’t certain he’d be able to make it,” she lies in a steady voice and I squeeze her thigh before pulling her so close to me, she’s practically on my lap.

Sweeping a hand by the back of her neck, I tell him, “I’ll do anything for her, so of course, I made it work.”

“Generous,” he utters in a flat tone. “You two met at school, I assume?”

“Yes,” I lie, mind scrolling for the meager bit I know about how universities function. “In the library. Went to reach for the same book at the same time. A meet-cute, really.”

Hayley stiffens in my arms as her stepbrother continues to pick apart the lies. “What’s your degree?”

A degree? Shit. What kinds of programs are out there that I even know of? I’ve never looked at a university’s website because there’d be zero point in it.

“Bio-Chem,” Hayley replies with a squeeze of my hand. “Same as me. It’s why we were after the same textbook.”

Sweet girl’s an intelligent girl to be a Bio-Chem major. There’s so much I don’t know about her. So much I shouldn’t even be allowed to wonder, but fuck if I don’t want it all.

You can’t. By tonight, you’ll be gone from this town.This time, it’s a vow Ihaveto keep.

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