Page 107 of Naughty & Nice

When we both stay silent, he continues. “Right, should we go and find something to shift this with?” He marches into the kitchen, leaving Noelle and me in the entryway.

“He really shouldn’t have opened this door,” I point out.

“You didn’t do much to stop him.”

“Neither did you,” I shoot back.

“Hey, at least it gives us something to do.”

Noelle lets out a pained sigh. “I could think of other things we could be doing...”

I step closer and wrap a loose lock of hair around my finger.

“Oh yeah? Care to share?”

Her cheeks flush, letting me know that we’re most definitely on the same page here.

“Elle, Wilder, get your asses in here,” Rix demands.

“Boring,” I mutter, spinning around to find him standing in the middle of the kitchen with bowls in hand. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”

“Deadly. Now start shoveling. The faster we can fix this, the faster we have logs and warmth.”

“Fucking hell, this was not the kind of Christmas Day I signed up for.”

“You’re telling me,” Noelle agrees as she takes her bowl and moves back toward the snowslide.

“This is going to take forever,” Rix mutters as he shovels his first bowlful.

“Should have thought of that before opening the?—”

“Unless you have something helpful to say, will you please shut the hell up?”

Noelle catches my eye, and we both erupt in laughter like naughty school kids.

It takes all of about five trips to the bathroom to deposit snow before I make a decision. “We need alcohol for this.” With that announcement made, I take off for the kitchen and retrieve the bottle of vodka from last night.

There’s less in there than I remember, but it’ll get us started. And hopefully, help keep us warm in the process.

“Are you serious? That’s not going to help,” Rix complains.

“Will you stop being such a stick in the mud? Elle is up for it. Aren’t you, little rebel?”

I hold the bottle out for her after I’ve taken a shot and wait.

Her eyes dart between mine and the bottle.

The old Noelle, the one I’ve known all my life, would most likely say no and continue on sober. But this new wild version of her… yeah, she’s more likely to let go.

“Let’s be honest, it’s not going to make this situation worse, is it?”

“Good girl,” I praise when she swipes the bottle from my hand and swallows down two shots.

“Rix?” she offers.

He lets out a heavy sigh but thankfully shakes off the seriousness and takes the bottle.

“To Christmases we’ll never forget,” he says as a way of a toast before chugging down a couple of mouthfuls and getting back to work.

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