Page 17 of Naughty & Nice

“Not that you deserve it. Here, take this to Noelle,” he says, passing a plate over.

“I’d love to,” I say, spinning on my heels and walking over to the chair in front of the fire.

She tenses the second I approach and refuses to look up at me.

“Someone’s hungry,” I tease.

“Someone ate all the car snacks,” she counters.

“Not this snack, you didn’t.”

Her eyes jump to mine as she sucks in a sharp breath.

“You need to stop,” she warns.

“And you need to relax.”

“I would if you’d quit,” she argues, having little choice but to accept the plate of food I’m offering her.

The second she rests it on her lap, I fall over her, catching myself on the back of the armchair.

“He’s going to notice that you’re uptight, and something tells me he won’t be the one who can fuck it out of you.”

She looks up, her eyes holding mine. “And you’d know that how?”

“Trust me. There might be a lot of similarities between me and Rix, but only one of us has had a taste of you.” As she gasps, I push to stand and take two steps back. “Isn’t that right, Noelle?”

“Isn’t what right?” Rix asks, joining us with two plates in his hands.

I shake my head, refusing to respond, and dart back into the kitchen for the drink I initially went in search of.

When I return, Noelle is fully focused on her dinner, and Rix is scrolling through the TV for something to watch.

Oh, this trip is going to be fun…

“Hey, how is your cabin?” Lori asks once the call connects.

Noelle and Rix are sitting on the couch side by side with big smiles on their faces. We’ve been drinking for a few hours now, and thankfully, the air is a little more relaxed.

“It’s so cute,” Noelle says with a slight slur to her voice. “They’ve decorated the entire place. It’s a Christmas paradise.”

“Aw, that’s awesome.”

“What about your actual paradise?” Rix asks.

I can’t remember exactly where Kian was whisking our big sister off to. I do remember the photos, though, and it looks like heaven with blue sea and white sand.

I guess that’s the kind of life you’re able to live when you marry a billionaire.

It’s sure a long way from the life we all just about survived growing up.

I’m happy for her. Really fucking happy. Kian is a good guy, too.

“Oh my god. I swear, it’s even better than the photos. I miss you guys, though. It still doesn’t feel right, being apart on the holidays. Have you heard from Wilder? He should have landed by now.”

Hendrix looks up and shakes his head.

‘What?’ I mouth.

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