Page 45 of Naughty & Nice

“You said you wanted snow,” I mutter.

“Y-yeah but—shit,” she breathes as she lowers herself into the chair and watches the report. “That’s a lot.”

“I hope you brought a couple of extra books. I don’t think we’re going to be going anywhere for a while.”

It takes her a second to look over, but when I do, I find a mixture of anticipation and excitement dancing in her eyes. Not only that, I feel it too.

Things might be a bit weird right now, but the three of us trapped in a small cabin opens up a whole world of possibilities.

Maybe this trip isn’t going to be so dull after all.

It takes another thirty minutes for Hendrix to appear, and when he does, he looks a little more put together and like himself again.

Predictably, his eyes find Noelle first, and I’m pretty sure his chest compresses the second he sees that we’re sitting apart.

I might be reckless, but I’m not fucking stupid.

“Hey,” Noelle says softly.

“Hey.”

Christ, he looks like a love-sick puppy. I thought it was bad before, but one round of dry humping and he’s completely fucking gone for her.

Suddenly, he rips his eyes away from her and turns to me.

“Get up,” he demands.

My brows lift. “I’m sorry?”

“You heard me. Get up.”

“But I’m watching?—“

“I don’t care. Get the fuck up.”

Rolling my eyes, I do as I’m told and get to my feet.

“Perfect, now go and get us all a drink and some snacks. We’re watching a movie. Noelle’s choice.”

“Obviously,” I mutter under my breath.

“If you don’t like it, you can go out.”

“Fuck off, have you seen how hard it’s snowing?”

“No, I’ve been kinda busy,” he points out, glancing at Noelle, his cheeks heating in a way I’m sure she’d describe as adorable.

“Fine,” I hiss as I continue toward the kitchen to do my big brother’s bidding so he can snuggle with his girl.

“We’re getting hit with a storm. They’re predicting it’s going to be really bad,” Noelle explains. “We’re probably going to be stuck here.”

“Sounds awful,” Hendrix quips. “Whatever will we do?”

Noelle’s happy squeal rips through the cabin. Something weird twists up my stomach as I listen to them laugh.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m usually the focus of attention, so it feels weird to be the one on the sidelines.

I don’t like it.