Page 67 of Merry Kissmas

Carter and Tre look at one another and laugh.

“You’re blaming us?”Carter points at his chest as though he can’t imagine what she’s saying to be true.

“You always excluded me!If I wanted to catch up and hang out with you, I had to be as good as you at something.Beat you.”

“I don’t remember a lot of wins, Brynn.”Carter looks at Tre.

Brynn’s eyes narrow.“Maybe because I’m half your size and years younger.”

Hearing her animosity, I understand now why she’s so competitive when it comes to this Christmas contest.

“Still… you pushed him.”Tre looks at me through the rearview mirror.

“I’m fine,” I repeat for what feels like the thousandth time.

“Not to mention, you didn’t win yet.There’s still the last competition.Tessa and I can tie you, then it’ll go to a tie-breaker.”

“Bring it on.I know how to use my hands.”Brynn huffs and crosses her arms again.

“Ew.”Carter’s head whips in my direction, giving me a scathing look.“I don’t want to think about you giving Pierce a hand job.”

“That’s not what I meant, and please, you’ve been all over Faith the entire trip.You guys barely leave your villa.”

Carter shrugs with a cocky smirk.“She can’t get enough of me.”

“All right, let’s just be quiet the rest of the ride,” Tre says.

“Since when did you turn into Dad?”Brynn says with an eye roll.

“Yeah, quite being so fucking bossy,” Carter adds.

Tre grunts and keeps his eyes on the road.

I’m thankful when we reach the area our villa is in.I need a little break from the Russell sibling back and forth.

“Christmas is almost here, then you can go back to New York and not worry about me being bossy.”Tre blows out a breath.

“Ah… I’m just kidding.You know I miss you.”Carter lays his head on his brother’s shoulder.

Tre pushes it off, and Carter laughs.

“And now both you assholes are gonna be in New York,” Tre says.

I glance at Brynn as her smile dips.

“Ryah won’t have any aunts or uncles in Portland,” Tre says, and I catch him and Brynn making eye contact through the mirror.

“I’ll FaceTime all the time.And come home a lot.But as of right now, we don’t even know if I got the job, nor if I would even take it.”

My head whips to the side.“Why wouldn’t you take it?”

Neither Tre nor Carter comment.I think they’re waiting to hear Brynn’s answer too.

She shrugs.“I don’t know.I’m trying not to think about it.It’s a big decision.”

I understand what she means.I’d be moving from an entirely different country to take the job.The only thing I’m abundantly clear about is that I want out of teaching and to see if I can hack it in the real world.

“True.”I look out the window at the snowflakes falling onto the wet pavement.My future is so up in the air, I can’t help but wonder where I’ll land.

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