Page 108 of Holiday Hostilities

Jake jerks his head up in surprise. “Liv, what the hell are you doing down here?”

“Waiting for you.”

“Why?”

“I need to talk to you before your game.”

His mouth twists. “Couldn’t you have just called me?”

“No.”

Well, yes, actually. But pointlessly crouching behind a car and then surprising him seemed like a better plan. You know, for dramatic effect.

“What’s going on?” Jake eyes me suspiciously. “Is this about Marino? Because if it is, I’ve already said my piece to him.”

“But you haven’t said your piece to me!” I burst out. “Me, your only sister. Who is a consenting adult and would like to be part of this moronic conversation!”

“The hell are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the fact that Aaron’s been your best friend for years, and he came home after your morning skate earlier and said you barely talked to him. Barely even looked at him. That all the guys seem to think he’s been taking advantage of Jake Griswold’s poor, sweet, innocent sister.”

“Huh. So Marino ran home to tattle to you. How cute.”

This makes me a little enraged. It’s been two days since Christmas, and Aaron’s been nothing but nice about Jake and his so-called protective-big-brother motives. But I haven’t hearda peep out of Jake to prove that theory right. “I forced him to tell me! He keeps covering for you, saying he’d be the same way if he were in your position.”

“Damn right he would,” Jake thunders. “You’re my sister, Olivia. And Aaron might be a nice guy, but the women he dates don’t tend to stick around for awhile, if you know what I mean.”

“Duh!” I say. “I am aware. And I’m also aware that neither did the womenyoudated. Until Sofia.”

This makes Jake flounder for a moment, but his glare darkens. “Not the same. I didn’t move Sofia into my house and seduce her behind her brother’s back. You always seemed to hate Aaron so much, I figured I’d never have to worry about you two.” His eyes flicker to my hair. “Despite the fact that Aaron typically goes for women that look like you.”

I pause, momentarily caught off guard.

Looks like Aaron Marino got a brand new redhead for Christmas!

The words from the caption of Brandi’s Instagram post come back to me, but I’m surprised to feel…nothing.

The old Olivia would have stumbled over this. Would have spiraled thinking about how pretty Aaron’s redheaded ex Tessa is. How, when I first saw Aaron again at the club all those months ago, he was on a date with a brunette that he declared a “total nonstarter” and approached a redhead later that same night. How even freaking Brandi appears to have dyed her previously blond hair auburn to get Aaron’s attention in the first place…

How his exact words to me the day I packed up my apartment were that he was “always more into redheads.”

In the past, I would have pieced all this together to form an incomplete picture that ignored the most important thing: what was actually real and true below the surface.

But I am not that Olivia anymore. I’m not that person who’s rootless and looking for an excuse to run at the first sign of trouble.

“Do you hear yourself right now?!” I cry. “First, my relationship—and most importantly,why someone is dating me—is none of your business. And second, to be honest, this noble big brother act of yours is wearing a little thin. I like Aaron, and he likes me, and if you have a problem with that, it’syourproblem. Not mine. Not Aaron’s. So stop putting it on him.”

I know my place with Aaron. I know who he is and how he feels about me, no matter what I look like. And I know how I feel about him, too.

I’m in this. All in. I choose to be with him, and to let the chips fall where they may. I might not know what the future holds, but I know that choosing to take a chance on this—onus—is worth the risk.

I’m not Aaron’s type, I’m hisperson.

And he’s mine.

“I—” Jake starts, all fired up, but then, his face falls. “Wait. What do you mean ‘noble big brother act?’”

I wipe my nose with my sleeve. “What I mean is that I’ve been on my own for years now and you never cared about what I did, or where I was, or who I dated. And then, I start dating someone you like and admire, and you lose your ever-loving mind about it. Like, grow up, Jake.”

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