Page 3 of Her Secret Santa

“The catering place barely scheduled me for the holidays because I was supposed to be doing nothing but doubles at Lucky’s,” I say, annoyed. “I’ll call them in the morning and ask if they can add me on for some more events, but their full-timers will get priority over me. They already told me they don’t have another full time position available.”

Allie makes a face at that, but we both know there’s nothing we can do to change the facts.

“The graphic design has been taking off, though, hasn’t it?” she asks hopefully.

“A bit! I’ve had more people reaching out, I just can’t take on very many jobs without my own laptop.” It’s slow going, honestly, but the paychecks are good. They’re just not very regular, and it’s hard to find clients willing to work with my schedule. “I was really close to being able to buy a laptop for myself, but I’ll have to put that off for now.”

Allie looks at me, guilt lying heavily behind her lashes, and I hold my arms out to her. She’s taller than me, and I rest my headin the crook of her shoulder as she holds me close. The contrast of her tanned skin against the paleness of mine when I hug her back is comfortingly familiar.

“I wish I could just let you use the laptop more often,” she whines. “I feel bad knowing that I’m holding you back.”

“Allie,” I scold, laughing. “You’re not holding me back, you’re the only reason I can do this in the first place. It’s not like the library computers have great design software downloaded on them.”

She makes a disgruntled noise above my head, pulling back to frown down at me.

“But if it wasn’t my work laptop, you could?—”

“There’s no use playing what if,” I remind her. “There’s only what is.”

Allie has plenty of her own hardships, and it’s not like she’s swimming in cash. She was only able to go to college with the promise that she’d take care of her family when she graduated, and she works hard to support her mom and her little brothers. I’m grateful for everything she does for me. We spent a lot of time wishing for different lives when we were younger, but this is what we get.

We need to be happy with what we have.

She takes my hand in hers, humming affectionately. I balance the ice cream in my lap, smiling at her and squeezing her hands in mine.

“I’m not going to let this fuck you over,” she promises, eyes earnest. “I’ll keep my eyes and ears open, get your name out there. We’ll figure something out.”

My smile widens and my heart swells with affection. Even if the whole world goes to shit, as long as Allie’s around, I’ll be alright.

“We always do,” I say brightly.

Chapter Two

ZADE

The vicious pounding of my head and the incessant ringing of my phone wakes me up. Without thought, I reject the call and roll over onto my back with a groan.

Arlo and I maybe went a bit too hard on the tequila last night, and the last thing I need is my phone interrupting my fucking beauty sleep.

It rings again, only seconds after falling silent.

I yank it from my nightstand with a huff of anger and swipe to accept the call without glancing at who it is.

“What?” I snarl, unamused and uncaring of how rude I sound.

“Good morning, Zaiden,” my uncle says. “I need you in the office today. As soon as possible.”

His voice is the kind of even and measured that says he’s righteouslypissed, and I'm really not in the mood for it. I don't hide my groan of annoyance, but I don't have a good enough excuse to fuck off for the day. If he has to come drag me to theoffice by my ear, he will, and I'd really prefer to save myself the annoyance.

“Fine. I'll be there by ten.”

I hang up without waiting for his response and toss my phone to the side. The sun is way too bright, the inside of my mouth feels like cotton, and I’m pretty sure my skull is splitting apart from the inside out. I have absolutely no desire to put on a suit and go to work, but my head hurts too badly to fall back asleep.

Might as well get coffee since I'm up, and if I'm going out then I might as well stop by the office and see what’s got my uncle’s panties in a twist.

It's already past ten when I roll out of bed, but Uncle Pax knows better than to expect me on time. I only spent half an hour in bed after he called, which is better than the usual hour it takes me to get up. Either way, I'll get there when I get there.

I take my time in the shower, letting the hot water and steam work some magic on my muscles and clear some of the hungover fog from my brain. Brushing my teeth gets rid of most of the fuzzy feeling in my mouth, and coffee will fix the rest. At least there’s no nausea. I prefer my privacy, so my housekeeper is never here when I’m home, but she leaves me prepared meals for the week. There should be something in the fridge for breakfast, and if not, I can send someone out to get me food when I get to the office.

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