Page 7 of Bringing Home the Biker

“I won’t be paying you while we’re at your family’s, Star.”

I groaned and threw up my hands. “That’s not what I meant! Let me dumb this down for myself, okay?”

Axel gave a slight nod and watched me with that calm, infuriatingly patient expression.

“You’re going to come to my family Christmas in Redmond, Utah,” I said slowly, “and be myboyfriend. That’s what you’re offering?”

Axel nodded again.

I opened my mouth, closed it, then opened it again. Words refused to form. “I... uh... well...” I inhaled deeply. “Why?” I finally blurted.

Axel chuckled, and the sound was rich and warm. “Do you have someone else in mind?” he asked casually. “Maybe you could call Brad again and see if he’s willing to ditch his fiancée for the holidays to help you out.”

My face burned like a Christmas tree caught on fire. “Youheardthat?”

Axel leaned forward and rested his elbows on the desk. “You know I never close my door, honey. I hear everything.”

There it was again—honey. It was disarming, like he knew exactly how to charm me with a single word. Worse, it sent an unexpected thrill through my chest that I was completely unprepared to deal with.

“I just... I mean...” My brain short-circuited under his steady gaze. “I don’t think...”

“Your options,” Axel interrupted, his voice calm and sure, “are to tell your mom you lied to her for a year, or you bring me.” He spread his hands. “Pick one, Star.”

He made it sound so simple. Like there was nothing weird about the man who signed my paychecks volunteering to be my fake boyfriend for Christmas.

Maybe itwasthat simple.

“I don’t know if you understand what you’re getting yourself into,” I said, folded my arms, and leaned against the edge of his desk. “My family isa lot. Like, a lot,a lot.”

Axel leaned back in his chair and was completely at ease. “I’m a big boy, Star. I can handle whatever you and your family throw at me.”

I stared at him and tried to gauge whether he had any idea what he was signing up for. My mom was relentless, my sister was nosy, and the Christmas chaos was unmatched. But the thought of showing up alone and enduring their pity and lectures about my non-existent love life sounded worse.

I inhaled deeply and tried to steady myself. “Fine. Pick me up at ten on the twenty-fourth.” What other choice did I have?

Axel’s lips quirked into the faintest smile. “It’s a date.”

I groaned.What had I just gotten myself into?

Chapter Six

Axel

I cracked open a beer and leaned against the kitchen counter. The pop of the tab was loud in the otherwise quiet house, and for a moment, I just listened to the fizzing sound as the beer settled. Today had been interesting, to say the least. I had woken up this morning with zero plans for the holiday break, just another day of wandering through life, uncertain and detached. But now? Now, I was about to head to Redmond with Star to spend the holiday with her family.

As her boyfriend.

I took a long drink from the can, the bitterness hitting my tongue and making me pause for a second. My eyes shifted toward the fridge for a brief moment before I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. How had I gone from zero to, well, whatever the hell this was?

I should’ve been asking myself what the hell I was thinking when I volunteered to help Star. I didn’t know her family—hell, I didn’t even know her that well other than the time I spent with her at work.

But instead of worrying about what I’d gotten myself into, I was pretty damn happy. More than I cared to admit. I never had a real family growing up and never had that traditional holiday thing. Christmas was a time I usually spent alone or with friends who didn’t really get what the holidays were about. No parents. No warm house with too much food and too many presents. Just silence and a reminder that the whole “family” idea wasn’t meant for me.

And now, here I was, in three days on my way to spend Christmas with Star’s family.

I took another drink from the can and thought about how, even if this whole thing went up in smoke and things with Starfell apart, at least I would have gotten a taste of what it was like to have a family. It sounded like a dream of something other people had, but I couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to be part of that.

And if I was really lucky, maybe I’d get a taste of Star, too.

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