Page 91 of A Very Addicted Christmas

“I mean,” Audrey considers. “Was it saidhuskily? Because the delivery matters.”

Vada laughs hard. “Oh my God.”

I say flatly, “I’d be more worried about her if she didn’t have five brothers.”

“Cockblocker Cobalts,” Winona says with a fist in the air.

Now Audrey groans. “They ruin all potential, all possibility.”

“Of what?” Vada says.

“Date rape,” I deadpan.

Audrey gasps, feigning betrayal. “Kinney Hale.” There is a glimmer behind her eyes, and I smile back at her.

“Let’s get to work, babes,” Nona says, restless. She flings herself up, then tucks her legs under her butt. Audrey and I leave the bunk to gather around the contraband too.

I look to Audrey. “I still can’t believe you had enough to fill a whole duffel bag.” I’m impressed.

She appraises the duffel with proud eyes. “I’ve been collectingallyear. I’d be a terrible collector if I just had a single tote’s worth.”

“Starting her hoarding skills early,” Vada says and playfully pinches her cheek.

“Collector,” Audrey rephrases into a smile, and she perches her hands on her hips. “I shall be the best collector in the world. Make you three terribly proud.”

Winona grins, “Depends what you collect.”

“Imagine Audrey collecting ants,” I say.

“An ant farm of epic proportions,” Vada nods. “I can see it.”

“Where she’ll breed the ants.” Winona wags her brows.

“Kings and queens and colonies and whole empires of ants,” Audrey says into a wider grin. We’re all smiling. Then Audrey’s fades. “Without my siblings at home, it doesn’t sound so bad.”

My stomach sinks.

Ben moved out and left her alone this year. Besides her parents, she’s the only one in a giant house that was once filled to the brim with her siblings. She’s called it “the world’s loudest silence.”

A lump tries to lodge in my throat, as I imagine that future for me. I’m not an idiot, okay. I know it might come. Xander’s applying to colleges, and he still doesn’t know if he’ll go, but that option exists.

Then I’ll be where Audrey is. A once full house now soundless and empty. My parents will be around, sure, but it’s not the same. It won’t be.

“Ants are the worst company,” I tell her. “They don’t even make noise.”

“Are we sure?” Vada frowns, balling her sleeves in her fists. She must be cold. She’s wearing a sweater with a cat smoking a candy cane. “Don’t ants like squeak or something?”

We all look to Winona.

Winona’s hair has frizzed from the wind outside. She tries to comb out the knots with her fingers. “I love animals. That doesn’t mean I know everything about every single one.”

“You’re a bug girl,” Vada tells her. “You made sure Kinney didn’t squash a roly-poly when we were five.”

I raise a hand. “In defense, it looked unbreakable.”

“Yes,” Audrey narrows her eyes at Winona, “decidedly suspicious if you don’t know the answer.”

Winona looks between the three of us, then her smile slowly spreads. “They chirp.”

---