Page 39 of The Knot Before Christmas

I’m not gonna have some Alpha steal my new baby away from me.

He just rolled his eyes with a grin and told me, “Whatever you want, baby girl.” Did I melt on the inside? Yes, but I’ll deny it.

Why is it that anytime he does or says things that would normally piss me off, they don’t? It’s because he's saying it. I hate it. But also, I don’t.I’m complicated, okay?

Of course, Nick had to make some kind of comment that Ian shouldn’t be sleeping in my bed and should stay the fuck away from me all together. I almost let Ian in just to spite his brother, but instead made a joke about him being jealous that his brother was getting his cock slicked all over and he wasn’t.

“Trust me, Joyrider, I don’t have any issues getting my dick wet back home,”Nick told me with a grin, that made me want to punch him in said dick and claw the eyes out of any woman who’s ever touched him.

That was a snap back to reality, and I went to bed. Because I have no business being jealous when it comes to Nick. He’s a dick, and we hate him. We, meaning me and Duchess.

She really does. When we walked past him, she looked over and hissed, all the little hairs on her back going straight up. I just laughed, flipped him off and went to bed.

Looking out the window, I see it’s slowed down on the snow, but it’s still dark and gloomy out.

“I like snow, but I hate when the sun isn’t out,” I tell Duchess. “Same with rainy days. Love falling asleep to the sound of rain against the roof, but it’s depressing during the day.”

Grabbing the cat, I hold her in my arms and climb out of bed to take her over to the litter.

Not so fun having that in the same room as me, but if I’m going to keep her in here with me all night, I’m not going to have her peeing on my stuff.

Stretching, I grab Ian’s hoodie—the one I refuse to give back.

Did I not so subtly tell him he looked cold and should put the hoodie on because I needed his fresh scent on it? Maybe. He grinned, put it on, wore it for an hour, then gave it back, telling me I looked cold.

I took it back and snuggled the shit out of it, because fuck, it was drowning in his scent. Still is.

Grabbing fresh scent blocking panties, I head into the bathroom with the kitten at my heels.

Once I’m dressed in some leggings, hair combed and teeth brushed, I scoop up Duchess and head downstairs, wondering what time it is.

“No. Don’t put that there. Put it over here.” I hear Ian sigh when I’m halfway down the stairs.

“It looks fine where it is,” Will grumbles.

“It needs to be perfect,” Ian insists.

“Everything looks fine, Ian. She’s going to love it.”

My brows furrow with interest.Love what?

“What's going on down there?” I whisper to Duchess as we continue down the stairs.

When I get to the bottom, I freeze, eyes widening in shock. “Oh my God,” I whisper, but apparently, not soft enough.

Ian spins around, an excited grin on his handsome face. He rakes his fingers through his dark locks, looking a little sheepish. “Morning, Nova. What do you think?”

My lips part as I blink slowly, taking in everything at once. “You–you decorated?”

“Yup,” Ian replies.

“Where did you find all of this?” I say in awe. The place looks like Santa's workshop. The fireplace is decked out with garland and other Christmas decorations. There’s a big Christmas tree in the corner of the room, covered in all different types of ornaments, lights, garland, and tinsel.

“Found it in the basement. I’m starting to think they didn’t move anything out, but just put it down there,” Ian chuckles.

“It’s...” Tears well in my eyes.

“I know Christmas is in a week and well, this place was by far lacking the holiday spirit. And I remember you saying something about loving Christmas. I didn’t want you to miss this one, you know? I mean, I can’t go out and get you anything, but...”

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