Page 11 of Snowed In With The Second Chance Daddy

It must be at least ten feet tall. Maybe more. All I really know is six footish Trevor is totally dwarfed by the thing as he stands beside it. Taking it in.

What the hell is he doing? Admiring the ornaments? Counting the light bulbs?

I stand there just long enough to be a creep if I don’t say anything.

Come on, Iris. You got this.

It’s easy to be a badass when playing a video game, but in real life, it’s a different beast.

I clear my throat.

Trevor’s attention immediately snaps to me. His eyes widen and then settle again into a look of…indifference.

Fuck, I hate that look.

I take a few steps toward him. “Coffee?”

Trevor’s quiet for a few moments, watching the steam rise off the mug. “Um. Sure.”

I hand over the coffee. “Careful, it’s hot.”

Our fingers brush, and I’m annoyed at how my body reacts. A betrayal to the fact that Trevor isn’t safe.

“Thank you,” Trevor murmurs, his voice low in his chest. It’s a private sounding voice, not his usual, chipper tenor.

I hate how that makes me feel too.

I turn to look at the tree too and settle my eyes on a sheeny green bulb that reflects both of our faces in a distorted fashion. “Happy holidays.”

“Yep.”

“So, I’d say it’s good to see you, but –”

“Yeah.”

I resist glancing at him.

It’s clear he doesn’t want to have this conversation. And hell, I don’t either, but it has to happen. “Look, we have to…at least be civil.”

“I think ignoring each other is probably the most civil thing we can do, don’t you think?” He sips the coffee.

Ouch.

“I think ignoring each other will make it awkward for everybody else. We can at least afford to say hello to one another.”

Trevor deigns to look at me, which is what I’ve wanted. Just a little acknowledgment. But now I can’t push myself to look back at him. Fucking hell.

“Iris–”

“Trevor.”

He huffs out an annoyed breath. “At the risk of being impolite–”

“That’s not a risk, you’ve already been plenty impolite tonight. Couldn’t even say hello when I arrived.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was supposed to roll out the red carpet for you.”

I glare at him. “All you had to do was say hello.”

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