Page 11 of Blame It On the Secret Santa

“Was that what that was?” I rubbed the side of my face, not nearly as disgusted as before. I wasn’t usually a dog person, but this one was rather cute—but still scary-looking.

“Max likes to show his affection every chance he gets.” Sean sat down in a recliner chair across from me and rested his elbows on his knees. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore. I thought for sure the pain would have subsided some by now,” I admitted. “Why am I at your house?”

“Your brother asked me to watch over you until the Percocet wore off.”

I nodded and pressed the palm of my hand to my head. I knew when the nurse said she was giving me Percocet that it would make me all loopy, but I was in so much pain at the time that I didn’t care. I tended to have abnormal reactions to it, which made it last longer in my system than others.

“He did?” I asked, knowing I would dread seeing him and having to deal with his endless barrage of questions. I hadn’t even thought about what Sam might think when he saw us together. Out of everyone, my brother knew the heartache I had dealt with after Sean and I broke up and he helped me through it.

“Yup. He even bribed me with a latte.”

My head snapped up as my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I remembered being at the counter and trying to order a drink, but everything after that was super fuzzy.

“My brother had tobribeyou with coffee?”

Sean nodded with a faint smirk on his lips.

“Wow. What a brother.”

“Well, there weren’t many options. He said your parents are out of town, and he was short-handed, so he couldn’t leave work. It was either leave you in my care or take you home and risk you parading down Main Street singing Christmas carols at the top of your lungs.”

“That happened one time,” I said, pointing a finger at him. “And that wasn’t even because of Percocet. That was a few too many Dirty Reindeer Balls at Sugar Faced Bar. I blame Aiden for that.”

“Well, either way. It seemed like the safest option was to have you stay here until the Percocet wore off.”

“Thankfully, it seems to have already done that, so I can call a cab and get out of your hair. I wouldn’t want my brother to have to bribe you with anything else since I was such an inconvenience.”

“No one said you were. He was teasing about bribing me with the latte, Cass. I would have done it either way. And I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think you’re getting a cab in this weather,” Sean said, nodding to the TV that was on but muted. He grabbed the remote and turned it up as the local meteorologist pointed to a map showing the expected snowfall Sugarplum Falls was due to get tonight.

“This is a massive storm,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief. “We have several reports already of traffic accidents due to black ice and strong winds. The Sheriff’s office is asking that everyone stay off the roads until this storm passes. We all know what that means. Stay home, stay warm, and check on your neighbors to make sure they have the supplies they need to get through this one. But if you don’t have to be on the roads, don’t.”

The news report ended and went into a cheery commercial about buying your loved one a brand-new car this holiday season.I mean, seriously, who has that kind of money to spend on Christmas?But that wasn’t even the biggest problem. This storm was already on top of us, which meant there was no chance of me getting back to my place tonight after all. I sank lower on the couch as dread and disappointment washed over me.

“Are you saying I’m stuck here with you?” I finally asked, allowing myself to look at him. I knew the answer, but it felt better to ask anyway, just in case some miracle dropped out of the universe and presented itself.

“It sure looks that way.”

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