Page 35 of My Secret Santa Daddies

Like a reflex, my palm grabs her chin stiffly, forcing her gaze to meet my own.

She gasps slightly and the cloud of air rises between her lips as her thin brows pull together.

“Stop it. Stop this bullshit right now with me. You understand? It’s getting on my god damn nerves. When are you going to stop punishing yourself for something that wasn’t your fault? He doesn’t blame you, so why the hell do you think you have any right to blame yourself?”

She looks away again, her cheeks flaming in the cold. “You don’t know a damn thing about it, Wyatt.”

“You’re right. I don’t.” I step back, releasing her as if she burned me. “But I do know that hiding out in a freezing house isn’t going to fix anything. It sure as hell won’t make you a hero.”

“You don’t get to tell me what to do, Wyatt. You gave up that right a long time ago.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes you need someone to tell you to stop being an idiot,” I bite back, my patience fraying in the face of her stubbornness. “Griffin’s not the bad guy here, Sierra. None of us are.”

“Well, you’ve done your good deed for the day, Wyatt. Thanks for the rescue. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get inside before I freeze to death.”

I nod, swallowing back the words I want to say, the things I know she won’t want to hear. Instead, I just adjust her bag on my shoulder, turning toward the lodge’s front door. “Yeah, alright. Let’s get you inside.”

Cody takes Sierra’s bag from me with a nod, gesturing for her to follow him upstairs.

“Right this way, madam. Welcome to Griffin’s latest project.”

“Yes. The one he decided to dump on Cody and I!” I shout.

That makes her laugh, and when I hear it, I can’t help but smile.

“Don’t mind the mess,” Cody mutters.

“Well, heat and a mess is better than freezing,” Sierra says, trailing behind him. The lodge is still mostly unfinished, the place is a maze of exposed beams and walls half-stripped of their old, peeling wallpaper, but Griffin and I had managed to get a few rooms fixed up to make them somewhat livable before the storm hit. At least enough to keep us from freezing our asses off.

Luckily some of his new furniture had been delivered before any of us showed up.

I hang back, watching as they head up the creaking staircase, Sierra moves cautiously, like she’s afraid she might break something—or maybe she’s just not sure if she wants to go along with this.

She glances around the open living space—the card table shoved against one wall, covered in blueprints and sawdust, Jack’s toy crate is tucked in a corner by the sink. The place reeks of sawdust and no amount of lemon scented Pledge can ever cover it up, but it’s home for now.

“Don’t worry, the floors are solid,” Cody calls over his shoulder, a teasing lilt in his voice that’s probably meant to make her feel at ease, but I can see her stiffen slightly, still on edge.

“I’m not worried. This place is just massive. Even bigger inside than it looks from out there.”

“Yeah. Don’t remind me.”

Cody shoots me a quick look as they reach the top of the stairs, raising an eyebrow as if to ask if I’m coming. I just shake my head and gesture for him to keep going. He can handle getting her settled.

Upstairs, Cody leads her to one of the bedrooms we’ve been using as a storage space during the renovations, but it’s the best we’ve got right now. The walls are stripped down to their studs in some places, the floorboards bare, but at least the window isn’t drafty, and Griffin had the sense to throw a pile of blankets on the bed I’d been using.

It’s about as good as the sleeping arrangements get around here.

The floorboards creak above my head, followed by the sound of the door opening.

“This is... fine,” Sierra’s voice carries through the echoing lodge. She hesitates, then adds, “Thanks, Cody. Really.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Just get some rest, okay? We’ll deal with everything else in the morning.”

I can almost picture her nodding, even though I can’t see her.

Footsteps thump down the stairs as Cody comes back down, and when he appears at the bottom of the staircase, he looks my way, his expression inscrutable.

“I don’t know if she’ll be coming out anytime soon.”

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