Page 30 of The Merriest Christmas

"Finally," he said, slowly coming to his feet, "she gets the name right."

"Were you sleeping out here?"

"Hmmm, seemed like a good idea."

I crossed my arms.

Seaver crossed his too.

"Care to explain yourself?"

"You realize there are a bunch of strange guys sleeping in your house."

"Yeah, I'm looking at one right now," I said pointedly.

"Ouch."

I shrugged then walked by him.Unfortunately, Seaver followed.

"That doesn't explain why you're sleeping in the hall like some kind of creeper."

"Doesn't it?"

As we passed the rooms with Finn and the others, the snoring rose to a roar.

"Ah, I get it," I said as we descended the stairs."You couldn't sleep with all the noise."

"The snoring doesn't bother me.My foster dad was ten times worse, and just like this house, the walls were paper thin."

"If you say so."

As we walked into the living room, I went to the side closet and pulled out a hidden bag of gifts and wrapping paper.I also reopened the remaining box of tree decorations.

"Listen, I have things to do," I said, grabbing a few ornaments and hanging them on the tree, trying to ignore his presence.But it was hard because I was so aware of him."You can go back upstairs."

"I think I'll stay," he said.

"Why?You said the noise doesn't bother you."

"You're seriously not getting it."

"No, you're not."I gestured to the bags and boxes."I'm playing Santa this year.I don't want anyone sneaking a peek—which is why I made sure no one would be sleeping down here.Like you said, we have extra guests, so I have several extra gifts to wrap.I need to have everything done before people wake up, and Finn always gets up really early on Christmas morning.So, if you could please go, I'd appreciate it."

"I'll help," he offered."Two sets of hands will make the work go faster."

"Thanks, but you'd only be a distraction."

Seaver sat and leaned back against the couch."A distraction?How so?"

I huffed."Why won't you just go away?"

"Same reason I was sleeping in the hall."

He gave me a look like I was the one being difficult.

"Four men who might as well be strangers are sleeping in your house," he said slowly."I'm not leaving you down here alone."

"My mom brought them here.They're players on the Southern U baseball team," I said back.

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