Page 75 of The Bright Side of Christmas
“You’re being selfish, huh?” she asked, quoting me.
I smiled and nodded.
“After school tomorrow, I want you all to myself.” She lifted an eyebrow, and I smiled wide. “I know on the twenty-third you’ll be spending the entire day downtown, probably getting there at five a.m. and not coming home until ridiculously late. I want one low-key evening so you can relax before the chaos starts.” I pressed my lips to her neck, and her breathing hitched. I found myself contemplating whether I could also talk her into a quickie.
“The whole day?”
I pulled back, catching the contemplation on her face and knowing I had her.
“After school. You don’t have aftercare tomorrow, right?” She nodded, and then I saw her appreciation of my knowing her schedule. “Tomorrow night is mine. I’m going to make sure you relax and take care of yourself before the chaos ensues. I’ll go with you, be some muscle you boss around, and help move things along so it gets done on time, but I want you to promise that tomorrow night is mine.”
She paused, seeming to think for a long time, and I thought I might be out of luck before she smiled softly and nodded.
“Deal.”
Then she dragged me into the shower, and I did, in fact, get my quickie.
Now I’m standing in a gymnasium in the recreation center downtown that Wren tells me is used for the recreation basketball teams in the winter and camps in the summer, moving a Christmas tree for the third time because it just wasn’t right,and being accused of makingpornographic noises in a public place.
I fucking wish.
“Hallie, stop it,” Wren says, pushing her shoulder.
I’ve learned this is their way: Hallie being crude and outlandish, and Wren blushing over it. I twist the pins in the tree base until it’s stable on its own before stepping away. I look at Wren, who bites her lip.
“I don’t know?—”
“It’s perfect, and you know it,” Hallie says with an eye roll before directing her look to me. “She always gets like this. The perfectionism kicks in, and she starts overthinking everything. Sometimes you just gotta tell her to stop and move on.” Hallie spots something over my shoulder and grins deviously.
“Right, Jesse?” she calls out.
I turn to find Wren’s brothers behind me and move toward Wren as they approach. Before anyone can hear me, I whisper to Wren, “Once they’re gone, I’ll move it another dozen times until you’re happy, okay?” Wren gives me an appreciative look.
“What are you wrangling us into?” Madden asks, throwing his arm around Hallie. She pushes at his chest, and he stumbles back, laughing.
“Gross, get your stink off me,” Hallie says with a grimace. From what Wren told me, Hallie was drawn into the King familyfold as a kid and is a second sister to the King brothers. But the way the oldest King scowls at his younger brother tells me there might be something more there.
“Hey, man,” Jesse says, reaching over to me and pulling me into a handshake and hug I don’t expect, but I play along. Once I’m released from that, I’m pulled into a second one by Madden, and Wren makes wide eyes at me over his shoulder before giving me an excited thumbs up.
“Thanks for helping with the wreaths. Dad said you also stayed on the farm and helped him haul the leftovers into his truck to donate. Saved me from having to do it,” Madden says when he steps back.
“And me,” Jesse says with a laugh. “Madd and I were ready to flip a coin to see who would get the job, then we found out you already did it.”
I shrug and try to ignore the way Wren’s eyes burn into me. She knows I picked up and dropped off the wreaths, mostly because she tried to argue that I was stillrecoveringand unable to do it, and that she should just do it herself. That night, I fulfilled my threat of turning her over my knee while also proving I was more than okay to lug around some wreaths. I’m happy to report that, as expected, she more than enjoyed it.
But I didn’t tell her about helping her dad with the trees.
“Poor Adam had no idea what he got himself into, tying himself with the Kings. He’s going to be dragged into every kind of favor known to man,” Hallie says to Wren, who just smiles.
“Do you snowboard?” Madden asks.
“Me?” I point to my chest, confused.
Jesse looks around the small group with exaggeration. “There’s no one else here whose entire life story we don’t know.” I blink at him. “Yeah, he meant you, Adam.”
Wren lets out a little huff. “Jesse, be nice.”
“I am! We’re trying to invite him snowboarding!”
