Page 127 of Be My First

I watch the clock and call them in one at a time. At the end of three minutes, I call time. “Count your logs.”

I walk back over to Seth, and he says, “Well, that certainly was exciting.”

He doesn’t look very excited. Not that it matters. This is just a stupid family tradition.

“Let me go tabulate the results.” I give him a little kiss on the cheek. He bristles a little. He hates PDA. I pat his chest anyway and walk away. I catch Bode looking at me from the corner of my eye. I quickly move my focus to Declan – who is talking to everyone. We whisper for a minute, and then I stand on the log.

“We have a tie for first place and second place,” I say.

There are a bunch of murmurs from the crowd.

“First place is a tie between...” I love a dramatic pause. “Ethan and Eli.”

“Hell yes, my sexy bodyguard,” Zadie calls.

I can’t help but chuckle.

“Second place is a three way tie. Kip, Declan, and Bode.”

They all high-five. I do my best to avoid looking at them.

“James is next followed by Will and Keene.”

Will puts his hand on Keene’s shoulders. “Not my best year.”

“Pretty usual for me,” Keene mumbles.

Elizabeth claps her hands together and says, “Who is building snowmen?”

I walk over to Seth. “Feel like building a snowman?”

He shrugs. “Sure.”

“We like to do unusual things like Eli and Declan are doing a fish this year, and I heard Elizabeth say they were attempting a cat.”

He wrinkles his nose and says, “Is that possible?”

“Anything is possible if you believe,” I say.

He doesn’t crack a smile, but Eli does as he walks passed me. “That’s right. You just have to believe in the magic of Christmas.”

Seth looks around nervously and then says, “You know I’m a bit cold. Do you mind if I go inside for a bit? I’d kind of like some alone time. This has been...um...a lot.”

I nearly jerk back in surprise. I can’t get enough of these people – especially at Christmas, but I get it. We are a lot. He’s an introvert, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I already knew that about him, so I shouldn’t be surprised.

“Of course,” I say. “Warm up by the fire.”

He nods. “Have fun building a snow fish.”

I laugh and walk over to Eli. He, Declan, Maggie, and Bode are working away.

“I’m a little surprised that you guys weren’t going to attempt something we saw at that Secret Museum,” Bode says.

Declan starts laughing so hard he falls over, and Eli is doubled over at the waist. Maggie wipes a tear from her eye. “James would kick us out of Christmas if we did.”

“God, that would be so much better than a fish, though,” Declan says, looking down at what we’ve created so far.

“Easier too,” Bode mumbles.

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