Page 18 of Another Christmas from Hell

“No, because he would want to know why I ended things after two years,” Cayley said, shrugging it off as she went to grab a box of cereal from the cabinet next to her, only to sigh when she realized that Sean had already cleaned her out.

“You broke it off?” Bryce asked, drawing her attention to find him frowning in confusion.

“Why do you sound so surprised?” Cayley asked, deciding that a bowl of ice cream sounded perfect, only to once again sigh when she realized that Sean had somehow beat her to it.

“I was more surprised that you stayed with the asshole for so long,” Bryce said, making her frown before changing the subject. “Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?” Cayley couldn’t help but wonder as she watched him run his eyes over her only to sigh, shake his head, and mutter, “This just isn’t going to work for me.”

“What’s not going to work for you?” Cayley asked, following his gaze and took in the oversized Bradford Construction tee-shirt that she stole from Sean, the green flannel pajama pants that were really comfy, and her socks with mini donuts with pink frosting before looking back up at Bryce to find him gesturing towards her bedroom.

“We’re already late,” he said as though that really explained everything.

It didn’t.

“Late for…”

“Dinner at my sister’s house,” Bryce said, once again gesturing for her to get on with it.

“Where Sean is expected to be?” Cayley asked, only to shake her head because that wasn’t happening. “I’m good where I am.”

Nodding slowly, Bryce murmured, “I see,” making her sigh in relief. That is, until he shrugged it off, reached for her, and-

“What are you doing?” Cayley couldn’t help but wonder as she found herself thrown over his shoulder.

“Do you know what happens when you’re late to one of my family’s dinners?” Bryce asked, sighing heavily as he turned around and headed for the door.

“You get a lecture on time management?” Cayley asked, wondering why the men in his family found it necessary to manhandle her.

“You get cleanup duty,” Bryce said, making her wince because she remembered all too well what that entailed from those times that her father had to work late and she’d been forced to have dinner at his house when she was little. “So, unless you want to spend the rest of the night doing dishes, I suggest that we get going,” he said, making her frown in confusion.

“Wait. Why would I have to do the dishes?” Cayley couldn’t help but wonder as he made his way to the door.

“Because you’re making me late,” Bryce said with a long-suffering sigh as she tried to figure out the logic behind that statement.

“But I wasn’t invited,” Cayley pointed out, absently gesturing towards the kitchen as she mumbled, “Aunt Laura made a pie for me.”

“And yet, I’m still going to blame you,” Bryce said, making her grumble as he turned around and headed back to the kitchen, where she was jostled around a bit as he grabbed the pumpkin pie out of the fridge and rummaged through her silverware drawer for a fork before she once again found herself being carried towards the door and-

“This isn’t going to end well,” Cayley mumbled, only to sigh when Bryce said, “Probably not.”

CHAPTER10

“I’d really like to go home now,” came the softly mumbled words from the small woman that tried to make a run for it, but unfortunately for her, he’d been prepared for that.

“Right after dinner,” Bryce said absently as he carried Cayley up the stairs and let himself into his sister’s house, making sure to close the door before Bunny, the insanely large dog that his sister babied, could run outside.

“Now works for me,” Cayley mumbled sadly as he headed down the hallway, debating putting her down so that she could walk into the dining room on her own, but…

He didn’t trust her.

Resigning himself to the bullshit that his family was about to unleash on him, Bryce carried her into the dining room and watched as every set of eyes, from his little niece and nephew to his father, locked on him. Biting back a sigh, he shifted the small woman off his shoulder and-

Sighed.

Just fucking sighed when she tried to make a run for it. Wondering why she even bothered, Bryce grabbed Cayley before she managed to reach the door and placed her down on the empty chair across from Sean, who sent him a questioning look before his gaze shifted back to Cayley and his lips pulled up into a shit-eating grin.

Ignoring the little bastard, Bryce grabbed an empty chair and another plate and placed them next to Cayley, who was shifting uncomfortably in her chair, cleared her throat, and mumbled, “Thank you for having me.”

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