Page 85 of Another Christmas from Hell

“Oh, you mean after you left me there without a word?” Cayley asked, blinking at him. “Kevin said something that I took issue with and decided to make sure that he lived in fear for the rest of his life.”

“By punching a pillar?” Bryce asked, slowly working the ring down to her knuckle as he stood there, wondering how it would feel to slide a ring over her finger and-

He couldn’t do this.

He should have fucking known better, but he’d somehow managed to convince himself that he could handle this. God, the fucking pain that tore through his chest when he saw the asshole touch her…

“Yes, by punching a pillar. How else was I supposed to establish dominance, Bryce?” Cayley asked, pulling her hand away so that she could work the ring the rest of the way down her finger.

“Where is he now?” Bryce asked, watching her struggle to get the ring over the knuckle.

“Who?” Cayley mumbled absently with a determined look on her face as she gave up trying to be gentle and tried yanking it off.

Biting back a sigh, Bryce once again pushed her hand away and took over. “The asshole.”

“Last time I saw him, Connor was kicking the shit out of him,” Cayley said, making him frown.

“Why?” Bryce asked, knowing his brother-in-law well enough to know that he would only risk an assault charge if the asshole put his hands on Cayley or if he’d crossed a line where Rory was concerned.

“Doesn’t matter. I took care of it,” Cayley said as he finally managed to pull the ring off her finger and placed it on the kitchen island.

He opened his mouth and-

“Why did you leave me there?” Cayley asked, meeting his gaze.

“Because I can’t do this.”

CHAPTER47

Christmas

“Ireally hate Christmas,” Cayley mumbled pathetically as she pulled her hand free from the icepack she’d made around two this morning when she’d finally managed to stop crying.

After that, she’d settled for eating all the cookies, cakes, and pies that she’d picked up from her aunt’s bakery yesterday morning to bring to Rory’s house today. Since she was longer going, mostly because Bryce informed her that he didn’t want to see her again, Cayley decided to drown her sorrows in carbs and an insane amount of sugar. That had led to her tearing through the boxes that she still hadn’t unpacked in a desperate search of Pepto Bismol, a promise to herself never to touch another cupcake, and the decision to start off somewhere new, somewhere far, far away from Bryce James.

After the Pepto Bismol finally kicked in, she’d grabbed a Coke, the rest of the cupcakes, and settled in on the couch and that’s where she’d stayed, watching horror movies as she did her best to stop thinking about the moment that Bryce broke her heart. She hated him, Cayley told herself as she reached up and wiped away another tear, only to wince when the move caused pain to shoot through her knuckles and slid her hand back under the icepack.

“Your dad’s been calling me all morning wondering why you’re not answering your phone,” Sean, who’d she’d refused to call last night simply because he reminded her of his brother, said, and right now, thinking about Bryce was the last thing that she wanted to do.

“I’ll call him tomorrow,” Cayley mumbled as she stared at the television, in absolutely no mood to try to pretend that everything was okay while her father wished her a Merry Christmas and asked about Kevin, her job, and why she couldn’t stop crying.

“That’s probably for the best,” Sean murmured as he reached down and snatched the remote control off the coffee table and turned off her television.

“I’m not in the mood, Sean,” Cayley said, gesturing for him to turn the television back on.

“It’s Christmas,” Sean said as though she wasn’t painfully aware of that fact.

“Which is why I’m wallowing in self-pity,” Cayley informed him

“Well, wallow your ass back into your room and get dressed,” Sean said, glaring down at her.

“I’m not going,” she said, wondering why he was here.

“Why?” Sean demanded, apparently hellbent on pissing her off.

“Because I hate your brother,” Cayley muttered pathetically.

“You love him,”

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