Page 23 of Another Christmas from Hell

“It’s nothing. I’m fine,” Bryce said, moving to gently push her hand away when the little demon slapped his hand away and traced the large bruise decorating half his ribs and side with her fingertips.

“This doesn’t look like nothing,” Cayley said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as her gaze flickered between his face and the large bruise that looked a hell of a lot worse than it felt.

“It’s nothing,” Bryce bit out with a glare that was met with a blank look that had his eyes narrowing.

Cayley didn’t say anything as she sat there, blinking at him as she waited for an answer that she wasn’t going to get. When he didn’t break, Cayley simply shifted, blinked again, and waited. For several minutes, Bryce sat there, jaw clenched as he glared at the little brat and-

“Fine! The little asshole took me by surprise last night and knocked me on my ass. Are you happy now?” Bryce snapped, only to groan as he placed his hand back over his ribs.

Sighing heavily, Cayley absently muttered, “Ecstatic,” as she climbed off his lap and headed back to the door, where she spent the next two minutes searching through her bag until she had her keys in her hand and was gesturing to the door. “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” Bryce asked, shoving his shirt back down.

“To the emergency room to get that looked at,” Cayley said, once again gesturing for him to move his ass.

“It’s just sore,” Bryce said, watching as she went still, sighed, and grumbled as she turned around and headed down the small hallway.

A moment later, she was walking back into the room carrying a familiar-looking metal tin and-

Made him sigh heavily when she crawled back onto his lap. “Take your shirt off,” Cayley said, not bothering to look at him as she removed the cover and placed it on the end table as the familiar scent of lemon grass and citrus teased him.

“Where did you get that?” Bryce asked, reluctantly doing as he was asked.

“Your brother is a pain in the ass,” Cayley said, dipping her fingertips in the salve that Uncle Ethan made that was a fucking godsend. It helped ease the pain in his sore muscles at the end of the day and helped on those rare occasions when they beat the shit out of each other for the hell of it.

“Meaning?” Bryce asked, watching her.

“He’s high maintenance,” Cayley said, placing her fingertips on his side and-

Tore a groan from him when she gently ran her fingertips over his ribs.

“Did I hurt you?” she asked, pausing to make sure that he was okay.

“No, it’s fine,” Bryce said, reaching to take the ointment from her before he lost his fucking mind. “I can do it.”

“And yet, you didn’t,” Cayley murmured with a pointed look as she ignored him and continued gently rubbing the ointment that was starting to help his muscles relax into his skin. Christ, that felt good, Bryce thought as he gave up trying to stop her and leaned back, watching Cayley as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth while she focused on what she was doing.

He couldn’t remember the last time anything felt this good, Bryce thought, biting back a groan as he relaxed back against the couch while Cayley took her time gently working the salve over his sore muscles. She felt so good on his lap, he thought, running his eyes over her, taking in her dark hair once again pulled up into a ponytail, her incredibly soft-looking plump lips that made it difficult to focus before shifting his attention down the rest of her body, wishing like hell that there was something that he didn’t like about her to make this easier.

“Can I ask you something?” came the softly murmured words as her small hands made their way over his chest and shoulders.

“Depends on the question,” Bryce said, looking back up to meet her curious gaze.

“Why do you hate me?” Cayley asked, taking him by surprise and found himself thinking about the real reason why he avoided her.

Because she chose Sean over him.

“I don’t hate you,” Bryce said, deciding that it was time to put some space between them. He gently picked her up and placed her on the couch next to him before grabbing his shirt and bit back a wince as he stood up, giving her his back as he pulled his shirt on and thought about the time when he was her entire world.

“No, you don’t, do you?” Cayley murmured, sounding thoughtful as he made his way back to the Christmas tree and grabbed it.

“I thought you decided that I was in love with you,” Bryce drawled as he carried the Christmas tree across the room and placed it in the tree stand that she’d set up in the corner.

“It’s one of several theories I’m debating at the moment,” Cayley said, sounding thoughtful as he knelt down to secure the tree and-

“What are you doing?” came the curious question that had him looking up to find Sean standing in the doorway watching him.

“Professing my undying love for the little pain in the ass,” Bryce said dryly as he finished making sure that the tree wasn’t going to fall over before he stood up.

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