Page 51 of Another Christmas from Hell

“Doesn’t matter,” Bryce said, pulling her back into his arms.

“Why doesn’t it matter?” Cayley asked as she reached up and placed her hands back on his shoulders.

“Because I just want an excuse to hold you,” Bryce admitted, pulling her even closer as he began moving them around the small kitchen.

“You’re very good at this,” Cayley murmured on a pleased little sigh as she laid her head against his chest.

“You think so?” Bryce murmured, kissing the top of her head even as he had to admit that he’d never tried before, probably because he’d never felt like he had something to lose, but with Cayley…

“Tell me where you want to go on our date,” Bryce said, needing the distraction.

“You’re gonna let me pick?” Cayley asked, sounding completely relaxed in his arms.

“I’m considering it,” Bryce murmured, pressing his lips against the top of her head again.

“What if I want to be surprised?” Cayley asked, making him bite back a groan when he felt her lips brush against his chest as she tilted her head back so that she was looking up at him.

“I suppose I could do that,” Bryce murmured absently as he found himself looking into her beautiful green eyes, barely aware that they’d stopped moving.

“Do I really terrify you?” Cayley asked, drawing his attention to her lips.

“God, yes,” Bryce whispered as he found himself leaning down only to groan when she met him halfway and brushed her lips against his.

Her lips were so much softer than he’d imagined, Bryce thought as he slowly brushed his lips against hers, savoring the feel of those incredibly soft lips moving against his and-

“I see that my work here is done.”

Realized that he’d never been closer to killing his brother than he was at that moment.

* * *

“Stop touching me, you pervert!”came the demand of outrage as Cayley stood there, watching as Sean struggled to drag himself across the floor only to yelp when Bryce, who looked really pissed, released his hold on his brother’s legs so that he could reach down and-

“You bastard!” Sean snapped when Bryce grabbed him by the back of his pants right around the time that Cayley decided that she’d had more than enough for one night.

Ignoring her best friend’s gasps of outrage, Cayley turned around and headed for her bedroom, only to decide that she’d more than earned a late-night snack tonight. Decision made, she turned right back around, stepped over Sean as he released a pained gasp while Bryce did things that would probably leave a mark in the morning and made her way to her fridge, where she discovered that her freezer was empty.

Not really surprised, Cayley closed her freezer door and turned around, stepping out of the way when Sean scrambled to get away from Bryce and-

“Son of a bitch!”

-debated her options. For a moment, Cayley considered going to bed, but honestly, there was no way that she was going to be able to sleep right now, not when she was struggling to wrap her mind around what just happened. He’d barely brushed his lips against hers and…

She definitely needed ice cream, Cayley decided, slowly exhaling as she carefully stepped over the large men struggling to put each other in headlocks and headed for the door. A few minutes later, she was sitting on Bryce’s couch with a pint of chocolate ice cream on her lap, a Christmas movie playing on the TV, and a wistful sigh leaving her lips as she sat there, wondering why she’d never reacted this way when Kevin kissed her.

His kisses had been nice, incredibly sweet, and she’d enjoyed them, but he’d never made her feel the way that Bryce did, never left her struggling to stay in control after one kiss, and God help her, she’d never wanted him the way that she wanted Bryce. He’d barely kissed her and…

She was going to kill Sean, Cayley decided with a bite of ice cream and a nod as her attention was drawn to the apartment door as it was thrown open and Bryce walked in, breathing hard, his muscles tense as his eyes locked on her and-

“That’s right, you better walk away!” came the taunting words that had Bryce going still before he turned around and walked back the way that he came, leaving Cayley sitting there trying to figure out what the hell she was doing.

After what happened with Kevin, the last thing that she needed was to jump into something that she wasn’t ready for, but…

God, she wanted him, Cayley thought with a heartfelt sigh as she watched Sean walk in and-

“Ow! You mean bastard!” Sean bit out, only to release a gasp of outrage as Bryce, who she’d like to point out had never looked angrier, grabbed him by the back of his neck and shoved him out of his apartment before slamming the door shut in his brother’s face. That was followed by Cayley pausing with the spoon halfway to her mouth when Bryce leveled a glare on her that was a bit concerning as he threw the lock and made his way over to the couch.

Before she could say anything, Bryce was sitting down on the couch next to her and pulling her onto his lap. Never taking his eyes off her, he leaned forward and finished off the bite of ice cream as he took the pint of ice cream and spoon out of her hand and placed them on the end table and-

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