Page 62 of Another Christmas from Hell

“Meaning?” Bryce asked, stealing one of her fries.

“It wasn’t exactly difficult to figure out what your favorite food was,” Cayley said, pausing to take a bite of the burger that he fully planned on stealing.

“And how did you figure it out?” Bryce asked, leaning in to steal a bite.

“I figured out what your favorite food was based on your willingness to beat the crap out of your brothers,” Cayley said, making him chuckle.

“I was very selective,” Bryce said, chuckling as he leaned in for another bite, only to decide that he’d rather kiss the incredibly beautiful woman that he couldn’t live without instead.

“What happened to the Christmas bizarre?” Bryce asked, brushing his lips against hers one last time before he took another bite and sat back, shifting his focus back to that incredible macaroni and cheese that he was going to have to order for lunch tomorrow.

Grumbling, Cayley took another bite of her burger before setting it down and focused on her fries as she said, “He showed up again,” making him frown.

“Sean?” Bryce asked, even though he already had a feeling that she wasn’t talking about his brother.

“Kevin,” Cayley admitted as she grabbed a fork and went to steal a bite of his macaroni and cheese, only to mutter something and focus on the mashed potatoes when his eyes narrowed in warning on her.

“What happened?” Bryce asked even though he already had a pretty good idea.

For the past two weeks, the asshole had been everywhere, her cousin’s diner and all the events that Cayley was determined to go to so that she could check more items off her list. He should have known the asshole was going to show up tonight, Bryce thought, biting back a sigh as he resigned himself to go with her to whatever deeply disturbing Christmas event that she had planned for tomorrow night.

“Glared until your father decided to take a personal interest in him and then he decided that his night would be better spent elsewhere,” Cayley said, shrugging it off like it was no big deal while he sat there, frowning.

“My father was there?” Bryce asked, wondering what the hell his father was doing at a Christmas bizarre.

“Mmmhmmm,” Cayley murmured as she reached for the slice of Italian bread, only to sigh heavily when he beat her to it.

“Was my sister and the kids there?” he asked, thinking it over as he dipped the bread in the alfredo sauce before taking a bite.

“No,” she murmured, looking lost in thought while Bryce sat there trying to figure out what his father was doing at a Christmas bizarre by himself. He-

“So,” Cayley said, popping one last fry in her mouth before shifting her focus to him with a warm smile, “where should we start?”

CHAPTER34

“Iquit,” Cayley mumbled sadly with a sniffle that had the large man carrying her into her apartment, chuckling as though she was joking.

She wasn’t.

Not even a little bit.

And just to make sure that he fully understood so that he wouldn’t be disappointed later when he realized that she wasn’t kidding, Cayley said, “You’re on your own.”

“I figured that out when you dropped into the fetal position and sadly mumbled about being unable to find the will to go on,” Bryce said as he carried her into her room and moved to place her down on her bed, only to rethink that decision when she sadly mumbled, “I’m dirty.”

“Good point,” Bryce said, pulling her back into his arms and turned around and headed back the way they came while she hung there, mumbling pathetically when every step jostled her and caused her poor, abused muscles to do things that really didn’t feel good at the moment.

“Why does it have to hurt so much?” Cayley mumbled against his back even as she had to wonder how he managed to do this every day.

“You’ll be fine, sweetheart,” Bryce said as he gave her leg a comforting caress that had her whimpering.

“I think I’m going to have to help out with the house in a supervisory role,” she said, knowing that he would be heartbroken.

“That’s very generous of you,” Bryce said, sounding amused as he carried her into his apartment.

“I know,” Cayley mumbled as she wiggled her toes to see if they still hurt, only to decide that was a bad idea and settled for hanging there instead.

“Let’s get you cleaned up,” Bryce said as he gently placed her on the bathroom counter and focused his attention on removing the pretty work boots that she bought to help him.

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