Page 183 of How My Neighbour Stole Christmas
Storee
All was very quiet, not even a squeak of a mouse,
while Storee tiptoed over the snow back to her house.
The plan was simple: to sneak in without detection
and go upstairs to hide her hickey-covered complexion.
Slowly and quietly I closethe front door, my shoulders tense, my body sore, and my mind still wishing I was in Cole’s warm bed rather than in Aunt Cindy’s house. It was risky, spending the night with him, but even though I protested at first, deep down I wanted to stay. I wanted to have the night we had. I wanted to fall asleep in his arms only for him to wake me up with kisses.
And when his alarm went off this morning, I was entirely too reluctant to get out of bed, but Cole helped me, encouraged me, and then watched me hop through the snow to get back to Aunt Cindy’s house. And now that I was able to make it undetected—
“What are you doing?”
I freeze, my back stiffening from the sound of my sister’s voice.
Shit.
Apparently not undetected.
Think of something and think quick.
I turn toward my sister, who is on the base of the stairs looking stiff with her pajamas askew and her ponytail barely tied together. “Checking to see what kind of snow we got last night. Does this shit ever stop?”
I see her glance out the window, then back at me. Arms crossed, she studies me for a moment, causing sweat to form at the nape of my neck. Then she says, “It’s winter in the mountains. You can expect this every day.”
Some of the tension eases.
“I just thought that maybe we would catch a break,” I say as I flip my hair over my shoulder.
“Oh my God, what happened to you?” Taran points at my shoulder where Cole bit me last night.
Crap!
“Is it a bruise?” I ask, deciding not to play dumb and just own up to the mark.
“Yes.”
I nod as I casually let the lies flow. “This is embarrassing, but I was really excited that I nailed the routine yesterday. I tried to have a quiet celebration to myself in my room last night and ended up jumping, hitting the mirror on the dresser, and it crashed down on my shoulder.” Holy crap, I can lie fast. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear it. I groaned.”
“Oh, I was on the phone with Guy, and we were…well…anyway.” She studies me. “Did you ice it?”
“Too embarrassed. Looks like I have to suffer now.”
She nods…still studying me. A stretch of silence falls between us before she says, “You seem happy.”
Because I spent the night with Cole, and neither of us wanted to sleep. Instead, we’d sleep for an hour, wake up and play around, then sleep, then fuck…and before I left, he fucked me up against the door. I can still feel him all over my body.
“Relieved is more like it.” I lean against the front door as Taran stays on the bottom stair. “I was really worried about that performance and making a fool of myself, so I’m glad it’s over and we can focus on the last contest.”
Her lips purse, but she nods—thankfully. “Yeah, I’m glad it’s over too. You were looking a bit green there for a second right before you started singing,” she says, lightening up. She heads toward the kitchen, and I follow her just as I receive a text. I glance at it and see it’s from Cole.
Cole:Screw them…come back to me.
I can’t hold back my smile as I reply.
Storee:OMG Taran caught me sneaking back in, but I played it off as checking on the snow. She bought it.
