Page 201 of How My Neighbour Stole Christmas
“Sort of. The need to win isn’t as strong as it was. I think I’d rather see Storee win.”
“Nooooo,” Max groans. “Cole, please…for the love of God, do not give up now. We are eight points ahead. That’s hard to catch up to. Even if Storee wins first place with the light display, all we have to do is stay above the bottom two and we’re solid. This is a win for us. Just see this through. If anything…do it for me. We’ve been through a lot, and now that I’m invested, I want to win this for us.”
Hell, when he puts it like that…
He has done a lot for me, and I want nothing more than to show Max how much I appreciate him.
“You’re right,” I say. “You’re so right. Fuck, man. I’m sorry. Let’s…let’s try to win this thing.”
His smile lights up as he holds out his hand. “Yeah, let’s win it.”
I stare down at his hand and then back up at him. “Am I supposed to hold your hand?”
“You’re supposed to shake in celebration.”
“That seems weird,” I say.
He curls his hand into a fist. “Then fist bump?”
“Ehhh…”
He picks up his pillow and whacks me right in the face. “How about that?”
I blink a few times and then turn toward him. “You’re dead.”
He squeals as he rolls away and whisper-shouts, “Don’t wake my dad. He’ll kill us, and if you wake him, I’m telling him about your thong.”
I stand from my air mattress, and we face off with the coffee table between us. “I’ll tell him I borrowed it from you.”
“Wearing another man’s thong? Cole, where are your standards?”
I lunge at him, and he sidesteps, causing me to crash into the end table.
“What’s going on down there?” Mr. Maxheimer calls from upstairs.
Max whispers, “Now you’ve done it, you fuck.”
I sigh as we hear heavy footsteps come down the stairs. In a conciliatory tone, I say, “You were right, dear.”
Taran
I stare up at the ceiling, my mind racing, my heart pounding, the thought of betrayal passing through me.
How could she?
Is this why she’s been slacking? Getting third in the last few competitions? Because of him?
To say I was surprised when I saw her being pulled behind a tree in the gym was an understatement, but when I saw who it was, anger reached its tipping point.
It was supposed to be a farce. They were supposed to be faking it, but from what I saw, Storee was fully immersed—and happy—in his arms.
And I should have known because all the signs were there. The way she watched him up on that stage when he thrust his pelvis at the audience? She practically drooled.
When she went on that date with him, she wasn’t as reluctant as she should have been.
Not to mention, after the candy-cane making she was gone for a very long time. She claimed a pothole, but…was that the truth?
And then…oh my God! When I caught her coming back into the house, was she really coming back in from checking on the snow? Or was she coming back in after spending the night next door?
