Page 19 of Daddies’ Holiday Toy (Kissmass Daddies #1)

REECE

It’s pushing late afternoon when I catch sight of Liam out by the firepit, pacing in a wide arc through the snow with his phone held high over his head like some kind of backwoods scientist tracking alien activity.

I stand on the landing just outside the door for a minute, leaning my upper half against the railing and watch him with more amusement that is probably necessary.

He’s so focused he doesn’t notice me.

Every few steps, he stops, squints down at the screen, mutters something low under his breath, then starts pacing again.

What the fuck?

It’s like he’s convinced that if he finds exactly the right spot, the clouds will part, a beam of heavenly light will hit him, and the cell service gods will descend with four glorious bars of 5G.

“You lose something out there,” I call, “or are you trying to map the property line?”

He doesn’t even break stride. “Looking for a signal.”

“Yeah, I got that part,” I answer, shoving my hands into my pockets and take the steps down toward him. “Question is…why? Thought you were all about ditching the tech and ‘being one with the woods’ this weekend.”

That earns me the briefest glance, just enough for him to register my presence before he steps around me and heads closer toward where the cars are still half-buried.

His boots crunch through the ice-crusted top layer of snow.

“It’s nothing.”

“Uh-huh. So you’ve been out here pacing in circles for fifteen minutes for fun?” I follow him, a few paces behind, my tone tilting toward the dry side of sarcastic.

The little muscle in his jaw twitches. “Reece, mind your business.”

That catches me off guard.

Not so much the words exactly, but the bite behind them. “Well, fuck me for trying to have a conversation.”

His arm drops from the air, the other hand raking through his hair in one frustrated sweep, pushing it back from his face.

There’s no hiding the irritation flashing in his eyes, though he tries. “I’m not in the mood for this. I’m just trying to connect to the internet for something.”

“For what?”

That question gets me the full force of his glare once again. “Didn’t I just say to drop it?”

My gut twists.

This isn’t just him being pissy because he’s in a bad mood.

I’ve been around Liam long enough to know the difference.

This is him hiding something, and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s the feeling of something happening right under my nose.

“Liam,” I press.

His lips flatten. “I said mind your fucking business, Reece.”

That’s enough to spike my temper, and I’m halfway to firing something back when the door bangs open behind us, loud enough to startle a crow from a nearby tree.

“What the hell is going on out here?” Jack’s voice cuts across the space as he takes the steps down two at a time, one hand braced on the railing while his eyes flick between us.

He doesn’t look happy. “Sounds like you two are about to kill each other.”

“Just a conversation,” I say, lifting a shoulder, trying to smooth things over. Despite Liam pissing me off, I’m not about to throw him under the bus just yet.

Jack’s expression tells me he’s not buying any of it. “Well, keep it down. Or better yet, take it down the road before you wake Holly. She’s taking a nap, and I’d rather not wake her up when she’s been the one feeding us all for the past two days.”

Liam shifts his weight and shoves his phone into his pocket, trying to bury the evidence before it’s brought up again.

Problem is, Jack’s gaze drops straight to that movement and locks on.

“What’s so urgent you gotta be making a phone call? If you’re that desperate, we can plug in the landline.” His voice is deceptively mild.

“It’s not a phone call,” Liam mutters.

Jack moves without hesitation.

Three long strides then his hand is already dipping into Liam’s pocket before I realize what’s happening.

“Hey—” Liam lunges for it, but Jack sidesteps him with practiced ease, phone now in his grip.

His brows pull together as he scans the screen.

“You’re wiring money?”

“Give me my phone,” Liam snaps.

Jack doesn’t look up, his thumb still moving.

“This isn’t pocket change, either. That’s a few grand. Who the hell are you sending this kind of money to? A Nigerian prince?”

Liam puts his hand out. “Jack. My phone. Now.”

I step between them before the posturing turns into shoving.

“Both of you, keep it down. Holly’s sleeping, remember?”

Neither of them so much as glance in my direction.

The fire between them is locked in.

Jack angles the screen toward Liam, holding it up as evidence.

“You gonna answer the question, or what?”

“It’s none of your business,” Liam snaps again.

“Like hell it isn’t,” Jack shoots back. “You’re moving money around while we’re out here trying to enjoy a nice three-day weekend away and I want to know why. Especially when it’s this much.”

“Jack—”

“ Who ?” Jack barks.

There’s a faint flicker of something in Liam’s eyes, guilt maybe, though it’s gone almost as quickly as it appears.

I’m not the only one who catches it.

Jack takes one slow step forward, losing all the pretense of casual irritation from before.

“You better start talking,” he says. “ Now .”

Liam’s shoulders go rigid.

His jaw clenches so tight I half-expect to hear it crack.

There’s a long beat where he looks like he might just walk away instead, but then he exhales hard through his nose, eyes cutting between us.

“Fine. You want to know so bad? I’m sending it to Holly.”

That stops both of us cold.

I blink. “Holly?”

Jack’s brows slam together so fast, I’m surprised he doesn’t pull a muscle. “Why?”

“Because she gave me a blowjob.”

For a second, it doesn’t compute.

The words just hang there in the icy air, too blunt and absurd to process.

I open my mouth, but there’s nothing.

Not a single word.

My brain’s still scrambling to catch up because there’s no way we’re in the same reality as before.

Jack, though, he goes nuclear.

“You what?” his voice booms.

He closes the distance between them again, chest brushing against Liam’s. “Are you out of your goddamn mind? That’s Carson’s daughter . What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“It’s not like that,” Liam says quickly, though he doesn’t at all sound apologetic.

Jack’s not hearing it.

His voice climbs, every syllable like a fist to the side of the face. “Not like that? Jesus Christ . And you’re paying her for it? What, you think that makes it better? She’s?—”

“An adult,” Liam cuts in, his eyes flashing. “We haven’t seen her in years, Jack. Hell, Carson barely ever brought her around. I can think of one time and that’s it. So don’t stand there acting like you’re some moral authority. She’s not twelve.”

Jack’s nostrils flare.

His hands curl into fists at his sides and for a heartbeat,

I’m genuinely not sure if he’s about to swing.

He’s close enough now that if he decides to take the shot, Liam won’t have time to dodge.

And me?

I’m still caught between the two of them, with the heavy realization that we’ve just crossed into territory there’s no coming back from.

Whatever this weekend was supposed to be, whatever easy camaraderie we had left, it’s gone now.

There’s no stuffing this back in the box.

“You think that matters? You think that makes it right ? Christ, Liam?—”

“Right or wrong, it happened. And it’s my business, not yours,” Liam replies.

Their voices have gotten loud enough that I’m almost positive Holly’s going to wake up and come to see what all the noise is about.

If she comes out here, there’s no hiding what we’ve been arguing about.

I shove my body between them, planting my feet and pressing both hands against their chests.

My palms hit solid muscle on both sides, and I have to push harder than I’d like just to get an inch of space between them.

“Hey. Enough. You’re gonna wake Holly. You really want to be having this conversion while she’s around?”

Jack doesn’t even acknowledge me.

He leans forward over my shoulder like I’m barely there and jabs a finger hard into Liam’s chest.

“You don’t touch her again. You don’t even look at her.”

Liam’s lips suddenly twitch in that dangerous, baiting way I’ve seen him use before when he wants to get under someone’s skin.

His eyes flick down to the spot where Jack’s finger is still pressing into him then lift slowly until they’re locked on Jack’s face.

There’s a coiled energy in him, the kind that says he’d be more than happy to turn this into something physical if given half a reason.

His smirk turns cold. “You sound jealous.”

Jack’s jaw flexed. “I’m not jealous. I’m disgusted .”

“Sure,” Liam says, voice dripping with disbelief. “Keep telling yourself that.”

And…that’s enough for me.

I shove Liam back a full step this time, planting my other hand against Jack’s chest to keep him from following.

“Knock it off, both of you. Jesus Christ.” My voice is low but hard, the kind of tone that should’ve been enough to end this before it got any worse.

But it’s already too late.

Their raised voices have done exactly what I’ve been trying to avoid all along.

The front door of the cabin opens, kicking up stray flecks of powder that the heat from inside collides with the chilly frost out here.

A moment later, Holly steps into view.

Her hair is mussed from sleep, sticking up in a way that makes it impossible not to picture her tangled in sheets.

The oversized T-shirt she’s wearing hangs loose off one shoulder, sliding low enough to reveal the slope of her collarbone.

She squints at us, eyes still heavy with sleep. “What’s going on?”