Page 50 of The Holiday Clause

“I wish I could stay.”

“Who was that?”

This mess was her own doing. She didn’t want him to change his mind or regret anything they’d done, nor did she think bringing his brothers into the conversation would help matters. “A guest.”

“Don’t lie to me, Wren.”

Her eyes pleaded for understanding, but too much reality was returning. “It was Soren. I told him I’d hang out with him tonight.”

If he had an internal reaction, she couldn’t tell. His expression was unreadable and his tone indifferent. “You better get going then.”

“Grey—”

He turned away and walked down the hall to his room. Very aware of the time, she looked at the cat box and the front door. Soren was waiting. She went after Grey anyway, unable to leave things on a bad note.

He slipped on a sweater. His sandy blond hair stood on end.

“We’re just hanging out, Greyson.”

“Let’s not have lies between us, Wren. I was there when you called him to arrange a date.”

That was true, but that was before she and Greyson kissed. “I can cancel?—”

“Don’t.”

Taken aback that he’d tell her not to cancel a date with his brother after what they just did, she blinked at him in confusion. He said no lies, but he seemed to be avoiding the truth.

“But... what about everything that just happened?”

“I told you that was the last time. We both know anything between us is wrong and it won’t work out.”

She didn’t know that, and neither did he, but she was too hurt by his indifference to say that to him.

Then he looked back at her, as if surprised she was still standing there. “You’re gonna be late.”

She closed her mouth to stop her chin from trembling. It was stunning how much his apathy hurt. She blinked away the sting and swallowed, not even knowing how to respond to such a comment.

He brushed past her and left the room. She needed a few seconds to find her bearings before she could follow. When she returned to the kitchen, she picked up the canister of kitten formula with shaky hands.

“He’ll need a bottle of formula four times a day.” She rattled off directions as a weak defense mechanism so she didn’t humiliate herself even more. “Once we see how he adjusts, we can wean him off slowly and introduce solid foods.”

“What?” He turned and frowned. “I’m not keeping the cat.”

“He’s too small to live outside on his own with the others. This is only for a couple of weeks.”

“Wren, I don’t have space in my life for a kitten.”

“Finders keepers, Greyson.”

Maybe she wanted to punish him. Why should he get away from every situation without taking responsibility? He was going to take accountability for something, at least for a little while.

“I can take him to the sanctuary once he’s a little bigger, but it’s too cold to put him out there now. He doesn’t have a mother to feed him, so it looks like the universe picked you.Congratulations. It’s a boy.” She pressed the canister of dry formula into his chest and let go so he had no choice but to catch it. “Directions are on the back.”

She was losing her battle with her emotions and needed to get out of there. Gathering the basket of supplies, she bundled up without meeting his eyes.

“Wren—”

“I have to go, Greyson. I’ll check in tomorrow to see how Tinsel’s doing.”