Page 23 of Theirs for the Holidays

I leave a few minutes later with a bag weighed down by probably more maple sugar than I need, but better to have too much and not feel stressed about wasting it.

Andrew and his brothers are still clustered together talking as I walk back toward them, but none of them have noticed me yet. I hang back when Andrew starts talking again, especially when I hear my name. I duck between the two buildings for just a second, not wanting them to catch me listening.

“But it just doesn’t make sense,” Andrew is saying. “How do all three of you share her? She was barely enough for me when we were together. She’s so uptight all the time. Don’t you get bored?”

My stomach drops at his words, and I clench my fingers harder around the straps of the bag in my hand. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Andrew feels that way, but it still hurts to hear. Hurts even more for him to be talking to his brothers, who he believes to be my current partners, about it. Like he can’t just butt out and mind his own business.

“I think that’s just a you problem,” one of the brothers says. Rhett. “I’ve never found her boring at all. If you weren’t giving her anything to work with, why would she go out of her way to be exciting for you? It’s never been an issue.”

Sawyer laughs, and I can picture him with his hands in his pockets, grinning. “And have you seen her? She’s beautiful. She lights up even more when you touch her just right.”

“Sheisvery responsive,” Lennox agrees, and my stomach twists a little because he’s the one in a position to know. “Have you considered that maybe the problem was that you weren’t enough forher?”

“How would you even know?” Andrew snaps back. “Weren’t you long distance until now?”

“We’ve still managed to sneak in visits. And it’s the twenty-first century. Phones exist, Andy,” Sawyer drawls. “And video calls.”

“Don’t call me Andy.”

“And we were together all last night and this morning,” he continues as if Andrew didn’t say anything. “Didn’t get a wink of sleep, making up for lost time.”

My ex makes a disgusted noise. “Ugh, I get it, I don’t need the details. Jesus, I regret bringing this up.”

I take a deep breath, surprised and grateful to hear the three of them defending me like that. It sounds so natural, like the things they’re saying are actually true. To be honest, I’m also a little bit turned on, thinking about them touching me and all the pictures they just wove. It’s not true, but that doesn’t stop my imagination from latching on to the images and running with them.

I step out from between the buildings, using my free hand to push my hair back as the wind whips it up. Andrew sees me and shoots me a sour look before walking away.

“What’s his problem?” I ask, trying not to make it obvious that I was eavesdropping.

Sawyer rolls his eyes. “That’s a question I’ve asked myself a lot over the years. My current theory is that he didn’t get told ‘no’ enough as a kid. You all done?”

I nod, and Rhett comes over to take the bag from me. He looks inside and then back up. “Candied nuts?”

“Candied nuts,” I agree, smiling at the fact that he picked up on it.

They help me load the bag into the trunk and rearrange things so nothing will get squished, and we all pile back into the car.

I feel like I should say something to fill the silence, but my brain is still tossing around everything I heard them say to Andrew. It’s both nice and unfamiliar, having three people in my corner like this, willing to go to bat for me even if it means telling outrageous lies.

But I’d be smart not to let myself get used to it.

9

RHETT

My brothersand I help Violet take everything to her bakery and put it all away. It’s impressive, how organized she is about everything, making notes about when things were added to the industrial sized fridge and large pantry.

The whole place has her vibe to it, from the decor to the way it smells, and it’s interesting to see this piece of her life after hearing her talk about it earlier.

“Okay,” she says, once everything is accounted for. “Let’s get out of here, otherwise I’ll be tempted to start baking right now.”

We get back in the car as it starts snowing, and Violet drives carefully back to her house. We all hustle inside as it starts coming down harder, grateful for the warmth of her entryway.

She taps her boots to get snow off them on the welcome mat and then brushes snow off her coat before hanging it up. When she shakes out her hair, it sends auburn curls flying around her face, and it’s a captivating sight.

There’s a flush on her cheeks from the cold, and it looks good on her. Her clothes hug her curves, drawing attention to the plush softness of her body. She looks solid and comfortable in a way that’s completely appealing, and I find myself watching heras she moves, stepping out of the way so the rest of us can shuck off out coats as well.

All at once, I’m hit with the memory of what I said to Andrew just an hour or so ago. I was just trying to defend Violet because Andrew was being a petty asshole, as usual. But ever since I said those things about her, talking about how exciting she is, I’ve had a hard time dislodging those images from my mind.