Page 9 of Theirs for the Holidays

It was the same impulse that led me to speak up at dinner without really thinking. Andrew was being a smug little shit, and Violet was going to pay for it. She didn’t deserve that, so I spoke up to protect her the only way I could think of.

And now we’re here, with my fingers buried in Violet’s hair and her body pressed to mine and her mouth soft and yielding under my own.

The kiss comes to a natural end, and I slowly pull back, licking my lips. I can still taste her on them.

Violet stares up at me, her eyes wide, lips parted a little. There’s shock in her expression, but there’s a flush on her cheeks that looks really good.

She keeps looking at me like she can somehow figure out an explanation from my expression alone, and I can’t help cupping her face between my hands. I grin at her, and that makes her look even more stunned and confused. She searches my face as if desperately trying to work something out.

Before she can ask anyone questions—and before anyone else can say anything either—she’s being pulled out of my arms.

Irritation flashes through me, and I look over to see Lennox pulling her close. He leans down to murmur something in her ear, and then he’s kissing her too.

I clench my jaw reflexively and look away.

It would probably be weird to watch my brother kiss a woman that I was just kissing mere moments ago even if wedidall like each other and were a tight unit like we used to be. But we’re not, and that makes it even weirder.

There was a time when Rhett and Lennox were my best friends. The two people I trusted most in the world. None of us have ever been that close with Andrew, who’s always been in his own world doing his own thing, but the three of us were basically inseparable.

I could always trust they had my back, and I always had theirs.

And we went from that to going actual years without talking to each other.

It didn’t seem possible at the time, but now I’m standing here, wanting to pull Violet away from Lennox—even though I know why he’s kissing her.

He’s just selling the lie, the same way I did.

I make myself look at something else. Like the rest of the people in the living room.

Whatever conversation was going on before we walked in has been dropped now, and everyone is staring at the sight in front of them. No one seems to know how to react, torn between watching and looking away.

Finally, Lennox and Violet break apart.

Violet looks just as dazed in Lennox’s arms as she did in mine, her cheeks even darker now. Yeah, it still looks good on her.

Lennox brushes his thumb over Violet’s lower lip, and she gazes up at him. Then Lennox and I both look at Rhett.

He’s there in the living room with us, but he hasn’t made a move to get closer to Violet. His arms are folded, like he’s trying to hold himself apart, and that’s so fucking typical of him that it’s almost sad.

He stares back at the two of us, jaw clenched, and I glare at him, telling him silently to do his part to back up the lie too. Weall have to be in this together if this shit is going to work. So it’s probably doomed in the long run.

We can get through tonight though, without making things harder for Violet.

Just because Rhett has sworn off human company and wants to live in the middle of the woods by himself doesn’t mean he has to take it out on someone who doesn’t deserve to be humiliated because he can’t get his shit together.

He might not like it, but he shouldn’t have said he was dating Violet if he didn’t want to do his part to back it up.

Maybe he can read all that on my face, or maybe he just finally decides to get over himself, because he unclenches for once and walks over to Lennox and Violet.

Lennox lets her go and steps back, like he doesn’t want to be closer to Rhett than he has to, and Rhett takes his place in front of her. He grips her jaw with one hand, and although Violet’s eyes widen a bit, she doesn’t flinch away. She just stares up at him, meeting his gaze as he looks back.

There’s a long, loaded moment between them, and then he drops his head and kisses her.

Something in me goes tense, and I realize a second too late that my hands are curling into fists. I shake them out, letting out a soft breath. Lennox is right next to me now, and I can feel the tension from him too. He’s not showing it, but it’s there in his posture. His hand is clenched, but it’s the one with the tremor, so maybe he’s just holding himself still.

Or maybe that’s just what he wants people to think.

Rhett pulls away, and it’s like breaking the spell in the living room.