UH
EVE
You didn't tell him???
NICK
Tell me what?
EVE
That Holly's been connecting to Chance's super-secret network.
NICK
Now what the hell does that mean? Give it to me in slots
ME
Nick my man, did you just make a joke?
NICK
It was an accident
ME
I'm a proud papa anyway. My boy got his big boy hairs.
Social hour in full swing.
Yup.
Traumatizing karaoke stealing the show.
Double yup.
And Holly? Well, she's out here trying to finish me off entirely, strolling into the room like some kind of Christmas temptation wrapped in nothing but a sweater and those socks—red and white stripes hugging her calves, looking like they were spun straight out of Santa’s wet dream.
Only, this candy cane isn’t hanging onmytree where it belongs. Nope. She’s put herself right on display for the communal tree.
Like that’s okay.
Like I didn’t come down ahead of her to give her a chance to change.
Like it’s fine for every set of eyes in this room to be dragging over what’s mine.
I pocket my phone and survey the scene, a muscle ticking in my jaw. I’ve hacked computer systems in active war zones that were less daunting than this—the raw chaos of family, holiday cheer, and Holly’s thigh-high sneak attack in full force.
The worst part? The way those socks are drawing more than a few lingering, interested looks.
Each one like a goddamn challenge.
Too bad for them, I don’t play fair. And I don’t share.
Looks like I’ll be handing out some festive injuries. Merry slasher Christmas, assholes.
"Man! I Feel Like a Woman" blares through the lodge's great room speakers, the battle cry of my mother’s latest holiday war crime. Her off-key rendition is loud enough to startle the wildlife outside, and she’s wielding an empty wine bottle like it’s a Grammy.
