My brows immediately lowered as I turned my head to glower up at him. “Please tell me you’re not one of those nut cases who thinkDie Hardis a Christmas movie.”
“You don’t?”
I groaned dramatically as I turned my attention back to the opening scene of Bruce on a plane. There was no way I could enjoy this movie as much as I did if it filled me with holiday cheer.
“Why don’t you like Christmas?” Ocean asked after we watched nearly half the movie and ate our soup silently.
My appetite fled, so I capped my thermos and set it aside with a shrug. “I wanted to. I tried, but it was never in the cards for me.”
“Why?”
I almost didn’t answer.
I’d never told anyone why—not even Coby. She loved Christmas, and I never wanted to sour her joy for the holiday with my bitter memories. She was too empathetic and loyal not to hate Christmas with a fiery passion if she’d known.
But I figured if anyone could relate without pitying me, it would be Ocean.
“Believe it or not, everything bad that’s ever happened to me since I was a child occurred during this cursed holiday, starting with my mother leaving and ending with Coby almost marrying you on Christmas Eve. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or if ol’ Saint Nick has it out for me, but I’ve learned to anticipate the worst during this time of year.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s just a season. A few bad days lumped together, and then it’s over.”
I shivered, and since I was pressed against him, Ocean felt it. “Cold?”
“No,” I lied.
Ocean reached inside the basket and handed me another thermos anyway. As soon as I smelled the hot cocoa, I looked at him hopefully. “Marshmallows?”
“Nice try,” he said dryly. “You hate marshmallows.”
I smirked and took my first sip of the cocoa. “Just checking.”
He held me tighter, and I stroked his cast. “The hot chocolate or how well I’m paying attention to you?”
I hummed happily as I took another sip. “Both.”
“Stop looking for holes in my strategy, Vengeance. You won’t find any.”
“I already did.”
“Yeah? Tell me.” He nipped my ear. “Where did I fuck up, Hunter?”
I sighed. “At the end of the day, whether youwant or needto be married, you still chose Coby to fill that role, and I don’t blame you, but you can’t ask me to be in this throuple with you and be okay with that. To everyone who sees us, it will be Mr. and Mrs. Kilpatrick and their jezebel mistress.”
“And that would matter more to you than the truth?”
“Well…you and Coby really would be married, so it would be the truth no matter what any of us felt.”
Ocean was silent for a while before he took my thermos full of yummy hot chocolate away. I whined at the loss. He rolled us over and shifted until he got me beneath him, and I forgot all about that damn cocoa when I felt his hard body on top of mine.
“We can’t control what other people think, so you shouldn’t worry so much about it. But I care whatyouthink, so what if I found a way to make you believe we can work and not just for a little while. Forever.”
What he was suggesting was impossible. “You can’t.”
“I can.”
“Why are you so sure?”
