Looked like while I’d been figuring out that little bombshell, Andy had flipped the photo Liz had tried to hide back over.
“Did she tell you she cut her own hair that year?” he asked me, tapping it with a grin.
“Shut up.Youcut it,” Liz said, turning her stink-eye on him.
“No, brat. Ifixedit,” Andy said. “And you didn’t leave me much to work with.”
“Whatever,” she said, rolling her eyes. “What ItoldJordan is that he can’t do all… that—” She fluttered her hand at me, “—before stockings tomorrow morning.”
I looked down, confused. Do what?
Andy winked at her. “He can’t help it, Lizzard. He always looks this good.”
Okay, definitely not true. Hello, skin care routine. But still, fuck. The way Andy looked at me when he said it? Made me want to equal parts drag him back out to the garage and hop right back on his cock, and blush like a middle schooler with their first damn crush.
“Then its lucky for all of us that you brought him, Andy,” Mrs. A said with a wink of her own as she started handing out the hot drinks. “He’ll make our family photos look even better this year, won’t he?”
I cleared my throat. “Uh, you sure you want me in the pictures if you’re going to put them up on display like this every year?”
I was suddenly pinned by five sets of eyes, even William looking up from his tablet.
“Yes,” Andy said right away in that don’t-argue-with-Daddy-you-are-wearing-a-coat voice of his, tightening his arm around me.
“Quit trying to get out of it just so you can sleep in,” Liz said, grinning evilly.
“You’retotallynot getting out of it, Jordan,” Katie added, rolling her eyes. “It’s what wedo.”
“Katie’s right, honey,” Mrs. A said. “It’s tradition.”
“Yeah,” I said, waving my hand at the rows of pictures. “But you only have fam—”
“Give it up, son,” William cut in. “There’s no fighting an Archer once they’ve decided you’re theirs.”
“And you’re definitely mine, Jordan Wendt,” Andy said, leaning in and swiping some of my whipped cream with his finger as he gave me one of those intense looks of his that always made my stomach squirrelly.
Fuck yeah, I was his. I just… hadn’t realized the rest of his family would want me, too.
“Uh, okay,” I said, my throat suddenly feeling tight. “I’ll be here.”
“Besides, you don’t want to miss openingyourstocking, honey,” Mrs. A said, pointing to the mantel.
And… fuck. Seriously? I hadn’t looked that close, but yeah, there were six stockings hanging, not five like I’d assumed, and one of them had a J on it.
She winked at me. “Thank you for having a name that didn’t start with a duplicate letter. It really did make things so much easier. We wouldn’t want Santa to get confused.”
The girls both snickered.
“Oh, we knowexactlywhat Jordan wanted Santa to bring him this year,” Liz said with a smirk. “But it won’t fit in his stocking.”
“Quiet, brat,” Andy said.
And… shit. That’s right. He’d said they watched the channel. Guess they’d seen me post that Cuffd letter.
“Aw, don’t get upset, Andy,” Katie said, teasing her brother. “I mean, hedidend up settling for you.”
I laughed. They really were both little brats. I liked them, though. Still, I couldn’t let that dig at my man stand.
“Dude,” I said. “Trust me, there was definitely no settling.”
