I shook off the feeling.
You just want to sleep with her. Right?
The doorbell playeda loud and slightly off-key rendition of “Jingle Bells” when Merrie pushed the white button.
She grimaced. “Fair warning: I inherited my love of Christmas from my mom.”
“Jingleball!” The door swung open, and Merrie’s mom wrapped her daughter in a big hug, kissing her cheek noisily. “You came, and you’re wearing a sweater. And you brought your boyfriend.”
Merrie made a face as we stepped inside the house. A dangling snowman whacked me in the head.
“Everyone,” Merrie’s mother yelled back into the house, “this is Merrie’s boyfriend. My daughter has a boyfriend—can you believe it? After she had such a rough time in high school. And he’s wearing a cat sweater.” She got a little teary-eyed as several other people in equally hideous cat sweaters and an even larger number of cats gathered around me to stare in awe.
Merrie sagged next to me. “I am so sorry.”
“Mistletoe!” her mom yelled, clapping her hands and pointing up.
How you could differentiate the mistletoe from the forest of other decorations hanging from the ceiling was beyond me.
“You have to kiss her!” Merrie’s mom giggled. “isn’t that right, Brody?”
The fuck?
My gaze flicked between the large dark-haired, flannel-clad man and Merrie.
The suspicions started swirling. Was this why she didn’t want me to come to the party? Was she trying to get alone with Brody?
Merrie looked guilty.
She’s probably just horrified. The cats, her mom… stop being paranoid.
Brody reached out to Merrie.
I pulled her back close to me and kissed her possessively.
She’s mine.
63
Merrie
Icouldn’t even enjoy the kiss because I was so appalled. For some reason, I had hoped my mom would have broken up with Brody, or at least he would have the good sense to break up with her. I loved my mom, but I had to be real—between the cats and the clothes, I had no clue why Brody was still with her.
I licked my lips after Matt ended the kiss. His blue eyes were dark and stormy.
“This is my mom’s boyfriend, Brody,” I croaked. Then sneezed.
Matt’s eyes narrowed.
He’s probably playing through horror scenarios of Brody being his new father-in-law.
“Tina? Merrie? Drink?” a woman asked, offering me a mug depicting cats dancing around a Christmas tree. The cup held something alcoholic, which was all I needed.
I drained the mug.
My mom wrapped both arms around Brody.
“Maybe you two could be friends,” Tina suggested to Matt. “Brody’s going to adopt a kitty, isn’t he sweet! You could adopt one, too, Matt.”
