Chapter 7
McKenna
“You didn’t really need my help tonight, did you?” I ask Reece as he adds wood to the small fireplace. We came back home after making sure both horses were groomed and content.
He pauses long enough to glance over his shoulder at me before staring into the fire. “What makes you say that?”
“Oh, I don’t know. The fact that everyone knew where to stand, how many could ride at a time, and how old kids had to be to go unsupervised probably had something to do with it.”
I catch the slightest twitch of his jaw, as if he’s trying not to grin. “Butterbean loved the peppermints you stashed in my jacket pocket.”
I huff and cross my arms over my chest as I collapse onto the second-hand couch. “You’re impossible.”
“No, I’m not. I’m right here.” He pushes to his feet, wincing as he does so.
“For once in your life, could you not be a sarcastic pain in the ass?”
“According to every woman in my life—and most of the men, too—no, I cannot do that.”
“I am ready to strangle you with those Christmas lights. You realize that, right?”
“I mean, I wouldn’t say no.”
“Of course, you wouldn’t,” I mutter under my breath. “Shirt off. Sit down.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says before settling between my knees.
I gently run my fingers over his bare shoulders before digging my thumbs into his traps. The groan he elicits as his chin drops to his chest draws a giggle from me.
“Of course, you’re laughing at my pain.”
I continue working the knots along his neck and shoulders. “You can’t keep sleeping on the couch.”
“Well, sweetheart. Unless you are sleeping on the couch instead or crashing with my sister, it doesn’t look like I have much choice.” He winces as I hit a particularly sensitive spot, and I take pity on him, switching to my palms to massage the areas I just abused.
“Why are you so stubborn?”
“Older brother to a particularly spicy sister, divorced parents, and an ex-girlfriend who cheated on me with your ex-husband.”
I groan. “Can you please not bring up that fiasco? I thought we swore never to speak of them again.” I was young and na?ve and thought I was supposed to marry the bad boy because everyone wanted him.
As it turns out, he and I both still had a lot of growing up to do.
It took some not-so-pretty arguments to learn what love and respect should look like in a relationship.
Reece laughs at the clear disdain in my voice. “In my defense, I didn’t know there was a relation at the time. But it sure made things interesting when Jett started dating Noah.”
“Talk about full circle chaos.” Rocking his head backward between my hands so I can see his eyes, I add, “For the record, I’m really glad we both got out mostly unscathed.”
His green eyes meet mine, and not for the first time, I get a glimpse of the gentle, romantic Reece I met in college.
Before I knew he was my friend’s brother.
Before I realized he couldn’t be mine. But Jett’s words from earlier ring through my head, that she’d be fine with us together, and I can’t help but wonder if I made a big deal out of this for her, or if I did it to protect my heart.
Because loving this man is easy. Letting myself be loved is the challenge.
“Do you believe in Christmas wishes, Kenna?”
“Depends, I guess. Why? What’s yours?”
“I wish this beautiful, athletic, sassy, blue-eyed badass would kiss me under the mistletoe for once.”
“Oh yeah?” I ask softly as I lean closer.
“Mmm. Would be pretty amazing.”
His last word is almost cut off by my lips crashing into his.
As we pull away, I ask, “Will that do for now?”
“Year. Made,” he whispers before pointing at the ceiling. When my eyes land on where he is pointing, I can’t help but laugh and shove his shoulder.
There, above the couch, tied to the fan is a sprig of mistletoe with a little red ribbon around it.
I look back down at the man between my arms and silently thank the universe for letting me have these few days with a man who knows how to treat a woman. “You are something, Reece Taylor.”
“Yes. Hungry. Want a grilled cheese?”
The shift in topic leaves me dizzy as Reece pushes to his feet and gets to work pulling out ingredients for grilled cheese and tomato soup. I follow him into his small kitchen area and not for the first time wonder if he realizes how quickly he switches gears.
“One or two?” he asks as he slathers slices of honey wheat bread with butter before sprinkling garlic powder over them and layering multiple slices of cheese. “You haven’t eaten since this morning. Two it is.”
“Grilled cheese is not on my eat-right meal plan.”
“It’s Christmas Eve. Screw the meal plan.”
“Why do I feel like you’re trying to distract me from what just happened?”
“What are you talking about, Blue?” he asks without looking up, hands still moving over the stove as he melts the cheese. That little voice in my head whispers he regrets the moment, and it hurts more than I want to admit.
I don’t answer. I just wait until he finally looks at me.
“You really think I’d just brush that off?” His voice drops, soft but sure. “Blue, if you need to hear it, I’ll say it out loud. I don’t regret that kiss or any of the others I’ve managed to steal this week. I needed a distraction before I said something I couldn’t take back.”
His words settle between us, warm and impossible to ignore. For a second, all I can do is stare at the one man who should be entirely off-limits.
“You shouldn’t say things like that if you don’t mean them,” I whisper, even though part of me already knows he means every word. If I’d listened over the last however many years, he has told me in his own way. Over and over again.
Reece gives a quiet huff of laughter, his emerald eyes softening as he steps around the counter. “Yeah, well…maybe it’s time I start saying what I mean.”
The tension in the air shifts. It still feels fragile, like one of us saying the wrong thing could ruin all of this. But, at the same time, I don’t even notice I’ve stepped closer until the scent of cedar and soap fills my lungs.
“You always do this,” I murmur. “Say something sweet and then act like it didn’t wreck me.”
“Guess we’re both guilty then,” he says, voice rough around the edges.
“How so?”
“You ruin me every time those blue eyes of yours look at me like that.”
His words hang there, quiet but devastating, and neither of us moves to break the spell. His arm twitches like he might reach for me the way he did in the barn, but a knock on the door brings us back to reality.
Reece curses under his breath before dragging that same twitchy hand over his head and putting space between us.
“You expecting company?” I ask, still trying to settle my breathing.
“Nope.” The tick in his jaw gives away his irritation, and the smile doesn’t reach his eyes. “Stay here, Blue. I’ll get it.”
I watch as he crosses the room, the floorboards creaking under his bare feet. When he opens the door, the cool night air fills the small space as an all-too-familiar voice sounds.
“Well, what do we have here?” Jett sings as she dances through the door. “If it isn’t my two favorite people pretending they don’t have feelings.”
Noah steps through the door behind her, resignation all over his face.
“Sorry, guys. I tried to talk her out of it, but you know how she is when she sets her mind to something,” he says as he scratches the back of his neck.
“She was adamant you guys needed some sugar cookies to decorate at”—he glances at his watch— “eight-forty at night.”
The rigidity of Reece’s still-bare shoulders gives away his annoyance at the intrusion.
Me? I think this is what the beginnings of a panic attack feel like. My lungs have forgotten how to draw in oxygen, and my palms are sweaty even with the door still wide open.
“Close the door, Jett. You’re letting Kenna’s heat out.”
“Chill out, big brother,” my best friend says as she moves out of the way, Noah closing the door behind them.
“I knew my Spidey senses were tingling. It’s Christmas Eve, and your tree still doesn’t have the first ornament.
” She moves toward me, where I’m still planted in the kitchen, and laughs as she draws me in for a hug. “Don’t look so scared.”
Reece mutters something about perfect timing under his breath, but a hint of a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. He might act all gruff and unbothered, but his little sister has him wrapped around her finger.
Jett sets a tin of cookies and icing on the counter, eyes darting between us like she can feel the earlier tension hanging in the air. “Did I interrupt something?” she asks with a smirk.
“Chaos,” Noah groans at the same time my stomach officially plummets.
“Absolutely not,” I say too quickly.
Reece raises a brow—half amused, half something else entirely—and I can only hope our earlier moment wasn’t a one-off. “Sis, you’re fishing for gossip.”
“Yes. Yes, I am.” She nods. “Now, give it to me while we decorate the tree.”
“I thought we were decorating cookies?”
“Oh, no. Those are just for tasty snacks and the only way I could convince Noah to let me bug you guys.”
Noah glances at me over Jett’s shoulder, a pleading look on his face.
“Don’t give me that look, Slater. We both handed off that responsibility when you started dating her.”
“And he does it flawlessly,” says Jett without missing a beat as she starts to unpack the container of decorations that Reece had shoved into a corner.
Reece slips behind me, his fingers brushing along my hip as his breath tickles my ear.
“I’m willing to chase you a little longer, but you have the reins here,” he whispers before dropping a quick kiss to my temple and moving away before his sister sees.
He doesn’t look back, but his earlier words echo through my head, quiet and sure.
You ruin me every time those blue eyes of yours look at me like that.