Chapter Five
Clara
Frosty loves his carrier. We stuffed Eric’s backpack full of cozy Christmas blankets for Frosty to nest in while we walk around tasting the other gingerbread contest entries.
Frosty is wearing a fuzzy green sweater we got at the pet shop.
The hood on the sweater keeps snow off his head as he pokes it out between the two zippers.
I walk behind Eric making kissy faces at Frosty because he’s literally the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.
And now he’s ours.
I didn’t think I wanted a pet until I saw him shivering in Eric’s arms yesterday. It was instalove for me. I’d fallen for the little guy immediately and knew he was party of the family.
“Want to meet Layla and Ruthie?” I say to him. “They will be so excited.”
Frosty yips happily. Eric looks at me over his shoulder and smiles. There’s a bit of tension in his eyes that has my heart rate hammering. I sidle up next to him and take his hand in mine.
“You okay?”
He gives me a clipped nod and squeezes my hand like it’s a lifeline. “Yep. Nervous to see Dad and Yolanda.”
I rest my head against his arm as we wait for a group of people to move on to the next table. “They’ll be happy to see you. I promise. Like me, they missed you.”
I’m forced to release his hand when we’re each handed a plate of sliced ginger sweet bread. Melted butter slides off the delicious-smelling treat and pools on the plate. One buttery bite and I’m a goner.
“Ohhh,” I say with a whine. “This one is going to beat ours.”
Eric stuffs most of it in his mouth at once, scowling unhappily. “Yeah, it is, dammit.”
I give him a playful poke in the side. “It’s okay. There are more categories than taste. We’ve got this.”
I’m pleased to see a crowd around where they’re distributing samples of our gingerbread cookies. Several people have their dogs with them and are grinning as they share the samples with their pups. Pride makes my chest swell.
Frosty yips when he hears another dog bark.
We make our way over to our entry table.
Eric shoots me a hopeful grin. I have the sudden urge to stand on my toes and kiss his handsome mouth.
I start to turn my head, forcing myself to look anywhere but his forbidden mouth, when he brings a cold hand to my cheek.
“There’s a little smudge of butter on your lip,” he says, voice low and guttural as if he’s in pain.
My eyes bore into his as he swipes off the butter with his thumb. I have to bite my teeth together to keep from turning my head and sucking off the remnants in front of all these people.
Get it together, Clara!
You can’t kiss your stepbrother, especially not in public.
Twisted thoughts enter my brain, branding filthy images there. Kissing him on my couch or in my kitchen or in my bed assault my mind. It’s snowing outside and I feel like I could melt anything in a five-mile radius from me.
“Clara!”
I jerk out of my trance and swivel around to search out the source of the voice who called my name.
Seconds later, Ruthie launches herself at me.
A laugh barks out of me as I catch her and hug her.
Immediately after, Layla joins in. It takes them a moment to realize Eric is here too.
They both squeal with delight, abandoning me to hug their brother.
At first Eric is stiff, as though he’s shocked by their affection, but then, much like the butter on that bread, he melts almost instantly.
“You remember me,” he says, voice thick with emotion.
The girls both huff in annoyance. Ruthie says, “Duh,” as if he’s dense. He’s a guy. They’re definitely dense sometimes.
“Want to meet our new dog?” I say to the girls. “His name is Frosty.”
They let go of Eric, bouncing up and down with excitement. He turns around and then squats low so they can see Frosty.
I crack up with laughter when Frosty starts licking both of their faces as if they’re covered in peanut butter. It’s cute how happy he is to see them. They gush and praise him for being adorable in his doggie sweater.
“Great,” a deep voice says with a groan. “They’re going to start begging for a dog.”
My stepdad, Mike, pulls me to him for a hug. Mom follows after, but she gives me a big sloppy kiss on the cheek, too.
“He’s really here,” Mom says, with a sigh. “I almost didn’t believe you when you texted me.”
“Is he okay?” Mike asks, pinning his green eyes that match Eric’s exactly, on me.
I glance over at Eric who is grinning at our sisters, oblivious that our parents have walked up as well. He and the girls carry on an animated discussion. When he mentions “dog catcher,” I realize he’s telling them the story of how we came to adopt Frosty.
“He’s going to be,” I assure both Mom and Mike when I pull my attention back to them. “He just needs family.”
When Eric notices who I’m talking to, he slowly rises to his feet and his smile fades. My heart aches to see him hang his head in shame.
“Come here, Son,” Mike grits out. “Give your pops a hug.”
Eric hugs his dad so tight I wonder if he’ll crush the big man’s bones.
Everything is going to be okay because Eric is back with us where he belongs.
Mike grimaces at the prices on Smoke & Sugar’s menu.
Mom just shakes her head, winking at me.
Always the same with those two. They can afford to eat at nice places, but he still complains.
Eric studies the menu, scowling, but I can imagine the wheels turning in his brain.
He’s thinking hard about the menu, but it’s not the prices.
Savvy, my neighbor and hostess at the restaurant, makes her way back over to us, grinning. “Vale says it’s fine if he stays.”
Frosty, exhausted from the eventful day at the extravaganza, snores quietly under the table where the girls have made a little bed with blankets for him.
“Thanks,” I say, returning her smile.
This is the first time I have been around her and not felt bitterness toward her.
Her pregnant belly is barely showing, but it endears me to her.
I guess I was always sort of jealous that she got Travis when I’d been the one to like him first. It feels like a million years ago now.
My heart clearly healed because I don’t feel badly around her anymore.
“Oh,” she says, leaning in close to me. “I heard about the Travis fiasco. He’s mortified. Me and Cole gave him crap about it all night. We’ll never let him live it down.”
I’m amused that they teased him about his reaction to the conversation he and I’d had yesterday. “It was funny watching him squirm.”
She gives my shoulder a quick squeeze and then hurries off to greet more people coming into the restaurant.
Did we just bury the animosity we have toward each other?
Relief floods through me. I’m looking forward to texting Casey about it.
With Casey’s husband, Brayden, being best friends with Savvy, it’s always been awkward.
Maybe now we can all hang out together without being weird.
“The maple glazed salmon is to die for,” I tell anyone who’ll listen. “Everything here is good, though.”
Eric leans close to me and mutters, “They have an interesting menu.”
I knew he was studying it.
“Interesting bad or interesting good?”
“I guess we’ll see if the food lives up to what they’re promising.”
After we order, Eric finally tells our parents about why he’s here.
“They lost the best thing that ever happened to them,” Mom says, pursing her lips and frowning. “I’m just so glad you’re home.”
“If your sister gets tired of letting you shack up with her, you can come to the house. We have that extra room upstairs,” Mike tells him. “And you can always work for me until you get on your feet.”
Eric is tense at his dad’s words. I rest my palm on his upper thigh, hoping to give him some comfort.
“He’s fine staying with me,” I assure Mike. “I think after all the years of hard work he’s put in, he deserves a little break.”
Mom beams at me with pride. If only she knew how selfish I’m being. I want Eric there because I missed him. But also, there’s something charged between us. It’s forbidden and wrong, but I ache to peel back the layers to see what it is.
And to see if he feels it too.
His thumb on my lip earlier wasn’t a mistake or an accident. There was fire burning in his eyes. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel it too. I’m still feeling it.
Eric’s hand covers mine and he squeezes it. Under the table like this, it feels like our dirty little secret.
What would Mom think if she knew I was dying to kiss my stepbrother?
Disappointed doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. I think she’d be disgusted and maybe a little pissed off too. And, with good reason.
Crushing on my stepbrother sucks. I need to drive these erratic thoughts from my mind because it absolutely cannot happen. These impulses I’m feeling around him are nothing more than me having missed him so much and simple infatuation. He’s a good looking guy. I’m not immune.
But you can’t look at him like that, Clara.
They’ve gone on to discuss Eric’s financial status and savings, but I’m stuck on my attraction toward him. I’m also keyed in on the fact we’re still holding hands under the table. When we get home later, I think a conversation is in order.
“Hey, Eric, I really want to kiss you, and I know you want to kiss me too, but we can’t do that, right?”
My stomach churns, souring the gingerbread tastings from earlier. A conversation seems like a horrible idea. What if I’m just interpreting things in a different way than he is? That would be humiliating to be told I’m alone in this.
“…and I told him you’re single and ready to mingle,” Mom says, winking at me.
I jolt at her words and frown. “What? Who?”
She huffs as if annoyed I was daydreaming. “Lord, pay attention, sweetie. I’m talking about James.”
“Bug Eyes?” Eric blurts out with a laugh.
James, the son of my parents’ neighbor, Clark, is between me and Eric’s ages. As a kid, he had huge eyes for his small head. At least now he’s more proportionate.
“Don’t call him that,” Mom chides with a chuckle. “James is in real estate. Clark said he’s done really well for himself.”
James was fun to run around with in the neighborhood when we were kids, but I never have been and never will be romantically interested in him. We never had chemistry. Just friends.
“You told James I’m single and ready to mingle?” I ask, shaking my head in astonishment. “Seriously, Mom?”
Mike pats her arm and smirks at me. “Your mom is a regular cupid. She’s set up most of the guys at the office with friends of hers. Teddy and Rina are getting married in the spring.”
Eric threads his fingers with mine. It’s possessive and claiming. I’m definitely imagining things, right?
“He’s not good enough for Clara,” Eric says, sitting up straighter. “James used to eat his eye boogers.”
Layla and Ruthie join the conversation after that gem, both of them screeching in disgust. This earns a yelp from Frosty down below. Though Eric is clearly exaggerating, I don’t correct him. It seems no one but Mom is rooting for me to date James.
“I’m good,” I say to my mother. “I can find my own boyfriend.”
Thankfully, our food arrives an instant later, and that horrible conversation is officially over.