I tak
e the drink, happy to have something to calm me down after my standoff with Johanna. Mom walks in and doesn't slow down. She grabs a drink from the tray on her way to Dad.
"Thank goodness it's over," she says, exasperated, and then she drops to Dad's lap, making his throaty chuckle emerge while he wraps his arms around her.
Raya smiles as she watches them. My parents are an anomaly. Being married for this long and being in love is almost impossible in our world. And they're nauseatingly in love.
"We still on for Aspen?" Tag asks, looking toward my parents.
"Of course. Is Melanie going to be there?" Dad asks.
"Mom?" Wren asks, seeming distracted as he pulls out his vibrating phone. "Yeah, she's coming."
Raya leans into me more as she yawns, and I bring my arm down from the back of the couch to wrap it completely around her, pulling her even closer. I've never been this comfortable with anyone.
Tag smirks when he glances our way, and I see it in his eyes that he's about to irritate me. "What about you, Raya? You coming with us?"
He's such a jerk. She has her own Christmas. I know she's close to her family.
She grows rigid against me, and I almost want to go slap him for making her think about the way we're sitting. She's comfortable with me, but she's still skittish. Does he not see that? He's supposed to be a master at reading girls.
"Um... no," she says with a soft, rattled laugh.
"You going to your family's place?" Wren asks, putting his phone away and focusing his attention on her.
"No. My family does Christmas next weekend, actually."
So she doesn't have anywhere to go? I've mentioned Aspen numerous times. Why didn't she tell me she had no plans?
"So soon?" I ask as she moves away from me.
"Yeah. My stepbrother is a Marine, so it's not easy for him to come back on holidays. Instead, we celebrate when we can. Mom plans it around his return."
I knew he was military, but I sadly have no insight into that field, so I wasn't aware of the holiday situation.
"Then what will you do for Christmas?" Mom asks, not meeting my gaze. At least she's being nice.
"I'll... I might go see a friend or something," she says unsurely.
Friend? What friend? From what I've seen, she doesn't have friends. She never calls anyone or goes anywhere. That's one thing we have in common.
"Nonsense," Dad says, swatting the air as if he's knocking away her comment. "You can come with us. We have more than plenty of room. Tag has a beautiful home up there, and Margaret and I own one as well. It's always a good time."
She's sure as hell not staying with Tag. She'll stay in my room if we don't have anywhere else for her.
She squirms, refusing to look up at me. She doesn't like this much attention, and I don't like her being uncomfortable. Still, I'm not letting this go until she agrees to come with me. I refuse to let her be alone on Christmas.
"Come on, Raya. It'll be fun," I say, pulling her back to me, and enjoying the way she relaxes against me. "Lots of skiing and eggnog," I add.
Did she need approval from me? Hell, I would have invited her if she had told me she had nowhere to be.
"Talk her into it, Kade," Dad says with a smile. "In the meantime, what about your family? They live in Utah, right?"
She nods cautiously, seeming to weigh his words, trying to read his intentions. I'm glad she wasn't this shrewd earlier. She would have caught the insults if she had been.
"How are you getting there?" he continues.
She relaxes again, thinking this is casual conversation. She doesn't realize he has his Dad face on right now.