I roll my eyes. “No. I go to a party and try to one-up my friends in person.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders slump. “So you’re leaving?”
“Yep.”
“And you didn’t invite me?” Her cheeks pinken, and she scowls.
“You’re welcome to join me if you really want to, but I don’t think you’d enjoy it, and I’m not planning on babysitting you or leaving early if you get sick of being there.”
Frowning, she leans back into the corner of the couch. “It would be nice to be asked.”
“I just did.” Her manipulation is wasted on me, but it’s amusing to watch her try.
“I do want to go.”
“I’m leaving here in twenty minutes.”
She jumps up. I swear she likes the aloof way I’m treating her. If she thinks I’m playing hard to get, she’s bound to be disappointed. Plopping down on my leather sofa, I glance at my phone. Still nothing. How the hell can I set things straight if she refuses to talk to me? I’m trying to give her time and space. Good things are worth the wait. Nineteen minutes later, Laurene strolls in on four-inch heels. Poured into leather tights and a black sweater with a red present on the front, she’s upscale Christmas. Her blonde hair hangs around her slim, oval-shaped face in loose curls.
“Let’s head out.” I hide my smile as she sniffs. My response was not to her liking. She always needed a ton of praise.
We don our coats and brave the snowfall to reach Ollie’s. Multicolored ornaments made from ice and food coloring line the driveway and the yard’s perimeter. Large, multi-colored ornaments hang from their awning and circle the tree in the front yard. Their lamppost has been given the candy cane treatment. A Christmas-ornament themed wreath stands out against the front door wrapped like a red present with a green bow.
“Wow,” Laurene whispers.
“Wait until you get inside.”
Parking, we walk up to the front door. I ring the doorbell. “Deck the Halls” chimes inside. Ollie answers the door, and my eyes struggle to make sense of what I’m seeing. Red and green tinsel cover his arms. A fuzzy white abominable snowman with blue to outline his beady black eyes and sharp white teeth spews candy and lightbulbs.
“Feliz Navidad, mis amigos. I don’t believe I’ve met your beautiful friend before.”
“You haven’t, Ollie. This is Laurene. We were friends in New York.”
His eyes sharpen with recognition, and I give a quick shake of my head. It’s not that type of relationship, brother.
“Come on and let me takes your coats.” He gives a slight bow.
“He’s not this polite. He just wants to see our sweaters.”
“After your piss poor showing last year, I expect great things.”
I take my time unbuttoning my coat.”
“Such a tease, Miller.”
I wink. “You love it.” Turning away from him, I open my coat wide and spin around for the grand reveal.
“Miller brought the fuego,” he cries out.
“Sounds like Caleb has arrived.” Finley comes around the corner dressed in a green sweater with a bookcase full of books and an elf sitting on top of it. The collar turns her head into the elf.
“Ho-ly crap.”
“Wait.” Finley holds out her left arm and reveals a tree beside the bookcase, complete with working lights.
“You really just created an entire scene?”
Her manic grins goes along with the fire in her dark brown eyes. “Ugly Sweater is an entire mood.” Her round, sienna-skinned face is framed by a jet-black, chin-length bob.