Page 15 of Stuck with Me

It’s not much. But I’m not that picky. When you’re raised on a cattle farm, you don’t need fancy.

“I don’t think anything in town is open today. The Brew Box closes for Christmas Day and so does the diner. The Pines might be open, but they don’t open until four o’clock.”

The mention of the Brew Box makes me cringe. And The Pines. The last thing I want to do today is run into Rosalie.

“This will be just fine. Thank you,” I say with a curt smile.

Shuffling to the coffee pot, I fix myself a cup and grab a blueberry muffin. I take a seat on a comfy sofa near a wood-burning fireplace and prop my feet on the coffee table. Sipping my coffee, I allow the heat from the fire to warm my chilled bones while I scroll through my phone.

Texas is an hour ahead, so Mother has already sent me aMerry Christmastext. Amelia must be awake too because there’s a picture of her on Instagram from this morning. It’s of the back of her with a holiday-themed mug in her hand while she overlooks the acres of farmland. She’s dressed in a fuzzy white sweater and by the amount of bare legs she’s showing, it appears nothing else underneath. Heat unfurls in my chest as the protectiveness kicks in.

Amelia is a grown woman. But to me, she’ll always be my kid sister. And showing off the bottom of her ass cheeks like that to the world makes me want to call her and demand she take the post down. Immediately.

But I know I can’t. So I simply don’t even bother with liking it and scroll on past. The Christmas posts are on a continuous reel. Irritation burrows under my skin after only a few minutes. While everyone I know is spending the holidays with their loved ones, I’m stuck in this godforsaken town by myself.

“Excuse me, Mr. Moretti?” the hotel clerk taps my shoulder.

I glance up.

“Our maintenance fellow won’t be here for a few more hours. I’m terribly sorry for the inconvenience. You’re welcome to stay down here where it’s warm for the time being.”

Dammit all to hell.

I suppress a groan.

“It’s fine. I’ll take a walk and grab something to eat before everything shuts down.” I empty what’s left of my coffee and push to stand. “Maybe by the time I’m back, the heater will be fixed.”

“That sounds fine, sir. Thank you for your understanding.”

I zip up my new Carhartt jacket and brace myself before pushing outside into the cold. With the sun shining, at there’s no bite in the air like last night. I tip my face toward the warmth of the sky and close my eyes, soaking it in. At this moment, this place doesn’t seem so bad.

But as soon as I open my eyes and glance around, seeing the fresh snow that I’m assuming fell in the night, I’m reminded of another reason why I hate it here. Who would willingly choose to live somewhere so cold that it feels like your nuts are going to freeze off?

My phone chimes in my front pocket. As I try to slide it out, my hands are already too cold to function properly.

AMELIA

Merry Christmas, big bro! Hope you’re not holed up in that hotel room alone all day.

ME

I would be if it wasn’t an ice box.

My heater in my room is broken.

AMELIA

No shit! That would be your luck.

Heat flares across my cheeks. And for about the millionth time since Amelia turned eighteen, I have to remind myself she’s an adult. Even if I hate it when she curses.

ME

And since it’s Christmas, it’s gonna be hours before their maintenance guy gets over here to fix it.

AMELIA

Please tell me you found something to do?

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