Page 24 of A More Than Mayhem Christmas

Riley giggles.

“Swear, I could barely move by the end. I don’t think I can eat for days.”

“Well, I’m glad you were around people who love and take care of you.” She leans into my side. “You deserve it.”

I don’t know about that, but I appreciate the sentiment. “How was—” My phone vibrates in my pocket, cutting me off. I already suspect who it is, and because of that, I don’t answer it in front of Riley. I take out my phone, hold it up between us, facing away from her and say, “I have to take this. I’ll be right back.”

She smiles, then rolls her eyes as she looks over at Dylan in the kitchen, who’s making a slingshot with Cameron. I assume for the cookies that no doubt resemble rocks now.

Instead of returning the call, I send a text instead:

I’ll be outside.

Then I step out of the house, momentarily freezing when I see Heidi sitting on the porch steps, a glass of wine in one hand, her phone in the other. She looks up when I close the door behind me. “Hey.” She smiles. Soft. Sweet. Exactly the way I remember her.

“Hey,” I reply, shoving my phone in my pocket.

“It’s Roman, right?”

I nod in response, but don’t say anything more. I don’t expect her to remember me. It’s been over a decade since I’d seen her last, and besides, we didn’t exactly run in the same circles.

“So how do you know Cam and Lucy?” she asks, and I realize it’s the first time she’s ever spoken to me.

“I work with Cam.” I take a step forward and lean against the handrail, half turned to her, half looking out at the darkness in front of us.

“You work construction with the Prestons?”

“Yeah.” I pause a beat. “Technically, he’s my boss. So is Dylan.”

Her eyes narrow, confused, and I get it. I would be, too.

“I work four days with the Prestons, two at Mayhem Motors.”

“Ohhh…” she drawls, nodding slowly. She brings the glass to her lips, downs two giant gulps, then asks, “So you got kids, huh?”

“What?”

She rushes out, “No, I just mean you work a lot.” She shakes her head now, laughing to herself. “That was such a weird conclusion to think, let alone say out loud.” She looks at her glass as if the wine is at fault, then shrugs, takes another sip.

“No kids,” I answer. “I just work a lot.” Honestly, working as much as I do keeps me out of trouble. In more ways than one.

“So, you work with Cam and Dylan, and you know the rest of the gang through them?”

I grimace. “Actually, I went to school with them.” Andyou, I don’t say, but she’s quick to put the pieces together.

Eyes wide, she almost gasps, “We went to school together?”

I nod, pushing down my laughter when she covers her face with her hands.

“Oh, my god, I’m so embarrassed.”

“No, it’s fine,” I assure, finally sitting down beside her.

Face still in her hands, she refuses to look at me, even when I tap her leg with mine. “I left when I was sixteen, so…”

Heidi looks up, her blue eyes even brighter against the porch lights. “Oh, so you were just there for two years of high school?”

“Yeah…” I hesitate to add, “And middle and elementary.”

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