Page 76 of Small-Town Secrets
"You're insane!"
I wanted to respond, but stopped myself when a woman joined us by the door. Probably whoever I'd heard earlier. She stared at Howard and then at me with a panicked expression. "What's going on?"
"We were just having a little disagreement," I said.
"Get the fuck out," Howard barked, still holding his nose. The dog was barking too now, but at his owner rather than me.
"I'm not leaving without Laurence's things." I squared my shoulders.
"You think I kept all that crap? Don't make me laugh."
"Is he talking about your ex?" the woman asked.
"He's insane," Howard responded, but I nodded at her. She looked at me for a second, and then she disappeared somewhere, I wasn't sure where, because most of my attention was focused on the scumbag in front of me.
"Do you hit her too?" I asked.
"She's not giving me reasons to."
I huffed, unable to believe the nerve on this asshole. Didn't he know how close I was to wiping the floor with him? "I swear, if you ever come close to Laurence or the twins again—"
"Dude, I don't even want to!"
"You had better not," I hissed.
"Take this and leave," the woman said, returning. She thrust two large blue trash bags at me, the contents of which I wasn't sure. "Howard never takes out the trash. Never. And I wasn't touching that stuff."
"Thank you," I bit out. I wasn't happy with the way Howard had treated my mate's belongings, but at least I managed to get my hands on them. I shot another glare at Howard, told him that this had better be everything, and then I left.
Mission accomplished.
33
Laurence
"Areyou sure you want to do this?" I asked Aaron for the second time as I helped him squeeze into the Santa costume he'd rented. The only one they'd had left was a size too small, but my mate seemed determined to make this work anyway. "You have too many muscles, you know."
Aaron shot me a grin. "That's the first time I’ve heard you complaining about that."
"I'm not really complaining. Only stating a fact." Casually, I ran my fingers down his arm, feeling his muscles bunch under my touch. God, I loved this alpha.
And I especially loved what he was trying to do for me and the kids. "Didn't you think this whole Christmas thing was stupid?" I asked, closing the front of his red coat over the pillow we'd stuffed under his shirt.
"I still think it is, but if it makes the kids happy, I'm all for it. They deserve a little happiness, and they deserve a dad who would dress up as a fat man in a red suit for them."
"You're right. They do." I broke from my task to kiss the corner of his mouth. "Tyler's going to be so excited."
"I hope so. He better be!" Aaron turned around in his costume as if trying to get a good look at himself. "I look ridiculous."
I had to laugh at his dejected tone of voice. "You're not going to look like that forever." I gave a soft tug on his fake beard. "Actually, I can't wait to take this costume off you again." I gave him a wink, he pulled me in for a kiss.
Life was good.
* * *
The plan wasto have the twinsaccidentallywalk in on Santa placing their presents under the tree in the living room so I took them out to walk the dogs—both Sarge and Casanova, who was staying with us for the holidays as his owners were out skiing.
It was a good real-life test of what living with two dogs might be like, as my Christmas present to Aaron was going to be letting him adopt another one. He’d asked me about getting one for the kids, but I’d been hesitant. Now I wasn’t so sure why. Letting one of the twins hold each leash led to fewer fights when it came time to walk the dogs.
