Page 87 of Christmas Crisis
“Man, it sounds like being a celebrity sucks,” James said. He twirled a strand that had fallen from his man-bun before grimacing. “Dang. Now I have sap in my hair.”
“Stone seems okay with the attention most of the time,” Miranda said with a smile. “But I gave him a pass tonight.” To her sister, she added, “I’ll plan it so Stone is in town for longer some other day.”
A sick feeling swept over me. I’d hoped that Stone’s hasty exit, combined with the fact that she hadn’t been answering his messages, meant that she was waking up to their situation. But if she was planning on introducing him to her family, maybe I’d misread?
Marley pushed James down the hallway. “C’mon, big guy. Let’s get you in the shower and take care of the sticky stuff.”
Miranda coughed. “That…didn’t sound right, Marls.”
“Definitely dirty,” I agreed.
James pumped his eyebrows at me as he followed his wife to their bedroom, Oscar and Bambi trailing behind. A moment later, the door closed with asnick.
Miranda turned to me. “Alone at last.”
I snorted. “Understatement. That was quite the interruption.”
She walked toward me. “But I haven’t forgotten what we were talking about before Stone showed up.”
“And I want to discuss that, Panda. Except first you need to tell me the real reason you haven’t been responding to him these past few days.”
She didn’t hesitate. “I needed the distance… To know for sure.”
Taking me by surprise, she wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her body against mine.
My immediate reaction nearly knocked me off my feet. Electricity zipped down my spine.
“Know what for sure?” I murmured.
She lifted herself on her toes and nipped at my chin. I felt the softness of her lips as they traveled to my cheeks and jaw. Mouthed my neck. Finally, she lowered herself and mumbled into my shirt. “I needed to know which one of my boyfriends was the fake one.”
I froze, still as a statue. Her words lingered in the air, teasing the edge of my mind. Giving me hope.
The buzzing in my ears amplified and there was no way Miranda could miss the rapid-fire rhythm of my heart beneath her nose. I swallowed, a golf ball of emotion clogging my throat, almost painful as it worked its way to my lungs.
“And did you figure it out?” I whispered.
Instead of answering, she tilted her head back.
Keeping her arms around my waist, as though to reassure me—or stop me from retreating—she asked, “After we had our fight on Halloween, you called the next day, but you never called back. Or texted. Why?”
I squeezed my eyes shut, wanting to give her the truth while still barely understanding it myself.
“When Stone picked up, it reminded me that he’s your boyfriend. And I realized it wasn’t fair of me to…insert myself. The way I’d pushed you during our call. I meant what I said—it has been hard to watch him keep you a secret. But when he answered, I realized that I had other objections, different motives for trying to get you to see how unworthy he is. And I felt like I needed to get a handle on those before I tried to…patch things up between us.”
“What motives, Bear?” she asked quietly.
My mouth opened, but no words came out.
I’d stuffed it down for so long. Denied myself even before I knew that’s what I was doing.
She recognized my indecision. Gently, she prodded, “That night, when you said I hadoptions, what did you mean exactly?”
This question was easier. “That you didn’t have to be with Stone. You could be with someone else.”
“Who?” The word fluttered from her lips, barely audible.
Again, I got stuck. I’d lived so long not letting myself imagine the possibility, let alone voice it.
