Page 53 of Dirty Discipline, Vol. 1

“I’m pretty sure we are. How about you?”

“Yes, we’re going, although Uncle Adam has already said he doesn’t want to stay too late. Something about Santa needing his rest.” She shoots her uncle a playful smirk.

The man standing next to her chuckles, holding out his hand to Troy. “Hello young man.” Adam continues to pump Troy’s hand vigorously as he continues, although he looks uncomfortable with the social interaction. “I didn’t have the opportunity to properly thank you for helping our Hallie the night she got to town. She told us about how you and Traci took care of her.”

Troy allows his eyes to drift down to Hallie’s, searching for clues on exactly what she might have told her uncle about the events on the night of her arrival. Troy detects a full-blown rosy blush as she shuffles her feet subconsciously. Troy is on his own.

“Yes, well it was certainly a shock having someone arriving at the house at that hour. I’m just glad we were up and had lights on to help her find her way.”

Hallie glances up through her long lashes. They share a private look that tells Troy that Hallie had kept the fact she’d broken in to stop Troy from spanking his sister a secret from her aunt and uncle. Troy is happy, for Traci’s sake. She lives and works here in town, and he’d hate for anyone to lose confidence in her based on her foolish actions on one night of her life.

“Well, Gina and I are so happy to have her here, and we’re grateful to you and your sister. What are you two doing tomorrow for your Christmas celebration?”

“Honestly, we haven’t talked about it yet, but I assumed we would have a quiet day at her house considering we don’t have any other family to celebrate with.”

“Well, that won’t do. You two should come to our place around ten. We have a tradition of opening gifts and then Gina serves a wonderful brunch. We normally invite a lot of people over, but the crowd is going to be smaller this year with a lot of folks visiting relatives out of town. We’d love it if you would join us.”

Troy glances at Hallie, trying to gauge her reception to the idea. He doesn’t want to accept her uncle’s offer if it will make her uncomfortable. The only hint he has to her feelings on the topic is the small smile playing on her gloss shimmering lips.

Turning to his sister, Troy lets her make the final decision. “We haven’t talked about tomorrow yet, Trace. What did you have planned?”

“Well, I’d like to drop in at Brent and Char’s in the afternoon and we’ve had a few other offers, but I had mostly just wanted to spend time with you.”

Adam wraps his arm around his niece’s waist, pulling her close against him. “It’s settled then. You two can come and spend time together at our place. I insist. Drop by after ten.”

Troy is a bit annoyed at the forcefulness of the elder man, but Aunt Gina joins the conversation to add on her own gracious invitation in her charming southern drawl. “Yes, we’d love it if you’d both join us tomorrow. Hallie doesn’t know that many people in town, so having familiar faces there will help her feel more at home.”

The look on Hallie’s face tells Troy his presence isn’t going to have the desired effect, but before he can decline, Traci answers for them. “We’d love to join you tomorrow, Gina. Thanks for the invitation. What can I bring?”

Traci and Gina take the lead as they finally exit the church, talking menus, leaving Adam to make his next bold request. “So you and your sister are going over to the community center, eh?” He doesn’t even stop to give Troy a chance to get a word in edgewise. “Hallie has her heart set on it, but Gina and I prefer to just head on home. You wouldn’t mind taking her along with you and dropping her off later, would you?”

“Uncle Adam! If you really don’t want to go, that’s fine. You don’t need to try to pawn me off on Troy and Traci.”

“I’m not pawning you off, young lady. You just haven’t had much fun since you got here and going to the party at the community center tonight with people closer to your own age would be a lot more fun than going home with your aunt and me.”

Troy snorts. “Well, thanks for the compliment, but I might be a bit older than you give me credit for.”

“Well, you’re a hell of a lot closer to her age than her aunt and I are. Just have her home before midnight. I’d hate for her to run into Santa on her way to bed.” He has a twinkle in his eye as he drops a quick kiss on his niece’s forehead before heading off in the direction of his wife.

Hallie shuffles awkwardly, watching her uncle’s fast retreat, deserting her. She’s fidgeting nervously with her plum scarf. Troy had remembered her being shorter, but then notices she’s once again dressed in totally inappropriate, albeit fashionable, high-heeled leather boots. She appears unstable on her feet until he then realizes she is subconsciously shuffling to distance herself from him.

“So, I guess you’re stuck hanging out with Traci and me tonight. You ready to head over?” Troy tests the waters by offering his right bent arm. He holds, watching the indecision flit through her eyes. He is patient.

Stepping forward, Hallie slowly reaches out, linking her left hand through the crook of his arm just in time for Troy to support her as she almost wobbles to the floor after teetering precariously on her too-tall heels.

“Fuck these stupid shoes!” Hallie’s outburst would be better suited at the local truck stop rather than St. Michael’s sanctuary on Christmas Eve. As least she has the decency to look guilty.

“Well, I think I’ll pass on that suggestion and I’d watch your language if I were you. You’re lucky all of the families with young kids have already left or you might find yourself over some HoH’s knee in Eagle’s Pass for language like that.”

Troy had meant the comment to lighten the awkwardness of the moment, but it has the opposite effect as he feels Hallie visibly trembling, becoming increasingly wobbly on her feet.

“Hey there, kiddo. I was just making a joke. I mean you should curb the truck driver talk until we’re at least outside, but I’m pretty sure vulgar language isn’t a spanking offense, even here in Eagle’s Pass.”

“I’m not so sure. I get the impression they can make anything they want a spankable offense around here.”

“Well, maybe in private homes yes, but you don’t need to ever worry about some other HoH ever disciplining you, Hallie. That’s not how it’s done around here.”

“If you say so.” She doesn’t look convinced. “Can we just get out of here?”

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