by Rye Hart
“Take a few deep breaths, but we can’t stay long,” I said. “It’s too cold out here for you to be hanging around without a coat.”
“I know. I just feel so cramped. I can’t imagine how my father feels right now. I just wish he was home for Christmas.”
“I know,” I said. “I know you do. But I promise, all of us will work as hard as we can to make this the best Christmas ever.”
I prayed my brothers could hold up their end of the deal by tomorrow night.
After a few minutes of standing out in the cold, Kyra took my hand and led me back inside. I figured she would head right for the cafeteria for some coffee, but instead, she shoved me into a deserted alcove. She giggled as I tripped over myself, stumbling into a darkened corner of the hospital with her body against mine.
And then I felt her lips again and all was right with the world.
“Please kiss me back,” she said, whispering. “Please help me forget.”
I wrapped my arms around the woman I loved and swirled her around. I pinned her to the wall, feeling her body writhing against mine while my cock sprang to life. Her tongue tasted like ice and snow, the very combination of winter settling upon her tongue. Her fingers flew through my hair, tangling up in knots while my hands gripped her hips. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid my hands on and every single part of me wanted to peel my cock out and take her right up against the wall.
I allowed my fingertips to travel around the hem of her pants, threatening to plunge down to feel for her dripping wet pussy. But before I could, we heard some people walking down the hallway, and I quickly broke off the kiss.
A couple of nurses came walking by, talking to themselves while they passed right by us, oblivious to the world. I couldn’t help but smile when Kyra started to giggle. I looked down upon her with heated eyes, seeing the way her beautiful tits poked through the pads of her bra.
I lowered my lips to her ear so I could whisper her a promise I knew I’d always fulfill.
“I’ll scratch that itch later when we get home.”
I felt her shiver before I pulled her into my arms one last time. I placed a kiss on her forehead, sealing my promise to her before we made our way into the cafeteria. We grabbed everyone large coffees before we made our way up to Mark’s room but the moment we walked in, I almost dropped the coffee in my hands.
And the shock on Kyra’s face was just as evident.
“Landon?” she asked.
“There you are,” he said. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Mark’s room looked absolutely amazing but no one could pay attention to it with this asshole in the room. Even Mark was glaring at him, trying to wiggle his leg out from underneath the place where Landon was touching him.
Like this douchebag gave a fuck.
“Kyra, could we talk?” he asked.
“Kyra, you okay with this?” Ethan asked.
“Um, yeah. Actually, Landon and I kind of do need to talk. We brought you guys coffee. I’ll be right back. I promise. We can talk in the waiting room, Landon.”
“Wherever you want, beautiful,” he said.
His presence alone burned my blood but hearing him call her something like that made me downright angry. I watched as Kyra walked out the door with that shark following her and all I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears. What was she about to tell him? Was she going to tell him she couldn't marry him? Or would she cave last-minute and commit herself to this man?
I watched while the two of them rounded the corner and I had to resist the urge to run after her.
“Wanna know what they’re saying?” Ethan asked.
I looked around the room at Chance and Blake before I breathed a deep sigh.
“Yes,” Mark said. “I do.”
We all whipped our heads over to him before Ethan headed out the door. No matter what we did for Kyra and no matter what position we held in her life, her father would always trump whatever we said. No matter what we did, he would always have the last say.
So, when Mark told Ethan he wanted something, Ethan was determined to get it for him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX - ETHAN
The moment I heard Mark’s fucking voice, I was off. There was no way in hell I was denying that man what he wanted, especially when I wanted it myself. I didn’t want Kyra alone with that conniving little wolf and I was thankful Mark had been awake during the entire conversation. We got Mark’s room decorated all nice before he fucking blasted in and ruined everything and we could tell he was hiding something from us.
And I wanted to know what the fuck it was.
I pressed my body against the wall just outside of the waiting room. I could barely make out what Kyra and Landon were saying, but I knew it wasn’t good. I didn’t trust that rich asshole to begin with, but I most certainly didn’t trust him alone with Kyra.
Alone with the woman I loved.
Sure, I shared her with my other brothers, but this asshole didn’t own a piece of her. I scooted just a little closer as the conversation grew louder and I was getting angrier by the minute.
“Why the hell not?” Landon asked.
“I can’t marry you,” Kyra said. “I’m sorry. There’s just too much that’s wrong. You don’t support me. You don’t see the value in what I do. What am I to you at this point?”
“I could take care of you forever,” he said. “You and your father. Don’t you get that?”
“Yes, I do. And I realize what I’m saying to you. I’m sorry, Landon.”
“Please reconsider, Kyra,” he said. “I love you. I really do.”
“We aren’t right for one another,” she said. “College was good to us but the real world wasn’t. It showed me a part of who you truly are. You’ve always mocked me for what I wanted to do with my life. It doesn’t feel right anymore and I have to trust that feeling.”
“Then thank you for wasting my time.”
Wait. What the fuck did he just say to her?
“What?” Kyra asked. “Our relationship wasn’t a waste of time.”
I heard Landon starting to laugh and I wanted to dive around the corner and rip his fucking throat out.
“Kyra, don’t you get it?” he asked. “Why I was willing to put up with you in the first place? Why my grandmother didn’t give a shit about what you did with your life? She wanted me to marry a normal girl, not one of the rich bitches my parents kept setting me up with.”
“What?” she asked.
“Yeah. All those fights you always overheard with my parents? They were pissed because I wouldn’t go out with the women they tried to set me up with. See, my parents don’t control my future wealth. My grandmother does. The trust fund I plan to live off doesn’t get released to me until I marry someone my grandmother approves of. You met her by accident when she came to visit me in college and she fucking loved you.”
I waited for Kyra’s response but, when none came, I could feel my veins bulging from my neck.
“I’ve lived on an allowance for way too long because of you,” Landon said. “I was willing to let you ride for the rest of your life, never having to do a damn fucking thing, and all you did was spit it back in my face. After all the compromises I made for you. And now, because of my time you’ve wasted, I’ll have to find some other idiot woman my grandmother likes for me to marry.”
I’d heard just about enough.
I stepped around the corner, my fists balled up at my side as I strode toward Landon. I walked right up to him and got in his face, ignoring where Kyra was at that very moment. All I wanted to do was bust this asshole’s teeth in and the moment I got in his face, I saw him flinch.
That good-for-nothing douchebag needed to be scared because I was about to kill him.
But Kyra’s little voice broke through all the walls of red clouding my vision. Her cold hand wrapped around my shaking wrist, settling the blood that was rushing through my veins. I felt her hand slide up my arm, settling my body back onto the ground
while her soothing touch helped to root me back into reality.
“Get out,” I said.
Landon just grinned.
I raised my fist back to hit him and Kyra jumped in front of me. She placed her hands on my chest and pushed, trying to get me to back away from him. I wanted to curb-stomp that asshole’s face into the ground until he bled but the way Kyra desperately wanted me to stop had me in a chokehold all its own.
“I don’t know where the hell you get off calling Kyra anything close to dumb, but I think you might wanna look in the mirror,” I said. “A pathetic little boy like you could never satisfy a woman like Kyra.”
Landon started laughing again and, for a split second, I actually debated running past Kyra and slugging him until I broke his fucking jaw.
“Kyra’s just an idiot who wants to be internet famous,” Landon said. “It’s a pathetic goal, really.”
I took another step toward him but Kyra pressed her entire body into mine. She wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed her face into my neck and the warmth of her touch stopped me in my tracks. Instantly, my arms were around her, turning her around so I could put a barrier between her and this disgusting creature.
“You can have her,” Landon said as he walked by us. “She’s a terrible lay anyway.”
“For the love of hell, Kyra, let me go after him,” I said.
“No, he’ll get you thrown in jail without a second thought,” she said into my chest.
“I could beat him to a point where he couldn’t talk to the police. Couldn’t identify me to anyone.”
But the moment she sniffled into my body, I redirected my energy. I crooked my finger underneath her chin and pulled her watery gaze up to mine and I could see the hurt swimming around in them. The pain and the suffering. The emptiness and the betrayal.
She deserved better than this. So much better than all of this.
“Please don’t make me spend Christmas visiting you in jail when my father’s already in the hospital,” she said.
“No,” I said as I pulled her back into me. “I won’t make you do that. I promise.”
She cried into my chest while I drew in deep breaths, trying to settle my anger while my hands ran up and down her back. I pressed kiss after kiss into her hair, feeling my blood pressure settling with every whiff of her lavender conditioner that fled up my nose.
“You are beautiful, and magical, and the strongest woman I know,” I said. “Assholes like Landon will never realize what a true treasure you are. But I do. I’ve always known. And nothing that will ever happen and no decision you will ever make will change that.”
She lifted her reddened eyes back up to mine before a small smile broke out across her face.
“Thank you, Ethan,” she said.
“No thanks needed for the truth, Tink.”
I watched her face approach mine before our lips collided in a sweet little kiss. It wasn’t desperate and it wasn’t heated. It wasn’t rushed and it wasn’t begged for. It was natural and special and I could feel the respect and trust we had for one another dancing between the gaps when we came up for air.
“Wanna go see your father’s room?” I asked.
“I’d love to,” she said.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN - KYRA
I got back into the room with Ethan and the guys were all gathered around my father. They all looked at me with wary looks and there was a spark in my father’s eye I couldn’t quite place. He was looking straight at Ethan, like there was something he was waiting for, but the moment passed before I could address it.
“So?” Chance asked. “What do you think?”
My eyes pulled from my father and danced around the room and I simply couldn’t believe my eyes. Garlands were strung up along the tops of the walls and beautiful white lights wrapped around the greenery. There was a small Christmas tree in the corner with ornaments and those same white lights and there were even a few wrapped presents already underneath it. My father’s hospital bed had red and green ribbon wrapped around the edges, bringing the cold, dank bed to life.
And to top it all off, they’d wrapped my father’s bathroom door in wrapping paper and put a bow on it.
Like a massive Christmas gift.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” I said. “I can’t believe you guys did this.”
“I’m a man of my word,” Chance said.
“Though we did all his legwork,” Blake said, grinning.
“Where’s everyone else?” I asked. “I mean, Harper and Owen aren’t here. Are they okay?”
“Well, they’ve got their own holiday surprises they’re still concocting,” Ethan said. “But I’m sure they’ll be here soon.”
“Actually, all of you should go home and get some rest.”
We all whirled around to look at the doctor who was now coming through the door.
“How you feeling, Mark?” he asked.
“Eh,” Mark said. “Tired.”
“That’s to be expected,” the doctor said.
“Daddy,” I said. “Why didn’t you tell me you were tired?”
But all he did was smile before he tried to wink at me.
“We want to run a few more tests with your father before we let him rest for Christmas,” the doctor said. “But they’ll take most of the afternoon. He won’t be in his room much at all until this evening and, by then, he’ll probably be fast asleep.”
“Then I’ll wait here for him to get back,” Kyra said. “We always spend Christmas Eve together. We each open one gift before we settle in for a Christmas movie.”
But instead of the doctor intervening this time, it was my father who reached out for my hand.
“Come here,” he said.
“Daddy, you have to rest.”
“I want you to listen to me,” he said. “I’m tired. The room is decorated. You guys have done enough.”
“I’m not leaving you on Christmas Eve, Dad. You can forget it.”
“You need rest just as much as I do and you won’t get it here,” he said.
“I’m. Not. Leaving. You.”
“You will do as you’re told, young lady. Now, go home and rest.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Why in the world was my father sending me away on Christmas Eve? This was our tradition. This was what we always did. Ever since Mom died, we promised one another to keep her favorite tradition alive and well.
It always made it feel like she was here.
“But Mom…” I said breathlessly.
“Will always be here with us,” my father said. “Go spend Christmas Eve with these fine boys. Let me sleep. That’s what I want. To just rest.”
I felt tears streaming down my face before I leaned over to kiss my father’s hand.
“Okay,” I said, whispering. “But I’m coming back first thing in the morning. Before the sun even rises.”
“I wouldn’t expect… anything…”
It was so much effort for my father to talk, so I simply kissed his lips to silence him. I saw a lopsided smile crawl across his face and I put one more kiss on his forehead for good measure. His skin was so pale and the tubes running in and out of his body were so numerous. I was trying to be strong. I was trying to give him what he needed.
But I couldn’t shake the fact that I was about to lose my own father over Christmas.
“Before the sun comes up,” I said.
He squeezed my hand. Then I allowed myself to drop my father’s hand.
“You ready, Mr. Lancaster?” the doctor asked.
My father nodded.
I stood there with my Lost Boys while they wheeled my father out of the room. Already, his eyes were closing shut and I felt a tug to want to go after him. I wanted to gather him up in my arms, like he always did for me when I was scared, and tell him everything was going to be okay. I felt arms draping over me while I cried and watched the nurses take my father away for more tests while I was simply expected to go home and sleep.
Like I coul
d just fucking sleep while my father withered away in the hospital all alone.
Somehow, I got out to Blake’s car. Somehow, I got back to the Trent house. Somehow, I got settled onto the couch with a cup of hot apple cider in my hand and, by the time I processed my surroundings, Chance had turned on a football game. The Eagles were hosting the Raiders this evening and, soon, Owen and Harper came trudging through the doors. The two of them sat down next to me and warmed me with their bodies. Their eyes studied me closely as I sighed with contentment.
Finally, my boys were all together in one room and I felt like I could finally relax.
“I think the Eagles have this one,” Chance said.
“Are you an idiot?” Ethan asked. “The Raiders are gonna kick ass.”
“I’m with Ethan on this one,” Owen said.
“Same here,” Harper said.
“All of you are wrong,” Rowan said. “The Eagles are gonna slaughter them. Have you seen their offense this year?”
“Their defense is weak, though,” Blake said. “I think it’s gonna be a pretty even game.”
“You gotta pick one,” I said. “Because I’m not gonna lie, I think the Raiders got this.”
“See?” Ethan asked. “And we know Kyra’s obsessed, just like we are.”
“If we’re pittin’ defense against defense, the Eagles have this hands-down,” Blake said.
“All right, all bets are placed,” Chance said.
“Wait, who said we were betting anything?” Blake asked.
Chance grinned.
“Wanna know why I think the Raiders are gonna pull it out?” I asked.
“Why’s that, beautiful?” Chance asked.
“Because Philadelphia is currently second in the entire league for rush yards. You know that’s their specialty. It’s what they use to sneak attack teams all the time. The Raiders are fucking twenty seventh. They haven’t even busted three digits yet in that field. I mean, they’re pretty much even keel on their passing yards, with Oakland only being up by Philly three and a half yards. I mean, come on. Philly’s even got them in first downs. It’s almost a shame.”
