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“Wait. I think it's a great idea Callum. We can have a little Christmas celebration! In fact, I have a friend stopping by soon,” he says with a big smile.
Fuck.
“A friend? You invited someone over here? I don't think that's a good idea given the circumstances.”
“Don't worry Cal. Lana here is going to be a good girl and pretend she’s just some whore renting out our basement, won't you Lana?” he asks her while placing a hand around her arm. She nods and slowly looks to me. “See? All good. We’ll have some fun. I roomed with Ray in prison. We kept in touch and he just got out and he’s looking for a place to crash for a couple days while he figures some things out. After all, it’s Christmas eve like you said, and I'm feeling generous.”
My stomach drops. What the fuck.
“I don't want some stranger who just got out of prison crashing at my house,” I say incredulously.
“You mean our house little brother and he’s no stranger to me. It will be fine. Besides”— he bends down a bit looking towards the window — “looks like he’s here.”
I look out the window and see a car pulling up, dropping a man off in front of the cabin. Fuck.
“Everyone play your parts and we will have a great Christmas eve,” he says with a sinister smirk.
Cole walks to the front door to meet his friend Ray. Lana quickly puts the necklace she was holding in the pocket of the flannel above her left breast and I grab the box and wrapping paper off of the couch and toss it in the fireplace. I left Lana’s chain downstairs so we don't need to explain that away to Ray. I noticed Cole took note of that when he looked down to her foot as he walked over to her, but he didn't speak on it. I'm sure I'll hear about it later.
“I don't have a good feeling about this, Callum,” Lana whispers to me. I say nothing back as I stare at the door and watch Ray enter.
He’s about the same height as Cole and has a similar beard except his is a bit scraggly. His head is completely shaved and I notice tattoos around his neck and on his hands.
“Ray! Hey man! Come in, come in. We got a fire going and I'll get us some drinks, but first, this here is my little brother Callum and this is Lana, she rents out our basement.” He introduces us with a big gleeful smile.
“Nice to meet you,” Ray says, directed to both of us.
“You too,” Lana softly replies.
I just nod and move to sit on the couch. Lana follows and sits down next to me. She’s still only in one of my flannels that just about reaches her knees and white socks. I also remember how she’s not wearing any underwear. I had brought her some from her apartment but Cole kept ripping them so she had told me it was a waste to try to wear any. I watch her cross her legs as she looks more uncomfortable than usual around Cole.
Cole brings over glasses of whiskey for everyone and I'm surprised when he hands Lana one too. We all sit in the living room, sipping on our drinks while Cole and Ray catch up and reminisce on their prison time together like it was some pleasant vacation.
I want this night to be over already. There’s this awkward tension in the air as thick as the snow that’s accumulated even more than we already had outside.
“I didn't know it was supposed to snow again tonight,” I say while looking out the window.
“Oh yea, I heard on the radio on the way here that there’s a storm coming. Getting at least a foot of snow and the winds are gonna be brutal. Glad I got here when I did,” Ray's gravely voice says.
Great. We’re gonna be snowed in with these assholes. I notice Lana’s tension and lightly shaking hands as she holds her drink. I fight the urge to put my hand on hers to comfort her.
A few hours later Cole and Ray have gotten more and more wasted from knocking back glass after glass of hard liquor. Lana and I still have our very first drink in hand that we’ve barely touched. Cole finally takes notice of that.
“Lana, you're not drinking.”
“Sorry. I'm not really a big drinker,” she replies.
“It's Christmas, we’re celebrating. Drink.” He lowers his brows in a quiet command.
Lana drinks the rest of her glass and sets it down. Cole stands on uneven feet and pours everyone a shot.
“Cheers,” he says, holding up his glass. We all swig the liquor back.
“Another,” Cole says directed towards Lana.
“I think I'm all set. I'm a lightweight.” She nervously laughs.
“I said, another.” Cole stands over Lana with the bottle in his hand. She submits and holds up her glass for more. Lana waits for the rest of us to get a refill but Cole doesn't move.
