“Graham, I—” I pushed back.
The door opened.
Hunter stepped out holding two wooden Krampus figures.
Graham went very stillbeside me.
“Mags, which one do you want on the mantel, Santa Krampus or the one with the bag full of chil—dren?”
Hunter eyed Graham up and down. A slight aggravation ticked in his eye.
“Graham, this is Hunter…” I pushed Graham away. “My… boyfriend.” My gut fell as I said the words.
“Hey, mate.” Hunter tucked a figurine under his arm and offered his hand to Graham.
He shook it, pain pricking in his eye. “Graham.”
“Nice to meet you. How do you know Maggie?”
“We used to?—”
“Be friends!” I blurted.
That hurt him, and the moment I said it, I sighed at my own stupidity. Graham’s infamous wall went up.
Dammit.
“Is he going to be a guest?” Hunter asked, slipping his free arm around my waist.
“Oh… yes, good idea! Will you come to my Yule party? I need all the support I can get. My mother invited herself and my family over, and God, I could use as many excuses for a quick exit as possible. Annie won’t be here until the solstice and?—”
“That wasn’t what I was talking about,” Hunter interrupted, squeezing me tighter. “A guest.”
“Oh? Oh—I uh—I don’t know.” I looked between the two of them, unsure if I could give Hunter what he needed while being preoccupied with Graham and all the things we were… plus “handle” both of them. That was a task in itself.
The silence was so loud I thought I was going deaf.
“Why don’t you finish the mantel with the Santa Krampus,” I said, “and Graham and I will have a little… chat out here.”
“You got it, pretty thing,” he said, pulling me in, his hand inching lower and lower until he had a full handful of my ass in his grip. He squeezed and planted a hard kiss on my lips as if he was claiming me in front of Graham.
We parted, Hunter went inside, and my cheeks flushed so unbearably hot as I stood there unable to look Grahamin the eye.
“So… you have a boyfriend.”
“Yeah…” I took his hand and pulled him over to the patio chairs. “I just did what I was told.”
He shot me a look, his eyebrows creased together. “Fair. You moved on. Got it.”
“No, Graham, it’s not fair.” I couldn’t help but give in to the anger boiling inside. “You left me! You missed my birthday. You missed the only traditional holiday I’m obsessed with. What’s worse… the last time you spoke to me, I figured I’d at least be able to see you around town… that we’d still be friends. But no. You completely checked out and I didn’t even get a goddamn chance to say goodbye.”
“Max, I’m sorry?—”
“It was really hard to get over that, ya know?”
“Did you?”
“No… Not really.” My gaze dropped to the slatted floor. “Don’t let it go to your head. Hunter’s dulled the sting. At least he did… until you showed up with that stupid cocky grin you’re trying to suppress.” I crossed my arms and stared at the flurry of snow slowly falling in the yard. The corner of his mouth twitched. He didn’t deny it.
