“The aunts had three last-minute bookings for a romantic solstice celebration.” Katie giggled, then looked at Mom with a devious glint in her eye. “They’ll spend the evening chanting naked around a fire in the snow, while the couples most likely engage in an orgasm-filled pile of coitus and bodily fluids under the moonlight.”
Mom choked on her water, spraying droplets across the table, which she quickly dabbed at with her napkin.
Graham and Derek smirked at each other, trying to swallow down their childish giggles like devious schoolboys while the rest of my family sat staring at me with raised, judgmental eyebrows like always—except for Daddy.
“That sounds like fun.” He chuckled, patting Gemma’s knee under the table. “Doesn't it, sweetheart? Maybe we should book that for next year.”
“Oh, I”d love that,” she said, already nodding.
Mom just sat there, stunned, staring forward, holding her mouth still agape.
“Well, let’s eat,” I said, picking up my napkin to open it and lower it into my lap, but it slipped out of my hand and onto the floor. I leaned over to grab it, and when I rose, Graham’s hand covered the corner of the table so I wouldn’t smack my head.
I straightened, my heart hammering against my ribs.
He didn’t move, just watched me with those stormy eyes. I froze, my gaze trapped by his soft smile.
The noise in the dining room faded away. All I could see was him. All I could feel was the heat of his hand lingering so close to my cheek. It was the heat of someone that truly cared about me.
Thank you, I mouthed, my lips trembling.
Hunter swirled the ice in his glass, the clinking unnaturally loud. “Our girl’s a clumsy one, isn’t she, Officer Locke?” He took a sip of his drink, his eyes never leaving Graham’s. “Good thing you’re here to… catch herwhen she falls.” He put an extra emphasis on those last words, turning them into a threat.
And then I was there again—Hunter's face, twisted and unrecognizable, the shove, the moment my feet left the floor and there was nothing beneath me but air and the rushing edges of each step on the way down.My fingers curled around the edge of the table. He knew exactly what he’d said. And so did I.
Graham jumped up, his chair screeching across the wood floor—almost toppling over. He stood so close, like he was about to launch himself over me and straight into Hunter.
Hunter muttered something in Gaelic that I didn’t understand, glaring up at Graham like he could destroy him by sheer will.
The tension was so thick. All eyes were on the three of us. I wanted to slink under the table and stay there until morning.
“Now, boys, do I have to separate you two?” Daddy poked a serving spoon in their direction. “Don’t make me come down to that end of the table.” He chuckled a bit,then spooned potatoes onto his plate.
“Yes, let’s all be civil here,” Annie said, reaching over Derek and tugging at Graham’s arm. “Would you sit down?” She handed him the big bowl of pistachio fluff. He sat down, and we all dished up our plates.
Graham passed the fluff to me. I took one spoonful and stuffed the spoon back into the bowl.
“Oof—” came from the pistachio mixture. I glanced down and Uncle Silas’s face appeared in the dessert.
I gasped and pressed my lips together.
“Uncle Silas? What are you doing?” I whispered, holding the bowl between Graham and me to shield our voices.
“Maggie, I cannot believe you would make me stay upstairs when clearly there is a family reunion down here.”
“Uncle Silas, not now. I don’t want any extra drama tonight,” I said, my voice quiet.
“Oh, yes, yes, dear, just pass me to Kathryn, I must give her a message.”
“Fine, but no funny business,” I murmured.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, my dear.”
I begrudgingly passed the fluff to Hunter, who took a scoop without incident—thank God—then handed it to Katie.
The fluff jiggled and swelled, glowing. Katie’s eyes went wide as it transformed into a very erect penis in the center of the bowl.
My jaw dropped. I glanced to Graham, who had just stuffed a spoonful into his mouth right as he clocked the boner bursting from the fluff. He waspanic-stricken, grossed out, and mortified all at once. He let his mouth fall open, dropping the fluff back onto his plate—I didn’t blame him.
