Page 107 of Before We Break

“Why don’t you spend Christmas with Lexi and me?” Clio says offhand. She doesn’t look up from her task, oblivious to the sudden unease that’s crawling beneath my skin.

It would be a terrible idea for us to spend the holidays together like some big happy family. That’s not what we are.

“Pleeease,” Auggie says. “Can we?”

There I go, losing another battle against a four-year-old.

I sigh. “Yeah. Sure. Why not?”

Our expiration date is looming anyway. One last day together before the contract ends—that’s all it has to be. It won’t mean anything, just a final goodbye before we go back to the way things were.

Before I knew what she tasted like.

Before I knew her heart.

Before I⁠—

One more day.

THIRTY

TWO SIDES OF A TARNISHED PENNY

♫ Save Tonight - Eagle Eyed Cherry

NOAH

“Auggie. Time to wake up, buddy.” I’m not sure why I’m speaking. He can’t hear me. I jostle him slightly, trying to rouse him from sleep. If he could hear me, I’d remind him it’s Christmas morning, and Santa paid a visit to Clio’s apartment.

He groans, rolling from one side to the other.

He’s started doing this thing where he’ll keep his eyes closed in the mornings if he’s not ready to get out of bed. That way he can ignore me completely, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it short of dousing him with water. Not that I’d ever do that.

In a last-ditch attempt to get him out of bed, I pull open the curtains, and sunlight floods the room. There’s still snow on the ground, which makes everything outside these four walls almost unbearably bright.

“Noooo,” he whines, using his forearm to cover his eyes.

I pull on his hand, but it pops right back into place.

Finally, I give up and pull out my phone to call in reinforcements.

Me: Can you come over?

Princess: Be there in a few.

Me: Doors unlocked.

Five minutes later, soft footfalls carry down the hallway, and Clio appears at the door in a set of red pajamas with Christmas cookies all over them. She places a matching set in my hands. “Go put these on and I’ll take care of Auggie.”

I shove them back toward her. “No. No way in hell am I wearing matching pajamas.”

“You will because you want Auggie to have Christmas magic, remember?”

“You can’t guilt me, princess.”

“I just did, sunshine. Go on. Be a good boy and put on your matching pjs.”

“Fucking hell,” I mutter as I trudge to my own bedroom and slip into the ridiculous garments, begrudgingly participating in my personal hell.