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"So, what did you bring?" I reach for the paper bag someone set on my dining table, but Lauren slaps my hand away.

"Nope. Explanation first." Kylie reaches for the paper bag. Lauren lets her take one of the cinnamon rolls out. In fact, she even hands it to her. I stare her down.

"You are not playing fair."

"I know." She rests her elbows on the table and leans closer. “Sucks to be you. Now talk."

"I was helping out Brooke," I explain. The name doesn't seem to ring a bell. "You know, the owner of the shelter your boyfriend got his dog from?"

"Oh." Her jaw drops.

"The shelter is right next to the Kinstead main square, so I went over there to see if the animals were okay and if she needed any help." The selective truth comes from my lips quicker than I can stop it.

I can’t. I’m not brave enough to give them the full context yet.

"And Brooke is the redhead woman my apparent stalker-” I shoot Kylie a wink. She looks a little guilty. “Saw on my porch. I let her stay over with the animals tonight until she got a proper place secured. Which is the reason why there were four dogs in my living room when your boyfriend brought me the food." I tilt my head and cockily arch my eyebrow. “Is that heroic enough for you?”

"Why did you never ask us for help?" Nic takes a sip of her coffee. I reach for the bag again, and this time Lauren lets me take a cinnamon roll out of it.

"Because you were celebrating Thanksgiving." I pull a piece of the baked goodness. "With your boyfriends and families."

"Not me," Kylie points out, muffled by the cinnamon roll in her mouth.

"Well, Erik's aunt is about as family as it gets for you here." I flick a piece of dough her way.

"Kieran, you're an idiot." Lauren snatches the cinnamon roll out of my hand before I can stop her. Damn, she’s quick. And I need to work on my reflexes. "You're also family, so shut the hell up."

I freeze.

Family.

Sure, I'd been joking about Nic and Lauren being the annoying sisters I always wished I had. An image of Ella’s face pressed to the window flashes through my mind and sends a jolt of pain through my chest.

Hearing Lauren call me ‘family’ makes my heart jump with happiness and my stomach drop at the same time.

Because I'm keeping such a huge secret from them. A secret that already ripped one family away from me.

"Thanks." I clear my throat. "Anyway, the shelter is opening up again next week, probably.” At least it’s the timeframe Evan mentioned for his tattoo studio, which seemed in way rougher shape than Brooke’s shelter.

"So, I'm going out on a limb here. If you want to help, that's when you can jump in. Or in the spring, when they're replanting the main square park."

"Sounds good." Nic, Lauren, and Kylie shoot each other quick glances.

"Now, can I please have my cinnamon roll back?"

"Okay. I’ll allow it." Lauren hands it over. "Didn't Caleb bring you a whole-ass tray, though?"

"He did." I smirk and hold the cinnamon roll so tightly she wouldn’t be able to free it from my grip even if she tried again. "But maybe they're in the freezer so I can keep them for sad days."

"Smart."

Nic nods and takes a sip of her coffee while I finally dig my teeth into a cinnamon roll.

Chapter 16

Kieran

I hum along to the Christmas song playing on the radio in this giant warehouse store selling a bit of everything. Because I have a whole damn lot of Christmas decoration shopping to do.