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Even if it's in the form of three annoyingly perceptive and curious women.

"The ladder is in my garage." I clear my throat, brushing past them to get it. "Hold on, I’ll get it."

By the time I return with it, the three of them have their heads together and are whispering.

"Who are we gossiping about?" I ask with a grin I know doesn't reach my eyes and set the ladder down.

"You, actually." Lauren crosses her arms in front of her chest and shoots me a glare.

"Me?" I arch my eyebrows at them and tilt my head. "Why? What did I do?"

"You know, we’re wondering if your plan was to put up all these lights by yourself without anyone close by to alert 911 if you fell and broke your neck." Kylie scoffs and nods at the ladder.

"Bold of you to assume I would have fallen. And even bolder of you to assume I would have survived a fall."

Lauren throws snow at me and mutters a curse under her breath.

"You're a tough guy." Nic pats my arm, but there's something in her expression that betrays her.

"And we would wheel you around in a wheelchair if you ended up paralyzed," Lauren adds with an eager nod. “Promise.”

"How nice of you." I smirk. "Likewise. But do you know what would be even nicer?"

"What?" Kylie tilts her head.

"If you stopped interrogating me and instead helped me, put up the lights." I position the ladder by my porch and climb the first three steps before they can object or jinx it any further.

"Go on, Lauren. Hand me the string lights." I wave my hand impatiently.

"Alright, alright." She puts one end into my palm. "Here you go. Don’t fall."

The next half hour consists of Nic, Lauren, and Kylie detangling the string lights and passing them to me so I can put them into the hooks I left on my porch roof last year.

They go on surprisingly quickly. Before I know it, we move on to my regular roof, then window frames, and lastly, we reach my living room. Now I’m not kidding myself, I know they’re mostly helping so I’ll feel obligated to offer them my help in return.

But if it spares me an hour or two of string light detangling, it’s a trade I’m willing to make.

"Kieran!" Lauren shrieks once she sees the Santa monstrosity, now blown up to its full glory. Holy shit, it’s even bigger than I thought. "What the hell?"

"Mine is bigger than yours." I wiggle my eyebrows at her and bite the inside of my cheek to keep my grin somewhat respectful.

She got a Santa inflatable last year already, maybe two meters high. But mine? Mine is five meters high at least. It’s easily as tall as my house. I grab one of the hooks and hammer it into the frozen ground so the monstrosity won’t fly off.

"Technique is what’s important." Lauren picks up a bit of snow and throws it at me as I find the second hook.

"Is what jealous people say." I point out and duck when she throws another snowball my way. Her aim has gotten better, I’ll give her that. Quickly, I hammer the second hook into the ground.

"And mine isn't facing your home. This?" She motions at my Santa. "This thing is staring right into my bedroom with its creepy big eyes." She shudders while I bury hook number three. "Ugh, I hate it."

"I'm just telling you. If I find it slit open, I will retaliate, and you won’t like it."

Lauren stares at me blankly. "You would never be able to prove which of us did it."

Nic giggles. "Hell, with how big it is, even I feel violated. This thing would make anyone from here to Caleb’s uncomfortable if it weren’t for the trees. The stare is super creepy."

"You two are overreacting." I jam the fourth hook into the ground, then lean the ladder against the house. Thankfully, because all of a sudden, a parade of snowballs hits my jacket and side of my head.

"Overreacting?" Lauren grabs a handful of snow and marches closer with a dangerous glint in her eyes. "Would you please repeat that?"