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“I think we’re done here,”Cindy said. “Here, this is for you” She handed me a thick envelope.
“What is this?”
“Your holiday bonus. It isn’t much, but—”
“It’s great, thank you. Actually, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Sure.” She turned off the lights and walked with me to the door. There wasn’t a muscle in my body that didn’t ache from the busy shift we’d just worked, but it had been the perfect distraction.
“If there’s a chance for me to pick up more shifts, would that be a possibility?”
Her brows knitted. “But what about school?”
“I might be able to graduate early, and I could really use the extra money.”
“We can always make use of a good pair of hands, Peyton, but I don’t understand… why would you want to…” Realization dawned on her face. “Oh, I see. You know I’ll always find you some extra shifts, if that’s what you want.”
“Thank you and thank you so much for the bonus.”
“Get out of here and enjoy the rest of your birthday.” She waved me off. “And Merry Christmas, honey.”
“Merry Christmas, Cindy.”
I slipped into the inky night, pulling my coat around me. Bryan’s car waited down the street and I hurried to meet him. “Hey,” I said, climbing inside.
“Hey.” It came out stiff. “Happy birthday.”
“Thanks, and thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it. And my gift, Bryan, it was beautiful.”
I’d been overcome with guilt when I opened the silver star bracelet. Lily, Poppy, and their mom had all swooned over it when I’d shown them, rolling their eyes when I reminded them we were just friends.
“No problem.” He headed for Xander’s building, while I pulled out my small cosmetic bag and started touching up my makeup. I’d already changed out of my work uniform and spritzed my hair and body with perfume. It wasn’t ideal, but it would have to do. I didn’t want to waste a second of our limited time together.
“You know, I ran into him this morning.”
“You did?” My head whipped over to his, and he nodded.
“We talked.”
My spine stiffened. “What did he say?”
“He echoed what you said the other night. God, I want to fucking hate him for…” Bryan stopped himself, sucking in a sharp breath. “He made a good case. I told him I’ll keep your secret until the end of the holidays.”
“Thank you.”
He gave me a sharp nod, and guilt snaked through me.
“Oh hey,” I rummaged in my purse. “I got you something.” Placing the small gift down on the dashboard, I smiled over at him. “It isn’t much, but Merry Christmas, Bryan.”
“Shit, Peyton, you didn’t need to do that.”
“Yeah, I did. You’ve been a good friend to me, and despite what you might think, I do care about you.”
“At least I’ll have one present under the tree.” It was a joke. He was joking, and yet, there was something about the way the laughter didn’t quite reach his eyes that made my heart cinch.
“Your mom and dad are back for the holidays, right?”
