Page 50 of Corrupted


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“Well, he—”

“Bags are in your room, and the pink one is under the tree,” Cason says, coming into the room. He stops when he spots us leaning toward one another. “Am I interrupting something?”

“Girl talk,” Peyton says, and rattles the ice in her glass.

“Is it about me?”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, please. The world does not revolve around you, brother. Such an ego.” Cason grabs her in a headlock and runs his knuckles over her head.

“Smart-ass,” he says.

I can’t help but laugh. I’m not sure what Peyton was about to tell me but the mood has shifted, so I let it go. I pour Cason an eggnog, and wave him and his sister over.

“Come on,” I say. “I can’t wait until morning.”

I lead them to the tree, and as we all stare at it, I look beyond it and gasp.

“What?” Cason asks, his eyes wide as he assesses my face.

“Look.” I point to the window, and both Cason and Peyton step up to it.

“It’s snowing,” Cason says and shakes his head. “I can’t believe it, although nothing should surprise me now.”

“Santa came through,” I say.

Peyton glances back and forth between the two of us. “Okay, you two, I’d tell you to get a room, but there are presents under this tree, and I want to open them.”

“You don’t want to wait until morning?”

She rolls her eyes at Cason. “It’s like you don’t even know me.”

I laugh, loving the ease between brother and sister. Peyton is smart, funny and her adoration of her brother is as bright as the Christmas star. We would have been good friends.

Maybe we still can be. Maybe she’s right and Cason and I do have a second chance.

Peyton picks up a gift and shakes it. “Maybe don’t do that?” Cason says. “You don’t know if it’s breakable.”

“Calm down,” Peyton says and glances at me. “Can you lend my brother a tampon?”

I burst out laughing and Cason scowls, but the love for his smart-ass sister is all over his face.

“See what I mean?” he says to me and throws his hands up. “Kid sisters.” I grin. This man is going to make an incredible father.

“Okay, you two behave before I have to separate you.” I drop to the floor, and cross my legs. I tap the floor. “Come sit.”

They both drop down beside me, and Cason scrubs his face, agitation rolling off him in waves. “I didn’t know we were exchanging gifts.”

Here I told this man I couldn’t give him anything other than my body, but that was a lie because he was already holding my heart. Heck, he might as well hold the rest of me, too.

“I don’t give to receive,” I say. “Besides, Cason, being here in Cannes, at Christmas, with you, is the best gift I’ve ever been given.” I squeeze his hand, and his face warms. “Okay, Peyton,” I say, needing a distraction before I launch myself into his lap and kiss the living hell out of him. I hand her gift over.

“Ooh, it’s small.”

“Good things come in small packages,” Cason says.

“Really?” Peyton responds. “That’s not what she said.”

Cason groans, and I hand him his present. “Yours is bigger.” Peyton coughs to hide a chuckle, and I roll my eyes at her playfulness.

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