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“I do know you, Holly Berry, I do.”
“There are things you don’t know. Things even Dax doesn’t know about that happened with those people.”
My stomach drops. Please, please don’t tell me they hurt her. “Did they abuse you?”
She shakes her head no and then says, “Not physically. I was just an afterthought. The reason I’ve always hated Christmas is that they didn’t celebrate it with me. I was ten when Dax left for college and for the next seven years there was no Christmas. They always told Dax we were doing something exciting for the holiday, and he would make other plans. I went along with the lies. I wanted Dax to live his life. But I had no tree, no gifts, no dinner on Christmas day. Nothing.”
“I’m going to make all of your Christmas memories magic from now till forever.”
Chapter Six
Bear
I begin to pull her out of bed, and she laughs. “What are you doing?” I pull my T-shirt over her head and watch as it falls to her knees. As we walk out of my room, I grab a pair of sweatpants out of a drawer and pull them on.
“We are starting our first Christmas, of course.”
We walk into the living room where the tree, lit up with the colored lights sits in the corner of the loft’s big space. Holly’s laughter fills the room as she turns to me, “When did you do this, Bear?”
“When I couldn’t sleep last night. I thought we could finish decorating together. I only put the tree up and the lights on. We still have the ornaments and the sit-around things to do.”
“Can we start? I’ve never wanted to decorate a tree as much as I want to decorate this one with you.” She practically dances around the tree.
I’ve never seen Holly in this light before. Telling me about her past seems to have relieved her whole body. I’m sure the orgasms didn’t hurt either. I hit the remote to start a holiday playlist through the loft’s speaker system and secure her into my arms. We twirl around a few times, before I ask, “Do you want coffee and breakfast before we decorate?”
“Yes, to both, please,” she answers as she continues to twirl around the living room like an out-of-control ballet dancer.
“I’ll get it started. You can unpack some of those boxes over there and find places for that stuff if you want to get started.” I point her toward a box full of different winter and Christmas themed bear decorations my mother has brought over throughout the years. I have quite a collection at this point.
The kitchen is freezing. I quickly start the coffee and pull out what I need to make omelets for breakfast. I’m halfway through cooking my phone rings. I grab it off the counter and groan at the name on the screen — Dax.
“Hey, man,” I answer, trying not to sound like the guy that fucked his sister last night.
“Hey, Bear. How are you and Holly making out?”
“Making out?” Did Dax just ask me about making out with his little sister?
There’s a long pause. “Is everything okay? You sound weird. Holly didn’t throw a fit about having to stay with you, did she? I know she’s especially grumpy at Christmas time, but she’s usually nice to you.”
“She’s not grumpy,” I growl before I can stop myself. “And I’m fine. Did you just call to check on us?”
“Yeah, but I’m more worried now. You are not acting like your usual sunshiny self. Did she grinch you in one night?” Dax laughs, but after hearing about Holly’s childhood I can’t let him talk about her that way.
“Don’t fucking talk about her like that. She’s not a grump or a grinch.” I look out and see her standing still in my living room holding some Santa pillow my mom bought in her hand. She looks a little shellshocked. “I have to go.” I hang up on my best friend. The phone immediately begins to ring again, but I’m not going to answer him until I know that Holly is okay. She’s the most important thing.
I quickly finish the breakfast I almost ruined while on the phone. The omelets are on plates and cups of coffee are quickly poured. I move it all to the table and look back over at Holly. She hasn’t moved in the time it took me to do these things. She’s still clinging to the pillow. The smile is still gone from her face that was so happy just a short time ago.
“Holly?” I say softly as I walk toward her trying not to frighten her. “Are you okay?”
???
Holly
Am I okay?That’s a good question and one I can’t answer. His defense of me to my brother triggered something that shut down the joy I was feeling. I still feel safe and loved, but also like I want to get the hell out of here. It’s weird. I think I should feel good about him sticking up for me against Dax, but I hate that he yelled and hung up on his best friend. I don’t want to come between them.
I’m also worried about what Dax will think about what I’ve done and how I feel about Bear. Will he be furious? Will he yell? I just have so many thoughts and my mind won’t stop spinning.
Bear stops a few steps in front of me, his hand out for me to grab. “Let’s go eat breakfast and talk, sweetheart. I promise everything is going to be okay.”
