Tangled in Tinsel (a holidates series)

alec

She’s been gone for all of five minutes, but none of us have left the spot we stood in as she said goodbye. I never thought in a million years that not one of us would have enough fucking balls to tell the girl we liked her. But that’s exactly what we did. We stood here in a fucking receiving line and let her say goodbye.

Fuck. I close my eyes, thinking about the all-too-fresh moment.

“Do you have everything?” Forget something, so you’ll have to come back.

She nods. “I didn’t have much to start with.”

Stay, gorgeous.

She blinks up, placing her hand on my shoulder as she lifts to kiss my cheek.

“Thanks for a wonderful weekend. Since it was literally my pleasure.”

I huff a laugh, wanting to pull her back and wrap her in a hug, then tell her she’s staying whether she likes it or not.

She sidesteps to stand in front of Jace. My eyes tick to his face, recognizing that look. He doesn’t want her to go either. Fuck. I’m pretty sure he hasn’t even heard a word she’s said to him. Because the minute she kisses his cheek, shifting her face toward Reed, I swear Jace looks more deflated than I’ve ever seen him.

And I was there the year he lost the Super Bowl.

But we still have Reed. If there’s anyone that won’t respect her wishes, it’s him. It won’t matter that she said there was no reason for her to stay—he’ll find one.

She’s smiling up at him, but his jaw is tense. What the fuck? What’s wrong with him?

She calls him close, forcing him to bend, so she can whisper in his ear. His eyes close before a thin veil of bullshit closes over him. Protecting himself from her seeing what I do.

That he likes her too.

Double fuck.

Her hand lingers on his chest before she moves to Cole. But in true fashion, he takes control of the moment, taking her hand and kissing it before leading her to the door.

The cold drifts in as it opens, and she looks back at us—a bunch of fucking emotional grown-ass-man chickens. She gives a small wave accompanied by an even smaller smile. And then she’s gone.

My hands run through my hair as I finally step away from where I’ve felt rooted, letting the moment fall from my mind. Jace’s voice follows me.

“What now?”

Reed clears his throat before answering.

“Now we pack up. And get out of here.”

Jace crosses his arms. “Are we really pretending we’re not rocked by that shit? By that girl? We all just turned into a bunch of jackasses.”

Cole’s jaw tenses. “We made a deal, Jace. And the deal is done. If she wanted to amend it, we gave her plenty of room to do that. Not crossing a line she set doesn’t make us jackasses.”

“Bullshit,” Jace spits. “We should’ve said something. Given her the option at least.”

“For what?” Reed bellows, throwing his hands in the air. “To date us? Have you even thought about how that would work? Because I fucking have. Who goes first? Who does she introduce to her family? Her friends? Or do we just show out together because that won’t cause a scene? The weekend is over, J. It doesn’t matter how we feel. We’re going home. And then you can find a little piece to bury your dick in and get over it.”

Hands connect with chests, and before I know it, Reed and Jace are tussling like a bunch of assholes. Fuck-yous are hurled left and right. But Cole and I are there in an instant, pulling them off each other.

“Enough,” I thunder.

My voice cuts through the bullshit as they look at me.

“We need to shut the house down and get back to the city. Because we can’t do shit about the what-ifs since we’re here and she’s there.”

Jace and Reed disperse, Reed chucking something in his hand out of frustration. But that’s not my concern anymore. Right now, it’s Cole who’s looking at the door.

My hand falls heavy on his shoulder.

“She’s one of a kind.”

He says nothing but he doesn’t have to. So I keep talking.

“The weekend was always going to be enough…or not. We knew that going in.”

Cole huffs a laugh.

“We’re fucked, Alec. Because if there’s a possibility to keep her…I’m not so sure I’m willing to share. And I’d venture to bet we’d each say the same.”

A smirk grows on my face. “Then I guess negotiations should start in the car…where we can’t kill each other.”