sierra
“Sorry that we’re late,” I said, walking into Heather’s house.
“Sierra!” Heather’s mother, Ms. Hodge, exclaimed. “You brought a boyfriend.”
Heather’s mom and dad had divorced years ago, but they were still on good talking terms with each other for Heather and celebrated the holidays as a family, which I was always so, so jealous of.
I stiffened and glanced up at Steven. “He’s just a friend.”
Steven squeezed my hand. Hard.
Ms. Hodge smirked at our hands. “Seems to be a little more than just friends, but never mind that.” She turned to Steven and furrowed her brow, looking him up and down. “I know you from somewhere, don’t I?”
Please don’t say Radiant. Please don’t say Radiant. Please don’t say Radiant.
“I’m Hector Patton’s brother,” Steven said.
“Hector and my ex-husband are business partners and the best of friends,” she said. “That must be it.”
After she grabbed the bottle of wine that Steven had convinced me to bring over and the cheese platter that I had made earlier, she ushered us into the house and toward the living room, where people mingled together.
“Didn’t think you’d be here,” someone said from behind.
I twirled around to see Hector Patton walking up to us, his gaze on his brother.
“This is Sierra,” Steven said, introducing me to his brother. “Sierra, this is Hector.”
“We’ve met before,” I said. “I’ve seen him at Heather’s mom’s party.”
“Ah, yes,” Hector said, about to say more. But then glanced past me to Heather, standing near our friend group in the corner by the piano. She wiggled her brows in our direction, but I wasn’t sure who she was flirting with. Me or Hector.
“I’m gonna say hi to my friends,” I said, looking at the group.
“Charlie?” Steven said, eyeing the tall blond Goody Two-shoes of my friend group.
“You know Charlie?” I asked.
“A bit,” Steven said. “He attends Radiant.”
Interesting.
I walked toward the group, giggling at Heather still giving Hector the eyes.
“Does your Dad know?” I asked. “About you and Hector?”
“Of course not!” Heather exclaimed. “Do you think I’m a masochist?!”
“Maybe.” Athena chuckled from the couch. “You’re crazy.”
“I am not,” Heather hummed.
And while she might not be medically insane, she had signed up for a BDSM club to lose her virginity to her father’s best friend and business partner. If that didn’t scream a bit on the weird side, I didn’t know what else could.
“So, Sierra, you’re sleeping with his brother. Is Heather right? All the Patton genes are good ones?” Athena winked and sipped on her champagne.
“Athena, they’re both adopted.”
She playfully rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“Don’t think she does,” Charlie said, lips curled into a smile. “Why don’t you explain it?”
Athena shot Charlie a playfully dirty look, then shoved a dessert into his mouth. “Shut it.”
“What?” Charlie said, mouth full of cookie. “I didn’t say anything wrong.”
“You’re trying to embarrass me,” Athena said.
Charlie finished chewing. “You’re trying to embarrass her.”
“Yeah, but Sierra’s cute when she’s all flustered.”
“So are you.”
Athena turned a deep red, and the rest of our friend group looked at each other. Athena and Charlie were the best friends in the group that refused to admit that they even liked each other, but then they both said stuff like this.
A while later, Steven brought me a glass of wine. I lifted it to my lips, preparing myself for the bitterness of alcohol because I had already downed all the wine that I liked, but when it hit my tongue, it was even sweeter.
We slipped outside onto the small balcony that overlooked the acres of land that Ms. Hodge owned. While I envied Heather for still having her family around, I always noted that her family’s home never felt homey, like mine had.
Neither did Steven’s, but I’d assumed that was for other reasons.
Snow drifted from the dark sky and blanketed the yard. There were no swings or slides or toys scattered across the grass. No scuffed floors from small sneakers. No pictures of Heather when she had been younger. No homeyness.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked.
“Good.”
“Even after the parking-lot cry?”
I had cried for so long in Giant Eagle’s parking lot that I made us late, and I hated being late. But I couldn’t help it. I had made an entire fool out of myself in front of him because I’d let my memories get the best of me.
My chest tightened. Why had I done that?
I glanced away. “Sorry you had to see that. This time of year really gets to me.”
He pushed some hair behind my ear. “I’m not here to poke fun at you, love.”
Heart racing, I looked up at him. “You don’t think I’m crazy?”
“Why would I think that?”
“Because I burst out into tears for no reason.”
“It wasn’t for no reason,” he murmured. “And I know that.”
“Luke used to think that I was crazy,” I whispered, crossing my arms over my body and thinking about how low he had always made me feel when I thought about what had happened with my family. He had told me that I shouldn’t think about them because they made me sad.
“Forget about him. He’s a dick.”
A small giggle escaped my mouth. “I know but …”
“It’s hard,” he finished, gaze dropping for a moment, as if he was thinking back to a memory. “It’s hard to love and be loved. To get past all the trauma that’s happened to you. To be okay again.”
Tears built in my eyes, but they wouldn’t fall. Steven was speaking everything that I felt.
“Sometimes, you just have to let go,” he murmured. “What’re you doing for Christmas?”
The question had come so suddenly, his tone changing within seconds.
“Usually, I come here,” I said, dropping my gaze as my chest tightened.
I used to love Christmas, but since my family had died, I had come to loathe it.
“They welcome me, but I always feel like I’m intruding on family time.”
“I spend Christmas Eve and morning alone,” he said. “Do you want to stay at my place?”
With my gaze still fixed on the ground, I widened my eyes slightly and played with my sleeve. “I, um …” I swallowed hard and peered up at him through my lashes, nerves zipping through me. “If you don’t mind, I would love that.”
He let out a breath, as if he had been holding it in. “Great.”
“It’s a date then,” I said.
“The first Christmas that I’ve ever looked forward to.”