Hanging Pawns (The Fate Series Book 2) (16 page)

The next morning my alarm goes off, waking me from the best night sleep I’ve ever had. I pull myself away from Josh to find my phone and gasp.

Josh is still in my bed!

Someone taps at my door, and I jump off the bed to answer it before they come in. I grab the handle, trying to catch my breath and open the door slightly to Molly and Morgan who are standing dressed, ready to go.

“I have to get changed… and brush my hair.” I give an overly bright smile.

Their heads cock to the side. “That’s… fine. We were debating what to get the guys for Christmas.” Molly squints at me. “We will be out in the family room… waiting.”

Whew.

“Mea, can you turn off your alarm?” Josh groans from the bed behind me.

Shit!

My eyes widen, they gasp and push the door open just as Josh gets up and stretches.

Shit!

“Excuse me, ladies, my things are over there.” He points to his room, strutting past us.

“This,” I point at me and Josh, “isn’t what it looks like.” I try to find a good way to explain what happened.

Walking into the room, they both begin to giggle, saying they can’t believe that is what he looks like without a shirt on.

“I don’t want your mom to think…” I begin when Morgan’s hand comes up.

“Oh please, our mom thinks you guys are dating. Actually, everyone except for you thinks that you two are dating. She doesn’t care but she said if she finds out you’re pregnant in nine months she will hunt you down… and she means that.” Molly makes a face.

“Fear the Madness.” Morgan nods.

My face wrinkles. “We were reading,” I explain to them.

“You don’t have to tell us everything, just little things. Did you make out?” Molly giggles.

“Make out? What are they teenagers?” Morgan scoffs at her.

“But seriously… did you?” Morgan asks, joining Molly in her quest to find answers.

I smile at their goofiness.

“No. We read and fell asleep. The end.” I hold my hands up.

They eye me.

“What’s with the smile?” Morgan says.

“What smile?” I laugh at how crazy she sounds.

“That ‘I made out with Josh, but I don’t want to tell you’ smile.” Her chins nudges out.

“I’m smiling because you sound insane.” I shake my head.

She rolls her eyes. “That is the worst lie I’ve ever heard,” Morgan exhales. “Even Tweedle-Dee comes up with better ones than that when she and Dean get busted.” She moves her thumb in Molly’s direction.

Molly’s jaw drops. “I told you, he was checking for a bee sting!” Molly shouts.

“I wasn’t talking about that time… but thanks for refreshing the memories,” Morgan gags.

“Oh… you mean in Hawaii?” Molly asks her.

Morgan face turns in disgust. “Please, just stop talking.” She waves Molly off. “I just ate… I want to keep it down without… oh, no. There it is… yeah, full visual again.” She gags again.

“What happened in Hawaii?” I stupidly ask, cringing away from Morgan.

“CPR,” they both mumble.

Never mind, I don’t want to know. 

“Not to sound like a snob.” I attempt to change the subject. “But where are your maids?” I ask, grabbing my things from my bag. “I haven’t seen any, and I thought someone like your mother would have them everywhere.”

“Well… you see our mom doesn’t have maids. She likes things done her way. So, she does it herself. Oh! If anyone asks, we have them,” Morgan says, helping Molly make the bed.

“I can do that.” I try to stop them.

“Nah, it’s okay, I would rather do this than think about her and him.” Morgan’s body shivers.

Molly snickers from the other side.

“Yeah, and I like being directly across from her so when she looks up she remembers.” Molly shrugs. “I’m an asshole like that.” She laughs, tucking the sheet under the mattress.

Maybe all socialites aren’t the same… this family is insane and manages to pull off the appearance pretty well.

“What about dinner last night? Did your mom make that?” I ask, walking into the bathroom.

“Yup. Sometimes she has help but for a small family dinner, that’s all her,” Molly yells to me.

The more I learn about their mother the more I wish she was my mother. We had maids… everywhere. Which is probably how my mother kept track of everything and everyone.

Entering the bedroom, I admire them sitting on the bench at the end of the bed, going over their list of the perfect presents.

I wish my sisters were like them. I push the thought away though. My sisters only care about themselves. 

“I don’t know your uncles or Grams well, can you help me shop for them?” I ask, grabbing my purse.

“You don’t have to, they don’t expect anything…” Morgan says, waving me off.

I thought the point of Christmas was the presents…

“What are you getting Josh?” Morgan asks as she tries to mask her smile.

“Duh, she is giving him herself.” Molly gives her a look, causing the two of them to fall into another fit of laughter.

How did I get on the receiving end of these two?

“That will not be happening.” I shake my head.

“This relationship is getting painful to us, can’t you just give in to what is so obvious to the rest of us?” Morgan tosses her hands in the air.

What!

That’s what I’m supposed to say to them!

“Can we just go?” I ask, flustered.

“Fine, fine, deny it all you want, but we see it… because it’s there.” Molly points to my face. “It’s written all over that lying little face of yours.”

Wh-what!

I glare at her for a moment, her eyes squinting to match mine.

“Girls, girls. Let’s agree to disagree.” Morgan steps between us. “There is shopping to be done.” She claps her hands. 

“Molly, if we haven’t gotten it by now, they don’t need it,” I groan when the car stops to drop us off from where it picked us up twelve hours ago.

“I’m so glad I listened to you about wearing flats, I couldn’t have made the trip without them,” Molly says, dragging herself out of the car.

The three of us have adopted a slight limp since we left this morning. I don’t know about them but the arm that usually holds my purse aches all the way up to my neck.

The doorman smiles at us when we pass. Men begin to surround us, gathering our bags to take them upstairs for us.

Okay, so that was pretty awesome of them.

When we finally get upstairs the house is silent. We quickly sneak everything to our rooms to hide everything. Sliding my things under the bed, I tiptoe down to Molly’s room.

“Where is everyone?” I ask.

“Well, judging by Dean’s shitty penmanship, they have either gone bar-hopping or car shopping…” She hands me the note.

The childlike chicken scratch is illegible.

“Let’s go ask Morgan.” She walks toward her room.

We walk in on her freaking out about something and once again, against my better judgment, I decide to pursue.

“What’s with the dramatics? Do you know where the guys are?” Molly asks, dropping onto the chair in the corner of her room.

“They went out drinking! We spent all damn day buying those jackasses gifts for Christmas… that is in two days, and they are out drinking!” She shoves her stuff under her bed.

“Maybe they already shopped for you?” I suggest.

Identical devious smiles race across their faces.

Uh oh.

They sprint out of the room toward the guys’ rooms. Molly running into Dean’s and Morgan into Chase’s, and they shut the door behind them. I laugh to myself. Getting up, I walk past Josh’s door and stop for a second in front of it.

I haven’t bought him anything yet because everything I looked at depended on if he was a friend or more.

I walk on toward my room and decide to take advantage of the amazing tub again. I notice a robe at the end of tub with a note. Picking up the note I grin when I see Josh’s signature at the bottom.

Laughing at his note, I quickly strip down and wrap myself in the plush white robe. If Josh and I had a different type of relationship, I would give myself to him for Christmas.

I laugh to myself as I fill the tub.

Now that would leave him speechless.

After lying in the tub for a while, I figure it’s time for bed since the guys are out for the night and the girls are ransacking their rooms.

Slipping on a long satin nightdress, I put the robe back on and climb into bed. As sleep toys with my senses, I think back to what I would be doing now if I were home. Probably listening to my sisters’ husbands kiss my mother’s ass so she would give them whatever it is they want. Last year, my mother took them all somewhere tropical for two weeks since they all work so hard and needed some time to themselves.

I got a reservation to a spa.

I’m surprised by how little it hurt me then, and how little it still hurts me now.

I listen to the clock next to the bed tick.

My first Christmas without them.

When I was with them, I would imagine being as far away from them as I could get and having the best Christmas.

It made me feel strong to think I could do it alone. But laying here alone, with nothing but memories and tears in someone else’s house on Christmas is the reality of that fantasy.

It was never that I didn’t want them, it was that they didn’t want me.

“They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”

~ Andy Warhol

The next morning I wake up to people yelling outside my door. I roll out of bed to see what all the commotion is about. Opening my door slightly, I can see Molly and Morgan walking toward the family room in their robes, bickering over something. I look over at the clock and notice it’s only seven am. I tie my robe and get ready for breakfast. Walking past Josh’s room, his door opens to show a very tired, very half-dressed Josh.

“Good morning, Love.” He perks up when he sees me and ties his robe around him.

His robe matches mine. I suck in my bottom lip to control myself, but my smile won’t fade. Seeing Josh in a matching robe sends a rush through me.  Now his note makes sense and he’s right… I do like this.

“Good morning, Mr. Anderson,” I say back.

Trying to control myself is useless now since that came out more excited than I meant.

“Did you have a fun night?” I slip my hands into the pockets.

“Fun… if by fun you mean going to a couple of nightclubs with Simon fun… then sure it was a blast.” He winks.

Simon in a club? What on earth would a guy like him do in a club?

“Do you think Santa is going to be kind this year?” he says, giving me a bump with his elbow as we walk down the hall.

“I-” Pausing in the hall, I remember I didn’t get anything for Josh yet.

“I’m sorry that was terrible of me. I didn’t think how not being with your family would affect you,” he says, lowering his voice.

“Oh, no, I am okay with it… I just realized, I forgot to get something,” I say back.

I have no idea what to get for him.

“If you’re sure,” he says back with a raised brow.

Molly and Morgan are the only ones in the dining room when we enter and they are still fighting, only now they’re doing it in front of the buffet.