Chapter 11

CHAPTER11

For a moment, Cayley stood there, debating the pros and cons of doing this, but…

She’d put this off long enough, Cayley realized as she set her alarm clock to four in the morning, determined to finally go Black Friday shopping and see what all the fuss was about. That led to her doing a quick search online to see if there was anything that she should do to get the most out of this experience, which was followed by re-setting her alarm to one a.m., making sure that her coffee pot was ready to go, picked out her clothes for the morning, downloaded a new book to her phone so that she had something to do while she waited in line, and debated looking for her old beach chair so that she could relax in line only to decide against it since that just seemed like a lot of work.

Once she had everything prepared to make sure that her first Black Friday shopping experience went smoothly, Cayley took a quick shower, changed into her pajamas, and called it a night, only to find herself staring at the wall as she once again found herself thinking about Bryce and-

There was something seriously wrong with her, Cayley decided as she rolled over onto her other side, glared at the wall, and found herself wondering why Bryce was suddenly being nice to her. Well, as nice as a man who enjoyed glaring at her could be, Cayley thought as she closed her eyes only to groan pathetically when what felt like a few minutes later, her alarm clock suddenly went off, refusing to shut up until she was forced to bitch-slap it into submission.

That was followed by staring numbly at her alarm clock, trying to figure out why she was awake at one in the morning, only to remember her Black Friday goals from the night before. Grumbling, Cayley turned over and buried her face in her pillow as she struggled to find the willpower to get out of bed, only to decide that she loved sleep more than discounts. Decision made, Cayley snuggled back under the covers, released a soft sigh and went back to sleep.

Several hours later, she was well-rested and ready to start her day. After enjoying a leisurely breakfast in bed, she read for a bit, followed by a nap, a hot bath, and ordered pizza for an early dinner before finally, she was ready to get to work. She had a lot to do in the next month, Cayley reminded herself as she went to grab her bag so that she could grab the list that she’d been working on, only to remember that someone stole it the other night while she was dancing with Bryce.

The reminder, unfortunately, led to her sitting on her couch, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she found herself thinking about how much she liked being in his arms, something that Cayley was determined to pretend never happened. He was her best friend’s brother and the man that-

She couldn’t stop thinking about, which considering their history and the fact that he thought that she was in love with him, wasn’t a good idea. Biting back a sigh, Cayley reached over and grabbed her iPad and after selecting her favorite productivity app, she created a new project and began adding everything that she remembered from the last list only to add a few more after a quick internet search for local Christmas activities.

Once she was done, Cayley looked over the list, and made a few tweaks, until finally, she had the perfect to-do list for Christmas. Deciding that the best place to start was decorating her apartment, she threw on a pair of slippers, made her way downstairs to the basement and searched through her storage closet. It took her ten trips, but she managed to carry everything that she’d saved over the years, including the fake Christmas tree that she bought at a yard sale a few years ago, up to her apartment.

It took her longer than she thought it would, but she was finally able to get the Christmas tree up, only to find herself wondering why it was missing most of its limbs. That led to another search through her storage unit, several grumbles, and after contemplating decorating the tree anyway with the hope that enough ornaments and tinsel would make a difference, Cayley reluctantly took down the fake tree that she’d wasted ten dollars on and dragged it outside where she spent another ten minutes struggling to throw it in the dumpster thanks to all the snow that had fallen sometime during the night.

Knowing that she really didn’t have a choice, not if she wanted to do this right, Cayley went back inside, grabbed her winter coat, a scarf, and her favorite gloves and headed back outside, deciding that she needed a real tree this year if she wanted to do this right. That led to her worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she took in all the snow covering her car and blocking her in and quickly deciding that a walk through the snow sounded like a lovely idea, mostly because she didn’t want to spend the next half-hour shoveling snow.

For a moment, Cayley considered calling Sean and asking him for help, but since she was avoiding him at the moment, she decided that the best course of action was to continue ignoring him. It was either that or deal with all those questions that she’d rather not answer. With that in mind, she turned around and made her way towards the sidewalk just as Bryce’s truck pulled into his parking spot and-

“Is there a reason why my brother is asking me what I did with your body?” Bryce asked as he climbed out of his truck, not bothering to look at her as he grabbed his bag.

“Because we decided in the fourth grade that if I suddenly went missing that you probably had something to do with it?” Cayley said as she found herself thinking about yesterday, the way that he’d taken care of her, glared at Sean anytime his brother tried to torment her, and then…

Nothing.

Not one single word as he drove her home last night. He simply threw her over his shoulder so that she didn’t have to walk outside in her socks and carried her to her door, where he glared at her until she opened her door and walked inside.

Shrugging it off, Bryce said, “Fair enough,” as he headed towards the apartment building, only to frown as he watched her walk past the walkway and kept going. “Where are you going?”

“To get a Christmas tree,” Cayley said, zipping up her coat before she pulled her gloves on and told herself that this was a good idea.

There was a heavy sigh, and then Bryce said, “Get in,” making her frown.

“Get in where?” Cayley couldn’t help but wonder as she watched Bryce make his way back down the walkway towards his truck.

“It’s too cold to walk tonight. Get in and I’ll drive you,” Bryce said, gesturing towards his truck. When she hesitated, he asked, “How are you planning on getting the tree back here?”

“With good intentions?” Cayley said, deciding that she probably shouldn’t mention that she’d planned on dragging it back here when she saw his expression. When he continued standing there, glaring at her, she decided that she should probably rethink that plan.

“Look, I’ll give you a ride into town and we’ll talk about what we’re going to do about the Dawson Project,” Bryce suggested, really making it difficult to say no. Granted, she wanted to say no because she honestly wasn’t sure that this was a good idea, but she really didn’t have a choice.

This was her job and she needed to do it.

Clearing her throat, Cayley murmured, “A ride would be lovely, thank you,” as she turned around and made her way to his truck. He opened her door for her and waited for her to climb in before he closed it. Cayley watched as he made his way around the truck while she sat there trying to figure out how she was going to work with a man that hated her.

When he climbed into the truck with a heavy sigh and didn’t bother glancing at her, Cayley realized that she wouldn’t be able to do it. At least not the way that Rory and Connor were expecting, but thankfully, technology had come a long way over the years and they could probably get most of this done through email.

A few minutes later, they were pulling into a parking lot behind the old church as Cayley took in all the beautiful Christmas trees that were going to be difficult to choose from, the venders selling wreaths, tree stands, hot cocoa, popcorn, and cookie buckets. With a heartfelt sigh, she climbed out of the truck as she tried to figure out where to begin.

“So many choices…” Cayley murmured as she glanced from the evergreen Christmas trees to the-

“How about this one?” Bryce said, drawing her attention to find him pointing at something behind her.

“I think that’s just a pile of trimmed branches,” Cayley said, frowning at the large pile that had been thrown in the corner of the large parking lot.

“Fine,” Bryce said, gesturing absently to the saddest Christmas tree that she’d ever seen, “how about that one?”

“That’s not how this is done,” Cayley said, wondering why he was being so difficult about this.

“I didn’t know that there were rules to buying a Christmas tree,” Bryce said, rubbing the back of his neck as he took in everything around them.

“There are and they’re important,” Cayley assured him with a firm nod as she grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him towards the hot cocoa stand, deciding that was the best place to start.

“And manhandling me is part of the experience?” he asked, sounding amused.

“It enhances the experience,” she promised him with a satisfied sigh as they stepped in line.

“It definitely put me in the Christmas spirit,” Bryce drawled, making her lips twitch as she ordered two hot cocoas and a bucket of sugar cookies as she promised herself that she’d start that diet tomorrow. Before she could pull her money out of her pocket, Bryce was paying the friendly-looking elf manning the concession stand.

“Thank you,” Cayley murmured, suddenly feeling awkward. She’d known Bryce her whole life, but at that moment, she had no idea what she was supposed to say to him. She wasn’t used to this Bryce, the kind, considerate one that teased her, and made her want to smile. She was used to the Bryce that glared at her even while he barely acknowledged her existence.

“You’re welcome,” Bryce murmured as he stood there, looking just as lost as she was.

She’d talked to him more in the past week than she had in the past twenty-five years combined. She’d never had a problem talking to any of his brothers, never felt this awkward around them. It didn’t help that she’d found herself thinking about him and how much she liked it when he-

“Oh…God…no…” Cayley found herself mumbling weakly as she watched the woman that made her life a living hell last year make her way to the tinsel table.

“What’s wrong?” Bryce asked, following her gaze only to frown in confusion as Cayley stood there, swallowing hard as she tried not to panic, but God, was it difficult knowing exactly what that woman was capable of.

She just…

She needed to get out of here, Cayley decided as she blindly reached over and grabbed Bryce’s hand and moved her ass, heading back to his truck only to curse, wince, and a weird combination of the two when the woman who should have known better than to fall for Sean’s bullshit turned her gaze on them and forced her to head for the nearest trailer.

Once there, she pushed Bryce up against the wall, grabbed onto his coat, and buried her face against his chest, hoping that it would be enough, only to curse and quickly switch positions when she realized that the crazed woman that she was really hoping hadn’t seen her, would be able to spot her. Swallowing hard, Cayley pressed her back against the trailer and pulled Bryce closer so that he-

“What exactly are we doing?” came the curious question as Bryce propped his forearm against the trailer wall above her head, providing her with more protection, something that she was truly thankful for at the moment.

“Hiding,” Cayley whispered as she looked up into Bryce’s amused eyes.

“From?” he asked, reaching up to brush a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Your brother’s a jerk face,” Cayley reminded him as she felt the heat radiating off him and found herself pulling him even closer for warmth, of course.

“And that means that we have to hide?” Bryce asked, lightly brushing his fingertips along her neck as he dropped his hand away, making it kind of difficult to focus on keeping them alive.

“She didn’t take the breakup well and for some reason, decided that it was my fault,” Cayley said, wondering why she’d never noticed the blue flecks in his emerald eyes before.

“Why does she think it’s your fault?” Bryce asked, placing his other arm against the wall and caged her in as he leaned in closer to her, forcing her to bite back a groan when she caught the scent of his cologne and-

God, he smelled good.

“Because there’s something seriously wrong with your brother,” Cayley said, nodding solemnly as she watched his lips pull up into a smile that she liked more than she probably should.

“You have no clue, do you?” Bryce murmured as his gaze flickered to her lips.

“None. All I know is that she enjoys yelling really disturbing things at me while demanding to know why I wrecked the best thing that’s ever happened to her,” Cayley admitted, licking her lips nervously only to watch as Bryce’s gaze turned hooded as he watched the move.

“My brother’s an asshole,” Bryce said, sighing heavily as he stepped back and put some much-needed space between them so that she could think straight again, which she truly appreciated at the moment.

“I’ve been saying that for years.”