On the drive over, I took a moment to observe the three I would have to work with all week. Laura was tall and slender, with glossy jet-black hair that was dyed in a rainbow underneath, and startling blue eyes. Her voice was on the raspy side, and I wondered if she would sound more like Janis Joplin or Stevie Nicks. Rossi was verging on skinny, reminding me a little of Steven Tyler with his long hair and the way he always seemed to want to take his shirt off.

Then there was Garik, with his dark-blond hair and ice-blue eyes. He was built like a tank and, I could only assume, the older of the three. He had a more mature air about him, or maybe he’d just had a harder life. I wasn’t sure, but I found myself befriending him a little more than the others as the week progressed.

22

Ryan

Walking into Pop’s home office, I tossed a few files on his desk. I’d already put a note on the top of the stack to remind him I needed everything back by the next morning, so there was no need for me to stick around. With it being the week after Christmas, I knew he would just be wandering aimlessly around the house or out with Samara somewhere. When Mom was gone to Paris with Nova, he tried to find things to keep himself busy so he didn’t miss her as much.

Tired, I scrubbed a hand over my face, wishing I had something to distract myself other than just work. This bullshit with Nova was killing me. She wouldn’t call me or return my texts, and I was trying to give her some space so she could cool down from whatever was going on with us.

But not being able to talk to her every day was killing me.

“Ryan!” Samara called out.

My head snapped up, finding my baby sister skipping down the hall toward me…with Mom right behind her, carrying a plate of cookies.

Every muscle in my body tensed. “Shouldn’t you be in Paris?”

She shrugged and bit into a reindeer-shaped cookie. “You would know why I’m not in Paris if you came home for more than two seconds every now and then,” she scolded gently.

“Mom.”

“Nova is doing something for her cousin Lyric,” Samara informed me, taking a cookie from the plate and handing it to me before taking one for herself. “Didn’t she tell you when you saw her?”

“I didn’t go,” I admitted, taking an aggressive bite out of the snowman’s head. In my bid to give Nova some time to cool off, I’d forgone our normal Christmas morning routine. Typically, I flew out and joined her and the Hannigans for Christmas morning so we could exchange gifts in person.

“You didn’t go, yet you didn’t join us for the festivities?” Mom’s eyes narrowed. “What the hell, Ryan?”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” I muttered. “I just have a lot going on right now.”