The trellis held all the way to the ground, thank God. I stepped off it and cringed. It was so fucking cold out here. I tiptoed over to the porch, looking for my shoes. I spotted them at the edge of the porch, away from any windows, and grinned—Anna had stuffed fresh socks in my boots. Damn. She was good. I switched out one sock, then shoved my foot in a boot so I could do the other side. I wrapped my jacket around me, loosely laced up my boots, then I was on the way to…somewhere. She said the store was a block away…which way though?

Containing a sigh, I randomly picked a direction. I glanced back at the house and shook my head at what I saw. Kiera’s bedroom window was on the side of the house, and the footprints in the snow made it pretty damn obvious what had happened. If her dad came out here and looked, well, the jig was up. Maybe he’d appreciate the fact that I’d tried to keep him in the dark. Probably not.

Smiling, I felt for my wallet in my jeans. Still there. Then I felt for my phone in my jacket. Also still there. Pulling my phone out, I pressed the button opposite the one that had turned the sound down. From the screen it was clear that I’d—once again—hit the right button, and the volume was back on. Look at me, becoming an expert.

Feeling better now that I was warm and out of danger, I decided to call somebody I couldn’t really call around Kiera. Not yet anyway. The phone rang a couple of times, then I heard Hailey pick up.

“Hey, Kellan! Merry Christmas!”

Her enthusiasm made my smile even wider. “Hey, Merry Christmas. I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“Nope. We’re all up.”

That made my smile drop. We? Fuck. She could be sitting in the same room with…him…right now. No. Don’t think about it. “Oh, well, good…I just wanted to say Merry Christmas. And I hope…you have…a good…day.”

Christmas was a weird holiday for me. Not really anything…special. So, it felt a little awkward to talk about it with her. She laughed at my stunted phrasing. “You too. Are you with your girlfriend?”

Now I was the one laughing. “Yeah, we’re at her parents’ place. I just snuck out to go to the store.” Literally.

“Ah, fun. Tell her hi for me, okay?”

A rush of pain struck me in the chest so hard I stumbled. I can’t. I can’t talk about you without talking about him. And that…isn’t happening. Not today. Probably not ever. I made myself smile, so she wouldn’t hear my pain, and then I lied. “Yeah, I will.”