"Nate, let's go!"

"I'll be right there, Lanie! Patience!" He called from his bedroom.

Ayden was standing by the door and I ignored his amused chuckle. I rolled my eyes and fell into the plushness of the couch. After Ayden and I had our little ice skating adventure, we walked around Times Square a little before Nate sent us a text. He wanted us to come back so the three of us could go get a tree. I was hoping he would change his mind about the whole Christmas thing, but I wasn't so lucky. At least Jules was gone. For now.

"He's worse than a woman when it comes to getting ready," Ayden chided.

I couldn't hold back my smile. "Yes, he is. I swear he's a drama queen." He's worse than a drama queen. I loved my brother, but he was the type of guy that stood in front of a mirror for hours making sure his hair was perfect. Even worse, in high school he always made sure his shoes matched his clothes.

"Thanks for today," Ayden added and I frowned at him.

"What are you thanking me for?"

He leaned back against the doorframe and slid his hands into his pockets. My eyes watched as the muscles in his forearms flexed and I gulped. Fuck, he was breathtaking.

"I'm thanking you for ice skating with me. I know it seemed childish and you had some bad memories with it. I also guilted you into it. So, thanks."

I studied his expression and saw the sincerity. He actually felt bad about tricking me. It was such a silly little thing to feel guilty over. "Don't be ridiculous. If I didn't want to skate, I wouldn't have." I shrugged my left shoulder. "Besides, it felt good to get on the ice again. It's been over a decade since I've skated."

He smiled and I felt butterflies. "Well then, I rescind my apology and will make sure to trick you into doing more fun and unexpected things during my leave."

My eyes met his and he held my stare for several minutes. There seemed to be a hidden meaning behind his words. One that I desperately wanted to ask about, but at the same time, I was terrified. Nothing could happen with Ayden. He was my brother's best friend. We had rules about this kind of thing for a reason. I looked away from Ayden as I heard Nate come out of his room and walk over to us.

I cleared my throat as I got up from the couch and Ayden straightened. Nate rubbed his hands together with excitement.

"So, who's ready for this?"

Ayden raised his hand and I tried, and failed, to keep a straight face. "Fine! I'm ready for this." My brother's grin was big and cheesy and it made my chest ache. "Let's go get our tree!"

The three of us piled into my car. The ride to Home Depot felt longer than it was while Nate subjected us to his playlist of horrible music. Even though I hated most of the songs that played, it wasn't long before I heard myself singing along.

After we finally arrived and found a parking spot, we made our way to the side of the store where they had tons of trees under a white tent. I put my gloves and my beanie on when the wind chill hit me. We haven't gotten much snow yet, but we were definitely in for a white Christmas this year.

The smell of pine overwhelmed me, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin. Ayden and Nate walked into the tent and my feet came to a stop at the entrance. I could hear my mother's voice in my head from our last Christmas together...

"Lanie, what about this one?" My mom asked as she stood a tree up.

I walked towards her as she spun the tree around. "I don't know, Mom. Maybe we should find one with a fuller bottom."

My mom laughed. "Are you saying you want a tree with a fat ass, Lanie?"

My eyes widened. "Mom! I can't believe you just said that."

"Said what?" Nate asked as he walked over and stood next to me.

I rolled my eyes as our mom answered, "Your sister doesn't think this tree has a fat enough ass. What do you think?"

Nate studied the tree and tapped his chin. "I think she's right. We need one with a fat ass. You know, more junk in the trunk."

As the two of them laughed, I shook my head. "Seriously. I can't take you two anywhere."

"Lanie? Lanie!"

Ayden's voice brought my thoughts back to the present and I looked to my right. "Hey, sorry."

He frowned and took a step towards me. "Nate sent me to get you. Are you okay?"

I took a deep breath and nodded my head. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's go inside."

I followed Ayden as he led me to the middle section where Nate was looking at some trees.

He looked up and smiled when he saw me. "L! They have some good choices here. Help me pick one." He held two in his hands. "Okay, the one in my left hand seems kind of short. The other one seems a little...dead."

I pushed all the emotional shit aside as I curiously examined the trees. He was right. These two weren't the right ones. "No, I think we need to keep looking." I frowned and looked over his shoulder. "Did you see any Douglas Firs in here?"

Nate leaned the two trees against the wall and started walking towards the back. "Yeah, I think there are some back here."

Ayden and I followed after him and we hit the bullseye. There was a whole section of Douglas Firs. The three of us split up and started looking through the many different trees. Some were tied up and others were already open. Most of the ones that people already looked at weren't very full or had already starting to turn brown.

The sound of Nate's annoying ringtone filled the air and I looked at him with an arched brow. I already knew who it was. "Jules?" I asked, not caring that the irritation was obvious in my voice.

He gave me a look as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "I'll be right back, L. Keep looking."

He raced off to answer his phone and I let out a frustrated sigh. The one downside of him being home for leave was Jules. I honestly detested that woman. Everything about her rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't like how she acted towards me and I especially didn't like how she strung my brother along. For all his faults, he was a good guy. He deserved someone good and would treat him right.

"Think he's coming back?" Ayden's voice startled me and I jumped a little. "Sorry," he laughed. "Didn't mean to scare you."

I looked back to the trees in front of me. "He'll be back. I'm his ride," I quipped. I took a few steps to the right and traced my fingers along some of the trees. I thought about the little incident outside and cleared my throat. "Thank you, by the way."

"For what?" Ayden's voice was right beside me; letting me know that he was staying close by.

"For not pressing me outside."

He shrugged a shoulder and looked at the tree in front of him. "I figured if you wanted to talk about it, you would. You don't seem like the type who likes to be repeatedly asked what's wrong."

I laughed at that. "Definitely not." I tended to keep to myself. I confided in Nate about certain things, but Harper was my go-to. Other than that, I was a private person. I frowned as I got to the end of the row of trees. "I don't think there's anymore down here." I turned towards Ayden and he had a suspiciously amusing smile on his face. "What?" I asked.

He looked up and that's when I saw it. A mistletoe. Fuck. My heart started racing as I looked from the mistletoe to Ayden. Words seemed impossible. I didn't even know my name anymore. Lisa? Linda? Lynette? My eyes dropped to Ayden's lips and he took it from there.

He reached his hand out and cupped the back of my neck. He pulled my mouth to his and--oh, it was sweet. I felt his tongue trace the seam of my lips. He was asking permission for more. Since my brain clearly checked out and was on vacation somewhere, my lips parted. I couldn't suppress the moan of satisfaction that escaped me as he stroked his tongue against mine. My hands made their way to his chest, fisting his shirt as he deepened the kiss.

How could a kiss feel like this? It was like everything around me stopped. Time seemed to slow and I was grateful for it. I wanted to savor this moment. I just wanted to feel. The sound of footsteps in the distance broke me from my trance and I took a step back. My hand went to my lips; which were tingling at the loss of contact.

"Hey, guys," Nate said as he approached us. "Sorry about that. Women, right?"

Nate clapped Ayden on the shoulder with a laugh. Ayden smiled and never took his eyes off me.

"So, did you guys find a tree?" Nate asked curiously when we remained quiet.

"Yes," I said as I cleared my throat and turned around. Fuck, I needed to find a tree immediately. I looked from my right to my left before I spotted a tree that was semi-suitable. "This one!"

Nate came over to examine it and he nodded his head with satisfaction. "This one's good. Great job, little sis. Let's go pay for it and get it loaded up."

I followed Nate and didn't look back. I didn't need to. I could feel Ayden's presence close to me. And it was terrifying. I kept pace with Nate as he paid for the tree and we made our way to my car.

"Ready to get this tree home, sis?" Nate asked.

"Yes," I breathed as we finished tying the tree to my car and we all slid inside. My eyes met Ayden's in the rearview mirror. "Let's get out of here."