Changing Course (Wrecked and Ruined #1)(60)

For days after the office make out session, I wondered if there are cameras in the office. I went so far as to freak out one day when I realized I probably just made a porn that one day my mother and brother would stumble across on the internet. I don’t know why my mother would be looking at porn on the internet, but that doesn't make the thought any less consuming.

I was so nervous, one night I woke up Kara to ask if there were any cameras. Of course, she knew the answer to this question and assured me Nell isn't that high tech. She then told me all about her sexcapades in that office, thus ensuring that it was a one-time deal for Brett and me. I'll never be able to look at that office desk the same way again.

By early November, Brett and I were floating right along in our non-relationship relationship. We pretend that what we are doing isn't serious, but we both know its pretending. One Friday night, when we get home from the most amazing greasy dinner at a hole in a wall restaurant twenty miles outside of town, he surprises me by asking me about my holiday plans.

"So, gorgeous, tell me what you do for the holidays?" he asks when he pulls up to his apartment.

"Well, Thanksgiving I usually spend the day at my mom's house. I help her cook while my brother sits on his lazy butt watching football. Then Christmas, I usually just hang with Kara. My mom goes to visit her sister down in Florida for a week, and Eric goes to his college fraternity Christmas party in Boston." I stop talking when an annoyed look crosses his face. "What's wrong?"

"Your brother goes to a fraternity party and leaves his little sister alone on Christmas day?"

"It's no big deal. Kara's family lives in Washington, and tickets are too expensive that time of year. For the last few years, we've had Christmas Eve spa nights. Then we spend Christmas day watching movies and spiking our hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. If I was with Eric, then Kara would be alone. Really, it works out best for everyone."

"Bullshit!"

"Um, excuse me?" I ask, startled by his reaction.

"Bull. Shit." He repeats slowly, so there is no confusion about his opinion on the situation. "There is no way I would leave my sisters alone on Christmas. That's a special day that is meant to be spent surrounded by family. So I have a big problem that he would think his douchebag fraternity brothers are more family than his own blood," he finishes, blatantly upset.

"Okay, I agree that my brother is a...douche, but I disagree about everything else. I do spend Christmas with my family. Kara. You think her being alone is better than us having a fantastic day laughing and watching A Christmas Story and getting drunk? Seriously, that movie only gets funnier when you've been drinking. I love my brother, he's great and would do anything for me, but it would be a miserable day spent staring at each other. We still fight like we are twelve. I'm not even joking, last time I saw him he tied my shoe laces together. He may be a fancy big wig attorney now, but he's still my annoying older brother deep down. Before you judge me, what exactly do you do during the holidays?" I ask, throwing some sass in his direction.

"For the last four years, I've worked every Thanksgiving. I volunteer so none of the guys with families have to work. My sisters both go to their in-laws. So it's not like I'm missing anything. Christmas, on the other hand, is kind of a big deal with my family. Every year we get together at my parent’s house. Everyone, including all five of my nieces and nephews, spends the night and we wake up the next morning to my mom’s homemade monkey bread and breakfast casserole. Santa comes for the little kids in the early morning. Then while they are playing with their toys or sleeping from a sugar crash after eating the entire contents of their stockings, the adults swap presents." He shrugs likes it’s no big deal, but it makes me pale. Jeez, after hearing about mine and Kara's Christmas drink-a-thon, it really is sad.

"Let's go in, Jess. I don't want you getting cold, and that shirt isn't going to do much to keep you warm," he says, glancing down at my pink scoop neck sweater revealing a good bit of cleavage. This is yet another item from the Kara Reed collection.

"Are you working this year? On Thanksgiving, I mean."

"Nah, the guys caught on that I've worked the past few years, so Smith signed up to work before I could. He gave me some speech about being happy to avoid his in-laws, but I know it’s a load of shit."

Before I give myself a chance to really think it through, I rush out an invitation that I know is going to freak him out.

"Spend Thanksgiving with me and my family."

"No, babe. That wasn't the point of this conversation. You go spend time with your family, maybe afterward you can come spend the night and give me all the thanksgiving I need," he jokes, but his smile doesn't quite reach his deep green eyes.

I know this isn't going to be an easy fight to win. He doesn't even know it’s a fight yet. But he's already lost this battle. No way am I leaving him home alone on his first Thanksgiving off in years.

"Please come, Brett! You can watch football with my brother, while mom and I cook. We always make so much food. You can help keep it all from going to waste. Please! I can introduce you as a friend. It doesn't have to be a ‘meet the parents’ situation. I know we are taking this slow, but I'm not going to let you spend Thanksgiving alone. Please!" I whine, begging like a child.