"A little more to the left!" I yelled to Nate. We've been putting lights up outside of the house for the past two hours, and Nate was bickering back and forth with me about the icicles.
"L, why can't we use regular lights for this? The icicles seem so...fake. It's like the Krab Ragoon you order from a Chinese restaurant. They're imitation icicles."
Ayden covered his laugh with a cough as he held the ladder for Nate. I made the mistake of looking over at him. He was wearing his usual basketball shorts and Under Armour shirt. The added bonus of the backwards baseball cap he was wearing was almost too much for me to handle.
I rolled my eyes at the both of them. "Nate, we're using the icicles. End of story. Now, move them over to the left!"
I used my hand to shield my eyes from the sun to get a better look. I wanted to start on these before it got too dark outside. It always got darker a little earlier this time of year. Now, here we were. The three of us putting up Christmas lights.
My brother has been a royal pain in the ass. It brought back memories from the many times we did this with our parents. There would always be arguments over which lights went where, who drank the last of the eggnog, and the famous 'Christmas will be cancelled if you don't behave' from our father.
It was a Jenkins' family tradition now that I thought about it. Every Christmas since we were little, there would be sibling rivalry. Over presents, lights, which desert we wanted...until the actual day. Come Christmas day, we always put that crap behind us and had family time. Our grandparent's died when we were kids and we didn't have any extended family. No aunts, no uncles, no cousins. It was the main reason why we didn't celebrate Christmas after our parents died. Spending the holiday with just the two of us seemed extremely depressing. I didn't think either of us could handle it.
Nate groaned as he shifted the lights over. "Nag, nag, nag. I swear, L, you're the worst. How's this?"
"Better. And I don't nag. If you did it right the first time, I wouldn't have to 'nag' you. Besides, this was all your idea. You wanted to have a holiday."
Nate climbed down the ladder and went over to grab another strand of lights that were strewn out on the driveway. "Yes, it was my idea and we're doing it."
I crossed my arms over my chest and let out an irritated sigh. "But why?"
"Why, why, why?" Nate mocked before looking over to Ayden, who was watching us with an amused smile. "Sawyer, let me apologize again for the annoyance of my little sister."
Ayden looked over at me and I shifted back and forth on my feet. I didn't miss the way he raked his eyes over my body. "No need to apologize, Nate. If I'm being honest, I would have to say it's entertaining to see someone pulling your chain."
"Thank you!" I said.
"What the hell?" Nate barked at the same time. "Ayden, you're supposed to be on my side."
Ayden arched a brow and laughed. "Nate, I have a feeling it's better to stay off your sister's bad side."
"Ha!" I looked back at Nate with a satisfied smile. "I see who the smart one is in this friendship."
"Oh, really?" Nate cleared his throat before coming to stand next to me a throw an arm over my shoulders. "Ayden, have I ever told you about the time Lanie was caught in the gym with--"
"Hey, guys!"
Oh, thank God. "Harper. Jackson. It's good to see you." Especially now, before Nate completely embarrassed me with that terrible story.
Harper and Jackson got out of their car and headed up our long drive way. Nate and I started walking towards them and Harper pulled me into a hug. We pulled apart and I looked at Jackson who was greeting me with a wide smile.
"Well, well. If it isn't my favorite little psychic."
"Hi, Jackson," I laughed and gestured to my brother. "Jackson, this is my brother Nate."
"Nice to meet you, mate," Jackson said as he shook Nate's hand. "Harper has told me a lot about you."
Nate grimaced. "God, I hope not. I can only imagine the stories."
We all broke into laughter as Ayden joined the group. Nate sobered and introduced his friend. "Harper's already met him, but Jackson, this is my best friend, Ayden. He's staying with us on leave."
Ayden gave Harper a friendly hug before shaking Jackson's hand. "You got quite a lady there, Jackson."
Harper covered her face shyly and Jackson wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close against his body. "Yes," Jackson purred as he kissed Harper on the cheek. "She is definitely a firecracker."
I clapped my hands together to get everyone's attention. "Why don't the boys finish doing all this hard work while Harper and I have some girl time." I reached for Harper's hand and we started heading towards the house.
"Hey!" Nate called. "You can't make us do all the work."
I waved off his complaint and we went straight to the kitchen. I sat at the table while Harper grabbed two glasses from the cabinet. She turned towards me and asked one simple question: "Red or white?"
She knew me so well. "White. I'm feeling peppy today. Let's save the red for when I'm wallowing."
She poured the wine before coming to join me at the table. "Why will you be wallowing?"
I took a sip of the sweet Moscato. I closed my eyes as it slid down my throat. It was amazing how much wine helped with emotional distress. It should be in everyone's kitchen. "You know how I get when Nate goes back overseas. I get depressed, lonely, and usually end up spending the day eating donuts, drinking, and watching Dr. Phil."
Harper snickered. "God, we can't have that." She traced her finger along the rim of her glass before she added, "You know, Ayden was watching you pretty intently out there."
I looked at her pointedly. "Harp, don't."
Harper leaned back in her chair and crossed her legs. "Lanie, I know how much your relationship with Nate means to you. I get it. But you owe it to yourself to try to be happy. Call me crazy, but I have a feeling that sexy Greek God out there can do that for you."
I didn't even allow myself to think about what she suggested. It just couldn't happen; and not only because of Nate. "Harper, there are so many reasons why I can't go down that road with him. Why I can't even chance it."
Harper didn't say anything right away. She simply held my stare before she looked over to the picture hanging on the wall. She knew exactly what I was talking about. She knew why this was more than just about my relationship with Nate.
"Lanie, it won't be like that. That won't happen."
I got up from the table to grab the bottle of wine to refill my glass. We were getting into dangerous territory and this was not the time or the place for this discussion.
When I continued to ignore my best friend, she continued to push me on the subject. "Lanie, I told you--"
"He's a soldier, Harper. A soldier." Okay, I probably shouldn't have said that so loudly. All I needed was for Nate or Ayden himself to over hear me.
My heart dropped in my stomach as I heard footsteps behind me. Thankfully when I turned around, I saw it was Jackson. The glance he made from Harper back to me, told me that he overheard us.
"Sorry to interrupt. I was told to come in and warn you that The Barbie is here." Harper and I groaned and Jackson frowned at us. "Who the bloody hell is The Barbie?"
"It's Jules. Nate's ex," I answered and poured even more wine into my glass.
"Hey!" Speak of the devil herself. Jules came into the kitchen like she was the queen of the castle. Naturally, her eyes immediately found Jackson and gave him a good once-over before she walked up to him and held out her hand. Like a fucking princess. "And who are you?"
I bit back my laugh as Jackson smiled at her. I knew him well enough to know that his smile was as fake as it gets. He glanced down at her hand before he said, "Sorry, germ-o-phobe."
Her eyes widened and she put her hand to her chest. She obviously didn't catch his rejection the first time. "Oh, my. That accent sure is something." Without looking at me she asked, "Where have you been hiding this one, Lanie?"
"Jackson is engaged to Harper, Jules."
Just turned around and saw Harper at the table. Harper wiggled her ring finger at her, flashing her beautiful diamond engagement ring. "Taken, honey."
Jules eyed the ring with a disgusted sneer. "Well, good for you, I guess. It is a step up from that other guy you dated."
Just as Harper was about to get to her feet, I cut her off. "Jules, why don't you go ask Nate what he wants for dinner?"
"Fine." Jules cast one more longing look to Jackson before she left the kitchen to do what I asked.
Jackson walked over to Harper and gave her a tender kiss. "Princess, have I told you how sexy it is when you get all jealous like that?"
She blushed and whispered something in his ear. He chuckled before he straightened and glanced to me. "I'm sorry you have to deal with that. What does Nate see in her?"
"That's the million dollar question." I frowned when something occurred to me. "Who told you to come warn us?" Nate wouldn't do something like that, and he never called her The Barbie.
"Ayden sent me in here to warn you. He said she makes you uncomfortable."
My eyes fell to Harper who was giving me an I Told You So look. "Not a word, Harper. Not. One. Word."
I turned and went to the cabinet. Yep. Today was going to need more then one bottle of wine.