I Wanted One Stepbrother, So All Three Claimed Me novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: The Tree Lot

"Two hot chocolates," Tilda said. "And the big one is for me. That's the price."

"The price of what?" Kenji asked.

"My silence." She tapped her clipboard. "I've been very good for four days."

Leif fished a five out of his coat.

The Christmas-tree lot on Marine Drive was a fenced acre of cut firs under strings of white bulbs.

A trailer served as the booth, and a generator hummed behind it.

The air smelled of resin and woodsmoke, and at four in the afternoon the light was already blue.

The four of them walked the rows, with Tilda leading.

She rejected nine trees for being asymmetrical and one for being "emotionally flat."

She rejected the tenth because Soren had called it "perfect," which meant it was too big for the house.

"It fits," Soren said.

"The ceiling is eight feet."

"The tree is eight feet," Soren said.

"With the star."

"We'll cut the star," Soren said.

"We will not cut the star!"

Kenji stood a little apart, with a paper cup in both hands, watching them argue, and for a moment he forgot the cold.

Erik appeared at his shoulder.

He had his hands jammed in his coat pockets, and his glasses were fogged at the edges, and he was not looking at Kenji.

"I have something for you," he said, to the sky.

"Okay."

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