she’d still be the star of the night.
She hitches a hand up on her hip. “Pete said you were pretty.”
Heat flashes through my neck, and I make a face, my eyes barely open as I swing them to check Candace’s reaction. An amused glint sparkles in her dark brown irises, and the freckle in the corner of her mouth twitches.
“Was he right?” she asks, her voice a lot more teasing than timid.
Demi shrugs. “I guess.” She pauses, smoothing her hands over her dress. “My outfit is better.”
“Demi,” Maddie scolds through a laugh.
“Well, she’s right,” Candace jumps in to defend with a grin. Her demeanor seems to have changed in all of three seconds. “Her outfit is… balling.”
Balling? Oh damn, she is bad at this.
Demi tilts her head but seems to like the description. She jumps up on the couch, setting her hands up on the back. “Pete said you weren’t his girlfriend.”
“Pete would be right.”
“But you could kiss and not be boyfriend and girlfriend. My friend told me that.”
Candace juts her gaze to me, but I got nothing for her. Demi blurts out whatever is in her brain, and even I can’t predict what’s coming.
“I guess…” she says, and suddenly I’m thinking of kissing Candace, and I shake my head to rid it of the thought. Thanks, sis. I didn’t need that image to haunt me the entire night.
“I… I brought something for you,” Candace stutters, and she ducks behind me and down the hall. I furrow my brow, and Maddie looks just as confused at the impromptu exit. The sound of a zipper fills the hallway, and Demi peers over the back of the couch, her smile creeping back to her face.
“She got me something?” she asks me.
“I think so.” I didn’t ask her to. Turmoil twists my stomach into a giant tsunami, ready to crash at any moment. She didn’t get a million gifts, did she? Suddenly the four presents I was so proud of a few minutes ago seem cheap.
She emerges with three boxes, Christmas print plastered over each one. “It’s sort of a tradition at my house,” she explains, handing one to each of us. “We do these Christmas Eve boxes. Just little knick knacks and stuff for the night…” She shakes her head hard, her hair waving around her shoulders. “I thought… Well, you can open them.”
“Now?” Demi’s voice pitches high, and I drop my gaze to the box Candace is handing me. It’s green with a tag that boasts Santa on a motorcycle. The corner of my mouth picks up, but my heart thuds unevenly. I have nothing for her. I’ve never even heard of Christmas Eve boxes.
“Go for it,” Candace urges, and Demi chucks the lid off so fast it flies across the room and hits Mad in the face.
“Watch it, Tasmanian devil.” Maddie digs into her own box, beaming at the contents. My hands slip on my gift, refusing to open it until I see what’s in Demi’s.
“Sweet!” she says, pulling out a nightgown. “I’m not a big fan of pink, but I can totally pull it off.”
Pink is Demi’s least favorite color, so I’m glad she edited some of that comment for Candace’s benefit. She sets it aside and digs through the tissue paper for more stuff.
A book, a mini can of soda, snack packs of Christmas cookies, and… oh boy… I wonder if Candace will realize—
“Stickers!” Demi shrieks, jumping up and down on the couch. “Pete, look! Seven hundred stickers!”
“Don’t you dare decorate my walls with that,” I tease, but there’s a good chance she thought about it. Even the evil glint in her eye says she still is. “This is a rental.”
“I don’t know what that means.” She drops her head back to the stickers, and I’m too grateful she doesn’t know what rent is yet that I don’t care to explain it.
“Thank you, Candace,” Maddie says from her spot on the floor. A pair of pajama pants drapes over her legs, the material covered in horse print. I can’t read what the top says from this angle. “You didn’t have to.”
“Pete didn’t have to invite me.” She nudges my arm, her gaze dropping to my unopened present. “Hey, open it.”
“Yeah, Pete, I wanna see what you got.” Demi bounces on the couch again, the book of stickers still clutched tightly to her chest.
I smirk and turn my eyes to Candace, lifting the lid. “You didn’t have to…” I repeat Maddie. Candace sticks her tongue out in response.
The pajamas