New Years Resolutions

Bonus Excerpt from Another Christmas from Hell

Part I

“What are you doing?” Sean asked, dropping down on the couch and leaving her with no choice but to pull her legs back to make room for the inconsiderate bastard. 

“Cursing you to hell and back,” Cayley managed to get out before she was forced to turn her head and bury her face against the throw pillow that she currently had a death grip on and released a groan that somehow made the nausea slowly destroying her will to live worse.

“And why would you be doing that?” Sean asked, not really sounding all that concerned as he helped himself to the grilled cheese sandwich with extra ham that she’d made earlier with the hopes that she would be able to keep something down.

“Because I can,” Cayley muttered into her pillow as she was forced to curl up into the fetal position.

“What are you working on?” Sean asked around a bite of the sandwich that turned her stomach.

“Nothing,” Cayley mumbled sadly as she reached for her iPad only to have the large bastard that was put on this earth to annoy the hell out of her grab it first.

“And I totally believe you,” Sean murmured, sounding thoughtful as she was forced to turn her head so that she could glare at him only to end up releasing a pathetic groan and bury her face back against the pillow when her stomach began turning again while the annoying bastard unlocked her iPad.

She really needed to change her password, Cayley decided only to amend that to she really needed to get to the bathroom before it was too late. Decision made, she slowly exhaled as she kept her hold on her pillow while she slowly moved to sit up only to immediately rethink that decision when the move angered her sensitive stomach.

Clearing her throat, Cayley said, “Sean?”

“Yes, pookie?”

“Do you remember that time when you dared me to eat that expired can of Alphabet Soup?” Cayley mumbled against the throw pillow, hoping that would be enough to get him to take pity on her even as she did her best to block out what happened that night when she realized that the black things floating in the soup weren’t-

She decided that it was in her best interest not to think about what happened at that point and focused on the death grip that she had on the pillow.

“Good times,” Sean said with a heartfelt sigh as she felt the couch shift seconds before he was scooping her up in his arms and carrying her into the bathroom.

“Bless you,” Cayley mumbled when he carefully placed her down on the bathroom floor.

“Where’s your husband?” Sean asked as she was forced to turn her head and press her forehead against the thankfully cold tiled floor.

Cayley swallowed hard before she softly mumbled, “He left me.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Sean asked as Cayley slowly released a shaky breath.

“He left me after he found out about us,” Cayley said as she was forced to blindly reach out until she found the edge of the shower and grabbed hold of it.

“It was only a matter of time,” Sean said with a heart-felt sigh as he reached past her and turned the shower on.

“I couldn’t hide how I feel about you,” Cayley said, using her hold on the bottom of the shower to slowly drag herself closer.

“I sensed that you were close to breaking,” Sean said as he reached down and picked her up.

“I really was,” Cayley mumbled weakly when he placed her in the shower only to add, “Bless you,” when the hot water immediately saturated her tee-shirt and cotton shorts and slowly made the nausea that she’d been trying to ignore for the past week somewhat tolerable.

“This is just sad,” Sean said as Cayley reached up and grabbed her pink loofa sponge and shoved it under her head.

“What is?” Cayley said as she opened her eyes to find Sean sitting across from her with his back pressed against the wall and her iPad on his lap.

“Besides the fact that New Year’s was a few weeks ago?” Sean said with a sad shake of his head as he read through the list. “You copied and pasted last year’s New Year’s resolution list to this year’s list.”

“Actually, I just changed the date to save time,” Cayley said, watching his lips twitch as she pulled back into the fetal position so that the hot water could hit every inch of her body.

“That does seem more efficient,” Sean murmured as he scrolled down the page.

“It does, doesn’t it?” Cayley said, wondering how she was going to pull this off for the next nine months.

“You’ve had ‘Get rid of Sean’s body’ on your list since we were ten,” Sean pointed out.

“I’m more determined than ever to see that one through,” Cayley said with a solemn nod that ended with her closing her eyes on a wince when the nausea threatened to make a comeback.

“Are you going to tell me where my brother is?” Sean drawled while Cayley lay there, struggling against the urge to beg him to call Bryce. It was only the reminder that she had a plan that kept her from doing it. She was going to do this right even if it killed her and judging by the nausea threatening to break her, that was quickly becoming a real possibility.

“Are you going to tell me what you did to piss my cousin off last night?” Cayley asked instead.

“Probably not,” Sean said, only to immediately follow that up with, “Are you going to tell me why you were pouting when my brother was forced to throw you over his shoulder and leave my sister’s birthday party early last night?”

She opened her mouth to tell Sean everything only to mumble, “I can’t.”

Once upon a time, granted, that time had only been a month ago, she used to tell Sean everything, but she couldn’t tell him this. Not before she had a chance to tell Bryce and it was killing her. Sean was her best friend, the one person that she always told everything to even when all she wanted to do was beat the hell out of him with whatever was within reach, but that all changed when she fell in love with Bryce.

“I see,” Sean murmured, sounding thoughtful. “So, how much longer am I supposed to pretend not to know that you got yourself knocked up?”

“Just until I tell Bryce,” Casey said, swallowing hard as she watched him think that over as he focused back on her list. “Then, I’m going to need you to act shocked.”

“Should I release a few well-placed gasps and look at a loss for words or smile hugely and pull you into my arms for a bear hug?” he murmured absently as he typed something into her iPad.

“The second choice,” Casey said, nodding solemnly.

“Bear hug it is,” Sean said, frowning down at her iPad. “Why haven’t you told Bryce yet?”

“I planned on doing it last night,” Casey admitted on a heartfelt sigh.

“But…”

“I decided that spending the night praying for a quick death was more romantic,” Casey said even as she had to wonder how much more of this she could take.

She hadn’t been able to keep anything down since they got back from their honeymoon, which they’d agreed they would never speak of again. Not after…

No, she wouldn’t think about what happened when she made the mistake of calling room service. She just…she wasn’t ready to think about that.

Not yet.

“Did you know that your cousin has anger issues?” Sean asked, giving her the distraction that she needed.

“What the hell are you doing?” Casey couldn’t help but wonder when she saw his lips twitch at whatever he was reading.

“Pretending to be you in order to find out where she plans on hiding my body,” Sean said only to follow that up with a satisfied sigh. “God, that woman’s violent.”

“You bring out the best in people,” Cayley said, nodding solemnly.

“And you still haven’t told me where my brother is,” Sean said as he placed her iPad on the floor.

“He’s working on the house,” she mumbled sadly, following that up with a sniffle to properly convey her disappointment. She hadn’t seen the house since they came back a few weeks ago, which meant that Bryce was forced to work on the house without her supervisory skills to help.

“How were you planning on telling him?” Sean asked, shifting to get more comfortable.

“With adoring looks,” Cayley said with a sniffle as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the lovely hot water keeping the nausea at bay.

“How long have you known?” came the question that had her biting back a sigh.

“A week,” she admitted with a groan as she placed her hand on her stomach.

“A week,” Sean murmured back, sounding thoughtful as she lay there, debating how she was going to-

“What are you doing?” Cayley asked when she suddenly found herself being dragged out of the shower by the large bastard.

“Helping you,” Sean said, shifting her in his arms as he carried her into the hallway towards her bedroom, leaving a watery trail behind them.

“How exactly is this helping me?” Cayley demanded as he carried her into her bedroom and dumped her on her bed only to leave her struggling to remember how to breathe when he said the four little words that never ended well for her.

“I have a plan.”

To Be Continued…

If you haven’t had a chance to read Bryce and Cayley’s story, you can find it at Amazon and read it for FREE through Kindle Unlimited.

Excerpt from Another Christmas from Hell

“I’m not interested in you,” Bryce said firmly, watching as she frowned in confusion.

“And you’re telling me this why?” Cayley asked as she sent him a questioning look as he told himself that this was for her own good.

“Because I’m trying to let you down gently,” Bryce said, wishing that he had done this years ago.

As much as he hated to do this, it was for her own good. He should have done this as soon as he realized that she couldn’t live without him, but he’d hoped that she’d outgrow it and move on. When she’d started dating the prick, Bryce told himself that it was probably for the best. Then, the prick broke off their engagement and she came running back, more determined than ever.

“I gathered that much on my own, but I’m not sure why,” Cayley said as she pulled into the parking spot that Connor assigned her.

“Because you’re in love with me,” Bryce said with a helpless shrug, not knowing what else to say.

“I see,” Cayley murmured, sounding thoughtful while he sat there really hoping that she’d be able to hold back the tears.

“I’m trying to be nice,” Bryce said, releasing his seatbelt as he tried to think of something that would help her get through this, but…

There was no way to soften the blow, he realized, biting back a sigh.

Frowning, Cayley said, “Let me get this straight, you think that I’m in love with you and-”

“I know,” Bryce said, but she simply continued as though he hadn’t spoken.

“-and you decided that the best way to let me down gently was to blurt it out like that?”

“I was trying to be nice!”

“And it really showed,” Cayley said, nodding solemnly as she opened her door and climbed out, leaving him to do the same and-

“I just never thought it would end this way,” Cayley said with a sniffle, dragging his attention to find her lower lip trembling.

Aw, shit…

“I thought we’d be together forever.” Sniffle. “I just thought you needed time to realize that you couldn’t live without me,” Cayley said as she released a shuddering sigh before continuing. “I always pictured us getting married, moving into a small house with a white picket fence where we would raise our ten children while breeding emus.”

“Emus?” Bryce asked dryly.

Sniffling, she nodded. “We’d make a killing selling emu eggs.”

“And why would we want to do that?” Bryce asked, rubbing his hands roughly down his face, suddenly feeling exhausted.

“How else would we support our ten children?” Cayley asked, frowning up at him.

“Please tell me that you’re screwing with me,” Bryce said, dropping his hands away.

“I would never joke about Fluffy,” Cayley said, blinking up at him.

“Who the hell’s fluffy?” 

“Our nearsighted dog, of course. Kids need a dog, Bryce,” she said with a solemn nod, only to follow that up with another shuddering sigh as his eyes narrowed dangerously on her. 

“Look, I think I really need to lay down in the fetal position and struggle to fight back the tears that I know are coming while I try to accept that the dream is over,”  Cayley said around a yawn that was quickly followed by a mumbled, “Good talk,” as she walked away while he stood there, watching her as he told himself to let it go.