Light the Fire (Jackson's Hollow #1)

Chapter 54

Ryker grimaced as he stared at the loops of wire wrapped around his hands, small light bulbs sticking out at odd angles every which way.

"Fairytale lights? More like demon lights."

"You don't even have to do anything besides hold the untangled part," Lexi snapped back, carefully looping a strand through another as she tried to sort out the lights for her party.

"If you'd just looped them the first time when we took down the Christmas decorations..."

"Yes, I know, I learned my lesson. Now shut up." She was practically growling at him, causing Ryker to smirk at her. Normally it was much harder to get a rise out of his sister, but their wolf sides tended to get agitated around their 18th birthday. The theory was that it had something to do with being able to find a mate after that point, maybe like a wolf sort of puberty, but who really knew.

Jo walked by with a basket of decorations, a light load per Brett and Ryker's demands, and it was obvious from her twinkling eyes and tight mouth that she was trying to suppress a laugh at Ryker's predicament. 'Help me,' he mouthed at her.

Jo widened her eyes and shrugged at him.

Ryker mock-glared back at her, which Lexi unfortunately caught and assumed was directed at her.

Well, truthfully, it kind of was.

But not actually.

"Look, I helped out at your 18th, so suck it up, buttercup!"

"I didn't demand fairytale lights and machete thread things."

"Macrame, for the twentieth time!"

Ryker couldn't help the grin that stole across his face at the sound of Jo's laughter from the grouping of tables she was setting her basket down at.

Lexi dropped her lights, fists on her hips. "You finish this!" she ground out through gritted teeth. "I'm going to go check on Brett and Aaliyah." With that, she stalked off, leaving Ryker to stare bewildered at the pile of lights at his feet. Which was probably completely tangled again.

A pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, and a cheek pressed against his back. "Think you'll make it out of this birthday alive?"

Ryker turned in Jo's embrace, lifted his fairytale light-wrapped hands up before settling them back down over her head, arms resting lightly on her shoulders. It was about the closest thing to a return embrace that he could manage right now without losing the last half hour's worth of work.

"That's a question I've been asking myself a lot today," Ryker said with a chuckle, leaning forward to kiss the top of Jo's head. "Are you here to be my princess charming and save me?"

Jo eyed the lights with an expression of obvious distaste. "Hmm, I dunno, how much do I like you?"

"Enough to keep me alive?"

She tilted her head, considering, but Ryker saw the twitch to the corner of her lips. "I'll cook you dinner tonight," Ryker said, doing his best to persuade her.

Jo's eyes lit up. "Go on, I'm listening."

Go on? She needed more? His woman drove a hard bargain. "And dessert?"

She was practically radiating joy. If he knew she liked his cooking this much, he would've started doing it a long time ago. "Brownies?"

Ryker filed that important bit of information away for future bribery. "Of course," he said, voice lowering as he leaned in. "And I'm pretty sure I have some ice cream in the freezer I can raid to go with it."