I awoke Christmas morning to the unmistakable scent of bacon and maple and an empty bed. There was little doubt a dream had caused my body to ache this deliciously. There was still an indent in the extra pillow where Ollie's head had rested. While unsure if his absence from the room was a good or a bad sign, I recalled him leaving the bed in the night—returning with lips cool and wet from a drink. The second time was a mystery, but he never came back. I swallowed the worry of Ollie regretting our night together, and completely drowned the thought that I, myself, regretted it. Our time together last night was nothing like our other two times.

That was... not just sex.

Feeling the exhaustion from skipping out on hours of sleep, I groaned and dropped back onto my pillow. No doubt when I got back to Chicago, I would overthink everything about this weekend, but for now, I embraced the peace. When here with Ollie, my mind could rest and embrace parts of me I had forgotten existed—like a happy Sloan. Where the hell had she been hiding?

The space between my legs ached in the best way, still able to feel where Ollie had penetrated me repeatedly during the night. The muscles of my arms and legs, however, I knew ached from sledding. And my smile ached from a lot of both.

I wasn't ready to get out of bed yet, but that damn bacon was summoning me to the best room of this house. I located my discarded pajamas from the floor and was quick to dress, only spending time to fix my hair into a messy bun to look a little less of a hot mess. As I shoved my brush back into my duffle bag, I took notice of a certain gray sleeve peeking out. I bit my cheek at the sight of Steve's sweatshirt before tucking it back into the bag. It was cold enough to wear it, but for now, it needed to stay exactly where it was. As comforting as his sweatshirt was, here it felt like it was mocking me.

Before leaving the bedroom, I turned my phone back on. There were a few text messages from Hallie. Most saying I was loved and that if I needed anything, Hallie was only a call away. The last one wished me a Merry Christmas and asked how I was handling a holiday alone. Alone... it wasn't the right word, as I heard multiple sets of voices coming from the other side of the door—one new. All I could do was hope whoever else had joined us would take the spotlight off of me. Especially from Shelby, who I had just informed the day before that I was not dating her ex.

With the sound of Ollie's laughter mixed with that of an unknown female leading me forward, I entered Penny's kitchen. There, Ollie stood in front of the oven with a set of tongs in his hand, carefully turning bacon with a short, brunette woman beside him whisking a bowl of eggs. The stranger wore a matching pair of plaid pajama pants.

"Whisk the shit out of them!" Ollie attempted to steal the wire whisk from the woman's hand. "We don't need watered down eggs for breakfast! They need air!"

"I know how to make eggs, Ollie! You don't need to be a goddamn chef to make scrambled eggs!"

Ollie tossed the tongs down to the counter, allowing the bacon to continue their sizzling, and grabbed the whisk from who I was assuming was Mikah and Ollie's sister. He seemed damn proud of himself as the woman attempted to jump and take the utensil back. It was no use. No matter how high she tried to jump, Ollie's outstretched arm was no match. The grin on his face was priceless as she continued her attempts.

"Mom!" the woman said, bellowing loud enough for the entire house to hear. She smacked Ollie in the stomach with the back of her hand before struggling with another jump. "Ollie is being an asshole in the kitchen again!"

"Tattletale." Ollie's laughter filled the room. It wasn't until his sapphire eyes lifted away from his sister and found me that he gave up and gave the whisk a toss to the countertop beside the tongs. "Watch the bacon."

"Oh, now I have to make the eggs and the bacon? I thought you were doing all the cooking today. I have a kid that needs my tit. Mom!"

Not caring that his sister was now manning the entire breakfast situation, Ollie moved around the breakfast bar until I was within his reach. He pulled me to him by the drawstring of my pajama pants until I was close enough that my palms were planted on his chest.

"Morning." He beamed, causing my stomach to swirl and my lady parts to ache again. "How did you sleep?"

"Apparently better than you," I said. "What time did you wake up?"

"Around four. Just a weird dream. I don't sleep well," he said, seeming to want to end the discussion as his smile attempted to disappear. "But that just means I've been waiting hours to do this..."

A muscular arm wrapped around me, and Ollie's free hand lifted my chin to push his lips to mine. My eyes pressed shut, and I lifted myself to tiptoes to stay right here. There was so much relief stemming from this single kiss. Yesterday wasn't my imagination. Last night was not a dream. Those feelings I had felt the night of the Christmas party had now multiplied ten times over again.

"Mm, you taste like maple syrup," I said, whispering against his smile, then licked his lower lip.

Ollie remained playful with his hold. "I may have already snuck a pancake." His soft lips pressed to mine again.

"Whoa, this is new! Oliver not only came home, but he brought a girl with him? And she's so far out of your league!"

With his sister's observation, Ollie withdrew his lips and pressed his forehead to mine with a sigh. "That's my sister, Kit."

"And thank god, she's not blonde! Crazy is yet to be determined. She is here with you, after all."

I was quick to scope the room, seeing no sign of Shelby. I wasn't sure if that blonde and crazy joke was a dig at his ex, but everyone seemed in on it. Without the blonde in sight, I giggled and pecked Ollie's lips one last time before freeing myself of his hold. This was an awkward way of meeting the third and final owner of your place of employment. It was odd that after months of working at Mulligan's, Kit hadn't made a single appearance while I was there.

"Kit, this is Sloan. Sloan, Kit is the brat of this family. Literally and figuratively."

Upon introduction, Kit abandoned breakfast preparations to approach me. I was immediately engulfed in a hug by the third Mulligan child, giving me a squeeze that I knew meant more than a nice to meet you.

"Thank you for bringing him home," Kit said with a whisper. "You do not understand how badly everyone needed to know that he's okay. I haven't seen him laugh in so long."

Seeing that Ollie had now taken over breakfast, I couldn't help but to frown in his direction. I didn't understand how anyone could blame Ollie for not wanting to be around here when the girl he loved was in love with his brother. But I knew from yesterday that this wasn't entirely the case either. Shelby may have loved Mikah, but she was also still in love with Ollie. Those lustful looks she gave him yesterday were enough to give me a stomachache.

As Kit released her hold of me, she tucked her hair behind her ear and gazed over her shoulder to make sure her brother wasn't listening. "Have you met Shelby?" she questioned carefully.

"Mhmm." I had never forced a smile so hard in my life.

"And?" Kit whispered, with eyebrows raised.

The forced smile gave up, telling Kit exactly how I felt about that situation. Shelby could choke on a dick, and I wouldn't call 911—if that mood was a look, that was what I offered Kit. It would have been stupid to start our first conversation with a lie.

Kit cackled. "We are going to be such good friends!"

Before I could agree, already getting the impression that Hallie would love Kit too, the room swarmed with more bodies. This kitchen may have been massive, but with the addition of Mikah, Shelby, and Penelope with a crying baby in her arms, it felt a little claustrophobic.

"I've got her." Kit went to the aid of her mother, offering out both hands to take the child. She bounced the baby girl on her hip while everyone else took their seats at the table.

"Ollie," Shelby cooed as she took her place beside Mikah. "It's almost eleven. I'm surprised you don't have breakfast done yet. I mean, isn't this all you do?"

"Shelby," Mikah said, warning her with a hush.

Ollie smiled tiredly, piling a mound of bacon onto a plate and not bothering to turn around. He seemed unfazed by Shelby's comment, like it was typical. "Not anymore."

I flushed red, not knowing if he meant for that comment to refer to the fact that he was doing me, or if he meant that he now had other hobbies that Shelby did not stick around for. Either way, it sounded dirty. The icing on the cake was watching Kit stand behind the blonde, glaring while out of Shelby's eyesight. Kit released one hand from her child to flip the back of Shelby's head the bird, mouthing fuck you so no one would hear. But when Kit's glare turned into a pair of very wide eyes, I couldn't help to follow their path. As Shelby lifted a carafe of orange juice, a sparkle caught my eye—a sparkle stemming from a certain ring finger. Shelby had not been wearing that ring yesterday.

By the time my unease registered enough to look back at Ollie, Kit was already at his side. The baby in her arms was wiggling every way she could to escape her mother's hold, but Kit paid no mind to this. Instead, she observed her brother.

"Did you see it?" Kit asked Ollie, keeping her concern hushed.

"Yep."

"And are you okay?"

"Yep."

"I know you wouldn't tell me if you weren't," Kit said, concluding with a frown. "I wish you'd talk to someone."

The sigh that came from Ollie was the heaviest one I had heard from him yet.

>>

Ollie seemed to know the shower well, just as he had mentioned. I couldn't seem to master it, and needed some wisdom that only came with living here the first eighteen years of your life. With one hand under the water, he used the opposite hand to turn the faucet until it didn't sound like the pipes would break through the shower wall. This was accompanied by a few embarrassed mutterings about how an exact forty-five-degree angle was needed to get the water to warm and not scalding hot, which I found cute as I pushed myself into a seated position on top of the large vanity.

"Do you want to talk to me about it?"

"About what?" Ollie asked, giving the nozzle another slight rotation.

"About how your ex is wearing an engagement ring this morning?"

Ollie's lips formed a firm line, which eventually gave way to a heavy exhale. He took a step back from the shower and gave his hand a little shake to free it of droplets. I handed him a hand towel, frowning for the both of us. His brother was marrying the woman he's in love with. That had to hurt, even if he had told Kit that it didn't. The announcement at breakfast had been even more awkward. I wasn't sure if I felt worse for Ollie, or for Penelope, who had to act excited for one son and hurt for another.

"I hoped I hadn't made it that obvious," he admitted.

"You didn't."

Ollie's head bobbed, understanding that it was Shelby who gave it away.

"I'm more okay than I thought I would be." He shrugged in a way that said there's nothing more he can do about it. "Probably sounds like a complete line of bull, but I found out last night, and it honestly didn't faze me."

Last night?

I couldn't help but to feel a little hurt by him admitting that. My brows sagged as I stared at nothing but the tiled floor that my feet dangled over. Was last night just about Shelby moving on with someone else?

"Sloan..." Ollie's eyes widened when he realized how it sounded. He positioned himself directly in front of me and lifted my chin with a single finger. "After," he said, clarifying. "It was after we..."

"We what?" I asked, searching his facial expression for the answer.

Last night had been so many things to me, and yet I was more confused than ever. We believed we couldn't complicate our situation further; we sure managed it. I knew I had feelings for Ollie and that they were growing faster than I could make sense of them, but I did not know he shared those feelings until we kissed. He was my one-night stand turned professor, turned employer, turned friend, turned... what, exactly?

Ollie didn't seem to have that answer, either.

His features softened as he dropped his head to mine and wrapped his arms around my middle. No feeling compared to strong arms wrapping around you with no words being said, and Ollie's firm chest brought comfort after a morning of unease. My heart thudded in my own chest as I took the initiative to kiss him first this time. Our tongues swirled with tiny moans as the room filled with steam from the hot shower. For the second time in twenty-four hours, I was being stripped of my new pajamas. My pants hit the floor first, soon followed by my underwear.

"I need to shower, Ollie." I giggled and held my hands high above my head for him to continue undressing me.

He seemed to like that answer, lifting my shirt with a grin that would have made my knees weak if I had been standing. "I do too."