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Seth couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his brother’s real hair color, or his eyes without tinted contacts. If Zane hadn’t made Aldric swear, Aldric would probably be covered from head to toe in tattoos.
“You don’t have to look so fierce,” Oliver said.
“Stay out of it,” Aldric snapped and folded his arms over his chest. “You’ve been seeing her for six months?” His question was directed at Seth, but his gaze was locked on Clary.
“We’re engaged.” She lifted her hand and wriggled the diamond ring Seth had gotten her
Aldric reeled back again, and she chuckled.
“You keep staring at me, but you didn’t appear to be speaking to me,” Clary said. “So I was wondering if you could actually see me.”
“You’re engaged?” Aldric shouted.
Clary laughed again. “Don’t worry.” She turned. “We’re not engaged.” She sat back on the floor. “Seth ordered dinner. We’ll be setting up the Christmas tree later. You should join us.”
Seth frowned at her. How could she invite Aldric to join them after how he’d treated her?
“No way,” Aldric said.
“Then get out,” Seth said, jerking his chin toward the door.
“Elton will be here,” Clary added.
Aldric laughed. “Are you delusional?”
“Zane’s forcing him.”
His brother’s brows twitched. “Why would he do that?”
“Because I asked.” She looked over her shoulder and beamed. “If you join us, I’ll let you choose which color decorations to put on the tree.”
“I thought the silver and white ones were nice,” Oliver said.
“We’ll put those on the one in Zane’s apartment,” she whispered.
Seth swallowed a sigh even as a cozy warmth burned in his heart. He loved that she was being so sweet and thoughtful to his brothers, but he worried that it wouldn’t be enough. Both Elton and Aldric were stubborn, and Seth didn’t want her to get hurt.
“I—”
“You and Elton can compete to see who can annoy me more.”
“No, you will not,” Seth said to Aldric. His brother opened his mouth, but Seth continued. “But … join us. Please.”
Aldric blinked again.
Seth hoped that meant his brother was at least considering it. He’d never asked much of his brothers, and this wasn’t too much, right?
“Come on.” Oliver got up. “We’ve never set up a Christmas tree before.”
Clary’s brows puckered.
Seth sat next to her and leaned over. “Holly always hired designers to do it,” he whispered.
Her brows flicked up. “There are designers for that?”
“What if we make a mess of your tree?” Aldric asked.
Clary laughed. “You can’t make a mess.” She shrugged. “If it’s a disaster, then it’s just a monstrosity we’ll have to look at for a couple of weeks.” She held her index finger up. “I only have one request. We string the lights first. It’ll make the tree look as if it’s glowing. Oh, two. We wait for Andrea.”
