Shafting the Halls Read Online Free PDF Page A

fuck ever that movie is she watches on repeat every day.
    “Really, Uncle Aiden?” she shrieks, making me wince.
    “Yes, I’ll have Mack go right now,” I assure her. “I just really really want to watch you get everyone with Mr. Nibbles.” I swallow hard at the mention of that damn thing’s name. “Make sure you do it quick, but don’t get to close. Just throw that little asshole, I mean little buddy, into the fire so he can warm up. It’s got to be cold at the North Pole this time of year.”
    “Oh yes, it is, Uncle Aiden. You’re so smart,” Jazzie gasps, looking down at the elf. “Come on, Mr. Nibbles. Let’s warm you up.”
    “Aiden Chesterfield,” Cam says behind me and I groan.
    “Busted,” I say, tossing the pencil down.
    “Jazzie,” Cam says, turning her attention to our five-year-old niece. “Mommy has the cookies in the kitchen and I bet she has you some chocolate milk ready too.”
    “Oh boy!” she squeals, hauling ass for the kitchen.
    “Hi, baby,” I reply, pulling Cam into my lap. “How’s everything?”
    “Don’t you ‘how’s everything’ me.” Her eyes narrow, but there’s amusement in those deep blues. “Were you just conspiring to kill an elf on Christmas Eve?”
    I shrug, attempting to look innocent. “Maybe, but that damn thing is creepy,” I argue, when she just shakes her head at me and rolls her eyes. “Those eyes are the eyes of a killer, Camaron. You’ll see when that bastard starts stealing knives and there are strange deliveries from hardware stores. Next thing you know, he’ll start killin’ us off one by one.”
    “Do you hear yourself?”
    “There’s my girl!” Daisy’s mom, Lisa, squeals when she spots her daughter coming down the stairs wrapping a black sweater tightly around herself as if she were freezing.
    “Hi, Mom,” Daisy replies, walking into her hug and squeezing her tight.
    Grayson walks down, bypassing the women completely, heading for his dad, Dan, who is holding Brannon while talking to Daisy’s father, Collin. Brannon instantly starts reaching for Gray and he takes him without a thought. “Something isn’t right here,” I whisper to Cam as we both watch things as they play out.
    “No, it’s not,” Cam replies, only fueling my curiosity as to what is up with our best friends.

Chase
    Daisy walks into the kitchen just as I finish setting up Jasmine with cookies and milk. “Need any help in here?” she asks, just as her mom, Lisa walks in behind her.
    “Sure,” I nod, handing her a stack of square metal tins. “Roll up your sleeves and help me put a little bit of everything in each of those. Lisa, would you mind frying the rest of that bacon so that we can crumble it over these cupcakes?” I ask, pointing and gesturing as I talk.
    “Sure,” they reply in unison before heading toward the sink to wash up.
    Shoving her sleeves up past her elbows, Daisy washes her hands before layering each tin with red and green tissue paper. “Daisy, that sweater really doesn’t go with that dress,” her mother says, eyeing the black oversized cover up that I wish I could burn. Daisy has been hiding behind baggy clothes ever since we got back from Florida last month and it’s irritating as hell! The woman lost all her baby weight and then some by the time Brannon was four months old. She is acting like she has something to be ashamed of when she should be showing it off. Hell, I would be.
    Something has changed and I don’t like it. 
    Even if she had gained twenty more pounds, hell, fifty, the woman would look amazing. She is beautiful inside and out, but the way she has been hiding lately, has taken a toll on not just her, but on Gray too. We’ve all noticed things are off with Daisy. Gray may not say anything, but Cam and I aren’t ready to let her go back to being a damn wall flower.
    “No, it doesn’t,” Cam says from the doorway. “That dress deserves to be shown off, so does the hot momma wearin’ it.”
    Everyone’s