An Aces Christmas (The Aces' Sons)

We were at the end of my block when a truck pulled up beside us and startled the shit out of me.

“Hey, little girl. Want some candy?” a familiar voice called out, instantly calming my racing heart.

“What the hell?” I called out, spinning to look. Draco and Curtis, Charlie’s nephews, were the male counterparts to the Charlie-Kara-Rebel trio. “You just made me pee my pants, and where the hell were you when we needed a ride after school?”

“Charlie said you guys wanted to walk,” Draco replied, hanging out the passenger window.

“Demon,” I hissed at Charlie, making her chuckle.

She shrugged. “I told you I wanted the exercise.”

“Next time,” I said, spinning back to the boys, “assume I do not want to walk.”

“We can drive you the rest of the way,” Curtis called, leaning around his twin to grin at me.

“I can see my house,” I replied flatly, making him laugh.

It was impossible to ignore the way my stomach flip-flopped when he did that. The guys were identical, and you’d think that Draco’s laugh would illicit the same response, but it didn’t. It had always been Curt that made me blush and stammer and act like a complete idiot no matter how I tried to hide it. It was probably because Draco chased anything female and Curtis, well, he’d always held his cards close to the chest. I knew he dated—if you wanted to call it that—but I never actually saw him do it. There was something mysterious about him, which was pretty impressive since I’d hung out with him nearly every day for years.

“Just meet us at the house,” Charlie said as she started walking again.

“Wait!” I yelled. I jogged over to the truck as Draco laughed and opened the door to let me in. “Just take my bag,” I said, dropping it onto his lap.

Draco let out a startled oomph. “Jesus, what do you have in here?”

“Books,” I said happily as I jogged toward Charlie at least twenty pounds lighter. “Thank you!”

“You’re so lazy,” Charlie said, laughing as she shook her head.

Five minutes later, the four of us were stomping into my house like a herd of elephants.

“I’m home,” I called, walking through the living room to check the kitchen.

“Where’s Rose?” Charlie asked, dropping her stuff inside the front door.

“No idea,” I muttered with a shrug. “But she’s not here. If Brody was napping, there would’ve been a sock on the door.”

“She puts a sock on the door?” Draco asked with a laugh.

“That’s the signal to be quiet,” I said dryly. “She said she’s preparing me for college.”

“Bet your dad loved that,” Curt said, setting my backpack down gently on the couch.

“He laughed,” I replied. “Then he said if he ever finds a sock on my dorm room door, I better be ready for a bloodbath.”

“Sounds about right,” Curt agreed with a grimace.

We all dropped onto various seats in the living room and got comfortable.

“Hey, we’re watching Carrie the night before prom,” Charlie announced. “And then Sunday we’re riding.”

“Are those the terms for her to agree to going?” Draco asked me.

“Some of them,” I replied, rolling my eyes.

“Sounds good to me,” Curt said, stretching his arms above his head.

I deliberately kept my eyes on his face instead of the sliver of skin I knew would be showing at his waist.

“You wanna use the track or go out in the woods?” Curt asked Charlie.

“Probably the track, don’t you think?” she asked, kicking off her shoes and stretching out on the couch so that her feet rested in my lap. “It’ll probably rain next week, so we won’t be eating fistfuls of dust.”

“Plus, if Kara gets hurt, we’ll be closer to the hospital,” Draco joked.

He laughed as I threw a throw pillow at his head. “It isn’t always me that gets hurt.”

“Yes, it is,” three of my best friends replied in unison.

“And Reb can come to the track,” Curtis said easily.

“If she even wants to,” I replied. “I swear, she worries more than my parents when we’re riding. I have no idea why she likes to watch us.”

“Because she likes riding with me and Curt,” Draco said, grinning.

“I thought she was going to shit herself last time,” Charlie replied. “Don’t go so fast.”

“She loved it!”

“She told you she loved it,” Charlie said, shaking her head. “You didn’t see her face. She was fucking terrified.”

“Oh, shit,” Draco mumbled. “Whoops.”

“Maybe Will can bring her bike out so she can ride,” Curtis said.

It was a good idea. Reb loved to ride and she loved to watch us ride—but her parents, my uncle Will and Aunt Molly, didn’t allow her to ride on her own when they weren’t there. I understood it—it got pretty sketchy sometimes and honestly, I didn’t want to be responsible for making sure she didn’t get hurt.

“Let’s ride for a couple hours before they get there,” Charlie said, her eyes closed. “That way, Will isn’t up our asses the whole time.”