The Year of Living Shamelessly by Susanna Carr

only a few seconds. “Ryder just dropped in. Oh, you want to say hi to him?” Jake thrust the phone in Ryder’s direction. “For you.”
     
    Ryder accepted the phone and sounded genuinely eager to wish her mother a merry Christmas. He also looked relieved to escape another awkward exchange with Katie. She leaned her hip against the kitchen table, remembering the first time Ryder had visited their house on Christmas Day. He hadn’t even been a teenager when he dropped by, desperate for any excuse to get out of his own home. The moment he had stepped inside, he shuttered all expression from his face.
     
    Ryder had been quiet and watched the Kramers from a distance, as if he had been afraid to remind anyone he was there and risk being sent away. From that moment, and every year since then, Katie gently guided Ryder into their celebrations. She liked how many Christmases ago his eyes brightened when he saw a stocking with his name on it at the fireplace. But this year he hadn’t even looked at his presents. He was definitely avoiding her.
     
    In past years, if Ryder had his way, he wouldn’t have let anyone lift a finger so he could do all the planning and decorating himself. But Katie always wanted to create a perfect Christmas for him. It was torture to think that this would be their last holiday together.
     
    She didn’t have a chance to ask him about the earrings. The first guests arrived while Ryder was still on the phone with her mother. Soon the house was filled with neighbors and friends. But no matter how busy Katie was with her hostess duties, she couldn’t shake her awareness of Ryder. She always knew where he was and what he was doing.
     
    An hour into the open house, Melissa nudged Katie’s shoulder. Actually, it was more of a shove since Melissa didn’t know her own strength.
     
    “Merry Christmas, Melissa! I’m so glad you could make it.” Melissa was dressed in her usual sporty style, the bright red tinsel ponytail scrunchie her nod to the season. “Have something to eat.”
     
    Melissa grabbed a carrot stick. “Katie, this is a fabulous party, but you need to circulate.”
     
    “Right after I take care of this.” She held up the silver platter laden with fruits and vegetables.
     
    “No, I don’t think you understand.” Melissa pointed the carrot stick at Katie. “You need to circulate now.”
     
    Katie got the hint and immediately looked to where she had last seen Ryder. He was in the front hall, next to the staircase decorated with garlands and miniature ornaments. And next to him was Sasha. The honey blonde stood very close to Ryder, jutting her hips to one side. At first glance it looked as if she was dressed down for the event in skinny jeans and a red sweater. It was like a flashback to the office party. Was there ever a moment when a beautiful woman wasn’t monopolizing Ryder’s attention?
     
    But when Sasha shifted to the side, Katie’s eyes bulged out. The sweater had a narrow slit in the front that plunged from her collarbone to her navel. It showed a thin strip of her bare skin and a hint of her breasts.
     
    “And I thought I was showing skin,” Katie said. And she thought she had a firm stomach until she got an eyeful of Sasha’s rock-hard abs.
     
    Melissa tilted her head to one side. “How does she wear that without flashing the world?”
     
    “Double-sided tape,” Katie murmured.
     
    “Yikes, sounds painful,” Melissa said as she munched on the carrot stick.
     
    “I thought Sasha was after Jake.”
     
    “What better way to make Jake jealous than by flirting with his best friend?”
     
    Katie made a face. “That’s stupid.”
     
    “That’s dating.”
     
    “Ryder’s too smart to fall for that.”
     
    Melissa grabbed another carrot stick from the platter.“He doesn’t seem to mind.”
     
    No, he didn’t. Sasha was giving Ryder the full treatment: touching him, flipping her hair, licking her lips. It was flirting by numbers. Katie should