Holidays and Handcuffs by Natasha Sterling

Emily
All my life, I’ve belonged to everyone else except for myself. The Savior Sibling to my idiot older brother. I’m the spare, the backup plan, the insurance policy—never the one who gets to make choices, never the one with dreams of my own. It’s always been about someone else’s needs, someone else’s life. Until Jack comes back into my life and makes me question everything. He sees me, not as a tool or a replacement, but as a person. Suddenly, I wonder: Is there more than this life for me? Can I truly break free from the role I’ve been trapped in for so long and find something real, something that’s mine?

Jack
Ten years after leaving Auburn, I’m finally back, and there’s only one name on my mind—Emily. She’s still here, and I still wear the lucky charm bracelet she gave me all those years ago. It’s more than a keepsake; it’s a promise I made to myself, a reminder of everything I hoped one day we’d be. But when I find out what she’s been enduring, the hell her family has put her through, something shifts inside me. She’s been hurt and betrayed and used, and I won’t stand by and let her face it alone. Whatever it takes, I’m going to protect her, even if she doesn’t realize she needs me yet. This time, I’m not leaving her. This time, she’s going to be mine.