52. Bella
Chapter 52
Bella
W hen I wake up, I’m facing the bedroom window. Snowflakes are falling and the sky is a beautiful gray-blue color.
It’s Christmas morning and it’s snowing. I smile at how perfect it is.
I roll over to check on Braden, but his side of the bed is empty. I sit up and hear a soft shuffling noise just outside the bedroom.
A second later, the door opens. Braden stands there with a tray in his hands, looking so damn sexy in gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt.
He grins at me. “Merry Christmas, pretty girl.”
He walks over to me and sets the tray on the bed. There’s a big mug of coffee, a small cup of milk, a bowl of fresh berries, and a plate of cinnamon rolls.
He sits on the edge of the bed and I grab his face and kiss him. “Merry Christmas,” I say against his mouth.
I glance down at the tray. “You got me cinnamon rolls?”
He smiles. “I remember you saying that it’s your tradition to eat them on Christmas morning, but you haven’t done it in a few years.”
My heart aches in my chest at how thoughtful it was of Braden to surprise me with my favorite Christmas breakfast.
I grab a cinnamon roll, my mouth watering at the sweet, sugary aroma. “This smells amazing. Did you bake these?”
He nods, a shy smile pulling at his lips. “When you went to bed last night, I stayed up and prepped the dough, then I got up early to bake them.”
My heart flutters in my chest at how thoughtful it was for him to plan this surprise for me.
I kiss him, then take a bite. I moan at the pillowy texture and the perfect balance of sugar and cinnamon. “Oh my god,” I say around a mouthful.
“It tastes okay?” Braden asks.
“It tastes incredible. Braden, these are the most delicious homemade cinnamon rolls I’ve ever had.”
He beams. “Really?”
I nod. “You have to try one.”
I hold it up and he takes a bite. His eyes go wide as he chews. “Wow. I did a kick-ass job on these.”
I chuckle. We finish the cinnamon roll and have a few berries. I splash some milk in my coffee and take a sip.
“I know you like frothy milk in your coffee, but I didn’t want to wake you up by using the frother. That thing is pretty loud,” he says.
I run my hand through his wavy blonde hair that’s messy from sleep. “This coffee is perfect. So are the cinnamon rolls. This was the perfect surprise, and this is the perfect Christmas morning. Thank you.”
He looks at me with warmth in his smile and his gaze before kissing me .
“I have another surprise for you,” he says before twisting around. “Maizie! Here, girl!”
Maizie trots into the bedroom and runs up to us, a big red Christmas bow tied to her collar and wearing a headband with fuzzy reindeer antlers. I squeal and lean down to pick her up.
“Oh my god! She’s so cute!” I kiss her head and she licks my face.
Braden chuckles. “Getting her to sit still to tie that ribbon around her collar took almost as long as prepping the cinnamon rolls.”
I laugh. For the second time since waking up, my heart flutters in my chest.
Earlier this week, Braden went through all the testing to see if he’ll be able to donate bone marrow to Lucas. He’s been pretty quiet since then, checking his phone often to see if he’s gotten the official okay. I can tell he’s disappointed that he hasn’t heard anything yet. So to know that he put all that aside to make Christmas so special for me means the world.
“I love it. Thank you so much for the most amazing Christmas morning.”
The corner of his mouth quirks up in that sexy lop-sided smile. “Anything for you. Wanna open some presents?”
I grin wide. “Yes.”
I grab his Bashers hoodie from the floor and throw it on. I pad to his dresser, grab a pair of his boxers and socks, and slide them on.
I start to walk off, but Braden grabs my hand and pulls me to him. He kisses me. “You look so fucking cute wearing my clothes.”
I smile against his mouth. “You’re not mad that I constantly steal your clothes so I can wear them around the apartment?”
He shakes his head. “Nope. It’s the hottest thing in the world.”
I head to the bathroom to pee and brush my teeth. When I walk into the living room, I take in the cozy scene. The Christmas tree with presents, the fireplace roaring, snowflakes falling outside. I gaze out the floor-to-ceiling window at the stunning snow-covered Rocky Mountains in the distance and Denver skyline in the foreground.
It takes a second before I notice the stockings hanging above the fireplace. I smile as I walk over and run my fingers over the stitching that spells out my name.
I look over at Braden, who’s carrying two mugs to the coffee table in the living room.
“You got us stockings with our names on them?” I say, stunned and so happy.
“Of course I did.”
He walks over and slinks his arm around me, pulling me into the side of his massive body. He kisses my forehead, then grabs Maizie’s stocking.
“I think she should get to open hers first,” he says.
I pull out the handful of dog treats he stuffed inside. Maizie comes running up to us. When we see she’s gotten rid of her antlers, we both laugh.
I toss the treats on the floor and Maizie happily chows down.
Braden grabs my stocking and leads me to the couch. We sit down and he hands it to me.
An eager smile pulls at his mouth. “Open it.”
“I feel bad, I didn’t know you were getting us stockings so I didn’t get anything to put in yours. ”
He chuckles. “Don’t feel bad. I don’t care about that at all.”
I lean over and kiss him. He’s so amazing.
I reach inside my stocking and pull out a gold envelope. I tear it open and see that it’s a gift card for a full day of treatments at the most luxurious spa in the city.
I gasp. “Braden, oh my gosh.”
He grins. “You seemed to enjoy the spa at our hotel in Victoria, so I thought you might like to go to another spa.”
I stare at the gift card. A day at a place like this costs at least a thousand dollars, probably more. I grab his face and kiss him. “I can’t wait to go. Thank you.”
He stands up and walks over to the Christmas tree and grabs a small box wrapped in shiny green paper.
“Now open this,” he says.
I stare up at him. “Braden, you didn’t have to get me two gifts.”
He tilts his head at me and quirks an eyebrow. “I know I didn’t have to. I wanted to.”
He sits down next to me. I tear off the wrapping paper and open the small box. Inside is a picture of an industrial coffee roaster and grinder. It takes a second before I realize that it’s the exact model I’m saving up to buy for the coffee shop.
I look up at Braden, confused as to why he gifted me a photo of it for Christmas.
“That’ll be delivered to your coffee shop the first week in March,” he says.
My mouth falls open. “Braden…you didn’t…”
He grins. “Oh, but I did, pretty girl.”
“You bought me the coffee roaster I want for my shop?” I ask, stunned.
He nods. I shake my head in disbelief .
“No, it’s too much. That’s thousands of dollars.”
He chuckles. “I know.”
I stammer, stunned that he would surprise me with such an expensive and thoughtful gift.
“I…I…It’s too much…” I say again, completely overwhelmed.
Braden pulls me close and cups my face in his hands. “It’s not too much. I wanted to get this for you.”
I bite back a smile. “I feel so spoiled.”
“Good. I like spoiling you. I’m gonna do it a lot, so get used to it.”
I grin so wide, my cheeks ache. “Thank you,” I say as I kiss him. “I love it.”
“I’m so glad,” he murmurs.
When we break apart, he glances over at the last two gifts under the tree. “Are those for me?” he asks.
I blush. “One’s for Maizie.”
He smiles and gets up to grab them. When he’s back on the couch, he opens Maizie’s gift.
The second he sees it, he beams. It’s a maroon collar with his jersey number and Maizie’s name stitched on it.
He looks at me. “This is so cool. And cute.”
He gets up and moves over to Maizie, who’s lying on the nearby armchair. He takes off her old collar and clips on the new one. He smiles at her.
“Now both of your girls can wear your number,” I say.
He flashes a warm smile at me before coming back to the couch and kissing me.
When he sits back down next to me and starts to open his present, my nerves fire off. What I got him is so small and cheap compared to what he got me.
But then I notice the look in his eyes when sees my gift. His eyes widen and his mouth parts open in surprise. Then he starts to smile.
“You made me into a bobblehead?” He beams as he holds up the bobblehead toy I had custom-made for him.
“Yeah.” I let out a shy laugh. “I remember you said that when you were a kid, that was your dream, to see yourself as a hockey player bobblehead.”
He stares at it like he’s in awe. I still can’t believe the artist I commissioned did such an amazing job. She captured Braden’s features perfectly. Everything from the waves in his blonde hair to his eye color to the style of the jersey is spot on. He’s holding a goalie stick and his helmet is pushed up on top of his head.
He turns to me, beaming wide. “I look so cool. Like a hockey action figure.”
“You like it?” I ask.
His expression turns warm, emotion flashing in his eyes. “I love it.” He pulls me onto his lap and kisses me. “So much. Thank you.” His voice is soft and tender. It makes my chest ache.
We make out for a few minutes. Right as he starts to take my hoodie off, his phone rings.
He growls against my mouth. “That’s my mom and my grandparents. They wanted to FaceTime. Sorry.”
I chuckle as I pull away. “That’s okay. We’ll pick this up later.”
I slide off his lap and he swipes his phone from the coffee table. While he chats with his family, I get an idea.
I grab his Christmas stocking and run to the bedroom. I open the top drawer of the dresser and pull out a new pair of sexy hot pink panties that I haven’t yet shown Braden, along with a few of my sex toys. I stuff them in the stocking and head back into the living room.
I set the stocking on the coffee table to give to him when he’s done talking with his family, then I check my phone. I smile when I see all the Merry Christmas messages from my friends.
Lauren: Merry Christmas! I hope you’re having a sexy morning with your hockey hottie!
Me: Aww thanks! I am ;) Merry Christmas to you and Lance!
I skim messages from Ingrid, Maya, Sophie, and Dakota. They added me to their friend group text recently. I smile, heartened at how sweet they are.
Ingrid: Merry Christmas, ladies! I hope Santa brought you everything you wanted!
There’s a photo of her cat Salem wearing a cute tiny Christmas hat.
Maya: Merry Christmas! Santa arrived in the form of Theo waking me up this morning wearing nothing but a Santa hat.
Ingrid: Oh my god, please stop talking about my cousin being naked, I’m going to puke.
Maya: lol sorry!
Sophie: Aww haha hang in there, Ingrid! We’re on our way to pick up Xander’s mom and then having brunch at my dad’s. Sending you all joy and love!
Dakota: Merry Christmas! Ingrid, we’re gonna be a little late to Christmas brunch, Jake is in the middle of a songwriting session. Inspiration hit him, I guess. Sorry about that!
Ingrid: No worries! Come whenever! We’ll all just be hanging out at our house sipping on cider and grazing on appetizers. Your mom is making prime rib for dinner though so come hungry!
Me: Merry Christmas to you all! Sounds like you’re all having fun time s
Ingrid: Bella, how was your morning?
Me: So nice! Braden surprised me with breakfast in bed. Homemade cinnamon rolls!
Ingrid: Aww!
Sophie: OMG yum!
Dakota: Sounds so cozy!
Maya: He baked for you? That’s true love right there.
Me: It’s been the perfect Christmas :)
Braden says his mom and grandparents want to say hi to me, so I visit with them for a few minutes.
My phone buzzes and I excuse myself to answer it. But when I see who’s calling me, I freeze.
No way.