Chapter 8 Mayo
Mayo
Harley
Waking up the next morning, there’s a heavy weight on my chest, and my eyes feel heavy, causing a slight panic.
After forcing my eyes open, I find Precious curled on top of me, along with Collins’ arm draped across my middle.
I groan attempting to move my body a bit causing Collins to stir beside me.
“Morning.” He grumbles into the side of my neck, the warmth of his breath causing a shiver to run down my spine.
“Good morning. We need to get up and ready for the day.”
“Nooooo. What time is it?” One thing I’ve learned about Collins is that if he didn’t have morning skates and early flights, he would sleep in every day.
Reaching over for my phone, I check the time, “8:00 AM and we have to meet everyone at the main cabin around 9:00. You can sleep a little more if you’d like, but I need to shower and eat before we head out, so you and Precious will have to cuddle.”
“If you must leave, I will cuddle my Precious.” He says her name in his version of Gollum’s low, raspy, guttural tone.
“Oh God.” I’ve never heard him do that before, and the laugh that escapes me is very unladylike.
“What?” He furrows his brows in offense, “You don’t like my voice?”
“That was downright terrifying.”
“Oh, come here.” He brings the voice back, pulling my body into his further while whispering in my ear, “We forgot the taste of bread.”
“Collins! Stop it!” I attempt to wiggle away again, laughing at his antics.
Rather than saying anything, Collins just holds me for a few minutes before allowing me up to get ready for the day.
“That was a fucking disaster,” Darcy says as she attempts to soothe an inconsolable Hayden.
“You could say that again.” Kodi responds, holding a tearful Bella to her chest, “Bella, it’s okay, baby. We are far away from Santa now, and he has to go back to the North Pole soon to get your presents ready.”
“I don’t like Santa, Mama.” Bella sobs. I’ve never witnessed a child meeting Santa for the first time, but Hayden immediately sobbing then Bella breaking out into tears when she saw him freaking out as they were set in his lap was not on my bingo card for today.
“You know if I were set into an old mans lap without my permission I would also break out into tears.” Sin whispers under her breath, and I cover my laugh with a cough as our Mom friends shoot daggers at us.
“I know, how about we go and find a Christmas present for Grandma just from you?” Kodi offers her daughter.
“Okay.” Bella finally relaxes a little as we head into the quaint little shop next to the lodge.
I’ve got everyone’s Christmas presents ready to go, but it never hurts to shop around a little more.
One of my favorite parts of this holiday is the joy that the smallest gift can put on someone’s face, the way that you remember the most minute detail about something they enjoy can turn their whole day around.
“Harls!” Sin calls me over from where I was looking at postcards to a small stand filled with local hot sauces. “Do you think that Dom would like one of these?”
“Dom, huh?” I tease, throwing my arms over my chest. And for the first time I think ever, my best friend turns beet red, trying to hide it behind her hair.
“Yep.” She emphasizes by popping the p, “I just forgot to get him something, is all. I have gifts for everyone else, even Stu.”
“Mhmmm. I’ll buy it for now. The man puts hot sauce on everything, so I think this is a great choice, and then maybe a souvenir from the trip, like an ornament or snowglobe.”
We stand there for a moment, looking over the different hot sauce options, before my eyes land on the one.
It's a blend of blueberry and habanero flavors, donning a redheaded woman dressed like a sailor. The icing on the cake is that it’s called “The Sweetest Sin”, quickly grabbing it, I shove it into Sinclair’s hands.
“Oh absolutely not!” She whisper-shouts.
“Come on! You can make it a joke, say something like ‘the only sin you’ll ever be getting from me’.
The man would keel over. Wouldn’t he, Enid?
” I push while dragging Enid into our conversation and she somehow turns even more red, making me wonder if, just like myself, she’s hiding something. We’ll have to unpack that later.
“He definitely would love it. I vote yes.” Enid chuckles maniacally, a sound I didn’t think I’d ever hear come from her.
She ponders for a moment before saying, “Ah fuck it. The guy will probably love it anyways.”
“I know he will.”
“Auntie Harley! Look what I picked out for Grandma!” Bella’s voice echoes throughout the shop as she approaches, holding an ornate, wooden ornament with a cutout for a photo inside. “We’re going to put a picture of me, Mama, and Daddy in it.”
“I think she’ll love it, Bella.” I smile down at my niece, pride at herself shining through her toothy grin.
“Bella, let’s go pay so we can go meet Daddy and your Uncles for lunch.” Kodi redirects her to the register, Sin and I following close behind with the hot sauce.
We meet the guys at the front entrance of Elk’s Garage, and everyone greets each other. Collins beelines it for me, whisking me into the air and gently placing a kiss on my lips.
“Miss me?” I tease.
“Always.” He says with all seriousness before placing me down and taking my hand in his.
Nik checks us in and then we are guided to the largest table in the restaurant. Collins sits to my right—pulling my chair as close to his as humanly possible, and Sinclair to my left, we sip on water as we all casually peruse the menu.
“How was snowboarding?” I ask all of the men.
“Epic,” Dominic says exuberantly and much louder than the tone of the establishment we currently sit in.
“What an adrenaline rush!” Conrad whoops.
“I had a blast, but it was fucking cold up there.” Maverick chimes in.
“You guys skate…” Darcy starts.
“On ice….” Sin chides.
“For a living…” Kodi teases.
This earns some pointed glares and muffled curses from the guys, but they know it’s all in good fun.
“I saw some deer from the lift. You would’ve loved it.” Collins adds from beside me.
“I wish you could ride the lift without boarding down the mountain. That would’ve been a sight to behold.” I grouch.
“Hello, I’m Leigh. I’ll be your waitress today. Can I get you started with some beverages or appetizers?” A petite, college aged girl interrupts from behind Bella.
We all put in orders for waters and assorted beverages while Tatum orders mozzarella sticks and spinach artichoke dip for the table. Giving our thanks, the waitress walks away, and we resume our conversation.
“What do you think you’re going to order?” I ask Collins below the rest of the conversation taking place around us.
“I’m thinking a burger and fries.”
“What sauce?” I quirk an eyebrow knowing the answer but hoping he’ll change his mind.
“Mayo.” He flushes and Dominic immediately gags.
Time to play dirty, he’s been doing it this whole trip–teasing me with touches and looks, calling me Baby, holding me close. Now it’s my turn.
“If you keep dipping fries in mayo like a psychopath, I won’t do the thing you like and refuse to watch the rest of Lord of the Rings with you, at minimum mix it with ketchup.” Loud enough that the others clearly hear me, all heads turn to us.
“Oh shit,” Nik mutters.
“Damn.” Conrad adds.
“Got his ass.” Mace chuckles while Enid smacks her younger brother and her boyfriends arms simultaneously.
“No, she didn’t.” Darcy squeaks.
“You wouldn’t dare,” Collins says, mouth hanging aghast.
“Oh, I would. Just try it…” I flutter my eyelids towards him, “for me.”
“Ugh fine.” He concedes. Small cheers of victory flit throughout the table that I might have finally broken this behavior that never should have started in the first place. “What are you eating?”
“French onion soup and chicken avocado club,” I respond.
“That sounds delicious. Can I have a bite?” Sin asks from my other side.
“For you… always.” I wink at my best friend. The waitress comes back by dropping off our appetizers and drinks. We order our meals and then we wait, it’s surprisingly quick how fast they bring our food out, given it’s the Christmas season and the slopes are packed outside.
“Give it a taste.” I shove the perfected ratio of mayochup toward Collins, waiting with bated breath for him to give it a try. I’ve been making this mixture since I was a child and know exactly what amount to mix to give the perfect dipping sauce.
I watch as he grabs a fry, dunking it in, then bringing it up to those perfectly plump lips.
“Final verdict?” I ask once he’s fully finished his bite.
“Eh. I didn’t hate it.” He shrugs and shock paints my features immediately.
“I’m kidding, Peppermint. It was delicious, I think this is my new favorite dipping sauce, but only if you make it.
” He winks casually at me before continuing to eat, and rather than focus on the flutter that happened in my lower belly at his wink, I dig into my food.
Lunch goes by with continued stories of snowboarding, bullying the guys into stopping back into the lodge shop, and then back to the cabins to rest before family dinner.