Chapter 12
C+H
Harley
Luckily, the storm cleared up yesterday morning and now we sit around the kitchen table enjoying the breakfast spread that Nik and the guys prepped yesterday.
A copycat of the Hart family breakfast casserole, assorted fruits, and a plethora of other foods make their way around the table.
Bella has asked to open presents no less than ten times, she can’t help it but to be excited.
Everyone dons the matching pajamas with their families and partners.
Dom, Sin, and Nik were gifted Grinch pajama sets by Kodi—Dom has not shut up about the fact that Sin had to match him today.
Harley and I wear green flannel sets that are covered in cats wearing Santa hats.
Once everyone has finished eating, we’ve cleared the table and refilled our mugs of coffee or hot chocolate, photos have been taken in front of the tree, and now everyone has settled around the living area ready to open gifts.
Stu and Dale take up residence on each side of the tree, ready to collect paper and pass around gifts.
They get Bella and Hayden settled with a few first, their parents assisting them in beginning to pull off paper while we all watch as excitement spreads across their small faces.
I don’t think Hayden quite understands what’s happening, but the crinkling noise of the wrapping paper is enough to make him happy.
“Collins! This one’s from your girl!” Dom says, taking my meticulously wrapped gift from Dale and passing it to Collins, who sits behind me, arms wrapped around my middle.
He carefully unwraps the box before pulling out his brand-new mug.
He snorts as he takes in the Lord of the Cats: The Furrlowship of the Ring, each character turned into a cat.
“I love it.” He sets it down beside us, pulling my face to his and kissing me softly for a moment. It feels good to have his lips against mine again, and I don’t pull away—well, until someone coughs, interrupting our moment.
“I have something else to give you later as well,” I whisper under my breath, not looking away from him because I don’t think he’ll want the others to see this gift.
“Oh?” He quirks an eyebrow at me, drawing Sin’s attention from my side.
“Is it sexy?” She whispers.
“You shut your mouth. I’m still mad at you, so you don’t get to know.
” I smirk at her, and Collins is suddenly tense behind me, followed by a very hard and long length poking into my back.
I don’t acknowledge it aloud, but I do wriggle around a little bit, causing his grip to tighten on me in an attempt to keep me still.
The moment is broken by choked and uncontrollable laughter coming from Dominic. We all turn our heads, and sure enough, he’s holding a small note and the bottle of hot sauce I helped Sin pick out for him.
“This is perfect, thank you.” Dom directs toward Sin, sincerity lacing his tone as he speaks. Sin waves him off as if she doesn’t care what he thinks. One thing about my best friend is that she cares, and the way her cheeks have pinkened gives her away.
“This is for you,” Collins says, placing a medium-sized wrapped box in my lap.
I quickly unwrap it and open it to find some of my favorite treats inside, but also…
a skinny velvet box that causes my heart to squeeze and pick up speed in my chest. Quickly flipping the lid, I take in the silver necklace with a small locket attached to it—upon removing the locket, I open it to a photo of us on our first date at the drive-in.
Flipping it over, I see C+H is engraved on the back in his handwriting.
I run my fingers along the letters in awe.
“Wow,” it’s all I can say at first. I’ve never received such a beautiful gift from anyone, and my fake boyfriend putting this much effort into a gift for me solidifies the fact that I don’t want this to be fake.
I want Collins McKee to be mine. Truly and wholly mine.
There’s a lingering fear that this could end in disaster like it did with Benji though and that is what keeps me from pouring all of my feelings out at Collins’ feet.
“Collins, this is beautiful. Thank you.” I turn, smiling at him and placing a gentle kiss on his lips, “Help me put it on?”
He takes the necklace from me, and I turn back toward the room, all of my friends with soft smiles on their faces. Encouraging and supportive of seeing this relationship bloom.
After finishing gifts and enjoying dinner together, everyone heads their separate ways. Collins and I are slowly walking back to our cabin. We take in the snow around us, the silence of the mountains, and the stars so clear in the sky.
“Harley,” Collins stops us in the middle of the lawn.
“Yeah?” I ask, turning toward him.
“Thank you.” Collins wraps his arms around me as we continue to take in the night sky.
“For what?”
“Everything. Being present for me, truly embracing our relationship, and the mug.”
“Well, that’s what girlfriends are for, right?” I crane my head to smile at him, gently running my hand along the locket secured around my neck. “I still have something for you, and it’s freezing out here. Let’s get inside.”
Precious purrs happily as we step back into the cabin after leaving her alone all day. Collins gives her treats and a cat toy as her gift, while I grab the special gift for Collins from upstairs.
“So it’s not sexy, but I wanted this to be just a moment for you.” I smile at him as I settle in next to him on the couch.
Collins takes the box from me, gently unwrapping the paper and pulling the gift from its bubble wrap.
I wring my hands as I wait for his reaction.
Maybe I overstepped, maybe this isn’t something that he wants, maybe I should have just gotten him socks or something.
Then he sniffles, looking up at me with watery eyes.
“Harley, I don’t know what to say.” He continues to take in the suncatcher with a photo of him and Jordan from a hockey game that I found in his apartment imprinted into the glass. It’s engraved with the words “Look for me in the sunshine for I am always with you.”
Collins continues to run his fingers over the photo, an occasional tear being wiped from his eyes. I let him soak it in. I let him grieve. I don’t try to talk to him. I know when he’s ready, he’ll turn his attention back to me.
“This was so thoughtful. I know that typically people say thank you for gifts, but that doesn’t encompass the appreciation that I feel for you… And this right now.” He says, carefully wrapping the suncatcher back up and sliding it into the box again before setting it onto the coffee table.
“You don’t have to have the words. Thank you is enough.” I smile softly at him.
“Where do you think I should put it?” He asks, opening his arms for me to slide into.
“I was thinking on the back porch. You get such good sunlight back there, it’ll probably reflect the colors perfectly at sunset.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too. We’ll have to test it out when we get back.” He says into my hair. We. Will there be a we when we get back? I mean, we did say that we needed to make it last through the holidays for our friends to believe it.
“Yeah, we will. Want to watch the Grinch before bed?”
“Let’s do it.”
I don’t last the whole movie, and I feel my body lifted off the couch and set into the bed. A blanket pulled over me before I feel Collins settle in behind me, placing a gentle kiss on my head before whispering into my hair, “This is the best Christmas I’ve had in a while. Thanks to you.”
I’m not sure if these are words that were meant for me to hear, but my heart swells with pride at the words.
We begin our trek back to Florida tomorrow morning, so as a last hurrah we’ve gathered around the fire pit for the evening. Taking it easy but still making the best of our time together. Two people were sent to get more wood from the side of the main cabin and haven’t made it back yet.
Harley
Ma’am. You can’t bail on our last night in the mountains.
Much to my surprise, ten minutes later and she hasn’t responded.
“I’m going to go check on them,” I murmur to Collins so no one follows me away from the fire, and everyone seems pretty distracted by their conversations anyway.
“Okay.” Collins kisses my cheek before I remove myself from between his legs.
“Be right back.”
It’s not a far walk from the main cabin’s patio to the small shed that’s hidden around the corner but you can feel the temperature drop, the farther you get from the fire.
The fire, along with the string lights, gives off enough light to lead the way. Right before I turn the corner, I hear a deep, male groan and, “Sin, stop torturing me like this. Stop hiding from me.”
“I’m not hiding, I told you it’s not happening again.” My best friend’s voice whispers into the night, strained with what I can only imagine is want.
Those ten words have me stopping in my tracks, wondering what I’m about to walk into. My nosiness gets the better of me, sending me scurrying around the corner. I’ve seen Sinclair in some pretty compromised positions before, so this won’t be the first time or even probably the last.
Holy shit. I have so many questions.
None other than Dominic Montez has my best friend pinned against the side of the cabin, one hand buried in her fiery, red hair and the other gripping her waist. They must not have heard me approach because they are deep in a stare-off.
Neither is speaking, and both of their chests are rising and falling rapidly.
I clear my throat loud enough to break the spell, which sends Dominic jumping back, falling onto his ass in the snow. Sin’s mouth drops open in shock, cheeks flamed red, and her hand quickly runs over her body and hair to smooth out the wrinkles.
“Um… We were just getting worried… And you weren’t answering your phone.” I defend why I was standing here like a Peeping Tom. “But… I can see I was interrupting something.”
“No–” Sin starts, but I cut her off with my hand.
“We can talk about this later. And we will talk about this later.” I pin my best friend with a stern stare, and she just nods as if she just got chewed out by her mother for missing curfew.
“For now, you get off the ground,” I gesture toward Dom, who’s still sitting, ass in the snow. He quickly stands, wiping the snow off of his body before I continue, “Let’s get these logs back.”
Dom hurries toward the shed door, pulling it open as I walk directly beside Sin, whisper-shouting, “What the fuck, Sin!?”
“I promise it’s not what it looks like.” Her words were short and contrite.
“I don’t buy it.” I'm echoing her words from a few weeks ago back to her.
“Well, it’s a good thing I’m not selling then.” She volleys back.
“Mhmm.” I hum, choosing to leave it alone for now. However, she’s not going to pretend this didn’t happen. Not with me, at least.