37. William
37
WILLIAM
I didn’t want to let Kristin out of my arms. Not after I fucked her on the floor. Not after I made love to her in my bed.
Not after I ate her pussy before breakfast.
Not after she dropped to her knees and returned the favor in the shower.
Damn, I’d never get enough of her.
Still, I had some business to attend to that took me out of town until Christmas. As much as I didn’t want her going back to the inn, Kristin had to get to work.
I called her every morning to wish her a good day, and again at night to see how she was doing. I made a point to text Logan and Kylie every day to see if they needed anything since they were home alone while Kristin worked.
Only Kylie responded, telling me they were fine, but that she would let me know if something came up.
Christmas morning came around with blustering thirty-degree winds and bone-chilling rain. The drive to Havelock was miserable. My windshield wipers battled the downpour as I pulled off Highway 70, onto the road leading to Kristin’s neighborhood .
Bumpy pavement rocked the truck cab, causing the pile of presents sitting in my back seat to shuffle. I peered over my shoulder to check on them. All good . I wasn’t above using a little bribery to win the kids over again.
It worked the first time.
Kristin didn’t like the idea of the kids being alone most of the day while on break, so I suggested the five of them stay at my place. Her work schedule was lighter, and I didn’t have any travel plans until the new year.
The only potential roadblock was the kids’ willingness to let me back in their lives.
I slowed to a stop at a red light and sent a text to Kristin, letting her know that I was almost there. This was either going to be a great surprise, or a disaster or epic proportions.
All the lights in Kristin’s single-wide were on and the smell of bacon, cinnamon, and coffee wafted outside. My stomach growled at the scent.
Coffee seemed like a good idea. I had been up until the witching hour wrapping presents. The five o’clock wakeup call was less than optimum, but that’s when Kristin said Zoey usually bolted out of her room, ready to see what Santa brought.
Judging from the bustling activity inside, she was right.
I pulled my ball cap a little lower to shield my eyes from the rain and grabbed the big cardboard box filled with presents. Before I could knock, the door flung open. Zoey nearly knocked me on my ass when she tackled me, wrapping her arms around my knees.
“I knew it! I knew you’d come!” she shrieked.
I looked up at Kristin in sheer terror. She stifled a laugh.
Zoey—nearly hyperventilating and positively delirious with excitement—squealed again. “I asked Santa for you to come back for Christmas, and you did! I just knew it!”
Holy shit. This kid …
Kristin’s jaw dropped before she mouthed, “I didn’t know about that.” She pressed her fingers to her lips and shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes.
I set the box of presents inside and wrapped Zoey up in a bear hug. “Merry Christmas, Zo.”
She clung to me for dear life. Her fingers dug into my shirt, and she seemingly didn’t plan to let go. Ever.
I picked her up and shut the door behind me. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart,” I said, leaning down to kiss Kristin. The faint flavor of vanilla icing lingered on her lips, so I went back for seconds. Zoey giggled and covered her eyes.
“We made cim-a-nim rolls!” Zoey shouted.
“ Cinnamon rolls, Zo,” Kristin corrected.
With sticky fingers, Zoey smushed my cheeks into a duck face. She gave me a hard stare, her little eyebrows drawing together. “This is very important. Do. You. Like. Cim-a-nim rolls. ”
“Yush,” I said. It was the best I could do with my jaw held hostage.
Zoey’s smile was ear-to-ear. “Yay! You can sit b’side me!”
On that note, she wiggled out of my arms to claim our spots at the table.
With my hands free, I grabbed Kristin by the waist and hauled her in for a kiss that was not PG-13. I threaded my fingers through the back of her hair and tugged her head back, sweeping my tongue into her mouth.
“Get a room!” Hunter groaned, covering his eyes.
Kylie walked in behind him, sneaking a peek, then turning her back to give us a little privacy.
Kristin laughed as she pulled away. “That was some Christmas wish.”
“Your wish was for me to kiss you?”
She nodded .
I leaned in again, closing the space between us. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”
Before I could kiss her again, Logan walked in the kitchen and cleared his throat.
I pecked Kristin’s forehead instead. “What can I help with?”
Somehow, Kristin managed to corral all the kids to the table before they tackled the pile of presents under the tree.
She had filled me in on how the poker club spoiled the shit out of the kids for Christmas. It was one of the few things she let them get away with. Even if she told them not to, I was sure they’d find a way to make an epic Christmas happen.
Lord knows I would.
In one hand, I carried a platter filled to the brim with hot cinnamon rolls. A plate of bacon was in the other. Kristin put a bowl of scrambled eggs in the middle of the table, then went to work filling mugs of coffee for Logan and Kylie, and hot chocolate for Hunter and Zoey.
I told her to sit while I poured two more mugs for the two of us.
The kids ravaged the spread like wild animals. In seconds their plates were clean, and they were eyeing the Christmas tree like it might disappear if they didn’t get to it fast enough.
“Alright,” Kristin said, leisurely sipping her coffee. “You know the drill. Y’all have clean-up duty before any presents get opened. Hop to it.”
She didn’t have to tell them twice.
Kristin had already folded up the sofa bed, so I sat with her on the couch while the kids cleared the table and scrubbed dishes.
“Have you talked to them about staying with me yet?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I figured it might go over a little better if you asked.”
I liked that idea. I didn’t want them to think Kristin was forcing them to hang out with her boyfriend while she worked. They needed to know that I wanted them just as much as I wanted her .
“You know,” I said as I stole a sip out of her mug. “This is the first Christmas in a long time that’s felt like home.”
She leaned into me, so I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her into my side.
“What do you usually do for Christmas?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Sleep in. My foster parents don’t live too far from here, so I usually pop in sometime during the day to visit them. We’re not as close as we used to be. They’re getting up there in age, and they have their own kids and grandkids to spend the holiday with. At night I usually down a few beers and watch a movie or something.”
Kristin looked over her shoulder at the tornado of activity happening in the little kitchen. “You sure you’re ready for a lot of holidays like this? Messy and loud?”
I grinned and tilted her chin up. “Life is supposed to be messy.”
Kristin leaned in to kiss me at the very moment Hunter launched himself over the back of the couch, plopping down on the other side of her.
She laughed as our noses collided into each other. “Are you ready to be interrupted all the time?”
My smile grew wider. “I can be creative when I need to be.” I leaned in and whispered, “Some people have even called me a genius. ”
She laid her palm on my cheek and kissed me.
“PDA time is up!” Kylie said, clapping her hands. She grabbed a red velvet Santa hat off the coat hook by the door and tossed it to me. “Kris usually passes out the presents, but you should do it this year!”
I mean, I wasn’t opposed to seeing Kris bend over to pick up boxes and bags. Her ass looked fantastic in those little plaid pajama shorts. But I played along and pulled the Santa hat on.
If Kylie wanted to include me in their traditions, there was no way in hell I was saying no .
“Ho, ho, ho!” I chuckled, then quickly worked to distribute the presents. Luckily, Kristin already had them organized by kid. The pile under the tree emptied, and the stacks in front of each one of the kids grew. Finally, I handed out the gifts I brought.
“You got us presents too? Cool!” Hunter said, eyes wide as I passed him a heavy square box. It didn’t take a genius to know that it was filled with books.
Kylie gave me a shy smile when I handed her a small gift bag. It wasn’t as large as the other presents, but she was growing up and would appreciate some nice jewelry. I got Hannah Jane’s opinion on the pieces before I bought them, so I knew it was sure to please.
I caught Kristin’s eye before I sat down, and she gave me a subtle nod.
“Before y’all go crazy,” she said, stopping them from the present opening frenzy. “Let’s talk about Christmas break.”
Four simultaneous groans arose. Telling them to wait was like trying to stop a racehorse that was ready to blast out of the gate. I decided to make it quick and put them out of their misery.
I cleared my throat. “I’d like y’all to spend your break at my house in New Bern.”
The range of emotions was all over the place. Zoey and Hunter looked absolutely thrilled. Kylie was curious, and Logan looked downright pissed.
Kylie cut her eyes between Kristin and me. “Are you not working at the inn?”
“No, I’m on the schedule, but it’s lighter since we don’t have a lot of reservations right now. Will and I thought maybe it would be fun for you guys to have a change of scenery, and this way you won’t be on top of each other.”
“And he’s in charge of us?” Logan said with a raised eyebrow.
I rested my elbows on my knees and opened my hands. “That’s why it’s up to you. While Kris is at work, it’ll just be the five of us. ”
Kristin waited tensely for the verdict. She chewed on her nail the way she always did when she was nervous about something.
I tried to appear as relaxed as possible, leaning back and draping my arm across the couch behind Kristin. Truthfully, I was nervous as hell, too.
Kristin was right. I couldn’t force this.
“Can we bring our presents with us?” Hunter asked.
I chuckled. “Of course. And I might have a big pile of presents back home that still need to be opened, so…”
“ More presents?! ” Zoey’s shriek nearly made the lightbulbs shatter.
Kylie, Hunter, and Zoey enthusiastically agreed at once, but Logan said nothing.
“Lo?” I asked. What do you want to do?”
He shrugged, avoiding my eyes. “That’s fine.”
The kids resumed tearing into their presents, and I mentally flogged myself for screwing things up so badly.
Through the flurry of wrapping paper and gift bags, Kristin reached over and slipped her hand into mine. “Hey,” she said softly. “I’ll talk to him.”
I shook my head. “No, this is on me… I need him to trust me because he feels like he can, not because you tell him he should.”
Christmas and Boxing Day passed quickly. After the marathon of unwrapping presents, packing their bags, then unpacking at my house and unwrapping more presents, the kids seemed to have finally settled into a routine.
I made sure to wake up before Kristin so I could warm her car up and hand her a cup of coffee before she drove to Beaufort. I always assured her that I’d only let the kids run with sharp scissors—that way puncture wounds would be clean .
Kristin always shook her head and flashed her middle finger when I cracked jokes like that. She could roll her eyes all she wanted, but it wouldn’t hide the little smile that tugged at her lips.
The sun wasn’t even up yet when I came back inside from walking her out to her car. It surprised me to find Logan helping himself to the coffee in the pot.
“Morning,” I said, closing the front door softly so I wouldn’t wake the rest of the house.
It had been two days of him avoiding me, and me doing my best to not make things awkward. I didn’t want to rush him into accepting my presence in their lives, but I was getting antsy.
For a grown man, I should have had more patience. But it was hard to tap into my self-control when all I wanted was to make life-altering moves.
Logan didn’t say anything as he filled his mug, so I decided to fill the silence. “Sleep okay?”
He grunted. “Yeah.”
I looked at the time. Zoey would probably be the first to wake up, but even she would sleep for a few more hours.
“Figured maybe you couldn’t sleep,” I said as I grabbed a bagel out of the bread box. I held the bag up, offering him one.
Logan shook his head.
“Hell, when I was your age, I’d sleep until noon if I could,” I said, returning to the fridge for a carton of cream cheese.
“It’s quiet here,” he finally said. “At the trailer park, there’s always noise. If it’s not stuff goin’ on inside the house, it’s shit happening outside. People gettin’ in fights, cars going by...” He blew on the coffee before taking a cautious sip. “I guess I’m used to sleeping through the noise.”
“Quiet makes you nervous?”
He shrugged again.
“I get it,” I said. “Probably makes all the little things seem bigger than they really are. ”
“I guess.”
We stood around the kitchen in companionable silence. Logan drank his coffee while I ate my bagel. Not quite a truce, but a cease-fire at least. I could work with that.
“Anything on your mind?” I asked as I wiped the crumbs, poppyseeds, and sesame seeds off the countertop and into the sink.
Logan eyed me cautiously, as if he was trying to figure out my angle.
“Maybe you want to talk about what went down between me and your sister a few weeks ago? I’m an open book, Lo. I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
“Why’d you lie to her?” he asked, staring hard at the floor. His question stung, but the look on his face spoke to the pain it caused him. “To all of us.”
I leaned against the kitchen island, facing him. Mimicking his posture, I leaned back and crossed my arms. “Sometimes love makes you brave, and sometimes it makes you stupid.” I looked down at the floor, paused, then back to him. “I fell in love with Kristin faster than I thought was humanly possible. And I was scared that being up front about who I was would make me lose her.”
“But you did lose her,” he said with an edge to his words.
“Yeah, I did. And it hurt like fucking hell.”
He smirked. Apparently, the best way to gain favor with him was to drop a solid four-letter word behind his sister’s back.
“Like I said, sometimes love makes you brave, and sometimes it makes you stupid. Watching Kristin walk away hurt more than anything I’d ever felt before. I knew that if I didn’t do whatever it took to win her back, I’d live with that hurt for the rest of my life.”
“So, it made you brave enough to…” His voice trailed off.
“To tell her I was wrong. To be a better man. The night she came over here to give me a piece of her mind, I knew she was pissed. She had every right to be. But all I could think was that I had a shot to make things right, and I was going to do whatever it took.”
“You really love her, don’t you?” he asked quietly.
I nodded. “That’s never changed.” I motioned for him to follow me to my office and was thankful when he did.
Logan paused at the door and squinted. The black-out curtains were drawn, bathing the room in nothing but utter darkness.
“It’s like a dungeon in here,” he said.
That made me laugh. “Kris thinks so, too.”
I pawed around until I found the desk lamp, and pulled the chain to turn it on. I ignored the pile of crap on my desk, and instead, opened the thin middle drawer.
Ring box in hand, we walked back into the living room. Logan sat on one end of the couch, and I took the other, leaving some space between us. I opened the ring box and passed it over to him.
His eyes widened. “You were gonna ask her to marry you?”
“The night of the party at the inn,” I said, shaking my head. “In a weird way, I’m glad things blew up before I did. I shouldn’t have proposed without telling her everything—which I have, by the way. But I especially shouldn’t have proposed without talking to you about it first. It would’ve been a big change for y’all.”
“You don’t need my permission,” he said, staring blankly at the ring.
“You’re right, I don’t. But I respect you, Logan. I’m going to propose to Kristin, but I will give you time if you need it.”
He handed the box back. “She’s gonna really like that ring.”
“Does that mean you’re gonna help me plan a better proposal?”
“You should probably talk to Kylie about that. She’s into all that romance shit.”
I chuckled. “One day you’ll get what the big deal is.”
Logan cracked a slight smile. “I think it’d be pretty cool to have a billionaire as a brother-in-law. ”
That made me throw my head back and laugh. “C’mon, I have something to show you.”
I put my house slippers on, offering Logan a pair and then ignoring the crack that he made about me being old. I led him out to the garage and padded into the chilly space.
He jumped when his bare feet hit the frozen concrete, and I smirked. Should have listened to his elders.
“Grab that side, will you?” I said, pointing to the far end of the tarp that covered a car.
Logan grabbed the elastic edge that tapered around the bottom and pulled it up. His eyes went wide. “Whoa…”
The cherry red ‘73 Corvette Stingray I found online was beautiful, but it didn’t run for shit. It was in good condition though, and I bought it from the guy at a steal.
I balled up the cover and set it in the corner. “What do you think?”
Logan let out a slow whistle as he ran his hand across the fender. “She’s sexy as hell.”
“It’s gonna need a lot of work,” I said as I reached inside and pulled the keys out from between the roof and the sun visor. “What do you think? You willing to help me get her running?”
“I don’t know much about cars,” he admitted.
“That’s okay,” I shrugged, bumping my foot against the tire rim. Truthfully, I didn’t know much about them either, even though I told Kristin I could tinker with hers the day it broke down at the inn. Cars were never really my thing, but you could learn anything on the internet.
This little project was Isaac’s brainchild. He mentioned that Logan wanted to get a job and have some independence, but Kristin shot down Isaac’s offer to buy the kid a car.
She would probably still have a conniption about it considering I didn’t run it by her first, but I was willing to take the risk .
Logan looked up at me, eyes filled with excitement. “When can we start?”
“We can start now.” I tossed him the keys. “Once it passes the state inspection, it’s yours.”