Chapter 24
HANNAH
Christmas Day, and I’m standing at the living room window, watching fat snowflakes drift down like a winter wonderland snow globe, and I smile so hard my face might actually crack.
This is my life now. This cozy, slightly chaotic life. The house is fully decorated, and I mean fully. Garlands wrapped around every single railing. Lights twinkling in every window because apparently the guys don’t believe in subtlety. Christmas music plays softly through the speakers.
Then there’s the smell. Oh my God. The entire place smells absolutely divine from the roasts the guys have been working on.
I made batches of snowflake- and reindeer-shaped shortbread cookies earlier, and they’re cooling on racks in the kitchen, dusted with powdered sugar and looking almost too pretty to eat.
Almost. I’ve already eaten three. Quality control is important.
Everything feels stupidly perfect. Cozy in a way that makes me suspicious the universe is setting me up for something terrible to balance it out. But I’m choosing to ignore my pessimistic tendencies and just enjoy this moment.
I’m officially moved in now. Fully, completely, all-my-stuff-is-here moved in with my three Alphas.
I have my own room for now until we work out the best sleeping arrangements, as I know the guys love when we’re all together for the big sex marathons, but having those one-on-one moments with each of them is unforgettable.
And it feels so right that it’s actually terrifying, which is probably something I should discuss with a therapist, except I’m too busy being deliriously happy. I’m also still riding this incredible high from yesterday’s phone call.
Giuseppe finally called after days of me checking my phone every five minutes like some kind of obsessed teenager waiting for a text from her crush. And he delivered news so good I literally screamed and scared Corn Dog, who was standing outside the window at the time.
The council was so impressed with the tree lighting ceremony that they offered him the five-year contract. Not just offered it, but specifically requested that I be the one coordinating all their major events going forward.
Little do they know I’m taking over the entire business.
So here I am, soon-to-be official owner of Confetti she’s thorough and apparently holds grudges.
I turn away from the window and take in my three Alphas scattered throughout the kitchen and dining room, and something warm and ridiculous blooms in my chest.
Chris is at the stove, basting what has to be a twenty-pound turkey with the kind of focused concentration usually reserved for defusing bombs. Kane is setting the dining table with an absurd number of plates and decorations. And Noel is chopping vegetables at the counter.
These men. My men. My world. My everything.
God, I’ve become one of those sickeningly-in-love people I used to mock. Past Hannah would be so disappointed in Present Hannah.
But Present Hannah doesn’t care even a little bit. I can’t imagine my life without them now.
I walk over to the kitchen, weaving between them. “Okay, what can I do to help? I’m feeling completely useless just standing around admiring the view.”
All three of them immediately stop what they’re doing and converge on me like I’ve activated some kind of Alpha homing beacon. It’s flattering how synchronized they are sometimes.
Chris wipes his hands on a towel and pulls me against his chest. Kane wraps around me from behind, his arms circling my waist. Noel moves in from the side, and suddenly I’m completely surrounded by heat and muscle and the intoxicating mix of their scents.
I might be slightly obsessed with being surrounded like this. I feel safe and cherished and absolutely adored in ways I never experienced before them.
“Just take it easy,” Chris murmurs against my hair. “You’ve been working nonstop for weeks. Let us handle everything for once.”
“But I want to help—”
“You can help by relaxing,” Kane interrupts, pressing a kiss to my neck. “Revolutionary concept for you, I know.”
“We adore you,” Chris says, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “But you need to learn to sit still occasionally.”
“Sitting still is for people who don’t have anxiety and perfectionist tendencies,” I inform him. “I’m an event coordinator. We don’t do still.”
“Today you do.”
I’m about to argue more when I realize I actually like standing here in their arms, surrounded by them, listening to Christmas music and smelling the amazing food they’re cooking for our friends and family.
Fine. I can relax. For a few minutes. Maybe.
“Actually,” I say, my voice coming out softer than intended. “Since you’re all here and I have your attention… I want to tell you something.”
They all go still immediately, giving me their undivided attention.
“I’m definitely, completely, stupidly, head-over-heels in love with all three of you.
” The words tumble out in a rush. “Like, so much that I might actually cry right now thinking about it, which is embarrassing because I’m not a crier.
I don’t know exactly when it happened, maybe gradually, maybe all at once like some kind of emotional ambush, but I’m so ridiculously in love with you that I get legitimately angry that we didn’t meet earlier so I could have had this amazing life sooner. ”
Silence for about three seconds.
Then Chris tilts my face up and kisses me so thoroughly that my knees actually wobble and I have to grab his shirt to stay upright.
When he breaks away, says, “I love you too. So much it actually scares me sometimes. Like, I didn’t know I was capable of feeling this much for another person until you showed up and turned my entire world upside down. ”
“I’m completely gone for you,” Kane adds. “Never thought I’d find that all-consuming, can’t-live-without-you love. But then you crashed into our lives.”
Noel cups my face with both hands. “You’re my everything. My love. My soul. My oxygen. The person I didn’t even know I was searching for until you were standing right in front of me. I love you more than I have words for, and I’m really good with words.”
Now I’m crying, tears streaming down my face while I’m grinning like a complete idiot.
“Actually,” Kane interrupts, exchanging loaded glances with the other two that immediately make me suspicious. “Since we’re declaring our love and getting all emotional and sappy, we want to give you your Christmas gift.”
I brighten immediately, my tears forgotten. “Oh! Yes! I’m excited and extremely curious. Also slightly scared based on the way you’re all looking at each other like you’re planning something.”
“Close your eyes,” Kane instructs.
I narrow my eyes at them. “What did you do?”
“Just do it, baby girl. Trust us.”
I shut my eyes, mostly because the curiosity is killing me. Hands guide me—one Alpha on each side, one behind me steering gently. I hear doors opening, footsteps on different surfaces, and then there’s this shift in temperature and air quality.
“Are we in the garage?”
“No peeking,” Chris warns.
“I’m not! My eyes are closed! I’m just using basic deductive reasoning and common sense!”
“Too smart for your own good,” Kane mutters, but I hear the smile in his voice.
“It’s one of my most charming qualities.”
We stop moving, and I feel all three men positioning themselves around me.
“Okay,” Noel states, and his hands are on my shoulders, steadying me. “Open your eyes.”
I follow their instructions, and my mouth falls open.
Sitting in the garage, gleaming under the overhead lights like something from a car commercial, is a gorgeous red Jeep Wrangler.
Not just any red, but a deep, rich, candy-apple red.
Black wheels and trim that make the red pop even more.
Tinted windows. And a huge red bow perched on the hood like something from a Christmas movie.
“Oh my God,” I breathe, my voice coming out embarrassingly squeaky. “What is that? Did you steal it? Are we about to be arrested?”
All three of them are grinning like they’ve just won the lottery.
“It’s your new car,” Chris says simply, like he’s announcing that we’re having pizza for dinner instead of gifting me an amazing new car. “You need something reliable if you’re living out here in the mountains. That Honda had to go.”
“In fact, we already got rid of it,” Kane adds way too cheerfully.
I spin around to stare at them, my mouth hanging open.
“Traded it in,” Noel says, completely unrepentant. “Got you this instead.” He holds up a set of keys, dangling them in front of me. “Merry Christmas.”
I’m frozen, shocked, smiling like crazy. “This is so perfect.”