Chapter 17 #2
Home Alone plays, and my dad snores loudly in his recliner, just like he does every year after all the Christmas shit is over.
Tucker and Easton left a few minutes ago.
And my mom is working on knitting something in the corner because she’s suddenly decided in the past few weeks, she’s a knitter.
I’d tease her about it, but this is what she always does.
She’s constantly finding a new hobby that she wants to start.
Some she’s good at, and others … not so much.
Tonight, my family got to see the playful side of Stella that I had gotten to see on the day we went to the tree farm.
She let her guard down, and she genuinely smiled.
But now, she’s exhausted. I’ve been watching her fight sleep for the past twenty minutes, and her eyes finally flutter shut.
Within a few seconds, she’s out like a light with Marlin curled up beside her.
With Riley across from me, he stirs slightly, sitting up a bit, and I can sense instantly that he’s going to say something.
“You should give her a ride home,” he drawls, leaning forward, shrugging his shoulders. “You’re my big brother, and I’ve never seen you give a shit about what a girl is doing.” He jerks his chin toward where Stella sleeps. “With her though, you care.”
My eyes shift from him to her before moving back to him. “I hardly know her,” I huff out, trying to play it off like he’s not right. Like this girl hasn’t consumed my every fucking thought after I spent one night with her. “She could still be here to fuck with us, you know.”
“Yeah, okay.” He shakes his head, standing up. “We both know that isn’t true. But either way, I’m headed out. Merry Christmas, you grumpy fucker.”
My mom comes out from the kitchen. “Are you taking off, Ry?” And when he nods, she walks toward him, wrapping her arms around his body. “Merry Christmas, babe. I love you.”
“Love you too. Thanks for everything.” He hugs her back. “As usual, you made Christmas great for all of us. Even if we are grown-ass men.”
“Well, you could be sixty, but you all will still be my babies.” She gives him one last squeeze before stepping back. “Get home safe, babe. That storm left a damn mess.”
He salutes her before heading out to drive himself the whopping quarter of a mile he has to go. But still, she worries, I’m sure.
My dad snores so loud that he startles himself awake, and my mom looks at me and giggles before she walks over to him and pats his shoulder.
“Time to go to bed, love.”
Groggily, he stands up and holds his hand up to me. “Merry Christmas, Ridge.” He yawns and leans in to kiss my mom. “I’ll be in bed, waiting for my Christmas present.”
She swats at his chest but blushes, and I grimace.
“That’s just gross,” I grumble, pushing myself from the couch. “Think I’ll head out too.”
My mom and I both look down at Stella, and I run my hand over the top of my head.
“I’ll get her.” I shrug. “Night. Love you.”
After hugging me tightly and turning off the TV, she heads off to bed, but not without Marlin hot on her heels.
She smiles down at him, then looks back at me. “Can my grandboy stay the night? It’s Christmas.”
“Go ahead. He farts all night, so you have at it.” I chuckle, and within seconds, she’s walking down the hallway with him right beside her.
That dog loves two things in life: sleeping and eating. And I’m honestly not sure which one he loves more.
Once everyone is gone, I stare nervously down at Stella, not wanting to make her feel awkward when I lift her up to take her out to the car.
She’s so pretty this way. Sound asleep and seeming peaceful. Her skin is almost porcelain, and her lips are a deep pink. But even though she’s beautiful right now, there’s just something about her mouthy lips that makes me love them more when she’s awake.
Kneeling down, I slide my arm behind her and lift her into my arms before standing. She stays asleep, nudging her cheek against mine, but the farther I walk, the more she stirs. When I reach the mudroom, her eyes flutter open, and she looks around, disoriented.
“Did I fall asleep?” she whispers.
Grinning, I nod. “You did. You and my dad.” I wink. “Only one of you snored.”
Her eyes widen, and I chuckle.
“Don’t worry, Fireball. It was my dad.”
Now that she’s awake, I gently set her down on the bench next to the door and grab her shoes, smiling when I see she wore the deck boots I got her. One by one, I pull them slowly onto her feet, feeling my heartbeat pick up when I graze her leg on accident.
I stand up and pull on my own boots before tugging on my sweatshirt. When I grab her coat from the rack, her hand takes mine.
“Thank you, Ridge.”
“For what?” I practically rasp, staring into her hazel eyes.
“For letting me stay when you could have made me leave.” Tears well in her eyes. “This is the first real Christmas I’ve ever been a part of. And even though I didn’t really deserve to be here, I’m so glad I was.”
I sink down onto my heels and run the pad of my thumb against her soft cheek. She’s not hiding behind a tough-girl act right now. She’s letting me see her, down to her core, on what is probably the worst day of the year for her.
“I was happy to have you here, Fireball,” I whisper, my heart breaking inside of my chest when a lone tear rolls down her face. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” She smiles sadly.
I’m so fucking conflicted on what to do right now. Because even though I hate the thought of her being alone tonight, I don’t want to complicate shit between us even more before she goes home. Especially if she doesn’t want me to.
“Well, I guess I’ll get you home,” I say, halfway hoping she’ll tell me she wants to stay with me.
“That would be great,” she says.
I try to hide the disappointment on my face as I slowly push myself to stand and take her hand, helping her up along with me.
Sometimes, I think bad things happen for a good reason.
Like the universe knows that in order to make shit go good, some things have to go south.
And I believe it more than ever because, right now, Stella and I just found out that a tree had come down on the roof of the Jacobs’ house while she was at my parents’ house.
It may suck for them because this is their house and it’s pretty damn nice—or was—but for me, it means Stella needs a place to stay because the roof now has a hole in it.
Bad for them. Good for me.
Even though she drives me fucking insane sometimes and I’m not sure I can fully trust the girl, I also can’t shake the feeling that I need a little more time with her before she leaves. Just one more night to get her the hell out of my system.
I follow her through the house, holding my phone out, using it as a flashlight, as she gathers her stuff.
She’s frazzled—I don’t know how she wouldn’t be after the past few days’ events.
First, she got stuck in Maine, then had to drive home with me and Riley through a goddamn blizzard, and now, she has to rush through this house to collect her shit while the wind blows through.
She drags a hand over the top of her hair, looking around as her brows knit together with concern.
“Hey,” I say, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We can come back tomorrow to make sure you didn’t miss anything. It’ll be light out and easier to see.” I give her shoulder a slight rub with my hand in attempt to settle her. “Let’s get out of here though, in case another tree comes down.”
Sighing, she turns toward me. “Okay,” she whispers.
I take her hand in mine and lead us back outside. The snow has finally stopped for the first time since yesterday morning, but the wind is still whipping around, blowing snow everywhere and making it impossible to see.
Heading for my truck, I go to the passenger side and feel around until my hand is on the door and pull it open. I help her get situated and close her in the warmth before throwing her bag into the back seat and jogging around to the driver’s side.
Putting the truck in drive, I don’t take off just yet, glancing over at her. Her hazel eyes are wide, and her face is pale.
“Hey,” I say softly, putting my hand on hers. “You okay?”
Her eyes fly to my hand before slowly lifting to mine, and she nods weakly. “Yeah.” She bobs her head up and down and gives me a tiny smile. “I am now. Thank you, Ridge. You just keep saving me.” She swallows anxiously. “Are you sure it’s okay I stay with you?”
“It’ll cost you,” I drawl, but when her eyes widen, I chuckle and lift my hand to her chin, brushing it. “Relax, Fireball. I’m only jokin’.”
But as I drop my hand from her face and turn my attention toward the road, I shift around in my seat as my cock swells. Because it doesn’t matter that I fucked my hand in the shower this morning. My dick is already hardening when I think about being alone with her for an entire night.