Chapter Thirteen – Noelle #3
I also didn’t use enough candy. The red and green bits that Miranda used to line her roof I used sparingly. Don’t ask me what I was saving all the candy for. There’s no rhyme or reason to what I did, and as we all stand back and study our gingerbread houses, I can’t help but laugh at mine.
“Wow, mine is so bad,” I say. “Who knew it actually takes some talent to make a good-looking gingerbread house?”
“Oh,” Nico starts, setting his hands on his sides as he cocks his head and stares at my house, “yours doesn’t look too, uh…
” That uh lasts and lasts, and he even takes a deep breath and then keeps that uh going, like he’s desperately trying to search his mind for a way to compliment me and my work without totally lying to my face, and since he can’t figure out the right word to say, that uh is everlasting.
“You going to finish that sentence,” Felix says, “or keep standing there trying to catch a fly with that open mouth?”
Nico clicks his tongue and shuts his mouth as he tosses a dirty look at his twin. “I was trying to be nice, you know, compliment our omega and her… amazing skills—” His voice gives it away. He does not, in fact, think I have amazing skills.
“It looks like shit,” Matteo states, causing the twins to glare at him and Miranda to bust out laughing. He then realizes he insulted my work, and he gives me a sheepish look—something very unlike him—and he adds, “I mean, it looks… good. Very good.”
Miranda says, “Nice catch, but a little too late in the game to make a difference.”
I shrug and grin. “I know it’s bad, but I had fun. That’s all that matters, right?” I look to the guys, waiting for them to agree with me, but it’s clear that, as they exchange looks, they’re still more focused on having the best house.
“Yeah,” Nico deadpans, “you keep telling yourself that. Having fun is all that matters.”
I look between everyone. “So, do we vote now, or…”
“Are you kidding? Now we need to step away, let it simmer,” Nico says as he comes to me and hooks his arm through mine.
“Somebody grab the extra candy. Time to get hopped up on sugar while we watch those creepy claymation movies.” He brings me out of the kitchen, to the living room, where he sits down with me.
I know exactly what movies he’s talking about, and I actually take offense to that.
“Hey, I like those movies,” I tell him. What I don’t say is that I try to watch said movies multiple times every December.
Yeah, I love them that much. They might be old, they might have some iffy songs with some even iffier lyrics, but I still love them.
“I know, Miranda told us,” he says with a grin. “That’s why we’re watching them—to make you happy.”
“After you insulted my poor gingerbread house.” I mock pout, and the moment I pucker my lips, the alpha beside me melts. Literally, his shoulders slump and he leans over me, wrapping his arms around me as he buried his nose in my hair.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “But there’s always next year. I mean, if you want to join the ranks of the elite, you’re gonna have to do better than that.”
I playfully elbow him on his side, causing him to chuckle.
Nico kisses my cheek. “Don’t worry, you’ll get better. It’ll take some hard work, years and years of blood, sweat, and tears, but you’ll get there.”
As the others join us, I can only roll my eyes at his ridiculousness.
The extra candy is in bowls, which are brought to the small table before the couch, where we arrange ourselves as Miranda puts on the first movie.
I’m not mad at Nico making fun of me or my attempt at a gingerbread house.
I know I’m not good at it. They’ve had their whole lives to practice doing this every year.
Since I’m now part of their pack, I’ll have the opportunity to get better, and once I do, I’ve no doubt I’ll join their ranks as a master gingerbread house-maker.
Or whatever they call themselves.
You can tell which candy is everyone’s favorite by who claims what bowl.
Felix likes the small red and green cinnamon hard candies, while Miranda goes for the licorice and the gumdrops.
Nico is a fan of the chocolate bits, and Matteo likes the extra rainbow chews. I go for a little bit of everything.
Sitting there, the five of us, feels totally normal. If this is what my future holds, I’m ready for it. Beyond ready.
Hours go by, and we run through the claymation movies quickly, along with our sugar high. The movies aren’t that long, and the candy doesn’t even last until dinner. Matteo gets up to throw two frozen pizzas into the oven after a while, and we switch over to the cartoon movies.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Miranda told me they play board games and totally unplug from their phones. I’m not very good at board games, but I look forward to giving them a try.
After dinner, it’s maybe eight or so in the evening when Miranda excuses herself.
She fakes a yawn and stretches, saying, “I guess I’ll head upstairs.
” She walks over her brothers’ outstretched legs, and only once she’s in the free and clear, she tosses us all a certain look.
“If you’re going to… you know, do the nasty and stuff, all I ask is you don’t do it on the couch.
Keep in the bedroom, okay? At least then the smells will mostly stay there and not fill the entire house.
” Then she gives us a pearly white smile and bounces off to her room upstairs.
Felix has his arm around me, and I’m snuggled into his side. Miranda’s words did make me blush, as silly as it is.
Nico quips, “As if. We’re not animals. We can control ourselves…” He sits on the other side of Matteo, who’s on my left, and he leans forward to get a good, long look at me. “Although, now that Miranda is gone, suddenly I am feeling a little frisky.”
“Keep your hands to yourself,” Matteo mutters.
I smile. “You know, not to change the subject, but… since I didn’t know you guys would be here, I didn’t get you anything for Christmas.
” I brought Miranda something small, along with some chocolate for her parents, but that’s it.
If I would’ve known, I would’ve gotten them at least a little something.
It’ll be a sad Christmas without presents.
The guys exchange looks. It’s Felix who says, “We didn’t know you’d be here, either. We only have what we got Miranda and our parents—”
“And call me crazy, but I don’t think you’d like a backlit mirror for your desk at home,” Nico says. “That is, unless you would like a backlit mirror for your desk at home, in which case forget I said anything and pretend you don’t see Miranda’s crossed-off name when I give it to you.”
The idea that the guys would give me whatever they got Miranda is kind of funny, but no, I don’t want whatever gifts they got for her. As cheesy as it may be, I’m okay with nothing—I hope they are, too.
“It might sound stupid, but,” I pause as I try to find the right words to say, “I don’t need any presents. I have you three now. You’re better than any present in the world.” Gosh, it sounds so cheesy, but I mean every word of it.
The guys all reach for me at the same time.
Nico has to lean around Matteo to reach me, but he manages.
All three of them place a hand on me; Felix took my hand in his, while Matteo touches my arm and Nico sets a hand on my knee.
Their warmth floods me instantly. It’s a feeling I never want to disappear.
“Same here,” Felix says, his voice so gentle it washes over me like smooth honey. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted, Noelle.”
Matteo nods along with him. “You’re everything to us. Nothing in the world could compare.”
“What they said, only better.” When Nico receives two unimpressed looks, he shrugs. “What? I’m not very good at this stuff. When I’m with you, it’s hard for me to think straight. You know I… screw it. I think we’re all dancing around it, so I’m just going to say it.”
And then he says it, and my world changes all over again.