Chapter 32
We all fill our plates in the kitchen and carry them to the living room, where someone’s boxed up the game and set it aside. Felix and Jasper take the chairs, Nick and Rudy sit on either end of the couch, and I fill the spot between them.
The food turned out great, and the potatoes are especially delicious. As we eat, Nick suggests we tell each other about our favorite Christmases.
After thinking for a moment, Rudy says, “Our parents took us skiing one year when we were in our teens. That was a lot of fun. We learned how to snowboard, too.”
“I’d like to try that sometime,” Felix says.
“Once you get the hang of it, it’s amazing,” Rudy says, with Nick nodding to back him up.
“My favorite is when I was nine,” Felix says, looking to Jasper. “You were ten. Our mom or dad must have gotten a huge bonus that year, because the tree was overflowing with gifts. Remember that?”
Jasper nods. “Yeah, that was my favorite, too, but they’ve all been pretty good.”
When they all look to me, I swallow the food I was chewing. “Maybe it’s weird, but no particular Christmas stands out. I’ve had a lot of good ones, too. This one is definitely turning out much better than I expected.”
All four of them grin at me, and Nick puts his arm around me. “Me too. In fact, this one might be my favorite.” He gives me a quick kiss, and I’m pleased when Jasper and Felix don’t seem bothered.
When we’re done eating, we all clean up together, then Nick announces that he brought whiskey, and asks if anyone would like an Irish coffee.
Jasper pulls me aside and gives me a kiss. “Maybe Felix and I should get going.”
“Do you have to leave? I want you to stay.”
He caresses my arm, looking conflicted and deep in thought for a moment. “We should give you up, so you can be with the Frosts,” he says finally. “But selfishly, I can’t bring myself to do it.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him closer. “Good, because I don’t want you to. I can’t bear to be without you … any of you.”
He kisses me, long and tender, and when he pulls away, Felix is beside us.
I look between the two of them. “Please stay.”
Felix slides his arm around my waist, hugs me to his side, and kisses my forehead. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“We’ll all have a coffee,” Jasper calls across the kitchen to Nick.
Nick holds out the bottle of whiskey. “Anyone want a shot while the coffee brews?”
I decline, but the men all do one after tapping their glasses together in a little toast.
When Nick and Felix decide to have another, Rudy comes to my side. He slides between me and the counter and wraps his arms around me, my back against his chest. When I twist to look up at him, he kisses me, his lips tasting of caramel and oak.
He looks across the kitchen at Jasper and Felix. “They seem like good guys.”
“They are.”
He strokes my arm and nuzzles my neck. “I can see why you like them.”
“That’s nice of you to say. I’ve always thought the four of you had the potential to be friends.”
He murmurs a sound of vague agreement as we watch Nick mix both white and brown sugar and whiskey into mugs of coffee and top them with whipped cream.
We take our drinks back into the living room, where I lower the lights so we can better enjoy the twinkling bulbs of the Christmas tree, and put on soft holiday music to play in the background.
We settle into our same positions on the furniture, me between the Frosts on the couch. There’s another period of silence as we all sit sipping our coffee, and though it’s not as uncomfortable as it was earlier, I wonder aloud if we should open gifts.
Nick leans in and puts his arm around my shoulders, kisses the curve of my jaw and nuzzles my neck. “You’re the only gift I want to open.”
I laugh quietly, flattered but uneasy. Though there’s been some touching and kissing tonight, it’s generally happened while everyone else was busy doing things. Right now, we’re all sitting together with no distractions.
From my other side, Rudy strokes my arm. When I turn his way, he kisses me. It’s tender at first, then goes deeper, his hand cupping my chin, his lips soft and sensual.
Nick rubs my back, and when I part from Rudy, he turns my head back in his direction and covers my mouth with his, his tongue tangling with mine.
My nerves and inhibitions steadily fade away. I’m too full of good food, champagne and whiskey, and lust, to worry too much about what’s happening and whether the setting is appropriate for displays of affection.
I’m happy and the moment feels magical, so I decide to just go with it.
After a blissful minute or so, I get up and go over to Felix, who’s the closest Winter brother, and bend to wrap my arms around his neck. He pulls me into his lap, where he dips me backward and gives me a kiss that multiplies the butterflies already fluttering in my belly.
This really is a holiday miracle, a dream come true. All four of the men I love here together.
When I go to Jasper, he’s waiting with open arms. He pulls me into a warm embrace and takes a long, deep taste of my lips before playfully patting my bottom and sending me back toward the couch.
My voice is thick when I speak to all of them. “It means a lot to me that you’re all here together. I don’t want any of you to leave, and I don’t want anyone to feel awkward or left out. I just want all of us to feel good.”
Jasper nods once, his eyes dark. Rudy reaches for me, and another circuit begins, me going from brother to brother, man to man, kissing and being kissed, the others waiting patiently when I’m not with them.
The kisses get hotter and hands become more adventurous, and by the time I reach Jasper again, my skin is flushed and the hem of my blouse is halfway untucked from my skirt.
As the elder Winter brother kisses me, he undoes the top buttons of my blouse, one by one. Vaguely, I wonder if I should stop him, but I’m not sure I can say no to something I want this much.