Chapter 28
Ravage peppered kisses across Karter’s face as he attempted to wake her. She stirred a bit, whining before turning onto her side, away from him. He was undeterred and began kissing down her neck and over her shoulder.
“Leave me alone,” she mumbled, and Ravage chuckled.
They’d stayed up until the wee hours of the morning watching Christmas movies. He wasn’t exactly sure when she’d fallen asleep, but he looked down at her a little after four in the morning when their fifth movie of the night had gone off and found her fast asleep.
“Come on, Kaere. I made breakfast, and you have to open your gifts.”
“Five more minutes.”
“Okay, but don’t be mad at me when your food is cold.”
Ravage only had to wait a few seconds before she turned onto her back, her eyes fluttering open to look at him. She stretched before sitting up slowly, and he leaned in and pecked her on the lips.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom, and I’ll meet you in the kitchen,” she told him.
He stood, helped her out of bed, and watched her walk into the bathroom before retreating from the bedroom. He entered the kitchen and placed both plates on the dining room table. He poured them both a glass of orange juice and set them beside each plate.
Karter entered a couple of minutes later, and he pulled her chair out before taking a seat across from her.
As they ate, he confirmed the time they were supposed to go to her parents’ house.
He also knew that she was supposed to meet with Ilia and Eva tomorrow to exchange gifts with the two of them.
After breakfast, they washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen together before settling on the couch to exchange their Christmas gifts. Karter wanted to go first, and Ravage let her. She handed him a gift bag, and he removed the decorative paper. Reaching in, he pulled out a new beard kit.
He thanked Karter, kissing her softly on the lips. He needed a new kit as he was almost out of everything in his other one, and it seemed his girlfriend had noticed.
Karter handed him a gift box, and when he opened it, he found a DIY whiskey set inside. Ravage smiled at it. He’d never made any liquor before in all his years of owning his bar. However, he’d been fascinated by the prospect of doing so when Abe and Clint held their contest at Purgatory.
Again, he thanked her, dropping a kiss on her lips. He’d asked her not to go overboard and spend too much on Christmas gifts for him since his birthday had been less than a month ago.
Ravage picked up a large gift bag and set it between them.
Karter sat on her knees, pulling out the decorative tissue and placing it on the table.
He’d gotten her three terry cloth shorts pajama sets, fuzzy socks, and slippers.
He knew she enjoyed lounging around the house in those sets any time of the year, and he’d made sure to get patterns she didn’t have.
Karter did a little happy wiggle, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. She leaned over the bag, and he met her halfway, kissing her. He then handed her a small box. Karter untied the bow, pulling the top off.
“It’s a key,” she stated.
“It is,” Ravage responded. “A house key. Since you have an issue using the spare key to let yourself in when you come over, and I’m here, you could use your own.”
Karter smiled at him as she placed the lid back on the box. “I suppose I can do that.”
“And whenever you’re ready. It can be the only house key you use.”
He watched her, wanting to make sure his words sank in. He was in no way rushing her to move in, but whenever she decided she wanted to, he wouldn’t have any objections to it. Ravage wanted her to know she had that option, and he was open and ready for it when they made that decision.
“Okay.” Karter moved the bag from between them. “So, since I fell asleep before we finished Jack Frost last night, let’s watch it again.”
“I love you, Kaere, but I’m not about to let you torture me with more Christmas movies because you fell asleep.”
Ravage found himself with his back against the arm of the sofa, Karter’s lips on his as she kissed him. He followed her in the kiss, one of his hands coming up to cup her face. She pecked his lips a few times, ending the kiss.
“I love you too,” she whispered against his lips.
He didn’t realize that he’d never told her he loved her, but it wasn’t as if it was some secret he tried to hide. He was sure she knew, and he showed it in his actions. He had been in love with her for years.
“And we can watch something else,” she told him.
He sat up, rearranging them, grabbed the remote, and turned on the television. He didn’t care what they watched as long as it wasn’t another Christmas movie, so he flipped through the channels until he found something just coming on. He wrapped his arms around her and settled in to watch the movie.
“How was your first Christmas with Ravage as a couple?” Ilia asked the next afternoon as they were sitting on her couch.
“It was good. It didn’t feel different, but it did all at the same time. Does that make sense?” Karter questioned before taking a bite of the cookie she was eating.
“It does,” Eva responded. “Since you’ve known each other so long and it’s something that already happened often, you were used to it. It was just in a different capacity this time around. More intimate.”
Karter nodded in agreement as she turned her attention back to the movie they were watching.
They’d already exchanged their gifts and decided to eat some cookies Ilia made and watch a movie.
Creed was hanging out with two guys from Purgatory.
So, she decided to spend a few hours at Ilia’s apartment.
Eva was right that yesterday was more intimate.
It wasn’t just because they spent the first part of the day and the rest of the night together, but Creed also told her he loved her.
She’d been aware of this before he said it.
It wasn’t as if she couldn’t see it in how he treated her, the little things he did for her. Hearing it was completely different.
Karter felt nothing short of elation when those words passed his lips. She felt as light as a feather. Her heart was about to burst from her chest with the way it’d started rapidly beating.
Needless to say, she had the same feelings, and she’d had them for a while.
She wouldn’t put it past herself to have been in love with Creed before they even started dating, and just had been in denial, pushing it down deep.
It was the first time she’d fallen in love because she was sure fourteen and thinking she was in love didn’t count, and nothing before him had been serious.
Hearing him say it first had caused her to throw herself at him and explore his mouth with her tongue because she was so happy.
It also felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Karter felt as if she’d been struggling with telling him how she felt for some reason, but then all she had to do was respond.
As the movie played out on the screen, she thought about the house key Creed gave her. She’d been thinking about it almost as much as his confession. She hadn’t missed the fact that he was telling her that if and when she wanted to, he was ready for her to move in.
She hadn’t thought about it. In her opinion, they were still early in their relationship. However, she wasn’t opposed to them eventually moving in together. They spent most of the week at each other’s houses as it stood, and they’d known each other for years.
She knew there was no rush and that he wasn’t doing so. Karter would revisit the thought when her lease was up in a few months. It gave her plenty of time to think about it and their relationship more time to grow.
Once the movie was over, she thanked Ilia for the cookies and thanked both women for the gifts before heading to her apartment. She had some things she needed to do around the house before she had to go back to work the following evening.
When she made it to her apartment, Karter put her kettle on to make some tea, and while she waited for the water to heat, she grabbed her sorted hamper and rolled it to her laundry closet. She started the first load before going back into her bedroom to strip her bedding.
The kettle squealed, and she went into the kitchen, turned the eye off, then grabbed a teacup and one of her favorite tea flavors.
While she let the tea steep, she looked around her apartment, and with the fresh conversation of them moving in together still lingering in her head, it felt too big at that moment.
As if just with her, she was being swallowed up by the space.
Which made little sense considering it was a one-bedroom that was barely over six hundred square feet. She shook her head at herself and grabbed the honey from her cabinet and a spoon from the drawer.
After she had her tea made the way she liked it, Karter sat at her bar, pondering what she would do once she finished cleaning her apartment. It’d been a while since she’d sat down with a good book. She’d make herself something to eat, pour a glass of wine, and get lost in romance on the pages.
She briefly wondered if it would be reminiscent of how her relationship with Creed was, the way it progressed. If it would remind her of their journey, because it all felt like the cutest love story.