Chapter 15 Emily
emily
Even though I loved Mason’s cozy cabin, we were snuggled up on the couch at my parents’ house on Christmas Eve.
He’d asked me to stay with him until Christmas, but it just felt right being home for the holiday.
We’d already agreed to spend tomorrow night with his parents, and it was strange how easy everything felt so completely normal.
Like I wasn’t going to his family’s house as his girlfriend for the first time.
The last week with him had been like a lens into what our life could look like together, and I wanted it so desperately.
After our do-over night at the bar—where he’d kissed me passionately on the dance floor, not caring who saw—I knew that this was something more.
It was obvious, when he’d taken me home, laid me in his bed, and buried his face between my thighs, making me come twice on his mouth and once on his fingers before he’d ever slid inside of me, fucking me slow and sweet.
It was tender, the way he made love to me, and I’d almost blurted out how I felt right then and there.
We talked about nothing and everything—what we liked, what we hated, our hopes and dreams for the future. The way I’d been thinking about what came next for me. That I loved traveling, but I wanted something of my own. Something more. I didn’t know what it was yet, but Mason was sure I’d find it.
We hadn’t shared our feelings yet, but I knew what I felt.
I couldn’t help but snuggle against his chest as we watched the fire flicker.
The tree was decked out in lights—and all of my family’s ornaments.
Mason had started the fire in the fireplace when we’d arrived, and we didn’t bother turning the lights on, letting the glow from both illuminate the room, making everything feel so cozy and perfect.
“I can’t believe it’s almost Christmas,” I told him. “It feels like I blinked, and the two weeks are over.” My parents landed the day after tomorrow, and then I’d go back to living in their basement like nothing had ever happened. Unless Mason asked me to stay with him.
Secretly, I wanted that. To move my things into the free closet in his cabin.
The master had two walk-ins, and the second one felt like it had just been waiting for me.
No other woman had ever slept in his bed or spent the night in the house with him.
He’d confessed that to me the second night with his body curled around mine.
I still got warm thinking about what that meant. That he’d chosen me.
“Why are you blushing?” Mason traced my cheek.
I shook my head. “Not important.”
He leaned over me until my back hit the couch, and he propped himself up on top of me. My thighs fell apart, letting him straddle me. “Tell me.” He pressed his erection into my core, and I let out a small whine. He knew exactly what he was doing to me.
Covering my face with my hands, I whispered, “I still can’t believe that we’re here. That you want me. Me, the girl who was obsessed with you as a kid. Your best friend’s little sister.”
He leaned down, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Well, you better get used to it, baby. Because I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me.” Mason kissed me, rubbing his hard bulge against my entrance and making me ready to beg for him to put it inside of me, when the doorbell rang.
“Why?” I cried out, letting my head fall back against the couch. “Maybe if we ignore them, they’ll go away.” I pressed my lips to his mouth again, not wanting to interrupt this. It was hard to keep my hands off this man.
He frowned, his brow furrowing. I wanted to smooth it with my thumb. “Maybe we should check to see who it is. I can’t think of who would be here at this hour.”
Mason was right. It was getting late, and the only people I could think of who might be there—like Hannah and her husband, my parents, or his—all would have called first.
Last night, we’d gone over to his parents’ house for dinner.
He’d finally stopped monopolizing my time and shared me with them, and they’d clearly been ecstatic to see their only son so happy.
I’d known them both since I was a baby, and Mason’s mom was the warm, welcoming mom that I always wished mine had been.
But when I opened the door, it was none of those people standing at the front door. “What are you doing here?” I blinked a few times, but they were all still standing in front of me.
My brothers—Hunter and Benjamin—and their wives and kids were all here. At my parents’ door. Holding armfuls of presents and wearing silly Christmas pajamas. Plus Hunter and Gabbi’s dog Rowan, who barked excitedly at me as she tugged on the leash in Hunter’s hand, eager to say hi.
There was no stopping my eyes from filling with tears.
“I thought you guys couldn’t make it,” I said, choked up. “Mom said…” I shook my head.
“Hey.” My older brother grinned.
Mason’s deep voice called out, “Who’s there?” He walked towards the door, wrapping an arm around my waist before freezing as he realized who, exactly, was standing on the porch.
Hunter’s eyes widened. “Mason? You two…”
It was pretty obvious why he was here, considering he was wearing flannel pajama bottoms—and no shirt.
And then there was the fact that I was wearing his t-shirt.
Thank God I actually had panties on this time—and a pair of Christmas horse fleece pajama bottoms. I’d never have heard the end of it from either of my brothers if I’d opened the door in just a shirt.
“Um… surprise?” I let out a nervous laugh.
“Alright boys.” Angelina pushed inside, carrying one twin on her hip. “You all figure that out. I’m going inside where it’s warm. Hi, Emily.” She gave me a one-armed hug. Gabbi followed behind her, holding my niece, and did the same.
“Hi, you guys.” I looked at the whole family as they stood right inside the door. “I can’t… Why are you here? Weren’t you spending Christmas in Portland?”
“We came to spend Christmas with you, Em,” Benjamin said, still holding the other twin in his arms. They were identical, so it was still hard to keep them straight.
Luckily, they’d started dressing Zachary in red, and Wesley in blue from the time they were infants.
It was the only way I could keep them straight.
Apparently, one of them had a freckle behind their ear that could help you tell, but I wouldn’t rely on that.
“Mom didn’t want you to be alone,” Hunter added.
“Oh. Well, that was nice of you.”
“She didn’t tell you?” Benjamin frowned.
I shook my head. “I’ve only talked to her a few times since she left, though, what with the snowstorm and all.” I looked back at Mason. He just gave me a small smile. Did he know? Had he done this somehow? Knowing that I was missing my family, he… brought me my brothers?
My oldest brother gave us both a pointed look. “Clearly, you’re not alone, though, so…”
Mason winced. “I’m sorry, Hunt. We were going to tell you.”
He waved us off. “I’m not upset.”
“You’re not?”
Hunter shrugged. “You’re an adult. I trust the choices you want to make. And if that choice is Mason, well…” He stuck out his hand for Mason to shake it. “I know he’s a good man.”
My oldest brother nodded to him. “Make her happy, alright?”
My cowboy looked at me, nodding his head. “I didn’t plan on anything less.”
I felt my cheeks warm all over again. Sometimes it felt like he existed just to make me happy. But it wasn’t just about that. I wanted to make him happy, too. Wanted him to have everything he’d ever wanted.
“So, he’s your boyfriend?” Angelina asked with one arm propped on her hip.
“Damn right I am,” he responded, not giving me a chance. He pressed a kiss onto my cheek.
Mason, my boyfriend. It was a little strange, given he was thirty-six and very much a man, calling him my boyfriend, but it felt right.
We all moved into the living room. Gabbi and Angelina set their babies on the rug, and I crawled down beside them, soaking up a few moments with my precious niece and nephews.
God, they were adorable. I picked Quin up in my arms, raising her up and making plane noises, making her giggle with delight.
“I can’t believe you guys are all here,” I said, smiling at the chubby-cheeked baby girl in my arms, whose fist had captured a strand of my hair. She tugged on it, and I tried to pry it free, not wanting her to tear it out of my head.
“It wouldn’t be Christmas without you, Em,” Gabbi said, grinning.
She and I had become friends after Angelina and Benjamin’s joint bachelor and bachelorette trip the summer they’d gotten married.
Hunter and Gabbi had planned the trip as best man and maid of honor, which had also been how they’d fallen in love.
They’d tried to sneak around behind everyone’s backs at first, finally coming clean during breakfast the morning after the wedding before they set off on a European vacation together.
It was something out of a romance novel.
Angelina and Benjamin’s story felt like that too.
The two of them had a bit of a whirlwind relationship—they’d started dating in the fall, gotten engaged in the spring, and then had planned their wedding for that summer, in France.
It was all wildly romantic, since Angelina’s favorite city was Paris.
I loved seeing my brother so besotted with a girl.
Especially considering when they’d first met, she’d hated him.
They’d been stuck together at a work retreat, though, and apparently, love and hate were two sides of the same coin.
That was a story for a different time, though.
Still, I remembered the first time Ben had brought her home for his thirtieth birthday—over five years ago.
We’d instantly bonded, and I was so excited to have another girl around after only ever having brothers.
Now they had twin boys, who were rolling around on the floor, playing with toy cars that Angelina must have brought in with her.