Chapter Ten Playing in the Snow
SKYLER
After dinner, the guys usher us back into the living room and around the Christmas tree and the surprises just keep on coming. They have presents for us to open!
Carson hands me a package wrapped in shiny red paper and I feel a rush of giddiness, like a kid on actual Christmas morning.
I rip open the present and let out a gasp of delight.
“A Super NES Classic Edition?” I hold up the box containing the retro-gaming console and beam at Carson. “I love it!”
He grins, looking very pleased with himself.
“I know you’ve been really into retro games lately, so I thought I’d give you the excuse to indulge.
It didn’t arrive in time for the actual Christmas, so I was going to wait until your birthday, but then we planned this weekend, and you know… perfect timing.”
Setting the box down, I grab the front of his shirt and pull him in for a lingering kiss.
“You are the best,” I murmur.
“Oh, I know.” He pretends to flip his hair.
I roll my eyes, shoving his shoulder. Chuckling, I grab the shopping bag I brought back from town and hand it to him.
“Here. It’s not wrapped, but it’s just a little something to say thank you for the wonderful day.”
He takes the bag and eagerly opens it, letting out a laugh when he sees what’s inside.
He pulls out the figurine I got him — a black bear holding a terrified hiker over its head, whose pants have fallen down.
It’s just our sense of humor, which nobody gets but us, and I love that fact.
I hand him my second gift — a giant rainbow lollipop — and he grins at me.
“You’re my fucking dream girl,” he declares.
When he says things like that, I go all gooey inside and I have to fight not to pounce on him in the middle of the wrapping paper that’s piling up on the living room floor.
Around us, everyone else opens their gifts, and there’s a wide range of items.
Grace opens her present and it’s a hardcover planner that makes her gush. “Oh, my gosh! It has pages for daily, weekly, and monthly! Jensen, I love it.”
Grinning, he kisses her forehead. “I knew you would, my beautiful organizational freak.”
Rylee snatches a small package from Zander’s hand and rips it open as eagerly as a little kid. Her eyes get big and water when she opens a box and pulls out a bright red cat collar with a tag in the shape of devil horns.
“Oh, Kodiak!” she gushes. “It’s so cute! Gizmo will love it!”
“I doubt it,” Zander chuckles. “But I thought it was appropriate for the little monster.”
Rylee laughs and presses her lips to his in a lingering kiss.
I turn my gaze to Owen and Stacey, who’s pulling a glitter-covered crocheted nightmare ornament loosely in the shape of a unicorn out of a gift bag.
Stacey studies it for a moment. “It looks like Lisa Frank threw up on a jellyfish.”
Owen grins. “Millie and I made it. Well, Millie did most of the work, but I helped.”
Stacey clutches the ornament to her chest. “It’s beautiful.”
Owen gives her a kiss on her forehead, then looks her up and down and asks, “Do you need water? A blanket? A snack? A foot rub? A helicopter extraction?”
Stacey smiles and rolls her eyes. “I need you to stop looking at me like I’m about to explode.”
His face softens, his blue eyes going warm as he hesitantly replies, “I just don't want to miss a moment this time around, you know.”
Stacey’s expression is tender as she takes his hand and puts it on her belly. "Yeah… I know."
He melts instantly, gently rubbing his hand over her, gazing down at her stomach as if transfixed.
“See? We’re okay,” she murmurs.
“Yeah…” Owen’s voice cracks. “Yeah, we are.”
Finally, I catch sight of Wilder handing Sutton a shiny red gift bag.
She takes it and murmurs, “If this is a mug that says ‘Live, Laugh, Love,’ I am jumping into the snow.”
“Don’t worry,” he assures her. “Nothing cheesy like that.”
She dips her hand into the bag and pulls out a green mug: The mug is a pickle wearing sunglasses, and with the words ‘I’m kind of a big Dill’ in big black letters on its chest.
“This is fucking amazing.” Sutton clutches the mug in both hands, as if it’s the most precious thing in the world.
“I thought you’d appreciate it,” Wilder chuckles. “I grabbed it when I realized we’d be among the only singles here.”
“Well, isn’t that a coincidence?” Sutton hands him the box with the mug she bought for him in town. “I had the same thought.”
His eyes light up and he opens the gift, pulling out the bear mug.
“Oh, sick!” he exclaims. “Great minds really think alike, huh?”
Sutton grins. “Hell yeah they do.”
They give one another a fist bump.
The evening continues with games, dessert, and plenty of wine. Jensen presents us all with matching red flannel PJs, insisting that we change into them to “maintain the vibe.” It’s very cheesy, but very fun and we all change before returning to the living room.
“Charades!” Rylee exclaims as we gather in front of the fireplace. She’s pulled her long blonde hair into a high ponytail, which swishes back and forth as she moves.
We all settle on the leather sectional or on the rug in front of it, facing the hearth like it’s a stage. I settle on the floor next to Carson and cuddle into his side.
“Who wants to go first?” Zander asks, shaking a green beanie filled with slips of paper with different topics written on them.
“I’ll go!” Owen volunteers, hopping to his feet. He digs out a paper and reads it, then nods.
“All right.” Zander sets the timer on his watch. “Ready, set, go!”
To our collective shock, Owen grabs his crotch and flexes, biting his bottom lip and narrowing his blue eyes cartoonishly.
Stacey drops her head into her hand, nearly dislodging the big red headband she put on to keep her red hair out of her face. “Honey, no…”
Rylee bursts out laughing from her perch on Zander’s lap at the end of the couch, and I’m not far behind her.
“What is it?” Jensen asks, looking baffled.
“It’s Christmas themed, remember,” Wilder murmurs, stroking his long beard thoughtfully.
“Oh! I got it!” Carson raises his hand and waves it like a little school kid. “Nutcracker!”
“Bingo!” Owen nods.
I shake my head at Carson, grinning. “Of course you’d get that.”
We go a few more rounds until it’s Wilder’s turn, and when Zander tells him, “Ready, set, go!” he doesn’t move.
He sits perfectly still on the floor, his pajamas stretching a little tight across his chest, staring ahead.
“Is…is this a trick?” Owen asks in a hushed tone.
Wilder’s deadpan response of, “I’m acting,” nearly makes me spit wine out of my nose.
“Silent night!” Grace yells, slapping Jensen’s knee next to her in excitement.
“Got it,” Wilder nods, grinning.
“Woohoo!” Grace cries, pumping her arms into the air. “Suck it!”
“Easy, wifey.” Jensen grabs her waist and pulls her onto his lap. “Your hyper-competitive dark side is coming out.”
We continue playing as Christmas songs play in the background off Zander’s laptop, and there’s some themed mocktails of cranberry juice and ginger beer that Stacey and Rylee can enjoy. It’s so fun that the time flies by, and before I know it, the sun has set fully and it’s dark outside.
It’s also snowing, making the fire crackling in the hearth even cozier.
Zander busts out a karaoke machine at some point and in the middle of his and Rylee’s enthusiastic rendition of Barbie Girl, Carson leans over and whispers in my ear.
“Come outside with me.”
I glance at him with a grin. “What? Why?”
“I want to play in the snow.”
There’s a heated gleam in his eye that tells me he wants to do a lot more than play in the snow. Nodding, I give him my hand and he helps me up off the floor. While the others are distracted, we grab our coats and slip outside.
The quiet and cold that envelopes us as soon as the front door closes behind us is refreshing. I close my eyes and suck in a deep breath.
“Come on,” Carson says, tugging on my hand.
Giggling, I follow him off the front porch and into the yard, which is covered in fresh snow. I slip from his grasp and scoop up a handful of snow, packing it into a snowball.
“Oh, Caaaaarson.” I sing out his name, and when he turns around, I nail him in the chest with the snowball.
“Hey!” he yelps. When his lips curl into a wicked little grin, I know I’m in trouble. “You think you’re funny, huh?”
He charges me and I squeal, turning to try and run. I don’t make it far, though, before he catches me around the waist. We go tumbling to the ground, the snow cushioning our fall. I laugh and wiggle to try and escape when Carson starts tickling my sides.
“Ahhh! Let me go! Stoooop!”
He grabs my hands and pins them above my head, pinning my body down with his. My breath rushes out of me and I feel so hot all of the sudden, I wouldn’t be surprised if the snow started melting around me.
“What’s wrong, Star?” Carson murmurs, brushing his nose against mine. “I stopped. Cat got your tongue?”
I bite my lower lip and stare up at him. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”
He chuckles. “So demanding. Guess I have no choice.”
Lowering his head, he catches my lips with his.
The kiss is slow and thorough. He takes his time, lapping at my tongue with his until I’m moaning with need.
My pussy tingles and I hook my legs around his hips, squeezing him tight.
He starts grinding against me, kissing me harder, but it’s not enough. I need more. So, so much more.
He suddenly pulls back, making me whimper in protest.
“What…?”
“Come with me.” He pushes off the ground and pulls me to my feet.
Before I can ask where he’s taking me, he grabs my hand again and starts tugging me toward the side of the house.
We make our way around to the backyard and he leads me straight to a bubbling in-ground hot tub with a stone waterfall framing it.
To my surprise, Carson lets go of my hand and starts to undress.
“Carson, what are you doing?” I whisper in mock horror, pressing my hands to my cheeks. “You’re going to flash our friends your candy cane.”