67. Sienna
SIENNA
It’s two hours later when we get to my parents’ house—almost an hour later than Mom told us to be here for.
My stomach is in knots, and I keep lifting my hand to where I know the angry hickeys Calvin’s left on my skin last night are.
I’ve covered them, and I know that every time I touch them, I’m potentially wiping away the makeup that’s hiding them, but my anxiety won’t stop me.
Shame it didn’t stop me from screwing his brains out all morning.
When he took me in the shower, I assumed it would be a one-time thing and that we’d be here when we should have been.
But then round one in the shower turned into him eating me out on the bathroom counter, and then round two back on the bed.
Then we needed to shower again, and then reality hit me, and I looked at the clock.
It was far too late to do anything to fix the situation by then.
So, here we are, late and a little ruffled—or at least, I am.
When I glance back at Calvin as he follows me toward the front porch, he looks as cool as a cucumber.
“What?” he asks, his brows pinching.
“Why aren’t you nervous?”
"I…uh…I don’t know, actually. Probably all the orgasms. Helped chill me out. Ow.” He laughs when I swat his chest playfully.
“Enough of that. It’s bad enough we have to explain why we’re late.”
He smirks. “I don’t think that’s going to be necessary.”
I frown.
“Oh, come on, darlin’. I flew here to surprise you and then took you to a hotel instead of opting to spend the night under their roof. They know exactly why we’re late.”
My face burns.
“What? You don’t think your parents only ever had sex twice, do you?” He chuckles.
“No,” I mutter. Of course I don’t think that. I just try not to think about it at all.
“Come on. It’ll be fine,” he says, throwing his arm around my shoulders, giving me a supportive squeeze as we move closer to the house.
It’s obvious they’ve been waiting for us, because the second we step foot on the top step, the door opens, and my grinning brother greets us.
“Well, well, well, look what we have here,” he sings happily, pure mischief glittering in his eyes.
“Don’t,” I snap at the same time Calvin sings, “Merry Christmas.”
“Well, someone is happy this morning. Good night?”
I groan as I shove past him and into the house.
“Sienna? Is that you at last?” Mom calls from the kitchen.
“Yes, we’re here.”
“Did you forget how to tell the time, sweetheart?” Dad calls from the living room.
Deep chuckles erupt from behind me, and when I turn back, I discover that they both have matching grins on their faces.
Jesus Christ, if I thought they’d end up ganging up on me, I might not have allowed Calvin to stay.
I walk into the kitchen, just about resisting the need to wrap my hand around my throat to hide the evidence of last night and this morning, and Mom immediately turns knowing eyes on me.
God, this is mortifying.
“I assume you two are hungry and ready for breakfast. Hell knows we all are. We wanted it an hour ago.”
“Merry Christmas, Sally,” Calvin says politely, marching toward her and handing her a potted plant that he bought for her yesterday. He’s carrying a big bag of gifts, but the plant is the only one I’ve been allowed to know about.
“Oh, Calvin, that is so sweet of you.”
He gives her a kiss on the cheek, and I swear she blushes like I’ve never seen her blush before. I get it. He has that kind of effect on me as well.
“Are we going to get cracking now, then?” Dad asks, joining us with an empty coffee mug in his hands.
“Merry Christmas,” Calvin repeats, holding his hand out. “Thank you so much for allowing me to spend the day with you.”
Behind them, Mom catches my eyes, raises her brows, and nods her head in approval. ‘I love him’ she mouths, making me shake my head. “Garrett, get the coffee machine working. I’m gonna get the waffles happening.”
“I’m not sure I have the energy,” he complains like an annoying child.
“Well, we all know that Calvin and Sienna don’t.”
Garrett, Calvin, and even my father snort a laugh while I wish the floor would just swallow me whole.
“Okay, can that be the end of the jokes about us being late, please?” I beg.
“Absolutely not,” Garrett announces as he turns the coffee machine on and grabs more mugs. “I’m loving this.”
“That’s because you’re the one who’s usually late or has done something wrong.”
“Second child,” he says, pointing at himself. “I can get away with more.”
I scoff. “Don’t I know it.”
“He’s got a point. My sisters could have burned the house down when we were growing up and probably gotten away with it. But I abandoned a pair of sneakers at the front door and it was like the world ended.”
“Wait,” Garrett pipes up. “You had sneakers back then? I thought you only wore cowboy boots.”
Laughter erupts, filling the kitchen with the sound I love the most when I come home. But as I giggle at their banter, I can’t help picture Calvin in a pair of boots and a hat…Hmmm, I think I can get on board with Cowboy Calvin.
I don’t realize he’s moved closer until his breath tickles over my neck. “You might want to wipe that expression off your face, darlin’,” he whispers.
I school my features. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I hiss.
I glance over my shoulder in time to see his smirk.
“Of course you don’t,” he teases before he approaches Mom. “What can I do to help?”
“Well, seeing as you’re so late, nothing. But once we’ve had breakfast, there are plenty of jobs.”
“Calvin is a great cook,” I say in the hopes of sliding right past the comment about our tardiness.
“Really?” Mom asks with interest. “Have you been cooking for our girl?”
“I have,” he says proudly as he takes a mug from Garrett and brings it over for me.
“He makes all his own food, follows his nutrition plans to a tee.”
We chat about what Calvin’s diet looks like during the season, and before long, we move to the dining table and devour Mom’s holiday waffles.
It’s not quite in line with Calvin’s diet, seeing as they have ice cream, chocolate sauce, and sprinkles, but Mom always puts protein powder in the batter, and she serves them with fresh fruit, so not all is lost.
Dad and Garrett disappear into the living room after doing their washing-up duties, leaving Mom, Calvin and me in the kitchen to finish up dinner prep.
Calvin fits in as if he’s been here every Christmas, and seeing him standing with Mom at the counter, chatting away as if they’re old friends, makes my chest ache in the most incredible way.
With laughter and the scent of our Christmas feast filling the house, time seems to speed past, and before we know it, we’re back at the table to eat, and then we’re gathering around the tree to exchange gifts.
When we were kids, ripping into the gifts was the first thing we used to do.
Garrett and I would run into Mom and Dad’s room way too early and jump on their bed until they had little choice but to get up.
They’d make coffee while we were bouncing off the walls, and then we’d be allowed to unleash ourselves on the gifts in our stockings that Santa left by the fireplace and the ones from them and other family members under the tree.
We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but Mom and Dad always made sure to make it special for us.
We didn’t always get everything on our lists, but it never mattered, because the level of thought that went into everything we did get outweighed any disappointment over not receiving certain things.
Garrett, as the youngest—his rules—is the one who gets to hand out the gifts. And to my amazement, he hands some to Calvin.
He looks equally as surprised as he stares down at them with wide, shocked eyes.
“Y-you didn’t have to.”
“It’s Christmas, Calvin. There have to be gifts for everyone under the tree.”
Calvin stares at my mom for a few seconds before his glassy eyes turn to me.
My stomach knots as I think about how long it’s been since he experienced a family Christmas like this.
I smile at him, and when Garrett distracts him, I look at Mom and mouth, ‘Thank you.’
We haven’t spoken about Calvin’s family all that much, but I’ve explained enough for her to understand just how much this must mean to him. I have no idea when she found the time to do this, but I will be forever grateful. I know Calvin will, too.
We all rip into our gifts, and while I love everything that my parents and Garrett got for me, I’m more focused on Calvin and everything he opens.
All the gifts are pretty standard—socks, underwear, cologne.
Mom might be a miracle worker, but there’s only so much she can achieve with barely any notice.
But the grin on his face when he opens each one is magical.
He’s so grateful to be opening anything, and I find myself falling even more in love with him.
Once we’ve opened everything from our stockings and beneath the tree, Calvin gets up and grabs the gift bag he brought with him.
I watch him with a smile on his lips as he begins handing wrapped gifts to everyone.
“I also had limited time, so I hope you like them,” he says with a bashful smile as he lowers himself back beside me and hands me a wrapped box.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
I watch as Garrett opens a box and pulls out a piece of paper. I frown, desperate to know what it is as he reads. It only takes a few seconds for his eyes to widen.
“For real?” he asks, grinning at Calvin.
“For real, man.”
“What is it?” Dad asks, leaning over to see.
“All-inclusive VIP tickets for Madison Square Garden when the Vipers visit next.” He beams with excitement, just like he did as a teenager when Mom and Dad managed to get him the laptop he was desperate for.
“Thanks, man. This is awesome.”
He gets Dad a bottle of whiskey that I dread to think the cost of, and Mom opens a pretty bracelet that I’m sure contains real diamonds.
They’re both beside themselves, and it only gets better when they open the joint gift and discover a prepaid weekend at a five-star Callahan Enterprises resort for a location of their choice.
They gape at it in disbelief.
“Calvin, this is— Wow. Callahan resorts are…way out of our league.”
“You’ll fit right in. All you need to do is decide where you want to go,” Calvin explains.
They look at each other excitedly. I can’t remember the last time they went away together, other than coming to visit us.
“Are you going to open that?” Calvin asks, noticing that I’ve still got my gift in my hands.
“I got you a gift, but it’s at home. If I knew—”
“I told you, just being here with you is everything I need.”
He might say that, but I still feel bad.
“Open it,” he encourages.
My hands tremble as I carefully undo the pretty wrapping.
“I’ve never seen her open anything that delicately,” Garrett points out, but I ignore him and keep going until I reveal a jewelry box.
I glance up at Calvin before flipping it open.
“Oh my god,” I gasp, my eyes filling with tears. “I love it.”
“Let’s see,” Mom begs impatiently.
I lift it up, and she gasps as well as she stares at the necklace that has two horseshoes hooked together, one encrusted with diamonds and one plain.
“Oh, Calvin. That’s perfect,” Mom gushes.
“Will you put it on me?” I ask, plucking it from its satin cushion and handing it to him before turning around and lifting my hair.
It takes him a minute to secure it, but the second he does, my hand lifts to it.
“I love it. Thank you so much.”
He smiles at me, and I lose myself in his eyes. He’s right—having him here is the best gift I could have ever received.