Chapter 8
A CHRISTMAS ACTIVITY
CHRISTMAS EVE
Did I just get used again?
I watch Sutton leave the kitchen without giving me a second thought. I gave her what I am pretty sure was the best orgasm of her life, and she just… left.
Well fuck me then.
And now I am sleeping in the damn living room because the house sitter has the only room with electricity.
I thought maybe we could finish what we started, but I guess she needed space.
Did I read this wrong?
Maybe she is in a relationship or something. If she is, she just helped me forget everything I was trying to feel disconnected from.
She is a stranger. It should not bother me this much that she walked away.
I shift on the loveseat, trying to get comfortable. I could sleep in my room, but no electricity means no heat, and I cannot stand being cold. I can sleep with a fan on for white noise, but cold is where I draw the line. No amount of blankets can fix that.
Maybe I should get a hotel for the night. Sutton basically gave me a ‘fuck you’. I do not know what I did.
Standing up, I walk to the living room window and squint. Still nothing. No porch lights. No street lamps. No moon. It looks like God took a paintbrush and covered the whole outside in black.
“What is going on?” I whisper.
I check the external cameras. Dead.
Of course.
Peeking through the peephole gives me the same emptiness.
What the fuck.
I open the door a crack and immediately get slapped with freezing air. I reach forward and touch something solid.
“Snow?” I whisper.
Turning on my flashlight, I am met with a door-shaped block of snow.
Damn. How bad was this snowstorm?
I push at the ice like I can move it with my bare hands. No luck. We are snowed in. Completely snowed in. Any idea of leaving is gone.
Pulling out my phone, I see two missed messages from Keke. I swear I thought I blocked her on everything, but I forgot she has two phones. Deleting the messages.
I open the neighborhood group chat. Messages hit like a flood.
Neighbor 1:
My power is still out. Can I charge my phone at someone’s house?
Neighbor 2:
You can come to my house if you can get through this snow. I got plenty of power.
Neighbor 3:
I cannot believe we got hit like this.
Neighbor 4:
We had a snowstorm.
Joan Evergreen:
My house is perfectly fine. Thank God. I cannot wait to showcase my lights this year.
I roll my eyes so hard my soul almost leaves my body. Snow stacked up to the damn roof and she is excited about a light show.
I send a picture of the snow.
I am stuck in the house too.
Security Davis:
Storm came and sat for a few hours. Zero visibility. Everyone with insurance get your information ready. There may be damage from the melt. Could be a couple days. Happy holidays, folks.
A voice behind me makes me jump.
“Oh shit. Are we stuck here? For how long?”
I turn and see Sutton standing there in her robe, tied tightly around her slim waist and curves. My eyes travel down her body until they land on her bonnet… a Christmas tree-designed bonnet.
I laugh under my breath. Yes. A whole Christmas tree bonnet. This woman is a true holiday menace.
And still damn near breathtaking.
“Yeah,” I say. “Maybe until after tomorrow.”
“Great.” She looks visibly upset, and I do not know why.
She opens her mouth like she wants to ask something deep but closes it again.
Ask what you really want to know, Sutton.
She looks around, then back at me.
“Okay. Well, goodnight. See you in the morning.”
“Sure,” I say, trying not to sound annoyed even though the quiet suddenly feels heavier.
I watch her walk back to her room, the robe swaying behind her.
Closing the front door, I lock it and head to the loveseat.
I lie back down. The fireplace crackles across the room, the only heat source left in this house.
I glance toward the hallway.
Sutton’s door is slightly cracked.
Like another invitation.
My lips part. Remembering how she tastes.
After a long minute of overthinking, I push myself up and pull my hoodie tight.
“Alright,” I mutter.
My feet carry me down the hallway before my brain even decides. I stop at her door. My knuckles hover, then I knock.
A wave of peppermint curls around me when she opens the door. She smells warm. Sweet. Cozy. Christmas wrapped in human form.
“Hi,” Sutton whispers. “Everything okay?”
“I saw your door was open.”
She blinks. “Oh. I must have forgotten to close it.” She pulls out an earbud. “Do you need something? Was I too loud?”
Her brown eyes are glazed with sleep… and something softer.
“Nah,” I say, rubbing my neck. “I could not sleep. I was in the living room just… chilling.”
She laughs softly. “Oh, you are better than me. I could never sleep on that hard ass couch.” She glances back at her room. “I got some extra blankets if you—”
“You do not mind sleeping with a stranger?” I interrupt, teasing.
Her face does something sharp. “A stranger is someone whose name I do not know or where they lay their head. You… I know both.” She tilts her chin. “I am not asking you to sleep in here. I am asking if you need blankets.”
My chest tightens.
“What happened earlier?” I ask quietly. “Did I do something wrong?”
She rolls her eyes and sighs. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
“No.”
“Then who is Wifey?”
I narrow my eyes. “How do you know—”
“I saw the text messages on your phone.” She shrugs, unbothered. “I do not fuck with cheaters.”
“Neither do I.” My voice comes out harsher than I mean for it to. “No, I do not have a girlfriend. Keke is my newly ex-girlfriend.”
Sutton folds her arms. “How serious were y’all?”
“Apparently not serious enough for her not to cheat.”
She studies my face, searching for lies like she has a built-in detector.
Then she nods once, turns, and grabs something from her dresser.
She hands me a bag.
It is heavy.
I raise an eyebrow. “What is this?”
“A Christmas activity,” she says, as if I should obviously know what that means. “Now I see why you do not want to celebrate.”
“I thought you were tired?”
“Oh, I am a night owl.” She waves her hand. “Plus, it would be nice to do something while we wait for the countdown to Christmas.”
She walks past me, robe swishing, peppermint bonnet bouncing, heading toward the living room.
“Wait—what activity?” I call after her.
“You will see,” she sings, not looking back.
She is a menace.
A holiday menace.
And just like that, my night gets a whole lot more interesting.