Decking His Halls #4
I lean into his touch. “For me too. With you, I don’t feel like I have to hide the annoying parts of myself. Not like I usually do. And I feel at home here.”
“You wouldn’t believe how happy it makes me to hear you say that.”
My cheeks warm at the sincerity in his tone, but all I say is, “One more question.”
“Shoot.”
“Why’d you come back early today?”
“The gym was closed because of an electrical problem, and Mom was tired.” His expression turns sheepish. “Also… I was hoping you’d be here and we could watch another movie.”
I purse my lips like I’m thinking about it. “We still could.”
His gaze softens. “I’d love that.”
CHAPTER FOUR
We spend the rest of the week getting freaky all over the apartment.
I’m on winter break, and David puts up an out-of-office reply on his email a few days early.
It’s like years of pent-up lust has taken over, and we can’t keep our hands off each other.
When we’re not screwing? We’re cooking, eating, watching movies, and running errands.
I even join him at the gym, because I like seeing him all sweaty.
Actually, I just like being around him, period. And luckily, David seems equally as enamored with me.
It’s two days until Christmas Eve, and we’re in the middle of a double feature: Reindeer Games—his choice—and The Best Man Holiday—my choice.
We’re cuddling under a fleece throw blanket, but I get a little handsy, and he starts kissing my neck.
Before you can say “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” we’re naked and I’m straddling his lap.
I grab a condom from my purse and moments later, he’s inside me.
Our arms band around each other as we rock in a slow, measured pace, kissing lazily.
I come with a quiet, shuddering gasp, my eyes captured by his steady amber gaze.
Pleasure floods my system, but it’s a thick, rolling tide as opposed to the crash of a tsunami.
I’m still on the tail end when he follows me into the deep, hugging me tight and releasing a gravelly groan as he thrusts upward.
We hold each other, breathing hard through the aftermath of sensation and emotion.
David speaks first.
“Don’t leave.”
The words are low, but clear. Still, I whisper, “What?”
His expression is soft, yet serious. “Don’t move out. Stay here. Live here. With me.”
I sputter. “It’s not even my room.” As if I haven’t been sleeping in David’s room every night.
“You know Nando’s not coming back. And it wouldn’t matter if he were.”
I shake my head. “I don’t want to come between you two.”
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that. And it’s only been a few weeks. What if you get sick of me?”
“I love having you around. You’re sweet, funny, sexy as hell in your tight little shirts, and you don’t put up with my bullshit moods.”
I quirk a brow. “You mean I force you to have fun instead of working all the time.”
“I need more fun in my life. I need you, Noelia.”
I clear my throat. “It’s a little hard to take this seriously when we’re both naked.”
He ignores my attempt to deflect. “I want you to stay, Noli. Just think about it. Okay?”
I drape my arms around his shoulders and press my forehead to his. “I will. But how are we going to tell Nando about us?”
“Let me worry about that.”
“He’s my brother.”
“And he’s my best friend. It’ll be fine.” He sounds way more confident than I feel, but before I can say so, his expression darkens. “There is one other thing you and I have to talk about.”
His stern tone makes me tense. “What’s that?”
“The birds. In the Christmas tree. They’re really creeping me out.”
I don’t stop laughing until his kisses shut me up.
But as happy as I am, the nagging fear over my brother’s reaction just won’t leave me alone.
CHAPTER FIVE
The morning of December twenty-third, my parents’ boiler breaks. Since they typically host our extended families for Christmas Eve, this is a catastrophe of epic proportions.
And when I get pressured to host instead, Nando is forced to come clean about living with Iris, and I have to admit I’m staying with David.
I don’t, however, tell anyone that David and I are together. David insists that we need to tell my brother, although I’m still worried about what it’ll do to their friendship.
The potential for disaster is overwhelmingly high, and it’s not improved by the presence of my mother cooking up a storm in David’s kitchen all day.
I’ve been conscripted into service, of course, so I’m in there with her, making enough pernil, arroz con gandules, bacalaítos, alcapurrias, and tostones to feed an army.
The saving grace is that Titi Concha is bringing the pasteles this year.
I’ve apologized to David for the inconvenience at least twenty times, but he just gives me an easy smile and says it’s a good thing I’ve already decorated.
My mother is thrilled that the birds are being used. Dad shuddered when he saw them and has avoided the living room every time he’s dropped off more supplies.
That night, David kisses me sweetly and assures me that he doesn’t mind having all my relatives descend on his home. He says he’s always thought of my family as his own, and he’s happy to have the opportunity to host them.
But in the event that he’s just being nice, I wake him up on the morning of Christmas Eve with a blow job that leaves him shaking. After he’s spent, I crawl up his body and press a light kiss to his cheek.
“Feliz Nochebuena, carino,” I whisper.
He gives me a dreamy smile and twines his fingers in my hair. “God, I fuckin’ love you.”
The breath backs up in my lungs and I go still. “You’re just saying that.”
He shakes his head, his eyes never leaving mine. “Come on, Noli. Don’t tell me it’s not obvious.”
For once, I don’t know what to say. I snuggle into his chest, and he holds me until my phone rings with the first of many calls from my parents.