Chapter Thirteen – Caden
Caden
“What just happened?” Gatlin asked, as we both watched Lilibeth practically run away from the table.
I couldn’t hide the smile on my face if I wanted to.
Gatlin looked at me and raised a brow. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Then why did Lilibeth jump up and run away?”
“She didn’t run away, Gatlin. She needed some air, I guess.”
Before he could question me any further, my father was getting everyone’s attention.
“Vivianne and I want to thank everyone who’s joined us for Christmas Day. We’re so blessed to have our family and friends with us. Now—this is when the fun begins!”
Our mother, standing beside Dad, clapped her hands in excitement.
“I love how excited Mom gets when she knows we’re playing games.”
I nodded. “I know.”
Dad went on. “Since it’s Christmas, we’re going to play some reindeer games.”
“What do you think they have planned this year?” Gatlin asked, as we all made our way into the family room.
“Lord only knows.”
We walked in and found different areas set up with what I assumed were the games. There was a long table with red Solo cups placed upside down in two straight parallel lines, each one with a ball sitting on top.
“Oh God,” Gatlin mumbled. “I’m having PTSD from last night.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lilibeth, Ensley, and Emeline walk in.
Emeline covered her mouth and looked as if she were laughing.
Ensley reached over and hit her on the back of the head, while Lilibeth looked around the room.
When her gaze met mine, she blushed and tried to leave the room.
Ensley said something and pulled her back to her side.
“Okay, listen up, and I’ll explain the first game. It’ll be boys against girls.”
“How long is Mom going to refer to us as ‘boys’?” Gatlin sighed.
“The first game is the red Solo cup game. Once we say go, you have to reach for the cup with one hand, toss the ball up and catch it in the cup. If you miss, you have to put the cup back down, place the ball on it and try again. First one to the end wins.”
“That’s easy enough,” I said, with a cocky smile in my mother’s direction.
“Why, thank you for volunteering to go first, Caden.”
Rubbing my hands together, I walked toward the table. “Who’s going to go up against me?”
“I will!”
I turned to see little Katie with her hand up as high as it could go.
I smiled. “A worthy opponent, I see. And the only one brave enough to take me on.”
We moved toward the end of the table, where my mother stood.
When I glanced up, I saw Lilibeth smiling.
I winked, and her cheeks turned pink. Fuck, if she wasn’t the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
The way my body reacted to her comment about the brownies had caught me off guard, but in a good way.
I was thankful my brother had shown up when he had.
I dragged my gaze off of her and focused on Katie.
“You ready for this?” I asked, in my most serious voice.
“I was born ready!” she replied. The room erupted into laughter.
“Are you both ready?” Mom called out with a huge smile.
“Ready!” Katie cried with a fist pump. It took everything I had not to laugh. She was a little firecracker, reminding me of a younger Emeline.
“Get set! Go!”
Katie took off like she had mini jets on her hands. I thought I’d have to go slow, give her a fighting chance, but I’d clearly underestimated my competition—and she took full advantage.
“Shit!” I mumbled, when she swiftly jumped ahead.
“Watch your language, Caden Wilde!” Mom warned.
I quickly caught up to Katie, then one of my balls fell off the table. It took me a hot second to find it, and by the time I got going again, Katie was already at the end of her side, jumping for joy. The clear winner.
“Katie is our winner!” my mother cried, as cheers erupted.
Gatlin hit me on the back and slowly shook his head. “You got beat by a six-year-old, dude.”
Rolling my eyes, I retorted, “You play against her. She’s fast.”
A few more couples played the game before it was time for Lilibeth. She was paired up with Gatlin.
“Are you ready to get your butt beat?” she asked my brother.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” he replied, and Lilibeth laughed.
They got ready, and before my mother blew the obnoxious whistle she’d somehow found between rounds twenty minutes ago, my brother pointed to Lilibeth and winked.
“Ready, sweetheart?”
She held out her hand and flexed it a few times. “I’m more than ready, cowboy.”
It took everything I had not to walk over and smack my brother. I was annoyed he was flirting with Lilibeth, and I knew I had no right to be. I was the one who wasn’t interested in anything more, so it wasn’t fair that I wanted to strangle my own brother for teasing her.
I watched as they stayed neck and neck throughout their game, with every single female cheering on Lilibeth, while the guys yelled for Gatlin to pick up the speed.
“This is harder than it looks!” Gatlin shouted back, losing his concentration and dropping a ball. “Fucking hell!”
“Gatlin! Language!” my mother and Emeline said in unison.
Lilibeth caught her last ball and started to jump up and down. “I won! I won!”
Emeline and Katie both wrapped their arms around her.
“You were the tie-breaker!” Emeline said, then turned to my brother and added, “Ha! Girls won!”
Gatlin rolled his eyes, then smiled at Lilibeth. “I had no idea you were going to be so good.”
She shrugged. “Lesson not to judge a book by its cover.”
Gatlin laughed as he wrapped his arm around Lilibeth’s shoulders and walked away with her.
“Did you just…growl?”
I turned to see Levi standing slightly behind me.
“No.”
He gave me a skeptical look.
I was about to say I needed to get some air when my father announced the next game.
The next few hours were filled with lots of games and even more laughter. Still, by the time the games were finished, I was definitely ready to bolt.
Sitting on the sofa, I watched Lilibeth chat with my mother.
I wasn’t sure what they were saying, but they both wore broad smiles.
Lilibeth’s hair was in a ponytail with a red and green ribbon tied at the top.
She wore leggings and a short sweater dress that hugged her in all the right ways.
She looked so fucking adorable, it was hard not to walk up, draw her into my arms, and kiss her.
Throwing her head back in laughter, Lilibeth put her hand on my mother’s arm. Mom covered Lilibeth’s hand with her own, and something inside me physically tightened, causing me to rub at my chest.
I never saw Rachel talk so comfortably with my mother like this, let alone laugh with such delight.
My mother’s eyes sparkled as she spoke to Lilibeth.
That wasn’t a surprise, though. When Lilibeth spoke to someone, regardless of whether it was my mother or little Katie—who’d begged her earlier to braid her hair—she gave that person her undivided attention.
Like they were the only two people in the room.
Lilibeth’s parents walked over and hugged my mother.
It was obvious they were all getting ready to leave.
My grandmother joined them, and Lilibeth drew her into a hug.
Grams whispered something into her ear, which made Lilibeth flush a deep red.
She surreptitiously glanced around the room, and when her gaze caught mine, she smiled slightly.
Standing, I made my way over to the small group.
“Leaving?” I asked, bending to kiss her on the cheek.
“Yes. I was just telling your mother and grandmother that I’ve never had so much fun.”
Smiling at my mother, I said, “Mom knows how to throw a good party.”
“She certainly does!” my grandmother added.
Mom put her arm around Grandma as she said, “Nellie was a wonderful teacher.”
“Thank you again. We had a wonderful time,” Whitney, Lilibeth’s mother, said. “It was such a fun day.”
Mom kissed Whitney and hugged Liam, Lilibeth’s father. He turned to me and shook my hand. “It was good to see you again, Caden.”
I tipped my head. “You as well.” I glanced at Lilibeth. “May I walk you out?”
Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. “Of course. Let me say goodbye to your sisters and brother. I’ve already spoken to your father and grandfather.”
Whitney took her daughter’s hand. “We’re going to head out, sweetheart.”
Kissing her mother quickly, Lilibeth replied, “Okay. Be safe driving home, and let me know when you get there.”
“It was so good to see you, Caden.”
“You as well, Whitney.”
Following them to the door, I helped my mother get their coats, then bade them another farewell. When Lilibeth approached, I helped put her coat on.
“Thank you,” she said softly, as she avoided looking me in the eye.
“Be careful driving, it’s starting to snow.”
She grinned. “I will, Dad.”
I grabbed my coat and followed her out. “Have you found a place to live yet?”
She looked confused for a moment, and I was guessing she probably was wondering how I knew about her living situation.
Then she sighed. “I don’t really want to move in with my parents, so I think for now, I’ll crash at the store.
The sofa I have upstairs turns into a bed.
There’s a bathroom, and I can easily just grab food from one of the restaurants close by. ”
God, how I wanted to tell her to move into my place.
I wanted to get lost in her and not worry about anything outside of what was happening in my house.
Even before we’d hooked up, Lilibeth was who I thought about when I lay my head down at night, and who I thought of when I first opened my eyes each morning.
I’d jacked off in the shower so many times to the memory of being inside of her, it was getting embarrassing.
I reached up and touched the ribbon tied in her hair. It was then that I realized there were small baby’s breath flowers tied to the bow. “This is cute.”
Smirking, she asked, “What, no Flower Child comment?”
Lifting my eyes, I met hers. “You’ll always be my Flower Child, Lili.”
She blinked a few times, then looked down before smiling. “I should get going. It was such a great day. Being an only child, our Christmases were always pretty quiet. I can’t remember the last time I had such fun on Christmas Day. Your family really is the best.”
I nodded. “They are.”
Opening her car door, she bit down on her lip before laughing slightly and sliding into her seat. I shut the door and waited for her to start it. When she rolled down her window, I said again, “Text me when you get home?”
“I will,” she replied softly. “Merry Christmas, Caden.”
Making myself step back, I raised a hand, “Merry Christmas, Lili.”
She slowly backed out and headed down the long drive. I stood there and watched her go, until I couldn’t see the red brake lights any longer.
I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath before exhaling. “What in the hell are you doing to me, Lilibeth Asher?”
Turning, I slowly headed back into my parents’ house.