Chapter 13
chapter thirteen
There hasn’t been much “normalcy” in my life since school started back up. I kind of feel like I’ve been living someone else’s life, in someone else’s body.
But four days before Christmas, things feel a tiny bit normal again.
Alec said goodbye to me by coming to my dorm at seven in the morning. He’d brought me breakfast from my favorite bakery, as well as a wrapped gift that he’d left on my desk. As well as a little decorated Christmas tree which he set up in the corner of my room. “Wait till Christmas to open your present,” he’d said as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Aww, you brought me a tree!” I exclaimed as I sat up in bed, taking in the little tree. It had lights and ornaments and everything.
Alec shrugged as if it wasn’t the most thoughtful thing ever. “I couldn’t stand the idea of you being here by yourself with no tree.”
“Thank you,” I said as I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his. “Your present is right there,” I’d said with a blush, nodding to the other wrapped gift on the desk. “Wait till Christmas.”
Alec took it, kissed me once more, and disappeared out the door before anyone around me might wake and see him slipping out.
Alec Vanderholt might have grown up in this town, but his father lives in a mansion on the other side of town from campus. There is the university part of town, and there is the billionaire side. Alec is spending the holidays with his father and his extended family who is coming into town.
Me? I’ll be staying right here on campus. The town where mom is living is over eight hours away, and there’s no way I can afford to fly home. And now that I’m a twenty-two year old woman, I refuse to let my mother pay for my flight.
So, on Christmas day, I wake up in my dorm room, alone. But it’s to a flood of texts.
Alec:
Good morning, beautiful. Wish I could spend the day with you, but I hope it’s still amazing. I’ll call you later and you can open your gift.
Isabella:
Merry Christmas! I’m excited for our dinner later! See you in a few hours!
Mom:
Call me as soon as you’re awake! Merry Christmas!
I smile, feeling pretty damn grateful to have so many amazing people in my life.
I sit on the edge of my bed and hold my phone up, hitting the FaceTime button with my mom.
“Merry Christmas, baby!” she answers enthusiastically.
“Merry Christmas, Mom,” I reply with a smile.
“You got a tree!” she squeals. “It’s adorable. I’m so glad you decorated!”
“I—” I nearly explain, nearly correct her that it wasn’t me who put it up. But I hesitate. Do I want to tell my mom about Alec? It started out so… dirty.
“What is it?” Mom asks, knowing. She always knows.
“It wasn’t me who put it up,” I say hesitantly. I’m panicking a little. I wish I’d thought about this beforehand. Do I want to tell her? “I’m… I’m kind of seeing someone. He put it up.”
“What?” Mom gapes dramatically. She was always great at the supportive dramatics. “You’re seeing someone and I’m just now hearing about it?”
“It’s new, Mom, calm down,” I chuckle. “We’re kind of still testing the waters. I wouldn’t say it’s something to write home about yet.”
Because it started out as no strings attached sex.
“What’s his name?” she encourages. “Where did you meet? Is he nice?”
I chuckle and shake my head, because I knew this was coming, the moment I opened my mouth. “His name is Alec, and we go to school together. We got paired up for this project and well…”
“A meet cute, I love it!” she exclaims. Mom is the best cheerleader.
“Alec keeps me on my toes, but in a good way,” I say. I don’t know that I can say Alec is nice. He does nice things every now and then, but I wouldn’t call him nice. But you can’t tell your mother that.
“As long as your happy, baby,” she says, and I can feel her support coming through the phone. “Now, open your present, I’m dying to see what you think!”
Later that evening, half an hour before I’m supposed to head to Isabella’s house for dinner, my phone buzzes. I pull it out to find a FaceTime from Alec.
“Hey,” I answer with a smile. “How’s Christmas at the mansion?”
“Trust me, I’d rather be just about anywhere else,” he says as he brushes his hand through his hair. He looks… exhausted.
“Oh no,” I say, my expression falling. “That bad?”
He shrugs. “It’s what I expected. Dad’s a tyrant. He’s fighting with his sisters. My cousins are assholes. Victoria’s family is coming over later, and I know Dad is going to be watching us.”
My nose scrunches at that and my stomach turns sour. “That’s exactly what you want to hear, your boyfriend spending Christmas dinner with the woman he’s supposed to marry.”
“Not funny, Winters,” he says, and I can see in his eyes how much this is killing him. “Trust me, I’d love nothing more than to get the hell out of here and come see you.”
I give a small smile at that. “I’m sorry. At least it will all be over in a few days.”
“I can’t wait to see you,” he says, those blue eyes fixing on the screen, and I swear it’s like he’s right here in front of me. “I fucking miss you already.”
Something flutters in my chest. “I miss you too. Like, I’m a little embarrassed that I can’t go more than few days without seeing you and I’m practically dying.”
That brings a smile to Alec’s face, and shit, I love his smile. “How about you open your present?”
“You first,” I insist, even as I grab his gift from my desk and set it in my lap.
“Okay,” he agrees, looking away from the camera for a few moments. I hear the sound of paper being torn, and then a wild grin takes over his face.
“I fucking love it,” he says, laughing as he holds it up for me to see, as if I didn’t pick it out myself.
It’s a mug and it reads #1 Boyfriend. There’s a note folded up inside, but he’ll find that later. In it, I made sure to let him know how proud of him I am, because no one else ever says it to him, and he deserves it.
What do you get your billionaire boyfriend who wants for nothing? Something silly and meaningful.
“Thank you, Salem,” he says, practically beaming as he looks at it again. “I think it’s my favorite gift ever.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, shaking my head, but grinning from ear to ear that it was a hit. “Now, my turn.”
The package is soft when I pick it up. As I tear away the paper, I find a blanket inside, made from that incredibly soft fabric that’s impossible to stop petting. And instantly, Alec’s scent fills the room. He’s sprayed it with his cologne.
“I know what I’ll be wrapped in the rest of the break,” I joke as I bury my nose in it.
“There’s more inside it,” Alec says mischievously, arching an eyebrow.
I unfold the blanket, and indeed, there is more inside. Folded into the blanket, I find a framed picture. It’s a still from one of the videos Alec and I recorded. His mask. My mask. The two of us with barely any clothes on. But I am on full fucking display.
Fuck. I look… hot.
“So you never forget how damn incredible you are,” Alec’s voice pulls me back into the room. “Take one look at that, and you’ll never feel self-conscious again, ever.”
“I’ll just set it right on my mantle,” I joke, even though I can’t stop looking at it. But it’s not just for myself that I can’t look away. I mean… look at Alec!
“You’re welcome,” Alec says with a smirk. In the background, I hear someone calling for him. “Sorry, Dora, I gotta’ run. I’ll talk to you later?”
“Yeah, I need to go too,” I say, sad that our stolen moment is over. “Talk to you later.”
As soon as the call ends, I see the time, and curse. I’m supposed to be at Isabella’s place in two minutes, and she lives on the other side of campus.
Fifteen minutes late, I walk through the door into her little apartment. Instantly, I’m overwhelmed by the scent of amazing food.
“You’re late!” she calls from the kitchen. I remove my shoes and peel off my jacket as I walk through the tiny living room.
“I know, I’m sorry,” I say as I walk in to find her moving through like a hurricane. “I got a call right before I was supposed to leave, and kind of lost track of time.”
She looks over at me as she pulls this little, tiny turkey out of the oven and sets it on the cooktop. It’s all too perceptive. “It was a boy.”
“What?” I ask as my brows furrow. “What do you mean?”
“Salem, you are blushing all the way down your neck,” she says as she arches an eyebrow. She turns the stove off and sets her hot pads on the counter. “You’re practically smiling like a lunatic. You’re seeing someone.”
“Fuck,” I say with a laugh. I take plates from the cupboard. “I?—”
“It’s Alec Vanderholt, isn’t it?” she says as she balls her fists and sets them on her hips.
My mouth opens and closes, and I don’t know where the words go, but they leave.
“I knew it,” she says with a very satisfied smile. “Hell, the way he got all mad about you dancing with Josh at the gala. And the way he looks at you?”
“What do you mean?” I blurt, entirely too curious, and instantly giving myself away.
“Come on, Salem,” Isabella says, giving me a look like I’m stupid. “You two have been at each others throats all semester, and in the kinky way, not just academic rivals way. Anyone who can’t see it has obviously never read an enemies-to-lovers book.”
If I was blushing before, it’s nothing compared to now.
“See,” she says with a cheshire grin. “I knew it. A secret relationship. The billionaire heir. The sex has got to be hot.”
“Isabella!” I cry out in shock.
“What?” she asks with a shrug as she sets out the rest of our little Christmas dinner. “I haven’t had time for romance in four years. And books know how to do it right. Give me the details, girl.”
And I do. Some. Not the parts about Vice, or Mariposa. Not the part about how it started as no strings attached. But some of the juicy details, like the kitchen island? Like beneath the table in the middle of class? Those I do not keep to myself.
I get what Alec meant when he said it was a relief that I knew his secret about Vice. Telling Isabella about my relationship with Alec is a breath of fresh air.
And spilling juicy, dirty secrets, makes this the best Christmas ever.