Gah, is he waiting for me to make it?
Just do it, Whitney! Put yourself out there. Love him freely for the first time in your life. He’s right fucking there!
“You’re awesome,” I say softly, opting for a compliment for the moment. Brenden cuts through our eye contact as he grabs the kid’s coats and glances back at Erin and my parents in the living room.
“I have a feeling we’ll be out here for a while,” he says, taking a step out.
“Take your time. We’ll do stockings,” Serena replies as we congregate back into the living room. Dad orders Alexa to play Christmas music as Serena, Mom, and I sip our champagne, and Eli tosses more logs onto the fire.
“All right,” Serena says, passing out our stockings while a mix of kid squeals and parent scorns sound from the driveway.
We all start to unpack our oversized socks. I begin to unload mine in my lap, seeing Mom’s annual butterscotch Life Saver storybook fall out first—which has me grinning. It’s when the Brach’s Christmas tree taffy falls into my lap, followed by an orange, that my eyes water. I lift the fruit eye level, tears clouding my vision as I blink them away, nostalgia hitting my chest with a hard thud.
It’s as if Grammy P is in the room with us. I blink another tear away as Serena sounds out next to me. “Gah, I miss her.”
Her voice is filled with the same emotion I feel as she looks over to Mom and lifts the tree candy. “I can hardly ever find these in the store anymore. Where did you get them?”
Mom eyes us both, confusion on her features as she looks between us, her own orange in hand. “You two didn’t do this?”
I glance over to Serena and draw my brows as Serena shakes her head. “No, I didn’t.”
“Neither did I,” Ruby says softly, looking between us, “then, who?”
We all turn to Dad.
“Dad?” I ask.
“Wasn’t me, Sweet Pea.”
Standing next to the fireplace, Eli clears his throat and shoves his hands in his jeans. “Whitney told me when we dated that Grammy P used to put oranges and Brach’s tree candy in your stockings. I checked and didn’t see any in there, so I—”
He doesn’t get a chance to finish because I climb him like a tree, tears stinging my eyes before I kiss the ever-loving hell out of him.
Surprised, he lifts me into his arms and kisses me back fully, his hands on the sides of my face. With my elf slippers hooked around his waist, I pepper his jaw with kisses, knowing everyone is watching but can’t bring myself to give a shit. I pull away, elated, and beam at him. “You totally Family Stoned us.”
He smiles. “That’s a good thing, right?”
“Meh, I mean, yeah, I guess…Maybe I’ll keep you around for a while.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” I whisper, kissing him again before tossing a glance over my shoulder to see tears in Serena’s eyes just as my parents clink champagne flutes.
I wake in Whitney’s twin bed, her blonde hair askew, obstructing my view of her face. She’s wrapped around me, her naked thigh hitched over my torso, possessively keeping me close to her—not that we have a spare inch of room. I revel in the feel of her surrounding me and know there’s not a chance in hell I’ll want to wake up another day without this. We have a future, and it started last night. So much to look forward to, so much to make up for. Nothing about the ideas I have brewing for us feels rushed.
It feels as if our hearts agreed on the other all those years ago. My errant path and struggle with anxiety and depression were the only thing to keep us from living the decision. We grew up apart instead. We became who we became and found each other after the fact, or rather, I found her, much like she found me the first time—by fortunate accident. There’s a lot to be said for that.
Pushing away her hair selfishly for a view, I find a peaceful expression and do nothing to stifle the words that so easily spill from my lips. Pacing be damned.
“I love you,” I whisper. “I’m going to give you everything. So much more than you’re expecting,” I murmur to her temple as I slide my palm down her back. “I’m going to make sure you know exactly who your soulmate is.” She doesn’t so much as stir at my spoken dreams, no doubt due to exhaustion.
I spent the bulk of the night making love to her before things got a little filthy. We’ve wasted no time making up for our separation, our bodies easily molding together as if remembering the other.
Glancing behind Whitney, I chuckle at Raggedy Ann and Andy, who are huddled together in the corner, facing the wall. Something Whitney insisted on doing before she sank to her knees last night and looked up at me with eyes filled with desire while pulling my pajama pants and boxers down.