Fifteen

The smell of coffee, bacon, and cinnamon buns woke me up. I stretched in Lani’s bed, the ridiculous smile from earlier still on my face. I hopped out of bed and ran over to the window. The driveway was completely clear, and Erik had moved his car closer to the garage. All evidence of our rendezvous had been shoveled away, and I wondered for a minute if I had conjured the whole thing up.

Grabbing my toiletries, I headed for the bathroom to wash my face and brush my teeth. I started humming as I brushed, and when someone knocked on the door, I practically sang, “Just a minute.” Wiping my face dry, I tossed my stuff back into my bag and opened the door. Lani and Laura were both there, arms folded, a suspicious smile on their faces. They really did look like twins. It was freaky.

“Hey! Merry Christmas!” I said rather overzealously. They looked at each other then back at me.

“Merry Christmas to you. So.” Laura wagged her eyebrows at me, making her resemblance to Erik uncanny. “Can we assume that you guys made up?”

“Huh?”

“We heard your argument last night. Things were a bit tense, and this morning you’re humming in the bathroom,” Lani explained.

“You heard us argue?” My face dropped. How embarrassing. “I’m sorry. I must have come across like a total psycho.”

“Not at all,” Laura said. “We figured you needed your space, and we were coming to check on you now, but you look like you’re good.’

“I’m great. We both are. We…” Shit. This was awkward. As much as I’d like to pretend these girls were my Delta Sig sisters, they weren’t. They were Erik’s sisters, and I wasn’t sure how honest I could be—or worse, how much they already knew. “We talked it out.”

They looked at each other and smiled. “Yeah, I saw the love bite on Erik’s shoulder this morning,” Lani sniggered.

I had given him a hickey? Shit! I was mortified! I felt the blush rise in my cheeks. My skin officially clashed with my hair.

“It’s all good, it was a tiny one. I only saw because I walked in on him with his shirt off.” Thinking about Erik with his shirt off caused me to go from blushing to basically setting my cheeks on fire. “I didn’t even tell Erik. Besides, I’ve walked in on much worse.” I had no idea what she meant by that, and truth be told, I did not want to know.

“I’m mortified.” I covered my face with my hands.

“Don’t be. You’re young and in love, might as well enjoy yourself,” Laura said then skipped back to her room singing, “Erik and Brittany sitting in a tree…”

Was this sibling taunting? I wasn’t sure.

“Good to know,” I muttered, feeling like a complete ass.

“She’s only teasing. We seriously could care less. You should go downstairs and grab a cinnamon bun before dad and Erik eat them all.”

“Will do. You coming?”

“We already ate, but I mean it, they will not even leave you a crumb, you better hurry.”

I smiled and ducked into the bedroom to drop off my bag and tossed on a pair of jeans before jogging down the stairs. When I entered the kitchen, Mrs. Draxton gave me the biggest hug. It was very confusing, especially after how she had invited Alice over last night. Maybe Erik was right, and I just had to trust that Mrs. Draxton had her reasons for what she did. Reasons that had nothing to do with me. I so wanted to believe that. “Merry Christmas, Brit!”

“Merry Christmas,” I replied.

She squeezed me even tighter before stepping back, but she held onto my arms. “Did you sleep okay?”

Had she heard us fighting, too? This was so embarrassing. “Yeah, really great.” I heard Erik snort and looked over at him. He was smiling over the lip of his coffee mug.

“Go sit yourself down, I’ll make a plate for you.” I nodded and tucked a lock of hair that had escaped my ponytail behind my ear.

I pulled out a chair between Erik and his dad and slid into the seat. “Merry Christmas, Mr. Draxton,” I said shyly.

He raised his coffee mug in mock cheer. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”

It warmed my heart that he called me such a tender term of endearment.

“What about me?” Erik asked, that sexy smile still curled across his face.

“What about you?” I asked, unable to refrain from smiling like a goofball.

He leaned over and kissed my cheek. “Merry Christmas,” he said softly. His gaze was on mine, and I felt a flutter in my stomach.

I tipped my head to the side. “Happy Sol Invictus.”

He raised his glass. “Touché.”

Mrs. Draxton placed a plate in front of me. Eggs, sausage, bacon and the highly anticipated cinnamon bun. “Wow! This looks amazing!” And it did. I was basically hypnotized by the food porn before me.

“Coffee, dear?” Mrs. Draxton asked, pointing to the fresh pot.

“I’ll get it. I know how she likes it.” Of course Erik knew, he only made me coffee about a dozen times a week when I hung out at his job.

“You don’t have to serve me. I have legs.” I turned to get up, but Erik sprang up first.

“Eat your food before I steal your bun, it’s the last one.” He went over to the counter and fixed my coffee then refilled his own glass. Watching him, I had a vision of us ten years in the future. Erik pouring us coffee before our workday began. It wasn’t the first time I thought about a future with him. In fact, it was one of the easiest fantasies to have.

After breakfast, I helped Mrs. Draxton clean up while the rest of the family was in the living room opening their stockings. Since I didn’t have a stocking, I thought it best to give Erik some alone time with his sisters. I’m sure they had done the same thing every year since they could all walk. I didn’t want to impose upon tradition.

“Brit, about last night, I’m sorry if you got the wrong impression.”

“It’s okay, really.”

Mrs. Draxton looked like she wanted to say more, but just smiled instead. I was happy she dropped the subject, honestly I just wanted to move on and put last night behind us.

Right when the last spoon was put away and the dish towels were being folded, Erik’s dad walked in, clapped his hands together and said, “Fire is lit. Let’s do presents!” He smiled, excited as a child, and Mrs. Draxton linked her arm through mine, walking with me into the living room. Again, I questioned her actions. Did she like me or was this just an act? I honestly couldn’t tell.

Lani and Laura were sitting on the sofa; Erik was seated on the floor in front of them, and they were braiding his hair. He looked miserable.

“Save me?” he asked.

Once again I got to experience time travel. It was easy to visualize Erik being tormented by his sisters years ago. I secretly loved that they still bugged him. It was endearing. Jaime was the closest thing I had to a brother, so when I started crushing on him, it got pretty weird.

“Girls, leave your brother alone,” Mrs. Draxton said as she stepped closer and pushed their hands away. Erik untwisted the braids and shook his hair out.

“If he insists on having long hair, he should at least style it. I say for Christmas, Erik cuts it all off.” Laura’s eyes grew wide at the possibility.

“No!” I shouted and slapped my hand over my mouth. I knew they were kidding, but I loved his hair.

“See?” Erik said, gesturing to me. “Some women like my hair.”

“That’s because she’s never seen you with short hair,” Laura said then turned to me. “He looks so handsome with it short.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it,” I said and walked over to Erik, stepping protectively in front of him. He grabbed my hand and sat right by the fireplace beside the tree, pulling me down to the floor with him. The fire felt good.

Mrs. Draxton sat in the recliner and turned to her husband. “Joe, you be Santa.”

I didn’t know what “being Santa” meant, but Erik reached under the tree and grabbed a red fuzzy Santa hat and tossed it across the room to his dad. Mr. Draxton caught it and put it on a little crooked.

“All right, let’s see what the big guy left for us.” He peered under the tree and picked up a handful of presents that looked similar. “These girls must have been very good this year. I need Lani, Laura, and Brit.”

I smiled when he said my name and stretched up onto my knees to reach for the box he extended out to me. “Thank you,” I said shyly as I took the box and placed it in front of me on the floor. Mr. Draxton continued to pass out the gifts until nothing was left under the tree. When everyone had a pile in front of them, the sound of tearing paper began, followed by squeals, laughter, and many “thank you’s”.

Erik’s parents had given me soft grey pajamas that matched Laura and Lani’s. They had also given me a gold-leaf leather-bound copy of the complete works of Edgar Allan Poe. He was my favorite author. I looked at Erik, and he shrugged, pretending he had no part in their gift giving. I had to refrain from smelling the pages. I was a big ol’ book whore.

Mrs. Draxton loved the crystal snowflake and put it on the tree right away, finding a spot in front of one of the bulbs so it seemed to shimmer.

“These are so beautiful, Brit,” Lani said, holding up her own snowflake.

“Yes, thanks so much for thinking of us,” Laura chimed in, and she seemed to really like it, too. Thanks, mom.

Erik slid his hand behind his back and swung it back, holding a square box out to me. It was heavy. I tore open the paper and pulled open the protective styrofoam. Inside was a snow globe of Times Square. I pulled out the globe and gave it a shake, watching as the glitter drifted over the tiny city street. Flipping the globe over, I turned the key to listen to what it would play. The tinkling music began, and everyone was quiet so they could listen. It was Auld Lang Syne. It was cute, but an odd gift. Especially since he had obviously told his parents to buy me the Poe book. I actually wondered for a moment if he had switched gifts with them. This didn’t seem like something Erik would pick out for me.

“There’s something else in the box,” he said. And I wondered if he could sense my confusion. I had to really look to see the small rectangle that was lying flat on the bottom. Pulling it out, it was a round trip train ticket from Philadelphia to Penn Station, New York. I looked at him.

“New York? What’s in New York?”

“More like who. Kristen and David. We’re going to spend New Year’s Eve with them in Times Square. Watch the ball drop and freeze our asses off. Sound good?”

When I had asked Kristen what she was doing for New Year’s, she had been cryptic. Now I knew why.

I threw my arms around his neck, giving him a squeeze. “Erik! That sounds perfect!”

“Wear your Uggs, you’re gonna need it! Temperature is supposed to drop next week,” Lani said, and I nodded. I was going to see Kristen in a few days. This was the best gift ever!

“Oh, and I already called your dad and asked permission to take you to New York, so no worries.” Erik picked up the bow that was on the gift and stuck it onto my shoulder.

“You called my dad? How did you even get his number?”

“He gave it to me before we left, said to call him if anything happened. He seemed worried. To be honest… I’ve been texting with him all week. Just reassuring him that you’re okay.”

“He was worried?” It was hard to speak due to the lump in my throat.

“Brit.” Erik lowered his voice. “You’re his daughter, of course he was worried. He even said your mom felt guilty visiting the Louvre without you.”

“Now I know you’re full of it.”

“Brit, she loves you. It’s just not easy for her to show it.”

I nodded, not wanting to get into how her heart was two sizes too small. I wanted to believe him, I really did. But it was difficult when I saw the support he had growing up. I was admittedly jealous of it.

Mrs. Draxton must have sensed my unease, for she turned on some holiday music in the background to drown out the already personal conversation that had just leaked out. I pushed Erik’s gift from me in front of him. “Your turn.”

He opened the small trunk I had packed his presents in, noting how cool it was, and looked at the goodies inside. It had everything from guitar picks to fresh sketch books and art supplies. I even tossed in a few ponytail holders because I noticed mine had started to go missing since we began dating. Folded neatly on the bottom was the shirt. He pulled it out and slipped it on right away, pointing to the name. “Where on earth did you find this? This is so fucking cool!”

“Erik!” Mrs. Draxton said scolding him. “Language!” I giggled, thinking what she would have said had she heard my holy fuck meister from last night.

“Sorry!” Erik tossed the hair out of his eyes as he buttoned up the shirt. He looked great in green. I had visions of him in the army, and I was immediately turned on.

“Well, everything was beautiful! Another wonderful Christmas morning!” Mrs. Draxton clapped softly, looking around the room at the presents and paper.

“We’re not done. Brit has another gift,” Erik said looking sinfully delicious.

I leaned over to him. “I opened all my presents, Erik.”

“Did you check your stocking?”

“Huh?” I turned behind me and looked at the fireplace, where the stockings had been hanging all week. There was a new one. With my name on it in purple glitter.

“Looks like Kris Kringle was sneaky when someone wasn’t looking,” Mr. Draxton said and leaned back in his chair. The whole family was looking at me, and I could feel my ears burning with embarrassment. Okay, they clearly weren’t going to stop staring until I pulled out whatever Erik had in that stocking. I got up and reached down into the stocking until I felt a small square box a tad bigger than the palm of my hand.

I sat back down, crossing my legs like a pretzel and peeked at Erik. His eyes were sparkling. The room was so quiet, all I could hear was an old version of Baby it’s Cold Outside in the background. I opened the box, and my heart melted. Inside was a silver bracelet with true to size guitar picks hanging off in silver. Erik reached into the box and pulled out the bangle then slipped it onto my left wrist. He turned the picks so I could see that each one was engraved.

“It’s all of our firsts,” he explained. He turned them individually so I could see. “The first time we met. Our first kiss, our first date, and…” He tapped the last one. “Our first Christmas.” I looked at the picks more closely. It had the event engraved on one side and the date on the other.

Laura started clapping. “Well done, little bro!”

I looked at his sisters. “You guys had nothing to do with this?”

Lani shrugged. “I’d like to think my words of wisdom had something to do with it over the years, but no. This was all him.”

“I’m just relieved there isn’t another first on there,” Mr. Draxton said as he got up.

“Oh Joe! You don’t need to embarrass them like that,” Mrs. Draxton said as she followed him into the kitchen.

Actually that first was on there, but only Erik and I knew which one. I felt like my heart would burst, and when Laura and Lani left the room, I was so grateful for a moment of privacy with him.

“Thank you,” I whispered. It was the most romantic gift. “I love it so much. It’s my favorite thing in the whole world.”

“Every time something special happens, I’ll have another one made. I want this bracelet full.” He looked at me seriously. The fact that it held the possibility of our future was overwhelming.

I threaded my fingers through his hair and pulled him closer to kiss him. The guitar picks creating a delicate tinkling sound as they hit off of each other. Erik pressed his lips against mine, and I felt the familiar sparks flash across my skin. I wondered if he felt it, too. He had too, it would be cruel if he didn’t. I turned my head, parting my lips, wanting him to deepen our kiss. His tongue immediately slid across mine, and I felt his kiss in my core. I didn’t think I’d have the strength to ever stop kissing him.

The doorbell rang, but we ignored it. Erik cradled the back of my neck and gently pushed forward, placing his weight on top of me as I reclined back. He had me pinned to the floor, and I heard the crunch of paper as he shifted on top of me. The corner of the box from the snow globe was poking me at the base of my back, but still, I didn’t stop kissing him. We were on borrowed time, and I would savor every second. I wrapped my arms around his neck, let go of my anxieties and just enjoyed my boyfriend for a minute.

Someone walked in and cleared their throat. Erik snapped up and turned to the side. I tried to hide behind his shoulder, but there was nowhere to run. Thankfully, it wasn’t his mom. It was Lani, and she didn’t look disgusted or upset, she looked concerned.

“Sorry to interrupt you guys.” She looked behind her and took a step in. “Erik, Alice is here.”

I felt Erik stiffen and not in the good way. “Why is she here?” He sat back on his knees, pulling the stray hairs out of his eyes with one hand and me up with the other. I slid my legs under my butt and sat on my calves, chewing on my bottom lip. I thought we were done with her.

Lani shook her head. “I have no freaking clue. She came with cranberry muffins. Mom knows you guys were arguing last night, and she swears she didn’t invite her back.” She rolled her eyes, and I felt like Lani was officially on my side.

“All right, we’ll hang out in my room until she’s gone.” Well that made me feel like crap. He was going to hide from her to avoid another argument with me. I didn’t like that she was here, but I couldn’t just keep Erik locked up in a cage all day either.

“I think you should say hi. Wish her a Merry Christmas,” I said. I didn’t sound very enthusiastic, and Erik gave me a look like he refused to believe I was cool with him speaking to her. I shrugged. “It’s the right thing to do. She obviously isn’t here for your mom’s cinnamon buns.”

“I agree with Brit. This chick is just going to keep on coming back if you don’t show your face.”

“Fine.” Erik took my hand, and we went into the kitchen. Alice was sitting at the counter, and Mrs. Draxton was pouring her a cup of tea. She had on dark jeans, knee high caramel boots, and an ivory sweater. A simple outfit, but she looked so pretty. I had tossed on a pair of jeans with the knees all torn and an Abbey Road tee before I came downstairs this morning, and my hair was in a loose ponytail. I was planning on putting on real clothes after my shower. She looked like she was modeling an Abercrombie ad for their winter line. I noticed Alice’s gaze drifted over to our hands that were still interlocked.

“Merry Christmas, Alice,” Erik said, not daring to take a step closer to her.

“Merry Christmas, Erik.” She may have said it to Erik, but she was looking at me.

“Kids, Mrs. Groves baked muffins, and Alice was kind enough to drop a basket over for us to enjoy. Would you care for one, Brit?” Mrs. Draxton asked, if she was trying to alleviate the tension, she was failing miserably.

I’d rather chew the wrapping paper all over the living room floor and swallow it dry.

“No, thank you. I’m full from breakfast.” I looked at Alice, who was still staring at me. It was really making me uncomfortable, and I let go of Erik’s hand. “But… uh… they smell really good.” Look at me being nice!

Alice nodded slow then flashed a big pearly white smile at Mrs. Draxton. “I better get going.”

“Nonsense! You haven’t even finished your tea yet.”

“I know… I’m sorry, I have to help my mom at home. I…” She bit her bottom lip and looked over at Erik, who was leaning against the fridge. His gaze on the floor. Fuck. He wouldn’t even look at her. This was my fault. Me and my stupid tantrum.

“I understand dear. It is Christmas day after all. Erik, why don’t you drive Alice home, so she doesn’t have to walk back?” Erik’s head snapped up, and he looked at his mother. She raised her brow, basically warning him not to argue. “You need to pick up more egg nog anyway. I don’t have enough.” She wants to make amends. I heard it again in my head. But why now? Why today?

“Okay. Sure.” He turned to me. “Want to come for a ride?”

So, this was life testing me. Would I be the overprotective girlfriend that had to monitor his every move, or could I just trust him and be cool with him driving that tramp a few blocks? I wanted to be the psycho watch dog, but instead, I took the high road. “I should really help your mom here. Your family will arrive before you know it, and there’s still so much to do.”

Mrs. Draxton put her arm around me. “Wonderful! Thank you, honey.” Did she mean thank you honey, or good girl, step away so he can be with her?

“You sure? The girls can help her.” He looked like he wanted me riding shot gun next to him, not Alice, but I had to prove that I was okay with his past, just as he was okay with mine.

I looked at Alice, who dropped her gaze, unable to meet my stare. “I’m sure.”

Erik looked disappointed, but I held my ground. It was ten minutes. I could let him drive with his ex for ten minutes. I was the mature one. But that didn’t mean I wouldn’t give him a reason to hurry back. Walking them both to the door, I gave him a kiss that probably lasted a moment longer than appropriate, and when I heard Lani laugh in the hallway, I knew it was time to let him go. He just smiled, my favorite Erik smile, and I watched him walk out the door with the girl he used to whisper his devotion to. I let out a hard breath, causing my long bangs to fly up off of my forehead.

“Well played,” Lani whispered and hip-checked me.

Yup. Brit-2, Alice-0.