The Hazards of Mistletoe Read online

  “Did you just wink at your dad?”

  “Trust me, he’ll get it.”

  “Sure he will… You say that until he shows up here with a baseball bat.”

  I laughed. “My dad? I’d worry more about my grandpa.”

  “But your grandpa loves me.”

  “But would he love you sleeping in the same bed with me?”

  “Probably not… but what he doesn’t know can’t hurt him.”

  Healthy risk? You’re learning. Call me at any point if you want a ride home.

  Thanks. See you in the morning.

  Night hun.

  “Ok, that was weird.”

  “We had a chat today. It’s all good.”

  He laughed. “It’s all good?”

  “Yup.”

  “Ready to move to my room?” There was something nervous about the way he said it.

  “I’m ready.”

  He stood up and took my hand. We walked down the small hallway to his room. “The bathroom is through that door over there.”

  “Thanks. I wouldn’t want to accidently walk into Winston’s room instead tonight.”

  “He’s staying elsewhere.”

  “Oh. I see.” She looked away.

  “Don’t read into it. I wasn’t expecting anything. I wanted us to have time to talk.”

  “And we did. And we had time to cuddle on the couch.”

  “And we’ll have time to sleep together without sleeping together.” He walked into his cramped room. “Hope it’s ok. I promise I changed the sheets.”

  “I believe you.” I sat down on the edge of his bed.

  “Want something of mine to sleep in?”

  “Could I borrow a t-shirt?”

  “Yeah, of course.” He pulled a worn in t-shirt out of his drawer. A quick glance inside the drawer told me exactly what I’d expected. He was still as messy as always, but he’d made an effort to clean up for me. I decided not to let on and gladly accepted the t-shirt.

  “Will you be warm enough in that?”

  “Isn’t it going to be your job to keep me warm?” I smiled, before heading off to the corner of his room. Teasing him came so naturally.

  “Do you want me to leave while you change?” he asked.

  “No.” I replied without turning around. I pulled off my sweater and cami and slipped into his shirt. I pulled my arms out of the sleeves long enough to take off my bra. Finally I slipped out of my jeans. I folded my clothes up and placed them on the top of his dresser. “Ok, now I’m cold.”

  He was standing next to his bed in nothing but a pair of boxers. One look at him had my whole body warming. “You okay?” He pulled back the sheets and comforter.

  “Fine.” I slipped into his bed. I shivered as my bare legs made contact with his cold sheets.

  He pulled me into his arms, wrapping his legs and arms around me.

  “How are you so much warmer than me?”

  “We’ve been over this. You weren’t bred for the cold.”

  “Maybe that makes us a better fit. You run warm and I run cold.”

  “What you’re saying is you’re going to cool me down in the summer?”

  “If I ever get to lie in bed with you in the summer we’ll find out.”

  “Promise me it will happen.” He left tiny kisses on my shoulder. “Promise me this is something that’s going to happen again.”

  “That’s the kind of promise that takes two people.” I kissed his neck. I’d always wanted to kiss him there and now it was literally staring me in the face.

  “I’m ready to make the promise.”

  “You’re different.”

  “Good different? Or bad?”

  “Good. I mean you’re still you, but something’s different.”

  “I could say the same thing about you.” He loosened his legs around me.

  “Don’t move your legs.”

  “You’re still cold?”

  “No.” I was perfectly warm. “I just like the way they feel.”

  “I like the way every part of you feels.” He’d left the light on next to the bed, which meant I could still see his eyes. They were wide and so full of emotion. “I’m so crazy about you that it scares me. I have so many memories, thoughts, and feelings that constantly fill my mind. I don’t even know how I made it an entire year without talking to you.”

  “Why do you think I never slept with anyone? No one else was you. I still count my first time as a mistake, and I want to make sure my second time isn’t.”

  “I need you to know something.” He moved so he was hovering over me. He held his weight with his arms.

  “What?” I tried to ignore the growing ache to reach out and touch him.

  “If anything like that happens with us it’s not going to be a mistake. I wouldn’t have you here if I wasn’t committed to making this work. I’m not going to use you, or leave you. It’s going to be the real deal. It would be impossible for us to keep anything just physical or just temporary. Those feelings between us are too real and intense. Once we go down that road, we’re not turning back. We’ve already suffered for a year, and I’m not letting that happen again.”

  I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him down on top of me. The weight of him felt so good, so reassuring. “I might regret saying this, and it might ruin everything, but I’m tired of holding back. I’m tired of lying to myself and everyone else. I love you. I’ve been in love with you for longer than I want to admit, and any chance I had of pretending those feelings aren’t real are gone now. Part of what hurt so bad last year is that I realized what your rejection meant. I realized that I was never going to have a chance to push those feelings where they begged to go.” I forced myself to watch, to see what effect my words would have.

  His eyes lit up. “I love you, too. I’ve been in love with you for longer than I knew what love meant, and it’s why I did what I did last year. Part of my feelings for you involve protectiveness, and I wanted to protect you from me.”

  “I don’t want protection from you. I want you.”

  “And you have me.”

  “You have me too.” I ran my hand down his chest. “All of me.”

  “You sure? We don’t have to do anything tonight.” I could see the struggle in his face. “I’ll wait as long as you want.”

  “I’m completely sure.” I kissed him, hoping my lips could get across my message. He kissed me back, his lips warm as they moved against mine. He sucked on my lip, and I moaned. He eagerly moved into my mouth.

  His hand slipped under my t-shirt, and he cupped my breast. I moaned again, loving the feel of his hand on me. I wanted more contact, so I broke the kiss, pushing him off and offsetting the covers.

  He watched as I pulled the t-shirt up over my head. “You’re so beautiful.”

  I lay back down as he ran his hands down my body. He hesitated at my panties for a moment, before slipping a finger underneath the elastic. “May I?”

  “I already told you I was all yours.”

  He pulled off my panties and took the t-shirt I still held in my hands. He tossed them both to the end of the bed. “You look fantastic. And I don’t know what everyone’s worried about. You haven’t lost weight, which is a good thing, but wow, you’ve been working out.” He ran his fingers over my abs.

  “You can tell I haven’t lost weight?” Did he really know my body that well?

  “I already told you I remember every inch of you.” He let his hands continue to roam my body. “After tonight I’ll also know what every inch of you feels and tastes like.”

  “I’m hoping I’ll be able to say the same thing about you.” I reached into his boxers and took him in my hand.

  He groaned. “That makes two of us.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Glen

  If it weren’t for her touch, I would have thought I was dreaming. That was the most logical explanation for how I had Savy naked in my bed watching me with those sexy doe eyes of hers as she stroked me
in a way no woman ever had. It was gentle and let me know how much she cared.

  I struggled to stay in control. I had to make tonight perfect, which meant I couldn’t enjoy her touch too much yet.

  I stilled her hand. “As good as that feels, I need to concentrate on something else right now.”

  “What?” She leaned up on her elbows slightly.

  I hovered over her, making her lie back down. “You.”

  I slipped my hand between her legs. She tensed, so I gently brushed my lips against hers. That did the trick. She relaxed and opened up to me. She was wet and ready for my fingers, and my body knew what else she was ready for. I tried to take in every bit of her response. Her eyes widening, her breath picking up, the way she seemed to try so hard to keep quiet, when all I wanted her to do was the opposite. “I want to hear how you feel. Please don’t hold it in.”

  She moaned and opened her legs wider, and I loved knowing that I could make her feel so good, but also that I could make her feel so comfortable. My words meant something to her. She trusted me, and that was a trust I refused to ever break again.

  “Please, Glen. I want you.”

  Those same words had been uttered in my fantasies over and over, but hearing them for real was so much better. I unwrapped a condom and got myself positioned over her. I enjoyed the moment, embedding the expression of anticipation on her face into my mind where I could see it anytime I wanted. “I love you, Savy.” It felt so good to say those words out loud so freely, and it felt even better once I thrust inside her.

  “I love you too, Glen,” she said in almost a whimper as I continued to move inside her. I started off slowly, wanting to make sure I didn’t hurt her. I gradually thrust in deeper until the full length of me was buried inside her. She wrapped her legs around me, and I continued letting her cries of passion fuel me.

  “Glen!” Her body heaved, and I knew I couldn’t hold on much longer. I shuddered and reached my release. I’d never felt such satisfaction in my life. It went beyond the physical, and I knew that it was going to get better and better the more time we spent together.

  I rolled off her and pulled her into my arms. “You’re amazing. Absolutely amazing.”

  “So are you.” Tears spilled down her face.

  “Are you okay?” I sat up as fear took over. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No. Not at all.” She pulled me down next to her. “They’re happy tears.”

  “Oh.” I ran my hand through her hair. “Those kind are okay.”

  “How is this going to work now?” She rolled onto her side.

  “We’re going to do this as often as possible.” I smiled.

  “I mean after this week. I know you promised this wasn’t a temporary thing, but what happens when I leave?”

  “Here’s what I think.”

  “I’m listening.” She leaned up on her elbow.

  “We’ve had years of experience doing the whole long distance thing. We talked and texted all the time and enjoyed our time together. Now it’s going to be normal that we do it. And we get to really enjoy our time together.”

  She laughed. “True, but will it be more than once a year? Can we really make this work?”

  “It will be way more than once a year. You think I can stay away from you that long?”

  She grinned. “No, especially because there’s going to be no phone sex.”

  “You say that now, I give you twenty-four hours after leaving.”

  “Want to bet?”

  “Only if you get something for losing, I want you to be properly incentivized.”

  She started to giggle, and she pulled me down on top of her. “Maybe you can incentivize me more tonight.”

  “Ready for more already?”

  “You said we’re going to really enjoy our time together.”

  “Oh, we are.” I kissed her, ready to enjoy every second of our night.

  ***

  I woke up the next morning to the sound of Savy’s phone vibrating against my nightstand. We’d barely slept, so I picked it up quickly to silence it so it wouldn’t wake her up. I expected it to be her dad, but it was her friend Jade. From what Savy had told me the night before when I was asking her a billion questions about her life at college, she was a close friend. I set the phone down so she would leave a message. The phone buzzed and then it buzzed again with a text. My curiosity got to me so I glanced at the screen.

  How’d the date with Glen go? I’m dying here. I grinned from ear to ear. She’d told her friend about me.

  I heard some more buzzing so I looked again.

  Come on, I have to leave for my grandparents’ soon. Did he kiss you again? Was it as good?

  OMG are you with him? Is that why you aren’t replying?

  I glanced over to where Savy slept. The Savy I knew wouldn’t mind me texting her friend back, but maybe she’d changed.

  Did you spend the night with him??

  I couldn’t resist. I had to do it. I replied. She did.

  Uh, who is this?

  Glen. Savy’s sleeping.

  In your bed or hers?

  Mine.

  Just so you know, if you hurt her, I kill you.

  That’s fair. I don’t plan to hurt her.

  You have in the past.

  I have, but I love her, and I’m going to be careful.

  Does she know you love her?

  Yes. I told her many times last night.

  Tell her to call me later, and Merry Christmas!

  Same to you. I’m feeling in the holiday spirit suddenly.

  And that wouldn’t have anything to with the girl whose phone this is?

  It has everything to do with her.

  “Glen? What are you doing?” Savy grabbed her phone from me. “Were you texting with Jade?” She typed something into her phone. She was taking over the conversation.

  “She asked a question, I was merely answering.”

  “I should be annoyed right now.” She pouted.

  “But you’re not.”

  “Nope.” She smiled. “But promise me you wouldn’t have done that if it was my dad.”

  “I do value my life.”

  “Good, because I want to be able to spend as much of the rest of this week with you as possible.”

  “You’ll be spending all of it with me once I take care of something.”

  “And what’s that?” She pulled the comforter up around her, and I didn’t blame her. It was cold.

  “I have to talk to my parents.” Now that I’d fixed things with Savy, I needed to deal with the other strained relationship in my life. I was done avoiding them.

  “Want me to come with you?”

  “How about you strategically show up and save me?”

  She curled into my side. “I can arrange that.”

  “I should probably get you home soon.”

  “You should, but you have one other job to do first.”

  “And what job is that?”

  “Warming me up.” She threw off the covers. “And you’re not getting any help from the blankets.”

  “I don’t need help.” I moved over her. “Warming you up happens to be my specialty.”

  ***

  An hour and an amazing shower with Savy later, I’d finally dropped her off. Lucky for me the only one home was Laney. She grinned at us, and quickly pulled Savy inside.

  “Call me or text me when you want me to come over.” Savy stood just inside the doorway.

  “I don’t want you waiting around for me. Go out and enjoy the day.”

  “We need to wait for everyone else anyway,” Laney quickly replied. “We’re going snowmobiling. I’ve never done that before. Want to come?”

  “He does.” Savy answered for me. “Don’t you?”

  I smiled, loving how happy having me around made her. “Absolutely. Hopefully this doesn’t take too long.” I kissed Savy goodbye and walked down the hall.

  I hesitated outside the door to my parents’ condo. It had been months si
nce I’d talked to either of them, and the last conversation hadn’t been pretty. They’d told me that if I didn’t agree to transfer schools they were cutting me off. They hadn’t just meant financially. I wasn’t surprised that my dad had reacted that way, but I’d expected my mom to cave. And maybe she had. I’d been ignoring her calls for weeks.

  I knocked on the door, half hoping no one was there. My mom opened the door. “Glen!” She pulled me into a hug. That wasn’t the response I was expecting.

  She didn’t release me for a few moments, and I didn’t try to either. Finally she stepped back and just looked at me. “You look good. How are you?”

  “Hey, mom. I’m doing well.” I was now. One night with Savy had changed everything.

  “We were wondering when you were going to come by.” She was smiling. That was also something I hadn’t expected.

  “We? Dad was too?”

  “Yes. He misses you. We both do.”

  “You have a funny way of showing it.” I followed her into the living room. I wasn’t going to let the initial response get me too comfortable. I was positive my dad wasn’t going to be quite so welcoming.

  “You know we love you. We both care about you, but we just don’t understand your decisions.”

  “I was trying to help a friend.”

  “We understand that one. But taking the fall? Refusing to transfer schools?”

  “It was the principle. The dean wouldn’t listen to reason.”

  “And we respect that.” Dad walked into the room. “You felt duty bound to protect a friend, but sometimes in life you have to think about yourself too. About your own future.”

  “I do think about my future.”

  “And what are your plans then? You can’t mean to spend the rest of your life working here.” Dad wasn’t smiling. I wasn’t surprised.

  “I was thinking of looking at some other schools.”

  “Oh really? That’s news.”

  “I’ve had the chance to do some thinking.” I needed to find a way to give Savy what she deserved.

  “And those other schools wouldn’t happen to be located in South Carolina, would they?” he asked.

  “Uh, what makes you say that?”