by Cat Mann
Chapter 24
Anti-anxiety
Ari woke me up at the crack of dawn Christmas Eve morning. His lips were on my ear, whispering a quiet good morning. I let out a sleepy moan and stretched my arms up above my head. A bead of water from Ari’s freshly washed hair dropped on my cheek and the chill from the water forced my eyes open.
“I should have woken you up a while ago. We have to get moving.”
Aggie wanted us at her place all day Christmas Eve and then all day on Christmas. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she asked us to stay the night, and she probably would have if it weren’t for the fact that Max had taken up residence in Ari’s old bedroom.
I groggily made my way to the shower and tried to wake myself up; the warm water and Ari’s clean smelling soap didn’t do the trick. I wrapped myself in a towel and climbed out, and Ari greeted me on the other side, holding a cup of hot coffee. I took it with a sleepy smile, sat in our bedroom chair, and watched my husband move about the bedroom. I could hear Rory and Julia down the hall. Christmas Eve dinner is always spent at Gianna’s, so I was sure she had a list a mile long of things she wanted the two of them to do. I sat there lazily and watched Ari pick out his clothes. He still had his towel wrapped around his trim waist. A droplet of water made its way down his chest and curved in and out of the toned creases made by his stone-like abs.
“Are you going to stare at me all morning or are you going to get going?” he asked with a cute smile.
I blinked my eyes a few times and tried to shake my head clear of thoughts of him with no shirt on but I wasn’t having much luck.
“If you’d just hurry up and get dressed, I would be less distracted,” I answered him honestly.
Ari cocked his head to the side and licked his bottom lip, causing my jaw to go slack. He let out a sigh. “My mom will kill us if we’re late again.”
“Please don’t talk about your mom right now,” I requested as the deep brown in his eyes began to make my body melt.
Ari ran his fingers through his hair and I swooned. He sauntered over to the chair, took my mug out of my hand, and set it on the dresser. He put his hands on each of the armrests and leaned down to place his forehead gently on mine. I thought he was going to give me a lecture about always causing him to be late, but instead he kissed me. Ari moved a hand off the armrest and cupped the back of my head in his palm while his other hand worked on loosening the towel that was wrapped around my body.
Once free from my towel, his hand traced smoothly across my skin. I opened my mouth as a small moan escaped and Ari quickly but gently moved his other hand from the back of my head and covered my lips with his fingers.
“Shh,” he said with a husky breath. I bit down hard on my tongue, closed my eyes, and let my ache for Ari take control.