“Yep, that’s your half. And there is no sharing.” I said my voice matter of fact. He kept looking at me like I was nuts. “What? We did a test batch of each, and when we realized we got it right, we went crazy.”
“The guys helped?” He asked not quite believing me. I nodded emphatically.
“Oh yeah, without Asher this would have gone baaad.” He shook his head.
“Sunshine, I wasn’t talking about a huge number of cookies. I was talking one batch of one cookie.” His eyes were running over my face as he smiled.
“Yeah, well. Tough shit.” I smirked at him. “I really don’t do things halfway.” Dylan opened the top box and saw exactly how full each box was.
“Damn Lexie.” I snickered. He closed his eyes and cringed. “I should have got you a better present.” I raised an eyebrow at that.
“Present?” I asked in a perky voice. He looked at me and smiled.
“Yeah, I got you something. But now I need to upgrade it.” His cheeks tinted pink.
“Why?” I asked. “Because I went cookie crazy?” He nodded. I snickered. “Honey, the guys were helping. I expected them to eat a lot more cookies than they did.” He burst out laughing. “There’s still a few batches at Miles’ house which I’m sure the guys are eating right now.” He just kept laughing. I was waiting him out when my phone vibrated. I pulled it out and checked it while he was calming down.
Zeke: Did Hades take a leak or shit outside when you took him?
Alexis: Yeah, he pissed.
Zeke: K, taking him out again now. Didn’t want to stand out there forever for nothing.
Alexis: Would you mind if I picked him up around 9?
Zeke: No, I’ll still be awake.
Alexis: Thank you.
I snickered.
“What?” He asked.
“Zeke’s taking care of one of the presents the guys got me.” I smiled as I brought up Hades' picture and showed him. Dylan burst out laughing.
“They got you a puppy?” He asked, his voice full of disbelief.
“Yep.” He cringed.
“I’m screwed, I can’t beat a puppy.” He was laughing and shaking his head. I looked at him like he was nuts.
“Are you kidding? You're the boyfriend. You make me happy just being you.” I said being completely honest. “I don’t even need a fucking present.” His eyes ran over my face.
“You really mean that.” He said sounding surprised.
“Yep. Now try your cookies, because the suspense is killing me.” I all but whined. He smiled and picked up a cookie. My stomach knotted, I bit the corner of my lower lip. It was Asher’s present all over again. Terrifying. He took a bite and chewed, then froze. Oh God, did someone leave an eggshell in the batter? Did we not use enough sugar? I shouldn’t have even tried this. Fuck. He swallowed his bite and looked at me. His eyes were shiny as they met mine.
“Damn Sunshine…” He took a breath. “They’re the same.” Relief washed over me almost making me dizzy.
“Don’t pause like that!” I smacked his arm. “You scared the shit out of me.” He put his cookie down and moved to stand in front of me. He cupped my jaw in his hands and kissed me. It was a soft, sweet kiss that didn’t last long but still took my breath away. He eased back and met my eyes.
“Thank you, so much Sunshine.” His voice was soft and quiet. It was a voice full of feeling. “You have no idea how much this means to me.” I felt my face warming and fought the urge to squirm. He saw and smiled. “Aversion to romance?”
“Yeah, a little bit,” I said my voice sounding pained. He chuckled and let me go. He stayed leaning against the counter between my knees as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small box.
“Now, it’s not a puppy.” His voice was nervous, and he handed me the box.
“I already have a puppy, and I’ve never had a dog in my life. It’s scary as hell.” I admitted. He laughed. I tore off the wrapping paper and found a small white box. I opened it and found silver angel wings. They were beautiful. I picked them up. They were part of a necklace. I smiled and pulled the necklace out of the box. The angel wings were different heights on two small chains that connected to the main chain through a loop. The oxidization made the wings really stand out.
“Dylan, this is beautiful.” My voice was soft and quiet. No one had ever bought me jewelry before. Hell, I didn’t own any. I looked up at him to see his anxious face. “I love it.” His face started to relax.
“Really?”
“Yeah, I love it. With both at different heights, it’s like two necklaces in one. It's amazing.” He let out a big breath. I smiled and crooked my finger at him. He smirked and leaned down so I could kiss him. And I did. Thoroughly. When I eased back, my heart was racing, and his cheeks had turned pink.
“Okay, you really like it.” He smiled down at me, his body relaxing.
“Oh, yeah.” My eyes ran over his handsome face. “Thank you so much.” His warm eyes met mine.
“Your welcome, Sunshine.” He reached to my right and opened the cabinet.
“Now, I just need lower necklines, and I can wear it.” I watched as Dylan paused, then kept grabbing the plate he was going for.
“That works for me.” He admitted. I chuckled.
“So, how’s your Christmas going?” I asked watching as he pulled down a plate and glasses.
“It’s the usual. Not much going on. Missing Mom.” He shrugged then looked at me. “You’re making it a lot easier this time.”
“Cookies always help.” He smirked at me then went to get the fridge. “What?” When he brought the milk back, he was still smirking, and now also shaking his head.
“I wasn’t talking about the cookies, Sunshine.” His voice was soft as he poured the milk into three glasses.
“Oh.” I felt my face heating up again. “Glad I can help? What is the proper response to that?” I asked feeling completely awkward. He chuckled and looked over at me again. I felt my face turning redder. I looked up at the ceiling and tried to get my face to stop blushing. He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. I needed to distract myself. “I brought lots of movies; they are piled on the coffee table.” He chuckled. I rolled my eyes.
“Okay, let’s give Dad a few more minutes.” He started opening the other boxes and put a mix of cookies on the plate. “How’s your Christmas going?”
“Rory and I hung out this morning. Tara wasn’t coming until I left.” He winced. “Yeah, I got her a certificate to her favorite spa, so maybe that will help smooth things over.” He nodded.
“It will Sunshine. It’s just going to take time.” He reassured me. I smiled at him. “How are the guys? Why did they get you a puppy of all things?” I smiled.
“It’s their solution to my sleeping problem,” I explained. “They think if the dog is lying next to me then it might keep the nightmares away.” He thought about that; then he smiled.
“Huh, that was the solution they were talking about. The dog.” He muttered. I raised an eyebrow. He smiled. “When the guys were forcing you to take a nap, they said they thought they had a solution to the problem, but it wasn’t going to be here until Christmas.” He told me.
“I do not remember any of that,” I said honestly. He smiled.
“You were exhausted, babe.” He reassured me. “And you already almost out.” Yeah, he was probably right. “What else did the guys get you?” He asked putting the plate between us and taking a cookie.
“A Leatherman, sparring gloves, an iPod shuffle. And Miles got me the most awesome purse ever, oh and a scarf.” I paused. “Then Asher gave me his present. It was a photo of my Dad.” His eyes went wide.
“I thought there weren’t any?” He asked his hand going to the inside of my knee.
“So, did I.” I snorted. “Rory got him in touch with the fire house Dad worked at. They sent his portrait.” His eyebrows were up, his mouth open.
“Wow.” He sounded stunned. “That was real sweet of him.” His eyes narrowed
on me. “You cried, didn’t you?”
“Oh, like a baby,” I admitted. “But that’s okay, cause awhile later they gave me the puppy.” I smiled. It sounded so weird. He smiled at me.
“You really like that puppy.” He snickered.
“He’s so cute! He’s got all these wrinkles. He’s gonna be one of those so ugly they're cute dogs.” I all but gushed about Hades. He was still laughing at me when my phone vibrated.
Asher: Trisha agreed to work on her issues. Up for a group thing tomorrow night?
I groaned. Then looked up at Dylan.
“Can you come to down tomorrow night? Trisha is apparently willing to work on her shit. And we’re all going to try to get together without us killing each other.” I asked giving my pleading face. He gave me a half grin.
“Yeah, but how did this happen?” He asked frowning. Shit. I forgot to tell him about yesterday. I texted Asher back.
Alexis: Yeah, we’ll come. Let’s try somewhere not so loud, though.
I looked up at Dylan and tried to figure out how to explain what happened. I was about to start talking when my phone vibrated.
Asher: Shooting pool at the bowling alley it is, tell Dylan he can crash at my house.
“Okay, we’re on for tomorrow.” I looked up to him. “Asher says you can crash on his couch.” He smiled.
“Sounds good, now what happened?” He asked. Oh, he wasn’t going to let it go. Shit. This was going to be a long one.
“So, the guys stripped you down in the kitchen; you were wearing their clothes and Trisha had a shit fit. Then Asher told her to make a decision.” Dylan summed up. His brow was furrowed, his shoulders tight. I figured it was the first part that had him upset. Shit.
“Dylan. My lips were turning blue.” I reminded him. He nodded that he heard me. “Asher wrapped a blanket around me so I could try to get the wet clothes off myself, but my fingers could barely bend.” I understood why he was upset, but there was nothing else I could have done then but die. “They didn’t see anything that wasn’t on the big screen.” I pointed out. His eyes snapped to mine.
“Wait. They only got your jeans and shirt?” I nodded then remembered something. “What?” Damn, he read my face too well.
“I couldn’t unhook my bra, so Zeke unhooked it and pulled the shirt, that was a tent and reached my knees, back down. I got the rest off myself.” I said quickly. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and started laughing.
“For crying out loud, Lexie…” He smiled at me. “You had me thinking they took everything off you.” He laughed at the horrified look on my face. “I’m okay Sunshine, if you're okay. And they didn’t see everything.” I started laughing. “What?”
“Trisha still doesn’t know about that.” I couldn’t stop laughing. Dylan started laughing too.
“Oh, that would be fun to tell her.” Dylan’s eyes lit up. I snickered.
“I know, but we’re trying to play nice for Asher. Hell, Isaac dumped Cece for throwing that big screen shit in my face.” He smiled.
“Okay, I’m not going to kill Isaac now.”
“Or Ethan. I’ve got blackmail now, and I intend to use it.” I said in my serious voice. He chuckled.
“I guess we’ve given Dad enough time.” His warm eyes ran over my face before settling on my eyes. “The cookies were the best present ever, Sunshine.” I smiled a wicked smile.
“That wasn’t your present.” His brow furrowed.
“It wasn’t?” I shook my head. “Then what is?” I bit my lip trying to decide if I should show him now. Yeah. It would probably be better. I hopped off the counter, went to the table and opened my bag. He followed closely.
“It’s kind of a present for you and your dad,” I warned him as he stood next to me.
“Okay.” His voice was cautious. I pulled out his mother’s recipe book and slid it over to him. He blinked and opened it. The pages had been laminated, the torn parts repaired and again laminated. The whole book was now virtually spill proof or accident proof. “Sunshine…” He swallowed hard. He looked at me with a new look on his face. I had no clue what it was. His eyes were soft, and there was a small smile on his face. It was a mix between stunned and well, something else.
“It should stop you guys from destroying it anymore, except fire.” I looked up at him. “Please keep it away from fire.” He smiled before he dove in and caught my lips. It took me a couple of heartbeats to kiss him back. I didn’t want to, but I eased back. “That’s not your present either.” Now he looked completely stunned.
“What else could you have fucking done? Cure cancer over the weekend?” He asked his sarcasm thick. I smiled up at him.
“No, but…” I opened the recipe book and pointed to a recipe. “Your mom was using cook's shorthand. Only someone who knows tons about cooking could have read it.”
“That’s why everything always turned out like shit.” He laughed as he smiled. I nodded.
“Now, Asher knows a shit ton about cooking. He’s the only reason those cookies came out. He gave me a key to reading your mom’s recipes.” I pointed to it on the inside cover where it was laminated.
“Sunshine... that’s fucking…” His face was full of disbelief. I kind of felt guilty about the next part.
“That’s not your present either.” He ran a hand down his face, his eyes wide. I was driving him crazy. It was kinda fun. “This is your guys present.” I pulled out a new binder. The cover said Miller Family Recipes. I slid it over to him. He took a breath before reaching out with a slightly shaking hand. He opened it. There was the first recipe from the first page of the other book. Only it was translated so ordinary people could use it. Hell, I could follow the recipe from this book. He turned the pages, again and again, seeing that he could understand what was there. I bit my lip waiting, hoping he’d like it. “How did you... when did you have the time?” He asked me his eyes shining.
“I don’t sleep much.” I reminded. “Besides, since the guys made me take a nap, they helped. Miles is a fast, fucking typer.” Dylan reached out, grabbed my wrist and pulled me to him. He wrapped his arms around me and buried his face into my neck. I hugged him back and just waited till he was good again.
“Sunshine...” He whispered, his voice thick.
“Merry Christmas Dylan,” I whispered back. He took several deep breaths. He lifted his head; then he was kissing me. Warmth flooded from my heart out, as he moved his lips against mine. He kissed me slow and gently till I forgot where we were. I could only hear the pulse in my ears. His hands were on my face again holding me still while he brushed his lips across mine. Every nerve felt alive when he eased back a little and gazed into my eyes.
“Thank you, Lexie.” His eyes were almost glowing sapphire as he ran them over my face then back to my eyes. “You are always constantly surprising me.”
“That’s my job, to keep you on your toes.” I teased smiling up at him. He gave me that look, the one that made me feel beautiful. It sent shivers down my spine.
“You sure as hell do.” He looked at the cookbooks. “I should show-”
“Um, can you wait until I leave?” I asked awkwardly. He looked back to me. “I’ll turn fucking bright red and be uncomfortable for a long while,” I warned him. He grinned at me.
“Okay Sunshine, but I’m still telling him it was you.” I shrugged.
“As long as I don’t have to watch or be there, I’m good.” I agreed. He snorted.
“Come on, let’s go watch some movies with Dad.” I nodded and followed him out into the living room.
We spent the rest of the evening watching movies. I got them to watch Spaceballs, and David laughed his ass off. I liked Dylan’s dad. He was kind of fun. I tried to make them both laugh as often as I could. When it was nearing eight, I got my bag and coat. I said goodbye to David who actually got up and hugged me to thank me for the cookies. Then Dylan walked me out to the Blazer. I started the truck, letting it heat up and slid out so I could keep talking to Dylan. He pulled me close an
d rested his forehead on mine.
“Sunshine,” He whispered. “You don’t even know what you gave us today.” He swallowed hard. “We can’t have her, but we can have her cooking again.” I squeezed my hands on his arms. “You are so fucking amazing, and you don’t even know it.” My pulse picked up.
“I’m okay.” I tried to lighten his mood. He was so serious right now; it was making me nervous. He lifted his head and looked down at me.
“You're so much better than okay.” He said. “You have the biggest heart I’ve ever seen.”
“Not always a good thing sweetie.” I reminded him. He narrowed his eyes at me as he sighed.
“Lexie, let me fucking compliment you.” His voice was growing harder. I wanted to squirm. He saw it and smiled. He pulled me closer till his lips were at my ear. “You are beautiful Sunshine, inside and out.” It was easier to listen when I didn’t have to see his face.
“Thank you.” My voice was quiet. I was uncomfortable now. Edgy. I wanted to squirm.
“You’re just dying to make a joke or something, aren’t you?” I could hear his smile in his voice.
“You have no idea.” I shot back emphatically. He chuckled. He pulled back a little, and he kissed me goodnight. It was another one of his slow and sweet kisses that made my heart race and got my blood moving. It seemed to go on forever, but it still wasn’t long enough. When he eased back, he kissed my forehead before letting go. I got in my truck and promised to text when I got home. Then I headed back to Spring Mountain. That feeling had washed over me all night. Anytime, he looked at me a certain way; anytime he touched me at all. I was getting there, a lot faster than I thought I would. Damn it.
I pulled onto Zeke’s driveway around nine. He apparently lived across town and further out than Miles did. The driveway was graveled, stretching from the road into the trees. I wondered if Zeke and Sylvia ever got snowed in. When I reached the house, I parked next to Zeke’s Jeep. The house wasn’t as big as Rory's, but I liked the bungalow cabin crossover look it had, with its gray weathered shingles. There was a big garage to the left, though, it looked newer than the house. I got out and heard dogs barking, there was a lot of barking. How many dogs did Zeke have? I walked over the gravel and stepped up to the simple wrap around porch that had stuff scattered here and there. Snow shovels, a couple of metal buckets and even a set of snowshoes. I was about to knock when the door opened. Zeke was looking down at me with a half grin on his face.
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