Hot for the Holidays (21 Holiday Short Stories): A Collection of Naughty and Nice Holiday Romances

by Anthology

  "You’re a saint. Thank you." I smiled sincerely as I moved to the end of the counter to wait for my order.

  "One large, black, hazelnut coffee with a shot." The tiny barista placed the red paper cup in front of me. I grabbed the cup in one swift motion, bringing it to my lips for a giant, desperate gulp.

  "I’d wait, it’s extra—"

  Gulp.

  "Hot." The barista winced, her sympathetic eyes doing nothing to soothe the singe to my taste buds.

  "Ouch!" I covered my mouth with a fist, my eyes pinched shut as the realization that my tongue wouldn’t be normal for the next few days climbed into my head. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. What the hell was happening to me today? All of this was just a bad, bad sign. I couldn’t ask her today. The gods were telling me it wouldn’t go well.

  "Thanths," I tongued-slurred-spit-spoke to the barista.

  Her shoulders were almost touching her ears as she cringed with her teeth pinched together awaiting the aftermath of that mouthful. "Sorry," she mouthed.

  Without another tongue-slur-spit word, I turned and listened to the same jingle of the door as I exited the coffee shop.

  Chapter Nine

  "Turkey cooks itself, right?" I asked my mom.

  "Pretty much. You just have to make sure you baste it every hour and keep an eye on it so it doesn’t dry out. What are you making to go with it?"

  I wedged the phone between my chin and shoulder, looking for a baster. "Wait, what’s a baster?"

  "The long suction looking thing with the rubber squeezy ball on top."

  I fished around some more in the drawer, pushing things aside until I came across it. "Got it!" Finally something went my way today.

  "So, what else are you making?"

  "Potatoes, asparagus, and I got some chocolate covered strawberries for later." I smiled, thinking of those. My mom didn’t need the details of what I was planning to do with those puppies… or the whipped cream.

  "You want me to come make it for you? She’ll never know." My mom’s concerned voice brought me back from my naughty thoughts.

  "Nah. She’ll know. She’s been eating your cooking since she was eight years old. Besides, back to my first question, it cooks itself, doesn’t it?"

  "Well, I guess. Call me if you need me."

  "I will."

  "And good luck."

  I was silent for a moment as the enormity of what I was going to do sunk in.

  "You still there?"

  "Yeah. Thanks, Mom. I love you."

  "I love you too, baby."

  Chapter Ten

  "Ouch! Fuck!" I pulled the skin on my chin taut as I examined the streak of red. "You’ve got to be kidding me right now." I ripped off a tiny piece of toilet paper and stuck it to the gash I’d just created on my jaw and it filled immediately. I sighed and hung my head, then ripped off a fresh piece and applied it—six times.

  "Wonderful," I muttered. Just add it to the shit pile. I tightened the towel at my waist and walked into my bedroom.

  "So what’re your plans?" Sitting on my bed, Blake looked up from his phone.

  "I’m cooking. Thinking maybe I’ll give her the ring with dessert."

  "Sap." He smirked.

  "Shut up, man. Don’t make me more nervous than I already am. Today’s been a clusterfuck since the second I woke up." I skidded hangers right and left a bit harsher than I probably needed to, causing a shrieking sound.

  "I knew I didn’t want to miss this. I’m so glad I stopped by." I heard the grin in his voice.

  I stopped rummaging through my closet and turned to face him.

  "Fight with a razor?" Smirk.

  I touched my chin, careful not to disturb the make-shift bandage. "Something like that." I grabbed the knot in the towel at my waist and pulled.

  "Whoa, I don’t need to see all that." Blake shot from the bed and darted to my bedroom door, hiding his eyes. "Let me know how it all turns out, man. Good luck."

  "Yeah, thanks."

  I tossed the underwear around in my drawer, looking for my lucky pair, and then remembered that I’d worn them the day Casey had come home from school and hadn’t washed them yet. Perfect. Settling on a different pair, I pulled them on and then dressed in a red polo and jeans, trying to look all Christmasy like an idiot.

  Since I hadn’t slept well, fatigue swam through my head. I glanced at the clock and smiled at the early hour. I could catch a good couple winks before Casey would be here.

  Besides, turkey cooks itself.

  Chapter Eleven

  Ding dong.

  Ding dong.

  Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong.

  Knock. Knock. Knock.

  Pound. Pound. Pound.

  I peeled my head from the pillow in a sleepy haze when the shouting started. My phone buzzed on the nightstand. I reached out for it and fell off the bed with a thud.

  What the hell is going on? I sat on the floor rubbing my head.

  "Brayden!"

  Casey. Fuck.

  I rolled from the floor in a stumble-run, smacking off the walls trying to get to the front door. "One minute!" I called out. Panting, I made quick work of the locks and opened the door to a not so happy looking Casey, though the pinched scowl on her face did nothing to distract me from the tight little red number she was wearing or the curls in her long brown hair.

  I gulped, resting my forearm on the doorframe, ogling her.

  "What happened to you?" Her nose twitched and then wiggled, kind of Bewitched-like. "And what’s that smell?" She straightened and waved her hand in front of her wrinkled nose, looking beyond me into my apartment.

  That smell?

  Sniff, sniff.

  That smell…

  That smell!

  "Fuck!" I spun and ran to the kitchen toward the cloud of smoke puffing from the oven. Slipping and sliding in my socks, I lunged, stabbing my finger at every button along the top of the thing in an attempt to turn it off. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no!" I threw open the door and coughed as a burst of smoke rushed out at me.

  "Should I call for help?" Casey yelled.

  I pulled a towel from the counter and waved it incessantly at the flames engulfing our meal. "No, just grab the fire extinguisher from under the sink. Hurry!"

  Casey squeezed past me, throwing open the doors and extracting the red, metal savior. I popped the pin and sprayed.

  And sprayed.

  And sprayed.

  When it was under control, I slid to the floor and stared at my snowy looking turkey, lost for words. Casey popped the cork off a bottle of wine and slid next to me. "So, what was it?"

  I didn’t look at her, just continued to gawk. "T-They cook themselves." My voice cracked. She snorted in an obvious attempt to rein in her laughter and tipped the bottle toward me.

  Finally, I gave her the side-eye, before snatching it and taking a swig. "Merry Christmas." I waved my arm in the air and then gave the smokey, snowy turkey the finger, finally giving into the day from hell. "Hope you weren’t starving." The corner of my lip tilted up and I hung my head, pinching the bridge of my nose.

  "Not for turkey." Casey took my chin between her fingers and turned my head toward hers, her eyes clouding with the lust-look I’d come to love.

  Her lips met mine with slow, teasing little nibbles and immediately my stress ebbed and something else swarmed inside me. I reached over, cupped her beneath her ass and hoisted her onto my lap to straddle me. Her fingers tangled through the hair at the back of my head. She tugged, pushing her tongue between my lips as she did, and I growled into her mouth, loving how she was taking charge.

  With a panting breath, she backed away and dabbed her ring finger to the corner of her mouth, smirking. She fished her phone from her bag and handed it to me. "Order us something. I’m gonna go freshen up. I smell all singed." She kissed me on the nose and pushed up from the floor, leaving me with a rock-hard dick.

  "Not cool!" I called after her and she giggled before shutting my bathroom door.<
br />
  I stood from the floor and Googled the number to a local restaurant, figuring maybe we could still get a decent meal. I put the phone to my ear waiting for it to ring. A second later, it buzzed and I pulled it back, thinking I’d hit a wrong button with my chin or something when a text message appeared on the screen.

  Derek.

  My stomach fell into my balls as the message stared at me.

  Hey there, dollface. Gimme a call when you can. Miss you. XO.

  Chapter Twelve

  Dollface. Miss you. XO.

  The words were spiraling around in a loop before my eyes.

  It suddenly felt like there was an elephant on my chest. My breathing sat low and quick in my ribcage as I stared at the words, trying to make sense of them. This couldn’t be what it sounded like. This was my girlfriend. My Casey. My forever.

  The saliva in my mouth dried up to nothing and pins and needles ran rampant down my arms and legs.

  This couldn’t be happening.

  Never in a million years had I ever suspected Casey of cheating on me. In all our time together, she’d never even glanced at another guy. Why now? When I wanted to make things more permanent?

  I began to pace the small confines of my kitchen, unsure of how to handle this. I could ignore it; act as though I never saw it. Give her the gift and see if she brought it up. I could barge into the bathroom and demand answers. Or throw her out without a word and cut her out of my life for being unfaithful.

  My fingers trembled over the buttons, aching to scroll through her texts and get to the bottom of who this Derek guy was, but that would be a total invasion of privacy and I was scared of what I might find. I tossed it onto the counter and pressed my palms to the granite, nervous I might heave into the sink.

  "Did you call?" Casey’s voice startled me as she wrapped her arms around my waist.

  I jumped from my spot. "Huh? No, sorry. I didn’t feel good for a second."

  "You look a little pale, babe. You okay? Did the smoke make you sick?" She cupped the sides of my face and studied me.

  "Yeah, maybe. I’ll be okay." I handed her back the phone. "Here, you order us something."

  "You sure? I’m not starving. We can wait until you feel a little better. You wanna go get checked out?"

  "Nah, really, I’ll be fine. I was going to call Giovanni’s. Order whatever you’d like." I tried to offer her a smile, but I wasn’t sure my lips were cooperating.

  I picked the wine bottle up off the floor and chugged the remainder of its contents. Casey eyed me warily as I made my way to the cupboard, extracted a new bottle and popped the cork, anxious to rid myself of this ache in my chest. I drank down a glass of the stuff then set the remains on the table for her and pulled a fresh bottle of vodka from the icebox.

  Casey placed the phone on the counter, eyeing me suspiciously. "They said about an hour."

  "Cool." The ice clinked into the glass and I immediately coated it with fresh alcohol before dropping in a dab of Sprite.

  "What’s wrong?" She moved beside me. I don’t know who I thought I was kidding. This girl knew me way too well for me to try and fake what was going on inside of me.

  "Nothing. I told you, I just don’t feel well."

  "So, you’re trying to feel nothing then?" She placed her palm over the glass that was just about to hit my lips and pushed down until it met the counter.

  My eyes found hers and I crumbled, my heart feeling as though it was about to explode out of my chest. It was racing so fast, I didn’t know if I could steady my breathing long enough to get the words out. "Who is he?"

  Her eyebrows pulled together. "Who is who?"

  "C’mon, Case. I saw the message. I know you’re messing around with somebody. I just can’t believe you would do that to me." My voice broke, along with my heart.

  She tilted her head, not a drop of worry on her face. All I saw was confusion. I never knew what a good actress she was. Even in the face of being caught red-handed, she looked calm and cool. I brought my drink back to my lips and she didn’t stop me this time.

  "I don’t know what you’re talking about." She put her hands on her hips and squared her shoulders.

  "Sure you don’t." I sneered and took another swig. "I wanted forever with you. You’re my whole life and never, not once did I ever think of looking elsewhere. But you… You go to school and right away, you’re searching the field for another piece of meat?"

  "You better watch where you’re going with this. Pretty soon, I won’t be so patient." She narrowed her eyes at me and took the glass from my hand, slamming it on the counter. "Tell me what’s going on. Now!"

  "Derek? Sound familiar, dollface?" As I continued, I saw realization wash across that beautiful face of hers and it made me feel even sicker. "I just can’t believe you would do this to me. After all this time. Knowing how I feel about you." Anger boiled deep in my veins, replacing the sorrow that swam through me just moments ago. The corner of her mouth quirked into a small smile and I thought I might vomit.

  "Say something," I demanded.

  "Brayden—" She moved closer.

  "No, don’t say something. I can’t handle it." I put my hands up and cut her off.

  "Brayden." Her voice was a little more forceful as she closed in on me.

  I dropped my gaze, trying to zero in on the carpet fibers. I needed to focus on anything else but her. "I just need a minute. I need to process this. My whole life is about to change—"

  "He’s gay, Brayden."

  My chest heaved as I looked up and blinked. "I’m sorry, what?"

  "Derek," she said his name slowly. "He’s gay. He’s my lab partner and the last thing he’s interested in is what’s between my legs, trust me." She playfully rolled her eyes, then took another step and rested her hand on my shoulder. "I don’t think I’ve ever seen your jealous side, though. It’s actually kind of cute. Even if we do have to talk about your trust issues." She pushed up on her tippy toes and kissed my cheek and it got hot with embarrassment.

  I raked a hand through my hair. "G-Gay?" My brain was spiraling so fast that I couldn’t stop it long enough to process what she was saying. She wasn’t cheating on me.

  She wrapped her arms around my waist. "Yes, crazy. Gay. He’s just a friend. I’m pretty disappointed you have that little faith in me, though. Not cool, Bray." Her pouted lip all but pounded me into the pavement. I couldn’t believe how I’d reacted. I knew her better than that.

  "Well, what the hell did you want me to think? I’m sorry I jumped the gun, but why didn’t you ever mention him? We’re supposed to tell each other everything."

  She shrugged. "It never came up in conversation and I didn’t think it was anything to talk about. I mean, have you ever told me who your lab partner is?" She cocked an eyebrow.

  "No, but Duke doesn’t call me dollface!" The squeak in my voice earned a small smile out of Casey and she relaxed into me a bit. I took the opportunity to pull her tighter into my chest. "I saw it and my balls fell out of my body. Look, my mouth is watering, that’s how nauseous I was." I opened my mouth to prove my point. Casey let out a small giggle and I nuzzled into her neck, taking in her scent. "I never want to feel that again. I don’t need to search myself to know that."

  "Huh?" She tried to pull back, but I tightened my grip around her waist and bit into the curve where her neck met her shoulder.

  "Uh-uh, I thought I was losing you for a good fifteen minutes. You’re not going anywhere yet."

  Casey relaxed and melted into me. "You won’t get any argument out of me." She tilted her head, giving me better access to her delicate skin.

  I spoke into her neck. "Good, because I’m about to make good on my promise." I bent and grabbed her behind the knees, scooping her up and setting her on the table. I pushed between her legs with my thighs and licked my lips before curling them in a devilish grin. "Dinner’s served."

  I placed my palm over Casey’s heaving chest and pushed her down so her back lay flat on the table. Wordless,
her eyes never left mine as she opened up and invited me to do whatever I wanted with her. I shoved her skirt up around her hips before bringing my thumb to her moist panties and pushing it against the tightened bud at the top. My dick immediately hardened and my mouth watered further.

  "Mind if I have some? I’m starved."

  Her mouth hung open and she looked as though she was struggling for a breath as she nodded her head yes. I smiled. "Close your eyes and wait right here."

  Her lids slid shut as I walked to the refrigerator and fished out the whipped cream before returning. I watched her for a moment—anticipation swirling through her readied body, her eyes still closed, her breathing labored. I hooked my fingers into the strip of fabric by her hips and pulled it down. Then I took the seat in front of her, my eyes never leaving the glistening pink pad splayed before me. I took the insides of her thighs in my hands and spread them apart before blowing onto her delicate skin, causing a tremor and a ripple of goosebumps. I placed her heels on the table and then moved her knees down so she was spread open for me.

  "Stay just like that."

  I shook the can and sprayed the sweet, fluffy cream all over her sex. Her chest rose and fell frantically and she moaned, arching her back. I began to finger the cream. "Was that cold?" Still wordless, she nodded.

  "Want me to warm it up?"

  "Yes," she breathed.

  I removed my finger and pushed it into my mouth, closing my eyes at the delicious taste of her juices mingled with the sweetness of it. Then, I buried my face in her.

  She gasped as my tongue found her pussy. Pushing in to taste her channel, I speared into her with a wild need, then pressed my thumb in its place as my tongue continued tasting up the slick line to her clit. I drew her sweet spot into my mouth, swirling my tongue around it and sucking like a starved man. Her body wriggled and bucked the whole time, grinding into my face as I licked her dry.

  And I loved every. Fucking. Second of it.

  When I thought her pussy was nice and raw from my mouth, I stood, dropped my pants and buried myself inside of her. Fisting her hips, I tapped into her, feeling her walls clench. She ran her nails over the V at the base of my abs, sending a shiver rocketing up my spine.