Endless December (Sleepless November Saga Book 2)

by Kelsey Clayton

  He finds humor in my words and laughs in a way that radiates arrogance. “Well it’s a good thing I’m only looking for some fun then. How’d you get down here? You lost, honey?”

  “Ugh.” I scoff. “I’ll have you know my boyfriend is captain of the team you’re about to play against, and if I were you – I’d leave before he catches you hitting on me.”

  The man rolls his eyes and leans in closer. “Rivers? You really need better taste in men, sweetheart.”

  Just as I push him away from me, Holden comes around the corner. “Hey, get away from her!” He yells, handing Jo our tickets and pulling me into his arms.

  “Whatever.” The player scoffs. “If you’re looking to upgrade, you know where to find me.”

  As he walks away, Holden moves to follow but I grab his arm to stop him. “Don’t. He isn’t worth it.” Thankfully, he listens, kissing my head while he watches the man leave – with GARRET largely printed on the back of his jersey.

  THE GAME IS TENSE, with the Black Bears only winning by two points. You can tell by the look on Holden’s face that he’s frustrated. Every time he goes to score, something gets in his way. Jason has already been in the penalty box once, and judging by the way he’s playing, he’ll be back in there again soon.

  It’s nearing the end of the third period when Garret skates over to Jo and me. He takes no measures to hide the fact that he’s hitting on me, with Holden watching intently. I can see his face darken in anger.

  The puck drops, putting the game back in play. However, Garret is focused on me when he should be focused on Holden. My boyfriend skates away only to turn around and charge right toward him. Holden rams into the douchebag with a force that should have knocked them both on their asses. Instead, they hit the boards – Garret’s head slamming into the glass. Almost immediately, the arrogant prick rips his helmet off his head and throws his gloves on the ice, challenging Holden to fight him.

  The whistle sounds and the other players turn their attention away from the puck, to the brawl that’s unfolding right in front of me. My heart races as I watch the two of them swing, striking each other in the face. I feel like I’m going to be sick, but Jo doesn’t look nervous at all.

  Garret says something to Holden that only he can hear, and with one quick glance at me, something snaps in him. My boyfriend grabs him by the jersey and starts pounding into him relentlessly. Garret doesn’t even have a chance to swing back, his face spewing blood and already starting to swell. It isn’t until it’s obvious that his nose is broken, that the ref blows the whistle and breaks up the fight.

  Holden shakes his hand, sending blood splatter flying away and onto the ice. I’d be worried if I wasn’t already sure it’s not his. Due to the injuries, Holden’s benched for the rest of the game. He skates off the ice and starts walking toward the locker room as the paramedics tend to Garret.

  “Let’s go.” Jo tells me, grabbing my wrist and pulling me with her.

  We get to the locker room just as the game goes back into play. I barge in, unconcerned with the possibility of someone else being in there. I can hear the shower running, and Josephine stays back as I go find him.

  “Christ babe. Are you okay?!” I ask as soon as I see his already bruised hand.

  He turns off the water and wraps a towel around his waist. “I’m fine.” He chuckles, walking past me and back to his locker. “Bet that’s the last time someone tries making a move on you here.”

  I can’t help but smile as I shake my head in disbelief, watching him put on his basketball shorts. “Do you feel better now?”

  Pulling his shirt over his head and putting his bag on his shoulder, he smirks. “Much.” He puts his arm around me and leads me out of the room - Jo follows behind. “Jason said he would get a ride back from one of the guys. He’ll meet us at the house.”

  “Oh, great.” I quip. “Leave me all alone with Mike Tyson and Ronda Rousey.”

  The two of them smile and high five each other proudly, causing me to snicker. What am I going to do with them?

  GETTING BACK TO THE Kappa house, Holden looks beat. A part of me wonders if he has another concussion, but I watched that fight. There’s no way he was hit hard enough to do any damage. Jason texted him, letting him know they won and making Holden grin from ear to ear.

  “Come to bed with me.” He whispers into my ear.

  I’m slightly muddled and my face shows as much. “You don’t want to stay up to celebrate?”

  “No. It’s Valentine’s Day. I want to take you upstairs and have you all to myself.”

  Loving the sound of that, I nod and say a quick goodnight to Jo. Holden follows me to his bedroom, but when we get to the door, he covers my eyes.

  “What are you doing?” I ask through a giggle.

  “Hold on.” He opens the door and walks us inside. I follow his lead blindly. “Okay. You can look now.”

  He removes his hand and I open my eyes to see his room – lit solely by candles and covered in rose pedals. My breath hitches and I cling to my boyfriend as he wraps his arms around me.

  “Babe, it’s beautiful.” I breathe.

  “Eh.” He replies. “It doesn’t even begin to compare to you, but it’ll do.”

  I spin around and jump – he catches me with ease. I kiss him in the way that screams everything I’m thinking. A year and a half ago, I thought he didn’t have a caring bone in his body. He proves me wrong more and more every day.

  “I love you.” I mumble against his mouth.

  His grip on my ass tightens as he carries me over to the bed. “I love you too, and I’m going to show you exactly how much.”

  Chapter 29

  We walk off the plane and down the jet-way, in route to our connecting flight. We’re currently on our way to Cabo for spring break. I had originally expected us to go with Holden’s family, like we did last year. According to him, however, that’s not the case.

  “Will you please just tell me what the surprise is?” I beg.

  Holden shakes his head. “No way. You’ll find out in like fifteen minutes anyway.”

  “The surprise is here?” Okay, now I’m really confused.

  I follow my boyfriend around the airport, knowing that if it were up to me, we would get lost in a heartbeat. He puts us on the air tram, which brings us to the next terminal without the need to go through security again. I’m holding his hand and thinking about how lucky I am as we walk to the waiting area for our next flight.

  “You ready?” He questions.

  I look up at him, completely bewildered, but he just smiles and gestures in front of us. Following his line of sight, I finally see my surprise. Emily and Brandon are leaning up against the wall, engrossed in a conversation. When she sees me, she grins broadly.

  “Kayleigh!” She yells, running into my arms. I hug her tightly and look up at Holden.

  “We’re all going together?!” I ask excitedly. He smirks and winks before going to say hello to Brandon.

  “You have no idea how hard it was not to tell you.” Em remarks.

  I smack her arm lightly. “You knew?!”

  She giggles. “Of course, I knew. Do you really think my mother would let me go across the country with my new boyfriend if you weren’t going to be there?”

  “Touché.” I briefly greet Brandon, and then tuck myself into Holden’s side. “You just love using my best friend to surprise me, don’t you?”

  He shrugs and kisses the top of my head. “I see how happy she makes you, and I will always do whatever it takes to make you smile like that.”

  I LYE ON THE beach next to Emily, letting my skin absorb the sun rays. The guys made sure to look up the best surfing locations, so while we relax, they’re in the water. Em is scrolling on her phone, smiling widely.

  “What’s got you all cheesy?”

  She rolls her eyes. “Lauren commented on the picture of the four of us. Apparently, us dating two brothers surprises no one.”

  “Eh, yeah I can see that.”
I agree. “How are you and Bran doing?”

  Clicking her screen off and putting her phone to the side, I can see the glimmer in her eyes. “He’s amazing.” She gushes. “He’s so thoughtful and caring, and he makes the three-hour drive to come see me if I’ve had a bad day. I’ve never met someone like him before.”

  “Oooh. Someone sounds in love.” I tease.

  “Not quite, but I definitely think I could get there.” An alarm on her phone sounds, causing her to groan and whisper profanity. “I forgot to bring my birth control pill. It’s in the hotel room.” She explains as she gets up.

  “Do you want me to go back with you?”

  She shakes her head. “No, don’t be silly. It’ll only take me a minute. Besides, if we both leave they may think we’re mad at them.”

  “Good point.” I chuckle.

  A few minutes after she walks away, Brandon and Holden come out from the water – carrying their boards and looking exhausted. Holden drops his in the sand and moves to give me a kiss. The water drips off his body; the cold feeling making me shriek.

  “Where’d Em go? She okay?” Bran asks, concerned.

  I wave him off dismissively. “She just forgot something. She’ll be right back.”

  He reaches down and grabs his phone, nodding when he sees the time. “Ah. Birth control.”

  Holden’s eyes widen at the mention of it, and turns toward me in a panic. It makes me laugh. “I got another round of the shot in February. It’s good until next month.”

  Brandon and I watch as the tension flows out of him and he lets out a breath. I can’t say I blame him though. We’re still in college, and that’s the reason I got on birth control in the first place. The two of us are in no position to have a baby right now.

  THE CLUB/POOL/BAR COMBINATION is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. You can swim up to an in-water bar and drink throughout the water. Meanwhile they have a DJ on a high platform playing music that only seems to get more amped up as the sun goes down.

  Emily and I are in floating lounge chairs, drinking Malibu Bay Breezes as the guys stand next to us. I must say, out of the few places I’ve gone with Holden, this is by far my favorite. Though, that could have a lot to do with the fact that my best friend is here enjoying it with me.

  “I swear, I could stay here forever without a single complaint.” I murmur, basking in the energy that radiates through the place.

  Holden’s eyebrows raise. “Oh yeah? Does that plan include me?”

  “Meh.” I reply jokingly. “I guess. You’re not the worst person to have around.”

  He cups his hand and runs it through the water, effectively splashing me. I gasp as the cold hits my sunburn heated skin. When I glare at him, he’s trying desperately to hold back his laughter – but ultimately fails. Emily and Brandon chuckle along with him, causing my hard shell to crumble and the smile to break through.

  As it becomes darker, lights come on around the area and people stop just hanging around. It’s almost as if the entire environment shifts into something so much louder. You can feel the vibrations to the beat of the music in your bones.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I can see someone passing a little white baggie to his friend. I turn away to take my mind off it, but I’m only faced with a few other people popping ecstasy pills. Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, reminding myself of everything I learned in rehab.

  “You okay?” Holden questions, seeing exactly what I was looking at. “We can leave if this is too much for you.”

  Just seeing how understanding he is gives me a feeling of empowerment. “No, it’s okay. I’ve got my best friend and my boyfriend by my side. I can handle this.”

  He smiles proudly and Emily grabs my hand. “Come on, let’s go dance.”

  The four of us push our way into the crowd of people moving to the music. There’s barely any room, but we make do. Holden places his hands on my waist as I grind back against him. The feeling of his body pressed against mine is heavenly.

  Still being in the honeymoon stage, it only takes a few minutes before Brandon and Emily have their tongues shoved down each other’s throats. I laugh as Holden points it out.

  “We’re we that obnoxious?” He asks, mocking disgust.

  “I think we’re worse. Remember all the times Jason has had to yell at us for being too loud?”

  He tilts his head to the side. “You mean when you were being too loud?”

  “It wasn’t me making the headboard bang against the wall.” I reply, slapping his chest lightly.

  “Okay, I’ll give you that. It was like 70% you and 30% me.”

  Rolling my eyes playfully, I reach up to give him a kiss – not one as… graphic as Emily’s, but enough to satisfy him.

  “I’m parched.” I complain, holding my hand against my throat.

  Holden smiles. “I’ll go get us something to drink.” He grabs Brandon’s arm and forcefully pulls him from Em. “Let’s go Romeo, you’re coming with me before you two end up fucking in public.”

  Emily and I laugh as he pulls away her pouting boyfriend. The two of us don’t want to look awkward standing still in a sea full of people dancing, so we do what we do best. Lacing our fingers together, we start to move. Honestly, I think the last time I danced with Em was during prom, and that was almost two years ago.

  Suddenly, a man comes up behind me and tries to put his hands on my hips. Immediately noticing the look on Emily’s face, and feeling the gruffness of his hands, I know he isn’t Holden. I step forward, attempting to remove myself from him, but he stays close.

  “Please stop. I don’t want to dance with you.” I turn until I’m on the other side of Emily. Unfortunately, he follows.

  “Come on baby. We can have a good time.” His breath reeks of alcohol and I need to back away before I vomit.

  “No, really. I’m not interested.”

  The man goes to grab my hand, but my eyes widen as I see Holden approaching – his face beat red in anger and his fist already balled up.

  “Hey!” He yells.

  “Holden, don’t!” I try, but it’s too late.

  As soon as the man turns around, Holden swings a right hook full force into the side of his face. I don’t know if it has anything to do with the alcohol, or if he was really hit that hard, but he instantly collapses to the ground. Watching him for movement but seeing there isn’t any, I know I need to get Holden out of there. Pissed off, I grab my boyfriend’s wrist and pull him over to somewhere quieter.

  “What the fuck did you do that for?!” I shout.

  His eyes narrow in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? He put his hands on you! And the way he was looking at you, he’s lucky that’s all I did.”

  “He was drunk, Holden! I had it handled, and you can’t go around punching every guy that looks at me!”

  “Why the hell not?!”

  “Because it’s suffocating!” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know I messed up. Holden’s expression goes from infuriated to broken, only to be masked again by exasperation.

  He takes a step back and nods. “You think I’m suffocating? Fine. Have all the fucking breathing room you want.” Turning around, he starts to walk away.

  “No. That’s not what I meant.” I exclaim, but he doesn’t stop. “Holden!”

  As I watch my boyfriend leave me in this bar in the middle of Cabo, the feeling of betrayal inside of me increases. He literally just left me here, without a care in the world of what could happen to me being all alone in this place. Well, fuck him. If he wants to abandon me here, I’m going to enjoy myself.

  “Hey, is everything okay?” Brandon asks. “Where’d H go?”

  I throw my hands up. “The hell if I know. We had an argument and he left.”

  He groans. “I’ll go find him.”

  Brandon walks away and Emily steps next to me. “Are you alright?”

  “I need a fucking drink.”

  A COUPLE HOURS LATER, I’ve lost track of the number of beverages I’ve cons
umed. Though, that’s what happens when you’re at an all-inclusive resort. I manage to avoid most of the men who try to approach me, using all kinds of excuses – including that I’m a lesbian. It isn’t until I start slurring my words that Emily tries to intervene.

  “Alright babes, I think we should go back to the room.” She lightly grabs my arm, but I pull it away.

  “Why?” I mumble. “So I can go back and listen to how sorry he is? No, thank you. I’m having fun here.”

  The bartender comes over and asks for my drink order, his eyes racking over what he can see of my body and looking as if he’s starving for it. Being as we’re in a pool and he’s not wearing a shirt, I must admit – he isn’t bad looking. Instead of letting Em talk, I place my finger over her mouth and turn around to flirt back with the cute man making heart eyes at me.

  No more than ten minutes into our conversation, a fully clothed Holden jumps into the pool. He wades through the water before grabbing me and throwing me over his shoulder.

  “Hey man. What the hell do you think you’re doing?” The bartender shouts, but Holden ignores him.

  Emily leans against the counter. “That’s her boyfriend, and I suggest you stop talking.”

  I kick and scream for him to put me down, but give up much more quickly this time. Knowing from the last time he did this, he’s not going to listen. When we finally get back to the hotel, he places me down but maintains a firm grip on my wrist. I let him tug me into the elevator, but don’t dare to make eye contact. However, when Emily steps in next to me, I glare at her.

  “You called him?!”

  She frowns. “You were getting out of control and I was worried.”

  “I was fine!”

  “Oh, cut the shit, Kayleigh.” Holden barks. “You weren’t fine. You’re completely hammered and you were letting some local hit on you. Are you trying to get kidnapped and sold into sex trafficking?”

  I roll my eyes but say nothing. When the elevator reaches our floor, my boyfriend pulls me toward our room.