by Zoe York
When she came back, she kneeled beside him. He scrubbed his belly, then gestured to the tree. “We should we get dressed and decorate this thing.”
“We should.” She giggled. “We will. Now.”
“Third time’s the charm.”
They started with the lights, as agreed, then took turns hanging up their ornaments.
“My mom works in a casino, and the holidays are a busy time for her. Plus airfare is more expensive, and I’m not always around anyway. When I went to basic training, she sent me an ornament.” Ben held up a miniature pair of combat boots with a dog tag wrapped around them. “This was the first one. I have fifteen of them now.”
“That’s a lot sweeter than my story about…” Chelsea held up a glittery bird. “I think we got this on clearance at Target a few years ago?”
“It’s pretty.” Ben pointed to the spot next to his boots. “Add a little sparkle there. Did you buy it with your sister, or your parents? You said we.”
“Me and my mom. It’s a bit of a tradition that we hit the stores after Christmas and buy some new decorations on sale. And before Christmas, too.” She shrugged. “We didn’t bother to do that this year, because they were prepping for their road trip. Which is not a thing to complain about.”
“Hey.” He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to the inside of her wrist. “We’re not comparing who’s more lonely this year. It’s hard to be away from family, no matter the reason.”
She wasn’t lonely anymore, though. “Show me another ornament.”
He held up a surfboard. “This one was a year that I was in Iraq over the holidays. She sent this in a care package along with a vial of salt water, because she knew I missed the ocean.”
“That’s really sweet.” She hung up another Target ornament. “How often do you see her?”
“A couple times a year. She likes to come here when she can get a cheap flight. Sometimes we go to Mexico together on vacation.”
“Ben, that’s adorable!”
He chuckled. “Thanks.”
“Is it just the two of you?”
“Uh, sort of. My dad remarried when I was young. He’s pretty well off, and that has been an issue at times. I have a half sister. She lives in New York, is married to a banker. It’s a whole different life. But my mom and I are tight.”
“Where is she? Vegas?”
He shook his head. “Reno.” He leaned over and picked up another ornament. “This was last year’s.” It was an ornate key, heavy and bronzed.
“Does it have a special meaning?”
He scruffed his chin. “It did, yeah.”
She waited.
He didn’t elaborate—not until she reached for yet another generic glittery ornament in her own bin, and she wasn’t looking at him.
“She said it was time for me to find someone to give the key to my heart to,” he said softly.
He sounded nervous, and Chelsea carefully hung her ornament on the tree, listening as gently as she could.
“And I never thought I’d tell someone that after knowing them for a handful of days, but…” His pause was weighty, and Chelsea’s breath caught in her throat. Where was he going with that?
Was she ready to hear something about his feelings being serious?
It was too soon.
He finally chuckled. “I didn’t think I’d have joint custody of a Christmas tree this quickly, either.”
Her breath released. Joint custody of the tree was a perfect way to capture their funny, special, probably-too-fast but rather wonderful connection.
“Your mom probably just wants you to be happy,” Chelsea murmured, a smile creeping across her face.
He wrapped his arms around her from behind as the tree glittered in front of them. “You make me happy,” he whispered. “And six days ago, I would have said that was impossible this Christmas season.”
“Christmas fling one, lonely holidays zero?”
“Is that what this is for you? A Christmas fling?” She heard the tightness in his voice, but his hug remained gentle.
“I…” She frowned. “I don’t know. Maybe, yes. Like this is a fantasy.” She’d literally wished for him to appear in her life, after all. It was all a bit too good to be true. And Chelsea was always a realist. She reached for the same levity he’d just grabbed on to. “Although shared custody of the tree suggests it will last at least as long as the holiday break.”
Less funny out loud than in her head.
Ben let go of her and paced away. “And what happens after the holiday break?”
“Maybe we keep dating,” she said carefully.
“And maybe we don’t?” He took a deep breath. “Which is fine. I’m just figuring this out. I don’t want to rush you.”
“Yeah, I think maybe that’s a possibility. When we go back to real life—” She cut herself off. How had they tumbled sideways into this conversation? This wasn’t coming out right at all.
He frowned. “I’m not trying to play dumb here, Chels. But I don’t know what that means.”
“This…you, and me… This isn’t real. I don’t know almost anything about you and vice versa. We have very different lives.”
He rubbed his chest. “How so?”
“For one thing, you’re larger than life and I’m completely average.”
His mouth fell open. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You need to have better self-confidence than that.”
“It’s not about—” She cut herself off and exhaled roughly. “It sounds like that, I acknowledge. I promise you there’s nothing wrong with my self-confidence. It’s just about being practical.”
“So we’ll have some fun for a few weeks, and then you’ll move on to a nice teacher or accountant, maybe someone else who draws in their spare time, while I do…what?”
“Go back to your life,” she whispered.
“I don’t have a life,” he bit out.
Her eyes went wide.
“Shit.” He groaned. “Fuck. Shit. Damn. I didn’t mean to say it like that. I didn’t mean for any of this to—” He stopped and shoved his hands in his hair. “Forget I said that.”
“That’s hard.”
He swallowed hard enough for her to hear it, to see his corded throat work up and down. “I think this is a bit of my last relationship rearing its ugly head.”
“And you just came back from a…” She trailed off. She didn’t know. “Let’s not rush anything. What I should have said is, I really like you. But I’m having a hard time believing that this might actually be a real relationship, out of the blue. Things like this don’t happen to me.”
He dropped his arms, swinging them loose at his side. “Me, neither,” he said, his voice husky. “Well, I guess you just got to know me a bit better. I have some issues.”
“We all have issues.”
He nodded and ducked his head. Then he took a deep breath and gave her a smile she’d come to know well. Eager to please. “Do you want to go for a walk? If we’re going to be baring ourselves, warts and all, might as well get some fresh air.”
ten
A wave crashed against the empty beach. Then another.
Ben hadn’t said anything since they’d arrived here. Their walk had wound them through the neighborhood. They’d compared thoughts on restaurants and shops, getting to know each other better. But when they hit the sand, he went silent.
He wasn’t distant, though. He held her hand firmly in his, their fingers entwined.
They walked up to the dog park at the north end of the beach. On the other side of that was the base. Ben sat down on the sand and pulled her to sit between his legs.
She leaned back against his chest, and he carefully smoothed her hair, his fingers running over the back of her neck and up the side of her face as he got them settled.
“I’ve felt unmoored for a long time,” he finally said. “And then I met you and tumbled head over heels into big feelings, startlingly strange immediate kind of feelings. Being with you these las
t few days has made me realize, in a really profound way, what I don’t have. Me barking at you that I don’t have a life…that was the least elegant way to put all of that, I guess. I’m sorry if it came across like I was a dick, angry when you didn’t magically have the same immediate connection back. I don’t expect that.”
“I think I did, though. The last few days have been magical. I just…” She rolled her neck, baring more of it for his gentle finger caresses. “I don’t want to assume anything about your life? But my guess is that you have wilder ups and downs than I do. Literal victories, terrifying scares. My life is sedate and simple, so that feeling of…what did you say? Being unmoored?”
He nodded.
“I don’t know that I would ever describe myself that way, but it’s not wrong. And then you walked into that studio and I was captivated. How can I fall in love with someone without knowing a single thing about them? And yet there you were, and I felt…” She twisted around and crawled right into him, burying her face in his neck. “Do you want to go on a road trip with me?”
“Yes.” He said it without hesitation, simple and raw and enthusiastic. “Where?”
“Wherever we can find a place to stay. Somewhere with snow.”
“You want to go in search of a little Christmas magic?” He combed his fingers through some loose strands of her hair. “My friend Kent has a place. It’s…”
She waited for him to finish, but he didn’t. He just gave her a thoughtful look, then kissed her before helping her stand up. “What is it?”
“I want to make sure I can get the place first.” He pulled out his phone and typed a text message, then held out his hand. “Let’s keep walking. When do you want to go on this road trip?”
“As soon as possible? Tomorrow? Maybe we should wait for Christmas Day, enjoy our time with the tree.”
“We shouldn’t abandon it too quickly,” he teased. “What about the next round of your life drawing class?”
“I’m pretty sure I can defer that registration. This is more important. I thought I should spend the holiday break doing all the official Christmas things by myself, but that’s not what I miss. Don’t get me wrong, I love our tree. But I miss that bustle of going somewhere special for the holidays, even if it was just my parents’ house. Packing up… And I don’t know, I just thought you might like to get out of the city.” She gestured at a helicopter overhead, heading for the base. “Get away from all of that.”
He swept her into his arms, looking from the hungry expression in his eyes like he was about to give her a hungry kiss, when his phone vibrated between them. He pulled it out of his pocket and exhaled in relief.
“Do we have a destination?”
He kissed her, his lips urgent against hers. “How does Lake Tahoe sound?”
“For real?”
“Your sister won’t think we’re intruding, will she? Because Tahoe is close to Reno…”
Her heart bounced, nervous now. “You want…”
“Yes. I want. Are you ready to meet my mom?”
She laughed, a giddy, out-of-control sound foreign to her own ears. “I’m not sure ready is the word, but willing? Absolutely.”
After sleeping in, they spent Christmas Eve packing, running errands, and making out in front of the Christmas tree.
As Chelsea traced circles on Ben’s biceps, he texted his friend Cade to see if he could borrow any winter gear.
When he got a positive response, he kissed Chelsea’s forehead. “One more errand. I don’t have a parka.” He gestured in the direction of his Rubbermaid bin. “I have a Hugo Boss suit, and something tells me it’s the wrong season for that in Tahoe.”
“I think you should bring it anyway. I’d love to see you all dressed up.”
“Same.” He rolled her onto her back and ducked his head, sipping at her mouth again. “Shall we get all dressed up and go to the third best casino in Reno?”
She giggled. “I thought you’d never ask.”
As they drove to Cade’s place, Chelsea brought up the fact they were surprising people again. “Are you sure we shouldn’t tell them? What if they go out?”
“My two cents—surprises are where it’s at, unless your sister hates them. Are you having second thoughts?”
“I think she likes surprises? It’s more that I’m just not normally this…spontaneous. Hannah is, ironically. She was all for me secretly dating you, too.”
“Was she? I like her even more now.”
“She was pretty sure I could find a loophole in the waiver I signed.”
“Oh yeah, we’re definitely surprising her, then. She’ll love to see us together.”
Chelsea gave him an amused look.
“What?”
“I like your confidence. And your enthusiasm. You’re like a…golden retriever puppy. So absolutely sure you’re a very good…”
“Boy?”
“Man.”
He laughed. “A golden retriever, huh?”
“It’s endearing.”
“I’ll take it.”
At Cade’s house, they traded cookies for snow-appropriate clothing, and Ben gave his friend a key to his apartment just in case the movers brought his stuff back while they were gone.
Then they went back to Chelsea’s place to call their various family members and wish them all a Merry Christmas.
They started with the people they weren’t going to secretly see in a few days. Chelsea’s brothers and her parents. Ben’s dad and stepmom, and his sister.
Then it was time to call Hannah.
Chelsea was practically vibrating from excitement about their planned subterfuge. “So what should I say? I should find out where they’re going to be the day after Christmas, right? If they have any plans?”
“Maybe start by asking what their plans are over the next few days, which days are their down days, that sort of thing.” He winked. “Be subtle when gathering intel.”
“Got it.” She pressed her sister’s name on the screen and waited for Hannah to appear. “Happy Christmas Eve!”
“Is that a man’s arm I detect around you?”
Chelsea gave him a sideways look. “Are you ready for this?”
As if she didn’t already know he was all in. His girlfriend had some skills in the spy game, making it seem to her sister that he wasn’t sure about a video call. He cleared his throat and played along. “I guess so. This is the sister I met at the restaurant?”
Chelsea shifted the phone, and Hannah clapped enthusiastically. “I knew you liked her.”
He kissed Chelsea’s temple. “I like her a lot.”
“Are we going on a double-date when we come back?”
“Maybe, if you promise to be on your best behavior.” Chelsea changed the subject. “What are you plans for the next few days?”
Hannah leaned into the screen. “There’s talk of going skiing? But I think I’m going to skip that. They have the sweetest little library nook here, Chels. You’d love it. Hang on, I’ll show you.”
As she walked, the sisters gossiped about their brothers, and their parents, and Ben watched Chelsea’s face.
When she finally ended the call, she caught him staring. “What?”
He caught her face in his hands and kissed her deeply.
“Okay,” she said, blushing when he eased off. “Nice.”
He laughed. “I just like watching you. You’re full of joy. My little Christmas elf.”
eleven
Chelsea woke up on Christmas morning with Ben’s erection pressed delightfully against her butt, and his hand caressing the lower curve of her belly.
Right above her panties.
As soon as she sucked in a very-aware breath, he groaned in her ear. “You’re up.”
“And so are you,” she whispered, rocking her hips back.
“Can I touch you?”
“You’re already…” she gasped as he dipped his fingers under the waistband of her underwear.
“Here, Chels. Can I touch you he
re?”
“Yes.”
He groaned again as his arm wrapped her tighter into his body, until there was no space between them and his hand had more than enough room to cup her sex, his fingers squeezing her almost roughly before gently parting her lips and sliding into her slick folds. Her clit throbbed as he stroked her flesh. “I can’t get enough of you.”
The feeling was mutual.
She rocked against his touch, getting to where he wanted her to go faster than usual. Christmas magic, aka the Orgasm Express.
“Oh yeah, baby, come on my fingers. Make me all sticky and then I’ll stroke myself with your juices.”
She cried out, his dirty talk making her wild, and then she was there, spasming in his arms, as he bit and sucked on her shoulder and her neck.
Twisting in his arms, she crawled down his body, eager to watch him stroke himself with that hand.
“Merry Christmas,” she whispered as her hair brushed against his belly, curtaining the secret open-mouthed kisses she was laying up and down his heavy length. “Show me how you do it.”
He grabbed his cock, his fingers glistening from her, and jerked himself faster than she would, harder. Rougher. She reached out and swiped at his fingers with her tongue, and he made a feral sound of appreciation.
“You like that? Me tasting both of us?” She’d never spoken like that to a boyfriend before, but nobody had made her feel this sexy before, either.
Ben was special.
He watched her, his swollen lips parted, his gaze heavy and hot, as she made her way back up to the wide crown and licked up the drop of clear fluid at his tip.
“Merry Christmas to me most of all,” she murmured. “Yum—”
That was as far as she got. His other hand gently cupped the back of her head and guided her to take him all the way inside her mouth.
Oh, she was willing. So willing, and eager, and able.
He pumped against her tongue, giving her his whole throbbing length, but he didn’t finish that way. His hands shaking, he grabbed a condom, covered up, then rolled her onto her front so he could take her from behind.
She fisted her hands in the blanket and closed her eyes, riding the intense sensations all the way to a rapid, amazing climax.