She sat up on her elbows with a big smile. “You were all dominant. You don’t do that much.”
“You liked that? I was nervous as fuck.”
“You had me fooled,” she giggled. “Come on. Let’s go rinse each other off.”
And in the shower, we held each other. Felt the water running over our skin. Laughed about nothing. Kissed sweet, soft, joyful kisses.
I was smitten. I was screwed.
Chapter33
Annie
DECEMBER | Balance: $48,268
Nick Oberbeck
Just got back. Be at your place soon.
Bringing Greg
Can’t wait. Ready to ho ho ho
It was December 22, and the team had just gotten back from the last game before Christmas. Nick’s parents were coming to visit him, showing up the next day, so we’d planned to do our down-low Christmas celebration that night. I wasn’t sure if they’d be sleeping over, but since he was bringing Greg, I assumed he would.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t completely stoked about it. It was a Sunday, so I’d spent the day preparing my place, and part of me thought he’d be interested in having full-on, p-in-v sex. I had on a little red lingerie set that was part of the present, the other part being some magic books I’d wrapped carefully in brown paper. I wore a leather mini-skirt and over-the-knee boots with a red sweater, which I figured he’d like. I’d made eggnog from scratch, and put together a nice little dinner, roasting a chicken and lighting decorative candles like a real grown-ass woman.
Basically, I didn’t have a boyfriend. Not a real one. But I had Nick, and Nick was special enough that I wanted to wow him with a party for two.
Nick and Greg arrived at my door with Greg enthusiastically sniffing the air. Nick wore a Santa hat and Greg had on some reindeer antlers. Or rather, Nick was trying to hold them to his head. We both laughed as Greg wiggled the antlers off on thespot.
“I tried. Merry Christmas, angel,” Nick said with a chuckle. I grabbed him by both cheeks and kissed him.
“Merry Christmas, Saint Nick. Come in. I almost started hitting the eggnog without you.”
“Oooh, fancy!” Nick said. “It smells amazing. Look at you. In an apron, all dolled up, candles. You really are an angel.”
My cheeks heated. “I try. Wine or eggnog?”
“I’ve gotta have this famous eggnog,” he said with a grin.
I poured us each a glass and held it out to toast. “To a wonderful Christmastime.”
We tapped our cups to the counter and drank. “Damn, Markham, that’s some good nog. Seems like you’re trying to get me to stay over.”
He crept around to my side of the kitchen counter, pulling me close. “I might be,” I said. “Only if you want to. Did you pack a bag?”
“Oh, I want to, and my bag’s in the truck. Wasn’t sure I was invited.” Nick crooked a finger to tip my chin up and melted into a long, slow kiss that left my stomach tangled in knots. The only reason we stopped was because the timer on the oven dinged and I didn’t want to ruin that chicken I’d labored so long over.
We sat for dinner and everything was just easy. The conversation was easy. The air between us was so relaxed. Nick had really become my friend. We talked about our favorite Christmas traditions, about how we’d spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I had an open invitation to Kitty’s house since her family was coming in town. They’d conceded to the whole “hockey doesn’t have much time off” thing and chosen to come spend the holidays in Los Angeles.
Since Nick’s mom knew I existed, part of me thought he might invite me to have dinner with them, but that was also a ridiculous thought. Nick was not my boyfriend, and even if he was, we’d only been in our arrangement for a couple of months. Christmas with the fam was something that came later.
Don’t get your hopes up, Annie. Foolish, foolishgirl.
I served the chocolate cake I’d made, Nick pulling me into his lap as I set his slice in front of him.
“Annie, this is incredible. How’d you pull all this off?”
