“Is that what you want?”
He nods, and his eyes find mine. “Sugar, I want it all, and I want it with you.”
“With me?”
He moves closer and cups my cheek with his hand. “For a while now, I’ve been scared of what my future would look like. I was afraid of giving up the one thing I thought would make me happy because of who I’d be without it, but I’m realizing none of that matters if you aren’t a part of it.”
I smile, and pressure builds behind my eyes. Every time I think he can’t blow me away, he does.
“So yeah, I want the traditions.”
“I want them too.”
My heart expands in my chest. Each leaning forward, our mouths meet in a kiss.
Chapter 37: A Christmas Travesty
Everett
Our empty wine glasses and dirty dishes litter the coffee table. Empty boxes that once held ornaments are spread across the floor. Christmas music is playing in the background, and the warmth from the fire fills the space.
“I think we need a few more over here,” Claire says, eyeing some bare branches. “Here, pass me a few of the silver balls.”
I collect the items and walk over to meet her.
“You’re really good at this,” I say.
“I’ve had a lot of practice,” she says, taking the first ball and hanging it on one of the limbs. The smell of pine engulfs my senses.
“Do you usually do a real or a fake tree back home?”
“I always had a real one growing up, and my parents still do, but because of dance it’s easier to have a fake one,” she explains, taking the second and third ball from me and placing them on the tree.
“I like the real one. It smells good.”
“Doesn’t it.” She smiles, stepping back as she studies our work. “I think we’re almost done, but it could use a couple more.”
Walking over, she digs in one of the boxes and laughs as she pulls out two ornaments.
“These are cute,” she says, holding up two small nutcracker ornaments. One is dressed like a hockey player and the other is dressed like a ballerina.
“They kind of look like us,” she muses. “Here.”
Reaching out her hand, she gives me the hockey player and thenmoves to the center of the tree. She carefully places the ballerina on a branch, and I move forward, hanging my ornament right next to hers.
“I know you said not to crowd them, but I think these two need to be together.”
“I agree. Where did you find those?”
“Cami helped with the ornaments, so she must’ve snuck them in there. I like them though.”
“Me too,” she agrees.
She walks over toward the overhead light switch and pauses. “Okay, on three, I’m going to flip the switch, and you plug in the lights.”
“Okay.”
“One…two…three…” The room goes dark for a split second before the tree comes to life. The white lights twinkle, creating a magical glow.
