He leaned down and kissed me lightly before pulling away.“And while I would like to explore how merry it can be, not with my parents in the other room.”He shuddered.
“Oh?Have they walked in on you?”
He shuddered again.“Not talking about it.”
I laughed and nudged him back to the kitchen.He reluctantly went over and began pulling out a million and one things out of the fridge and then he put me to work.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
We had most thingsbaking, frying, boiling, and marinating by the time the others showed.It was around lunchtime, so Janice helped us make light snacks for everyone so they’d survive for another couple hours before all the food was ready.
Toby and Justin showed up first, Toby his usual bundle of energy and Justin a solid presence behind him.
“I like your sweater,” I said as Toby pulled me into one of his bear hugs.He was wearing a mostly black sweater with a lot of white and green for the trees and snow.Three snowmen were on the front, smiling and looking cool with their sunglasses.Above that said ‘Chillin’ with my Snowmies.’
“Thank you, Candyflake.Seth got it for me.”He gave me a huge quick kiss on the lips, not caring that Justin and Seth were in the room with us.I blinked, a little surprised.That was the first kiss given so blatantly in front of the other guys.Everyone had been keeping the intimate moments private so far.Paxon’s reaction flashed through my mind when he ended up seeing Seth kiss me and unease settled in me.
What if the others reacted like he had?
Before I could overthink it though, Justin pulled me into his own hug, practically enveloping me in his arms.“Merry Christmas,” he whispered in his husky voice.
My whole body was practically on fire from everyone’s attention like this.It was almost too much at once.Justin opted to kiss me on the cheek, the tips of our noses brushing against each other before he pulled away.
“Merry Christmas,” I said to both of them, my cheeks burning from so much attention at once like that.“Did you guys have a good morning?”
“Yeah, Aunt Laura just got off work, so we did presents with her before feeding her and letting her go to sleep.She’ll be here later after she gets more rest,” Toby said.
“And your family?”I asked.Wouldn’t he want to spend time with them?
“I’ll see them tomorrow,” he said simply, but the way his shoulders sagged and the brief flicker of sadness in his eyes betrayed him.Something was going on.“Austin had a long night so they asked me to come over tomorrow instead.”
I grabbed his hand and squeezed it.“Are you okay?”
He forced a smile and I hated that.I never wanted him or anyone close to me to give me those stupid polite, practiced ones.
When he opened his mouth to reply, I spoke quickly.“Remember what I told you,” I said, not willing to hear him tell me a lie.
