“Aw, don’t listen to the old grump. He’s just mad because now he’s got a boner before coffee,” Des whisper-shouts, and I almost spit out the sip I’d just taken.
Between Des’s comment and my almost spit take, everyone's laughing now. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Vince adjust and wonder if maybe Des is right.
Great, now I’m thinking about Vince's cock…
“I’m ready!” Addy yells as she comes rushing back into the kitchen, dressed from head to toe in enough winter gear that it’s a miracle she can even walk.
“Go get dressed, love. We have a tree to pick.” Alex takes my cup from my hands and nudges me to go, and this time I don’t even try to resist. I’m too excited.
“So why haven’t you ever gotten a real tree? I mean, even before your dumbass ex.” Des asks as we pull up to the tree farm, and I unglue my face from the glass to look at him.
I might be a little too excited, and I try to get a grip.
I probably seem silly to them.
“My mother is allergic to pine, so growing up, it wasn’t something we could do and then once I moved out…” I shrug because I don’t need to explain it again; from the way his nostrils flare, I’m pretty sure he remembers.
Vince parks, and we all pile out, and despite the cold, I can’t help but sigh in relief. An hour in the car with all of them was kind of… intense.
Addy is out and pulling me along the next second.
“Come on, Mommy!” she all but shouts, her smile contagious as she pulls me into the building, and I feel more than see the others follow behind us.
“Mr. Lawson.” The awe in the man's voice when he sees Nathan makes me beam at him. I scoop Addy up into my arms, and she clings to me as we wait for whatever it is that we do next.
“Hello, David.” Nathan offers him a nod, which is pretty friendly for him.
“How many this year? Just the two?” David asks, and I realize this place must be a part of their tradition.
Nathan turns to look at Oli, and he thinks for a second, doing that adorable thing where he pokes his tongue out to wet his lips that I noticed he does when he’s deep in thought.
“Six,” he answers after a second, though he doesn’t sound entirely convinced. He thinks for another moment, and Nathanwaits until he nods and repeats his answer with much more conviction.
“Wait, six trees?” Clearly, I’ve missed something.
What the hell are we going to do with six trees?
“Isn’t six a lot, Nathan?” I ask, unable to stop myself because this has to be overkill.
“Nah, don’t be silly, Kitten. I wanted one in every room.” Des slings his arm around my shoulder, stopping me from moving toward Nathan.
“Every room…” My brain can’t even comprehend how many trees that would be. There are places I haven’t even been in the house yet. The smirk on Alex’s lips lets me know he was on board with Des and is fully aware of how ridiculous that idea was.
“So six for us, delivery today if available, and triple our usual donation.”
Something crashes to the ground, and I look toward the counter, where a young girl stands looking at what I assume is the thing that just fell and made so much noise.
“You okay, Jess?” The man, David, I think Nathan called him, asks the girl as she turns bright red, no doubt feeling every eye turn to her.
“Yes,” she squeaks, disappearing behind the counter for a moment before she pops back up. Her eyes dart around the room before they land on Oli, then Des, before she looks at me, and I swear I see the confusion.
“Sorry,” she tucks a long lock of her dark hair behind her ear and smiles at Nathan. “Your regular donation is already so much. Tripling it caught me off guard, is all.”
She’s young, probably early twenties, tops. I tell myself it’s irrational to feel jealous.
Yet here we are, my blood boiling as I watch her shamelessly check them out and blush and…
Maybe she’s just grateful.
