“A little pie never hurt anybody.” I shrug, a mischievous look on my face.
We get backto the lodge, our arms full, carrying every flavour of pie we could find—strawberry rhubarb, blueberry, lemon meringue, sugar pie, pumpkin pie, and a traditional apple pie.
“Are you out of your minds?” Kash shouts, running over to take the pies from our hands.
“Did you get these for the whole house? Why so many?” Austin asks. Leah and I exchange a look and shrug.
“These pies are for us,” I tell them. “You know… dessert…” I say. Kash nods his head.
“She’s completely lost it. There’s no saving her now, man.” I glare at him.
“I’m crazy because I want pie? I wanted options!” I protest, trying to justify my reckless shopping spree.
“If you want options, babe, I’m right here,” Kash says, gesturing to his whole body. Austin rubs his forehead, not sure how to respond to Kash’s comments. I pick up a pie and walk slowly and sweetly over in Kash’s direction.
“Isn’t Lemon Meringue your favourite?” I ask him. Fingering a heaping scoop of meringue onto my finger andsuggestively licking it off. Kash’s Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows, watching me approach him.
“Uh-huh,” he replies, lips slightly parted, watching my every move, his eyes never leaving my mouth.
“Perfect.” I smile and then move quickly. I slam the lemon meringue pie right in his face. I grin, licking the rest of the pie off my fingers. Austin and Leah are in hysterics while Kash wipes the pie off his face. Licking and cleaning himself off like a feral animal.
“Well played, Gremlin,” he says, his eyes narrowed. “Well played.”
AUSTIN
Leah’s predictions on her family’s behaviour were exactly as she had expected. Aside from the slight family drama, it was an overall great weekend being able to share this experience. The way Vix’s face lit up every time we would do something holiday-related made my heart warm and my cock twitch. Her beauty is something that never dulls and lights up any room she walks into.
Today is our last night at the lodge, and it’s the most exciting one yet. Christmas Eve. Tonight, we drink hot cocoa with Baileys and sit by the crackling fireplace, listening to classic Christmas tunes while Tori and John tell us stories about when Kash and Leah were kids. We laugh, Leah cries, Kash sings a terrible rendition of “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and I take mental pictures of these moments so I never forget how happy we are.
I wrap my arm around Vix’s shoulder as she presses her body into my side, and I feel whole. I have everything I could ever ask for, and I can only hope to give her the same. I bring her hand to my mouth and kiss her palm. She hums,and my body reacts to her sound. I lean down to whisper in her ear.
“Can I give you your gift now?” I pull back to see Vix’s eyes light up, a huge smile spreading across her face.
“Oh! YES!” She sits up straight, waiting for me to get her present. I kiss her cheek and lean down beside the couch, pulling up a black gift box wrapped with a silver satin bow. I place it on her lap and sit back, my body relaxing as hers gets more and more excitable. She gives it a little shake, holding the box to her ear, as if trying to figure out what it could be, and frowns when she doesn’t hear any sound. She opens the lid to find the box filled with over a thousand paper butterflies.
Her eyes meet mine, already brimming with tears. She takes one out, turning it in her fingers and then locks eyes with me in question. “When we were apart, I made a lot of wishes. One a day, to be exact. This is all of them. Every wish, hope, and plea that I made to the universe that we would make it back to each other again.”
“I thought of you every day and never let go of the thought that we would someday end up right here, together. I love you, Vix. More than a thousand paper butterflies.” I tell her, giving her every last part of my heart.
“Austin,” she whimpers. “This—you—I don’t even know what to say,” she stutters, speechless by my grand gesture.
“If ever you doubt for a single second how I feel about you, if ever you need that extra love on a day you are feeling unlovable, read the butterflies. You’ll see that living the rest of my life without you was never an option for me,” I tell her, and tears begin to trickle down her cheeks.
“I love you so much, Aussy. I don’t know how I got so lucky.” She wipes at a tear dripping off her chin.
“You’re my best friend… my soulmate.” I take her face in mypalms and cup her chin. I kiss her, softly, and then we hear someone clear their throat.
“Kash, don’t ruin their moment!” Tori chastises her son.
“Sorry,” Vix apologizes, wiping away the rest of her tears. She lets out a small laugh as if embarrassed that we got so swept up in our moment. My eyes meet Kash’s, and he looks a little uncomfortable. He looks away and loudly begins speaking to the entire room.
“Present time for all!” he declares and heads over to grab everyone’s gifts that lay under the tree. He starts handing out gifts and brings two over to Vix and I.
“Merry Christmas, bro,” he says, handing me the large box.
“Gremlin.” He nods, handing her a smaller box wrapped in deep red wrapping paper. I can tell he’s trying his best not to look directly at her.
“Thank you,” she tells him, already trying to tear through the paper. My girl sure does love gifts. I hand Kash his gift from me, and the gift Vix brought for him.
