“Yeah, I’ll just grab the whole tree and you, without crushing your leg or injuring you, and put you upright again.”
I smiled at him, “Now you’ve got the gist of it.”
Shaking his head, he did as I asked, ordering Alyssa to grab my arm and help me upright while he shifted the tree. I hobbled around, nearly toppling in the other direction, but Sam caught the tree and me, chuckling at the predicament I found myself in.
“Leave it to you to get wrapped in lights twice in one year.”
He held the tree upright, his body just inches from mine as he stared deep into my eyes. It was so easy to get lost in him, to forget anyone else was in the room or that I was still strapped against a tree.
“And you saved me both times,” I whispered, feeling that familiar pull deep in my stomach.
A grin pulled at his lips as he leaned in closer, his eyes flicking to my mouth. Swaying forward, my eyes fluttered closed. His warm breath caressed my skin as his fingers slid up my arm, sparking the flame that had been buried for days.
“O-kay, and on that note, I’m getting out of here and going back to my brother’s house, where hopefully, no one will be having sex right in front of me.”
Clearing my throat, I stood up straighter. “No one’s having sex here.”
“Right, keep telling yourself that,” she grinned, grabbing her stuff. “I think I’ll leave before I burst into flames.”
With the spell broken, Sam quickly got to work, untangling me from the lights. An awkward silence settled around us that shouldn’t have been here, considering how many times we’d already slept together. But things were different now. With him staying here every night, and the way he was constantly hovering, something had shifted between us. No matter how hard I tried to shove him out of my life, he refused to leave, which only made me angrier.
Sam’s warm hand gripped my elbow, and before I knew it, I was on the couch, and he was lifting my leg up to rest on a pillow.
“I think that’s enough for one day, don’t you think?”
“But my decorations aren’t up yet,” I pouted. “My tree is a chaotic mess, and now that I’ve basically taken a nap on it, it’s all smooshed.”
When my sad voice didn’t seem to make any difference to him, I batted my eyelashes and gave him my best sad face, allowing my chin to quiver just a little.
“Fine,” he groaned. “I’ll get it set up, but when this is done, we’re watching a manly movie.”
“Manly, huh?”
“And no mocking me.” He started pulling the branches apart, separating the smooshed pieces so they fanned out and filled in the empty spaces. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”
As I watched him working on my tree, I imagined what it would be like if we were in our own house and this was more than just a single night that would never be repeated. It would never happen, and that only made me sad, but I pushed those feelings aside and allowed myself to have this one indulgence for the night.
This whole fantasy would end, but it didn’t have to be over this second.
For two hours, I messed with him, telling him where to put my ornaments, making him move them from one branch to another until they were placed just right. I laughed at every growl of frustration and even mocked his heavy sighs, earning me a few scowls.
“It’s fine right there!” he argued when he tried to place Betty Boop sitting on the moon toward the back of the tree.
“No, it most definitely is not! She needs to be at the front where everyone can see her!”
“Why? It’s just an ornament like all the rest!”
Gasping in horror, I shoved off the couch, ignoring him as he shot me a murderous look for daring to move from the spot he had placed me.
“Get your ass back on the couch.”
“Make me,” I snapped, hobbling over to the ornament and moving it to the correct position, right in the middle of the tree where everyone could see it.
I squealed as I was grabbed around the waist and the world tilted around me. Sam stalked down the hallway with me in his arms, refusing to let me move even the slightest as he held me tightly to his body.
“Samuel Collins, put me down this instant!”
“If you won’t sit down where I put you, then I’ll have to make sure you get the rest you need in the only way I know how.”
