I love you.
I adore you.
“That settles it then,” Rhiannon says brightly, catapulting me back into the present. “Lis, you want to do the honours?”
“Huh?” I say dumbly because I was not paying attention to anything anyone was saying.
Jake rolls his eyes. “You two need to get a room,” he grumbles but his amusement is plastered all over his face.
“We have one but you lot being here is preventing us from using it,” Harry says tersely.
My cheeks flame as I look at my hands in my lap but the adults in the room just laugh.
“Why can’t you use your room, Daddy?” Oscar asks, the genuine concern on his face adorable. “You slept in there last night. Did Mary keep you awake? She can sleep in with me and Lucas if you want.”
Oh, my dear boy. I look at my son with the adoration that offer deserves.
“Nah bud, we’re all good,” Harry assures. “Daddy was just joking with Uncle Jake.”
“I like everyone being here,” Oscar says.
“I know. No one’s going anywhere, don’t worry kid.”
Seemingly satisfied, Oscar nods and looks back to the gifts stacked around the tree. “Okay, so presents now?”
“What?” I say looking up. “Presents are for Christmas day.”
Oscar looks back at Rhiannon, obviously confused by that statement and my cousin just looks at me with an unimpressed hitch to her brow. “If you had been listening and not making goo-goo eyes at your dreamy husband—”
“I’m dreamy?” Harry asks behind me, the smugness in his voice so reminiscent of the twenty-year-old I met fifteen years ago. “Keeping that little tidbit to bring up again later.”
Rhiannon rolls her eyes.
“You never said you thought Harry was dreamy,” Luke says to her, a disgruntled look on his face.
“Dear lord,” Rhiannon huffs. “Anyway,” she continues, ignoring our husbands. “If you were listening, you’d know we were just saying that there are some family presents under the tree that may be better to hand out before we’re with Jake’s family as they’re not involved.” She gives me a wide-eyed, slow nod, imploring me to understand.
Oh, yes!The family portrait Nel did for us this summer over at the commons near our house. A lovely photoshoot where we got some beautiful family photographs. I had ordered framed collages, and Nel brought them with her, I cansee the stack of square presents wrapped in Nel’s elegant black and white striped paper nestled together under the tree.
“Ah, I see. Yes, great idea,” I say, climbing off of Harry’s lap to start distributing them out. They’re all the same, no labels needed.
“Oh, I saw you’d left one in your room when I was passing earlier, so I brought that down for you,” Rhiannon says off-handedly.
I frown down at her as I start passing the gifts to Mum, Auntie Hen, Rhiannon, then Harry, but there’s one left. There’s too many. Looking over to Nel hoping there’s a simple explanation, she’s staring back with panic, her eyes wide, her skin paler than it had been five minutes ago. Something clambers up my insides, a slow and debilitating realisation that I can’t quite get my brain to grasp onto until I hear the first rip of paper.
“WAIT!”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Ooh, hottie with a body alert.”
HARRY
This is wild. And probably dangerous. But mostly awesome. The local lido—a huge, outdoor, heated pool in our university town—is hosting a New Year’s party. Jake and I travelled back to my place today and he’ll be heading on to his own school tomorrow. I couldn’t stay back with Mum and Dad and Nel for long as I’m expected back at work the day after tomorrow and Jake has a job to get back to. But we couldn’t miss this.
It's an exclusive party, only one hundred tickets sold, and I got ours months ago. The area around the pool has been decorated in twinkling fairy lights in a rainbow of colours and there are large decorations dotted around, including the life-size Santa and sleigh, but only two reindeer. There’s already a couple in the sleigh making out like no one’s watching, but quite a few people are. A bar has been set up in the corner and there’s a four-drink maximum, although by the looks of it, several people started before they got here. The air outside is clear but freezing, the steam from the heated pool rising in the ambient glow of the lights, looking all kinds of inviting. Thankfully, there are several lifeguards patrolling the pool perimeter, watching like hawks as partygoers mess around in the water.
“Drink first or pool first?” Jake asks me, already stripping off his clothes to his trunks. No reindeer costume today.
