“Merry Christmas, Brit,” I whisper as I drop a kiss to her shoulder.
I hate that while she’s losing herself in grief over what she’s missing this Christmas, I’m here excited about it being the best Christmas I’ve ever had. I’ve gone years without even receiving any gifts, let alone spending the day with someone who loves me. It’s a sobering thought.
I couldn’t care less about spending time with the others. Amalie’s request for it just to be us doesn’t disappoint me one bit because what I said earlier was true. I just want her.
After I’d messaged the others to say that we wouldn’t be there tomorrow, I turned my alarm off with the intention of allowing Brit the sleep she so desperately needs. She hasn’t mentioned the fact that she’s been up the past few nights unable to sleep because of everything, but I know.
Thankfully, her exhaustion means she sleeps soundly until almost lunchtime on Christmas day.
A part of me wanted to wake her, but as excited as I am to spend the day with her, I know that she’d prefer to sleep as much of it away as possible so I settle for sitting beside her as she sleeps, playing on my cell.
As expected, the only member of my family I hear from is Poppy. Even Mom seems to have gotten bored with trying to convince me to talk to her and fucked off at last. Good fucking riddance, I say. She’s nothing but a poisonous rat that neither Brit nor I need in our lives.
I get messages from the guys, which is unusual, but then I remember that they’ve all got girls now and probably had their balls squeezed until they did it.
I also get an apology from Chelsea for Shane’s admittance last night. I can’t help laugh as I remember his drunken confession.
I might have wanted to hurt Chelsea after discovering that she was the one who spiked Amalie’s drink all those weeks ago, but that feeling is long gone now. She’s paid her dues, I’m actually happy to see her finding love with Shane. Was I shocked? Fuck yeah. But I’m happy for them nonetheless. Plus, it means he really is no longer after my girl.
“What’s so funny?” a sleepy voice says, breaking through my trip down memory lane from last night.
“Just thinking about how drunk Shane was last night.”
“Aw,” she says jokingly. “Did he bruise your ego?”
“Pfft, unlikely. Every sex god is allowed at least one drunken disaster they’d rather forget.”
“You did not just say that,” she groans. “Although I must admit that I’m glad Chelsea didn’t get you at your best.”
“Nah, baby. I saved all my best moves for you.”
She drops her head to my side. “You’re something else, you know that?”
“Hey,” I say, tucking two fingers under her chin and lifting her head so she has no choice but to look at me. “Merry Christmas, baby.”
“Merry Christmas,” she whispers.
“Are you ready for our day?”
Hesitation sweeps across her face. “I thought we were staying here, just the two of us?”
“It’ll be just the two of us, but I’ve got something planned.”
“Oh?” she asks, sitting up looking genuinely excited about something for the first time since we got the keys for this place.
The sheet falls from her naked chest and my eyes drop.
“It can totally wait though.”
“Nope, come on. I want to know what you’ve schemed up.” She jumps from the bed, her bare ass swaying seductively as she walks to the bathroom. Just before she disappears, she looks over her shoulder.
“You can claim that present later, Thorn.” She winks before kicking the door closed behind her.
“Tease,” I bark, throwing the covers back and pushing from the bed.
Everything is ready for us downstairs, we just need to get dressed and ready to leave.
Pulling on some clothes, I wait for her to appear.
“Going somewhere?” she asks when she finds me pulling my sneakers on.
“We are. Get dressed.”
She takes in my sweats and hoodie and tilts her head to the side. “Not going anywhere fancy, I assume.”
“Nope. I’ll be downstairs.”
Threading my fingers into her hair, I drop a kiss to her forehead and walk out.
“Whoa, what happened down here? I was expecting to walk into a disaster,” she asks, looking around at our mostly tidy house.
“Cami and Rae did most of it. I came back down after you fell asleep and finished off.”
“Thank you,” she says softly. “So what are we doing?”
Standing aside so she can see what I’m hiding, I announce, “We’re going for a picnic.”
“A picnic?”
“Yep. Grab a bag and let’s go.”
She laughs at me but does as I say and bends down to collect one of the bags I packed last night.
In only a few minutes, we have everything in Amalie’s car, and I drop down behind the wheel to take us to our destination. We’re at a different end of the beach to what we’re used to now we’ve moved, so I thought today was the perfect day to scope it out.
The car park is deserted when we pull up, everyone else is too busy celebrating with their families. I mean, that’s exactly what we’re doing too, we’re just going against tradition.
Laden down with bags, we head down onto the sand until we find ourselves a spot hidden behind a dune. I can’t imagine we’ll be interrupted today of all days, but I’m more than happy to hide anyway.
“Here.” I pass Brit a blanket to lay out while I get started making us a campfire.
“Are you allowed to start a fire on the beach?” she asks when she notices what I’m doing.
“Fuck knows. It’s not like there’s anyone around to stop me.”
She shrugs and allows me to continue. There’s no denying which one of us is the rule follower in this relationship.
It takes me a few attempts, but eventually, I get the fire started and drop down onto the blanket beside Brit.
“So, what do you think?” I ask, staring down into eyes that I want to drown in.
Chapter Six
Amalie
Jake stares at me, waiting for my answer.
I look around at our little beach haven with the fire crackling and tubs of food and cans of drink in the bags and emotion clogs my throat.
When I told him I wanted it to be just the two of us, I pictured us at home on the sofa watching whatever crap is on the TV today. Never in a million years did I expect this.
“It’s… it’s perfect. Thank you so much.”
Tears fill my eyes as I look at him and my heart swells. He did this for me. He changed everything last minute, all the plans I’m sure he was looking forward to so that he could make me happy.
“I love you,” I say, tucking myself into his side.
Wrapping an arm around me, he lies us down.
“Anything for you, Brit.”
He kisses my forehead, and I breathe out a contented sigh.
Today might be all kinds of painful with memories of what could have been filling my mind, but being here in Jake’s arms is everything.
“Merry Christmas,” I whisper, holding him tighter.