Stay With Me (She's With Me #2) - Jessica Cunsolo Page 0,61
who shouldn’t know what those numbers mean gets too close to you, it’d be too late for them anyway. And I wanted the necklace to remind you of me, of all your friends, since that’s where we all met and—”
I’m really glad he put his coffee down, because I save him from his rambling by doing what I wanted to do earlier and tackle him, kissing him with everything I have. He kisses me back just as passionately, pulling me close to him until I can barely catch my breath.
“Oh wait!” I pull back from him. “Stay right here, don’t move!”
I put the necklace on his dresser and race out of his room, leaving him looking thoroughly confused.
I pass by Charlotte, Noah, the twins, and Annalisa in the kitchen, drinking the coffee and hot chocolate Aiden had made.
“Merry Christmas!” I say to them as I head toward the stairs.
They repeat the greeting back to me as they notice where I’m coming from.
“Pulling a walk of shame this morning, huh?” Noah says with a smirk.
“It’s not a shame if it’s from Aiden’s room,” I shoot back as I head up the stairs.
There’s a small envelope with Aiden’s name on it in my bag, and I grab it before heading back to his room. I ignore Noah’s remarks as I enter the room again and close the door.
He had changed into fresh clothes while I was gone, and just laughs when I point out that he moved even though I told him not to.
“I didn’t get you for Secret Santa either,” I tell him, “but I saw this and wanted to give it to you.”
I hand him the envelope and take a seat on the bed again as he opens it.
“Oh wow,” he says as he holds the ticket in his hand. “This is amazing!”
I got him a ticket to one of those racetracks where they let you drive a car like a Lamborghini or Ferrari around a course at top speed.
I smile and bite my lip. “I thought you’d have some fun. I know you prefer your races illegal, but this might be cool too,” I joke, and he smiles warmly at me, an emotion in his eyes that makes my heart squeeze.
“I love it. You didn’t have to do this, but thank you.”
He puts the envelope down on the dresser beside my necklace and holds out his arms. I practically scramble off the bed and jump into them.
I barely kiss him before there’s banging on the door.
“Hey!” I hear Noah’s voice. “Hurry up in there! We want to open presents!”
“Guess we should go before the children get antsy,” he says, even though neither of us makes a move to pull apart.
“I am not a child!” comes Noah’s voice from behind the door. “But I still want presents!”
We laugh as we pull apart and head into the living room, where everyone is gathered with the present from their Secret Santa.
As I sit down with Aiden and grab the gift with my name on it, I look around at all my friends and their happy faces. The twins are jumping all over each other to show Aiden what Santa left for them, and Aiden manages to look genuinely surprised. He even tells them he’s jealous that the boys got video games and all he got was some chocolate and a tub of protein powder, and tells them it must be because they were extra good this year. Julian, Chase, and Mason are already devouring some of the snacks left in their stockings. Annalisa and Charlotte are reading the uses of each face mask, and Noah is complaining that his real stocking must be hidden somewhere because there’s no way he could’ve gotten coal.
This may not be the most conventional holiday, and we might be away from home, but I already know that this is my favorite Christmas ever.
15
It’s Friday night, and we all go to the carnival that the locals have been talking about. It’s a pretty big event, with people from towns all over showing up to have a good time. There are a bunch of rides that, to be honest, look pretty rickety, but are holding their own, a bunch of games and stands, and seemingly more food trucks than there are people. The rain even stopped for the night, letting us enjoy the night wearing just sweaters.
“Congratulations! You’re the winner!” the man at the makeshift stand tells Aiden as Annalisa and I pout since we were also competing.