Page 87 of Uproot

Seeing how happy everyone is every time we come back home makes me so proud, and thankful that we are here.

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That evening, Selah and I are getting ready to go to the Black Friday party at Chip’s bar. Every Upwooder swears it’s the best get together of the holiday season, so we finally relented and decided to check it out.

Dragana is staying home to have a Lego and ice cream sundae night with Edison, so I help him pick out some pajamas and get ready for their night in. I finish up with him, and he gives me a big hug before running off to the kitchen to get his promised sundae.

I walk around and pick up a few things, trying to help get our house back together. This week was very busy wrapping up things for work and school before Thanksgiving, and everyone is now ready to get into Christmas mode.

We’ve agreed to spend Christmas at our new Brownstone in Brooklyn that we purchased last month. I didn’t expect to find a place there so soon, but luck was on our side. We all traveled there so I could introduce Selah and Edison to my business, and the city I grew up in.

I finalized the sale on my penthouse while I was there, and my real estate agent told us about a brownstone he believed we would really love. Seeing the looks on Edison, Dragana, and Selah’s faces while we toured it had me putting in an offer faster than the agent could ask what we thought about it.

If my family loves something then it’s a no-brainer to me to get it for them ASAP. We are all excited to fly back next month and spend Christmas there with Bobby and Natalie.

I finish cleaning up everything, and make my way to the primary bedroom. I find Selah in our walk-in closet, quickly sorting through her clothes. I look down at her left hand, my nerves settling when I see her wedding ring still there.

We decided almost immediately after we got engaged that we didn’t desire a big wedding, or to even wait to be married. So we went right down to Upwood City Hall and got married at the end of summer. Her mother and stepfather came, along with Bobby, Natalie, Dragana, and Edison.

We rented out Stoney Lodge that evening to have a private reception with the rest of our friends, and family. It was by far the most simplistic wedding I had ever attended, but by far themost full of love. Selah said the entire day was better than she had ever dreamed of, and that alone made it a million-dollar wedding to me.

Selah hears me coming and turns around, placing her hands on her curvy hips as I approach her.

“What’s going on, angel?” I ask, taking her face in my hands.

She pouts, her sweet face melting into my hands as she glares over at her clothes hanging beside us. “I’m so stressed,” she mutters.

I furrow my eyebrows. “That’s impossible. How can you be stressed when you’re my girl?” I ask, genuinely confused.

She sighs, the corner of her mouth lifting, “I’m just so tired, and trying to find something nice to wear feels impossible tonight,” she responds.

I kiss her on the forehead and move over to her clothes, pulling out a beautiful pink sweater dress I had delivered for her last week. “You’re tired because you keep staying up too late playing those nonsense games on your phone,” I respond, handing her the dress and going to find some nice boots.

She scoffs behind me, “Wellyoucreated the new game for me with Global Games! So I guess it’s your fault that I’m addicted to it,” she huffs.

I pause at her shoe rack, turning around and narrowing my eyes at her. She has been very brazen lately, and I’m wondering if it’s because she’s not getting enough sleep, or if there’s something else wrong she’s not telling me.

“Are you getting sassy with me, sweetheart?” I question, walking back over to her.

She twists her mouth, doubling down with her attitude. “So what if I am?” she responds, folding her arms over her chest.

I step in front of her, and glare down at her. She drops her arms, and her bravado quickly melts away.

“Whoops,” she whispers timidly.

I nod my head, “Yeah.Bigwhoops, little girl.”

I back her up against the drawers in our closet, and she stumbles, her hands fumbling around behind her to steady herself. I know exactly what she is pushing for, and she is about to get it.

“W-we don’t have time for this Beck. We will be late to the party,” she stammers, trying to half-heartedly reason her way out of the wicked rolodex of punishments I’m flipping through in my mind.

I wrap my fingers around her throat and her brown eyes stare up at me full of heat. “You’re playing games with me, angel.”

She whimpers as I flex my fingers around her soft skin, then release her throat, moving my hand to her face. I rub my thumb over her full lips, before sneaking it into her mouth. I groan as she eagerly sucks on it, then rolls her tongue around it seductively.

“Hmm, is that what you want to do, sweetheart?” I ask quietly.

“Mmhmm,” she mumbles around my thumb as I slowly pull it out of her hot mouth. “Please? I’ve been a good girl today.”

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