Page 100 of Infatuated as They Come
“We’ll do whatever you want,” I said. “You pick, and we’ll do it.”
She stared up at me. “And then we can do it every year.”
“Yeah, princess, we can do it every year.”
“Found it!” Holly’s mom was back, peering over her daughter’s shoulder. “Such a cute horse, Holly.”
We ate dinner after that. Holly’s dad sat across from me at the big dining table, ignoring my eyes as all his attention went to his daughter. We were never gonna be friends and that was okay with me. He asked Holly about her classes and cheer and she seemed to bring me up every chance she got, telling him about my art and how hard I was working and how much she was enjoying living with me.
After the awkward dinner, Holly dragged me into the living room with hot chocolate and cookies, the fireplace roaring by the tree as she put that Muppets movie on. She rested her head on my chest as her parents joined us, and I was almost certain her dad scoffed a tiny bit when he got sight of us.
It was such a simple thing. Just me watching a movie with my girlfriend on Christmas, but God, I loved it. The fact had me holding Holly tighter as we watched the rest of the movie, chewing on her little half horse half cat cookie until it came to an end.
“You two should get some sleep,” Holly’s mom piped up. “You’ve had a long couple of days. Why don’t you both head on up? I’ll take care of this stuff.” She placed the empty mugs on a tray and whisked off in the direction of the kitchen.
“She’s right.” Her dad stood up, stretching his arms over his head. “You should get some sleep, Holly. I know you must be tired.”
“Sawyer especially,” Holly said as she turned to me. “He did all that driving, remember?”
“Right,” he said stiffly, eyes flickering over to mine for a quick second.
“Goodnight.” Holly gave him a hug as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Looking over her shoulder, she sent me a smile. “Sawyer’s gonna drop me off at my room.”
I raised my eyebrows up at her, but her dad spoke up before I could even get the chance to respond.
“Drop you off?” he asked. “You’re goingupstairs. You can get to your room in one piece.”
“I know, but I’m scared after watching the movie,” she said, worry in her face as she sidled up next to me.
“The movie with the Muppets?” he asked. “That one? The one you watch every Christmas?”
“It freaked me out.” She tugged at my hand. “Come, let’s go. Goodnight, Daddy!”
And then she was hauling me out of the room and pulling me up the stairs. “The movie scared you, huh?” I asked.
“I’ve never told anyone this, but I have a fear of puppets.”
“Uh-huh,” I said as we made it to the top of the stairs. We took a left turn and then moved down the hallway, finally stopping outside Holly’s room.
“You don’t believe me?” She spun around, voice teasing as she leaned up against her bedroom door.
“I think that was a ploy to get me up here,” I said lowly. “Is that what this was?”
“Maybe.” She bit at her bottom lip. “I miss you.”
“I’m right here.”
“I miss kissing you.”
“We’re not allowed to kiss. I don’t think we’re even allowed to talk to each other.”
“Just one kiss,” she said with a little pout. “Please.”
“He’s gonna come running up those stairs and drag me off you.”
“You don’t wanna risk it for me?” Soft fingers got all tangled in my shirt as she pulled me to her, closing that tiny gap that had been between us. “Please kiss me, Sawyer.”
And I couldn’t say no to that. I couldn’t. I pressed one hand to her door, the other cupping the side of her face as I stroked a thumb against her soft golden skin. My lips found hers, not able to hold back my groan as I pushed my tongue into her mouth. Her fingers were still yanking at my shirt collar as my tongue moved against hers. It felt like I hadn’t kissed her properly in days and God, I had missed the feeling of my mouth on hers. She tasted so good, that lingering taste of chocolate and sugar there on her tongue, her pouty lips so soft and inviting and perfect. When I pulled away from her, she let out a happy sounding sigh, her pretty eyes slowly opening.
