A Christmas Collin (Bringing Home Trouble)

Chapter 9

9

DANIELLE

M y heart aches for Collin—it always has when I think about his life before he came to our house—but the realization washing over Josh's face is one I don't want to relive. Evelyn's watering eyes mirror mine, but her tears aren't from Collin's stellar performance. She's just as moved by the tale of his origins as I was when I first heard the story.

"No one ever wanted me," Collin whispers into his beer as I sit on the stool beside him.

"That's not true," I tell him, nudging his shoulder.

"You're right. I take that back." He grins and tips his beer toward me. The bartender hands me a bottle, and I toast Collin.

"I wanted you back then, and I want you even more now," I admit shyly, looking down and unable to meet his eyes.

Collin turns to face me, spinning me on the stool until my legs are locked between his. He leans forward to kiss me, and just like that, it feels like no one else is in the room with us. My hand reaches down to validate as much, his crotch hardening under my touch.

"Mm, Jelly Bean, don't start nothing you can't finish. I'll bend you right over this bar." His voice is low and gravelly, making all my lady parts tingle with desire.

"You promise?"

"Aw, back to being bad, I see. I'll have to teach you a lesson about stirring up trouble. If you think I won't punish you in front of all these people for getting me riled up, you're mistaken, Jelly Bean."

"Don't threaten me with a good time," I shoot back, taking a swig of my beer and licking his lips.

Collin downs the rest of his glass, palms the back of my head, and pulls me in for a kiss so passionate, my toes curl. I moan with every swipe of his tongue across mine. Thankfully, the awful sounds of Evelyn singing old-school hip hop, with Jake Heffen himself cheering her on, draw everyone's attention away from us.

"Either get a room or cut it out," the bartender says, taking away our empty bottles and glasses.

Okay, so everyone but the bartender is paying attention to Evelyn and Jake. We end our kiss as they finish their song, both of us panting like we just ran a marathon. Another round of drinks lightens the mood for the night. It doesn't take long for us to shut down the bar and karaoke with one tune after another.

Collin's singing moved something inside of me. If he were the pied piper, all he'd have to do is sing to devour my soul. It makes me wonder what he's actually afraid of.

By the time the bartender puts us all in taxis home, my mind is reeling with questions. I don’t have time to ask them, though, since it doesn’t take long before the group files into my mother's house, where Christmas dinner waits.

"Oh, this is just like old times. Yes, everyone, come on in and eat. There's two whole trays of lasagna for all these strapping young men in my home." Mom's glee is contagious to her drunken children. "By the way, Jake, now that you and Ev are on again, you and your family are welcome to join us on our Sunday lunches."

"Thanks, Mrs. B." Jake offers Mom a smile.

Jake Heffen is like a model off the cover of a couture magazine, with his suave dark brown hair, molten dark blue eyes, and a Colgate smile that's liable to tell you anything you want to hear. In this drunken moment, though, he's just a regular guy like Josh and Collin beside him.

They cheer each other on as they chug beers and gobble down pasta and everything else on the table. Evelyn and I join them but without devouring as much. There's laughter and memories, reminiscing about the days and hijinx of our youth. Even Mom chimes in with stories of us ruining furniture and freshly poured cement pavements.

"It's so wonderful to have everyone under the same roof. I'm happy you all were able to take time off work, especially with how important everyone's job is," Mom says, and I expect to hear a hint of disappointment in her tone, but there is none. She raises a glass of wine to toast. "You know, Danielle, bringing Collin home was a fantastic idea. He told me how much you helped him get over his stage fright."

My eyes shoot over to him. Collin offers me his cocky grin and tips his head. I find my eyes watering again, emotion threatening to choke me.

Collin Wright is my Mr. Right.

"Thank you," I mouth to him silently.

My mother continues to gush over all the people in her dining room. "And don't you worry about Hilary, Josh. I'll pour sugar in her gas tank for messing with my baby." She twines her hands and gives us a wobbly smile. "I'm so proud of all of you. You've done so well for yourselves, and I know Dad's proud of you all, too. So let's raise a glass of beer to being grateful for family. Merry Christmas, everyone, and may this become an annual tradition for us."

"Merry Christmas!" we say in unison, and Collin pulls me for a long kiss that makes Josh turn his back to us and kiss Mom on the cheek.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens after Mom goes to bed for the night. Jake and Evelyn lose themselves behind her bedroom door, and Josh passes out in his room.

Meanwhile, Collin and I stay in the living room for a while.

My back is against his chest, his arms cradling me as the TV plays a Christmas movie neither of us seems to be watching. The tender tickle of his fingertips dances down the side of my ribs until they're thumbing their way under my waistband.

It feels like we're teenagers as I grab the throw blanket over the edge of the couch to slip it over us. Once I do that, the dam holding back our lust breaks. I turn over to unzip his pants and pull his cock out, wrapping my lips around his thick girth, bobbing up and down, and whimpering when his fingers tunnel through my hair.

He moans, and my eyes shift to look at him, the pleasure riding his face makes me increase my pace, but Collin doesn't let me stay down here for long. He pulls me up, filling my mouth with his tongue before turning me back to face the TV and yanking my pants down to fill my pussy with his cock.

My eyes are on the soft glow of the twinkling lights twined around the Christmas tree, the star on top slightly askew.

God, I haven’t felt this happy in years.

Our kiss muffles my cries of ecstasy as we move slowly, trying to hide the force of our lovemaking on my mother's couch, where she watches murder mysteries. Every thrust is a test of our restraint as we push, pull, and stop.

The sound of someone walking down the steps makes us pause and wait. I sit still in Collin's lap, my back to his chest, and he snickers, his arms around me, looking like we’re just cuddling and nothing more. The light from the fridge opening and closing precedes the sound of someone cracking open another can of beer. They take their time guzzling the drink and belching before taking sluggish steps back upstairs.

A bedroom door slamming gives us the all-clear to finish. We do our best, and it takes a light slap to my ass to get out of my head and back into it. Collin's thick girth and the possibility of us being caught push us both toward completion.

We come at the same time, Collin digging his fingers into my thighs and biting my shoulder.

Both of us let out a sigh of relief before making our way to my bedroom, where we could clean ourselves up. I don't know why, but I feel almost a decade younger. Maybe it's because we just did something naughty, but whatever.

We lie in bed, quiet but still awake. My mouth covers his lips, searching for the right words. "We're making this relationship real?"

"Damn right, we are." He hooks a finger under my chin and rests his forehead on mine. "I love you, Jelly Bean. Always have, always will."

My chest feels tight with emotion, and I blink hard. "I love you too, Collin. Always have, always will."