A Hot Holiday Collection

Chapter 2

2

DANNY

I wandered around the living room of my frat house, feeling restless. Not all of my brothers were gone for the holidays, but the ones who stayed in town normally hung out at their girlfriends’ places or with friends who lived in the area, so it was unusually quiet.

Now that I’d taken the LSAT and sent in my application to Harvard, I didn’t have a lot of studying to do, and all of my groups and sports were on break. The only thing I had to obsess over was Delia.

One more semester.

Then I’d be done with all of my classes, and I’d know whether I’d be headed to Boston next fall.

When I found out she would be staying in her sorority house alone for almost a week, I pushed off my trip home. I didn’t like the idea of her without anyone watching over her. My parents and siblings had been cool with it since I would still be home for a couple of weeks. And they were used to me coming home late and leaving early so I could spend as much time studying as possible.

I found myself at a tall window at the front of the house. It had a view of the hill that made up Greek Row, and Delia’s sorority occupied a house halfway down the slope. From this window, I could see who came and went. When it was lit up at night, I could even see what was happening in their living room because it had originally been part of the sunroom, so it had an entire wall of glass.

My bedroom window had the same view, which was why I ran for housing officer the election after I discovered it. I was rarely home, but when I was, it comforted me to see her house and watch for her comings and goings. A distraction, yes, but on the grand scale of things, it was minor.

Feeling restless again, I meandered into the kitchen to find a snack. My pocket buzzed, and I dug out my phone, putting it on speaker before setting the device on the counter.

“Danny,” I answered as I opened the refrigerator and hunted for something other than beer.

“Hey,” Leland replied. “Um, I have something to tell you, but you can’t freak the fuck out.”

I rolled my eyes as I leaned farther in because I spotted an apple at the back. Of the two of us, Leland was definitely the more dramatic and hotheaded one.

“Delia’s sorority sisters ordered her a stripper.”

“What the fuck?” I shouted as I jerked up, forgetting the upper half of my body was all the way inside the fridge. I immediately smacked my head into the shelf above me, knocking it out of place so it crashed onto me, the contents spilling down my back. “Son of a bitch!”

Since the shelf had been holding mostly bottles of imported beer, they shattered once they hit the tiled floor, spraying beer everywhere and soaking my clothes.

“Uh, should I call back later?”

I spun around and wiped the liquid out of my eyes so I could glare at the phone. “Explain,” I demanded.

“I have to hurry. I’m in the gas station buying snacks for the road.”

“Then spit it out, Leland.” I grabbed the broom and dustpan from the pantry and began gathering all the glass, which had thankfully run out of liquid to spray.

“Apparently, the girls thought it would be fun to send Delia a stripper while she’s alone this week. Dude, I think Olivia might actually be hoping Delia gets laid,” I growled. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger.”

“Why am I just now hearing about this?” Dumping the glass into the trash, I grabbed a roll of paper towels and dropped to the ground to sop up all of the beer and other random condiments that had been on the shelf.

“Olivia only let me know about the plan five minutes ago. I told her I needed snacks so I could pull over and call you.”

“Since when does your girlfriend keep stuff from you?” I grumbled. What help was he if he didn’t get information from his informant? Granted, she wasn’t aware that she was essentially a spy for me...but still.

“Olivia doesn’t keep shit from me,” he protested. “She just hadn’t told me yet.”

“Did you at least get the name of the agency they used?” I’d call and cancel the stupid thing.

“I’ll find out and text you.”

“But what if?—”

“She told me he’s scheduled for tomorrow.”

That mollified me somewhat. Because a crazy plan had begun to hatch in my brain...and I didn’t want to reek of alcohol.

“Just get the name,” I grunted before hanging up. A second later, I felt a little bad about being such an asshole until I remembered what a bastard he could be when something he didn’t like involved Olivia.

Once I’d finished cleaning, I went upstairs and tossed my clothes in the trash before taking a shower. Another perk of my room was the en suite bathroom, and with the house empty, I didn’t have to worry about sharing hot water.

I scrubbed all the wet, sticky liquid from my skin, but it would take at least one more shower to get all that potent liquor out of my pores. After a second scrubbing, I dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants, then sat at my desk, which was situated right in front of the window.

My phone was on the tabletop and had a text message from Leland.

Hard to Handle Agency .

Seriously? This was the name of the stripper agency?

I shook my head as I opened my laptop to search for their number. I’d practically stalked Delia for two years, but I’d never felt so skeevy as I did calling up a male stripper agency.

Leland had also texted the name of the girl who’d made the reservation, so when they answered, I quickly gave them the information and asked them to cancel it. Then I hung up as they were asking me if I wanted to reschedule.

With that done, I decided to get a jump start on some of my reading for next semester. I gave up half an hour later when the idea I’d been trying to ignore wouldn’t stop poking at me.

One semester. I’d vowed to wait until graduation. But I only had a couple of classes to finish, and my application was done and submitted...did I really need to wait? And what if the sorority sister saw the return charge and booked another stripper?

Waiting was too big of a chance. I needed to make Delia officially mine. Now .

The question remained—how did I approach her? I wasn’t sure if she even knew who I was since I’d avoided being close to her for so long. The idea began ringing like a bell, insisting I stop ignoring it.

After a few minutes of arguing with myself, I gave in.

Her sisters had ordered her a sexy Santa, so that was what she was going to get.

I looked up the closest costume shops and called to see if they had Santa costumes available. This close to Christmas, it wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped. I ended up driving four hours away to pick up the outfit.

The light in Delia’s room was out when I returned, so I went to bed. However, with my plans for the next day swirling around in my head, it took a couple of hours to fall asleep.

Four years of waking up at six in the morning had instilled an internal clock inside me, so I was up before the sun. I threw the costume into the washing machine before taking a shower and dressing in a T-shirt and jeans until I needed to change.

I made breakfast, and after I ate, I changed over the laundry. Then I tried to do some schoolwork, but it was useless. Glancing at the clock, I saw that it was just after seven. How early can a stripper show up at someone’s house?

The stripper the girls ordered had been booked for late evening. Although, the website touted that they were a twenty-four-hour service. And I knew Delia was an early riser…

My eyes strayed to the red suit I’d set out on my bed after taking it out of the dryer earlier, and I contemplated my options. I could stew over it all day and drive myself in-fucking-sane or hold out another hour and go get my girl.

Plan B won.

I showered again because the suit would be hot, even if I was half-naked under the coat. After doing my after-shower routine, I walked back into my room and went straight for the dresser. I pulled out my underwear drawer but hesitated before grabbing a pair. Don’t strippers wear Speedos?

I shook my head at myself. No fucking way was that happening, but I had no problem with commando, so I shut the drawer. When I put on the pants, they were a little big, so they hung low around my hips. But not enough that they wouldn’t stay up...unless someone gave them a half-decent tug.

Once I’d donned the coat and hat, I went to the mirror in the bathroom to see the full effect. If I looked like a complete jackass, I’d have to figure something else out. However, when I wasn’t in the library or watching over my girl, I was usually at the gym. I had a fuck ton of repressed sexual tension to work out.

It paid off, though. My chest and abs were all sculpted muscle but not overly bulky. The start of the V at my hips could be seen at the top of the waistband of my pants, which were loose, but snug enough to show off my muscular legs. My strength would come in incredibly handy when I fucked Delia in all the positions I’d been fantasizing about. I couldn’t wait to have her curves in my hands, to bury my hardness in all of her softness.

The thought caused a tent to form in my pants, and I grunted in annoyance. Okay, I needed to keep stuff like that out of my head so my giant dick didn’t scare the fuck out of her before I could seduce her.

The alarm on my phone pinged, and I sighed in relief. About fucking time.

I stalked to my desk and grabbed the white beard that completed my costume. Then I put on my shoes and the hat.

One last thing...I went to my closet and took out the red velvet bag I’d hung in there the night before. I’d filled it with special items. Some were presents for my girl, and the others, well, they were gifts for both of us.

I hefted the bag over my shoulder and jogged down the stairs. It was cold as fuck outside, so I buttoned the coat, then threw the door open, and took a step toward my future.