Meet Me Under the Mistletoe (Holiday Romance Collection #3)

22. Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two

Theo

W e’re both chilled and wet from the snow by the time I stand and pull her up with me. We walk, hand in hand, back to the front door. We strip out of our winter gear, hanging it up to dry, before making our way to the bedroom and shucking off our pants that are wet and cold. She digs around in her closet, on the hunt for something that might fit me.

She pulls her dad’s shirt that she’s still wearing off and hands it to me, it’s the only shirt she has that will fit me, then she shrieks ‘Aha!’ when she locates a pair of my sweatpants I’d left here ages ago in the back of her closet.

I pull them on while she puts on some Christmas themed pajamas—because, of course she does—and then she’s dragging me back out into the kitchen. I put her to work building us a couple Peppermint Schnapps hot chocolates as I dish up the pot pie soup.

“Your nose is pink.” My heart is happy, being here with her like this. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, and I’m still waiting for someone to come and steal her away, or for her to run from me. Like this somehow isn’t real, or won’t stay. Leaning down to her, I rub the tip of my nose against hers in an Eskimo kiss, which earns me one of those full, uninhibited Noelle smiles that sends my heart to galloping in my chest. Goddamn she’s so fucking beautiful.

Earlier, after I’d rolled out the biscuits and cleaned off the counter, she’d hopped up to sit on the counter in front of me. It was easy to see what she wanted, she’s as easy to read as an open book, and it had been my pleasure to give it to her.

Laying her down on the counter before me, I’d barely lowered my jeans to free my rock-hard cock before sliding inside her, all the way to the hilt. Her back had arched off the counter as I went deep, her hands sliding beneath her shirt to play with her nipples as I’d thrust hard and deep and long. Watching her come apart beneath me, feeling her come around my cock buried so fucking deep… it’s all I want to do for the rest of my days. I want every fucking part of her. Her sass, her sadness, her joy, her pleasure… her heart and her soul. I want all of it.

I had bitten back the words that keep trying to fall off my tongue every fucking time I look at her. Instead, I’d pounded into her, hard, powerful thrusts while my fingers dug into her hips that had her screaming through the orgasm that tore through her minutes later. My own orgasm is curling around my spine, tightening my balls, and making my chest seize. Slamming my palm against the countertop, I come, filling her in long, hot spurts.

We laughed through cleaning up our mess, our hands and lips finding each other constantly, as if neither one of us can stand to be apart. Like she needs me just as much as I need her.

Now, I carry our soups and the platter of biscuits to the coffee table in front of the couch while she finishes topping our hot chocolates. I press play on the movie queued up on the TV, then sink into my usual corner of the couch, dragging the blanket up as I settle on the couch. Noelle folds her legs beneath her criss- cross style as she settles directly against my side. Another heart stopping change that I’m going to have to get used to, instead of having her across the couch from me, and I drape the blanket over our laps before handing over her food.

Our legs are sandwiched together beneath the blanket, our arms pressed against the other as we sit side by side and eat. She groans around a mouthful of the savory soup. “This is amazing, Theo.”

“I’m glad you like it,” I chuckled before taking another bite myself. “It’s one of the few things I can make.”

“Well, one of us is going to have to learn how to cook if we’re going to make this a thing,” she teases, bumping her shoulder into mine lightly. My chest cracks open at her words. Such possibility in that little statement. That possibility of a future, that—just maybe—she might want that with me, too. I try not to put too much stock into what she said, but damn, it’s hard not to when it’s all I’ve wanted. “Otherwise, we’ll both starve.”

“I think we’ll be able to figure it out,” I tease back gruffly, my throat tight. “One day at a time, right?”

She smiles up at me, nodding, and then she leans over and presses a kiss to the tip of my shoulder. It’s sweet and tender and comfortable, like we’ve been doing this for forever. This is how it’s supposed to be. “One day at a time, Theo.”

I take another bite of the soup, singeing my mouth on the still scorching hot liquid. This woman is going to be the death of me.

By the time she’s finished her first bowl of soup, I’ve polished off two and a handful of the flakey, buttery biscuits. The woman doesn’t know how to pour a light drink, and the peppermint schnapps in the hot chocolate is strong. I throw one arm across her shoulders as she sets her bowl next to mine on the coffee table and pull her into my side. I press a kiss to the top of her head, breathing her in.

“Can I give you my present, now?” I ask against her hair.

“Sure,” she says, shifting sideways as I push to my feet.

I pluck the still gift-wrapped present from the bag that I’d left by the door and hand it to her before sitting back down. My heart is beating a hundred miles a minute.

She tears at the paper, tossing it to the floor in a heap, before turning over the framed picture. I hold my breath.

It’s a matte framed photo of the night sky, hundreds of stars and a sliver of the moon in the navy background. She looks up at me, her brows furrowing over those green eyes in confusion. I swallow hard. Here goes nothing, I guess.

“The other night, when I asked you what you wanted for Christmas, you said, very sarcastically, might I add, ‘the moon and all the stars’…”

Her mouth drops open in awe, her gaze sliding back to the photo in her lap.

“This is the night sky from the very first day we met,” I murmur quietly, my throat tight.

“Like, from the first day of kindergarten ?” she asks, looking up at me. Her green eyes are shimmering. I nod, reaching up to brush my knuckles across her cheek.

“If I’m going to give you the moon and all the stars, I figure it should be from the very first day I fell in love with you, Noelle.”

“Oh,” she breathes and I watch as tears line her lower lids. “Theo…”

“I know I said I wouldn’t say it yet, but I can’t not say this to you, Angel,” I whisper, leaning in to press my forehead against hers. “You don’t have to say it back. I just need you to know how I feel. How I’ve always felt, Noe.”

“Theo,” she whispers again, but this time it makes my heart stutter. It’s hesitant, guarded. Fuck . “This is a lot more than taking it one day at a time…” She shifts next to me, so that she can face me more fully. I can’t bring myself to meet her eyes, to see the rejection there. Fucking hell. I should have known better. She clasps my face between her hands and tugs my face up, forcing me to look at her. “Theo. You know I love you. You’ve been my very best friend for so long. You’re my person,” she whispers earnestly, pressing her forehead to mine this time. “This is a lot to take in all at once.”

I nod. Fuck. I know it is. But it’s like this dam has broken inside of me, and I’ve waited decades to let it all out. Now, there’s no slowing the outpouring. “I just needed you to know, Noelle. Fuck… I just don’t want to lose you now that you know—”

She shakes her head, her lips dragging over mine, stopping the flow of words.

“You’re not going to lose me,” she breathes against my lips. “I don’t want to lose you, either, Theo. You’re my person. Always.”

“One day at a time,” I whisper. “We can do that.”

“One day at a time,” she repeats, nodding again. It’s the best Christmas gift I could have asked for. The possibility of a future with Noelle.