Mistletoe Magic (Evergreen Lake: Under the Mistletoe)

Chapter 16

sixteen

CHRIS

I woke up in agony.

Pure unadulterated torture.

Last night when we’d climbed into bed, one last night on the air mattress, Holly and I had kept our distance, trying so hard to keep to our own sides. Sometime through the night, things changed. Now Holly was curled on her side, her tits pillowed against me, her thigh thrown over my leg, and her head nestled in the crook of my arm.

I wasn’t innocent either. My arm had wound itself around her and my palm was splayed across the top of her ass, holding her to me.

I squeezed my eyes together and took a breath. I tried thinking of dirty carburetors and old Mr. Wilson’s false teeth, but nothing worked. With Holly pressed against me, her scent wrapping around me, my dick was standing to attention and he wasn’t in a hurry to go anywhere.

I tried to shift away, putting some distance between us, but when Holly murmured, I froze, not wanting to wake her. As beautiful as she was, even with her hair mussed and her lips chapped, the woman wasn’t completely faultless. I don't know if it was the fact she was still fighting off the last of her cold, but Holly snored like a freight train. It wasn’t those adorable, cute snores either. This was loud, chainsaw snoring.

I glanced across at Noelle who was starting to wriggle. The girl was the spitting image of her mother. Her arm was thrown over her head and she hugged the blanket to her like it was going to protect her from all the bad out in the world.

Quickly, I gave up on the idea of getting up and resigned myself to the fact I wasn’t going anywhere until they were ready.

The next time I woke up, I was alone.

Sitting up with a start, I looked around the room. Everything was packed up and I’d slept through the whole thing. Blankets were folded and piled on the end of the couch. The pillows were stacked, and the games were put away. What hurt even more was there was no sign of the woman and her daughter who’d wormed their way under my skin and given me something I never thought I’d have again. Hope.

As quickly as I could, I climbed off the mattress, almost stumbling as I found my feet and hurriedly put on my shoes. I didn’t bother with the laces, instead, I threw open the door and took the stairs two at a time, blinking as the sun almost blinded me.

I threw open my apartment door, not really sure what I was expecting to find, but it certainly wasn’t what I found. Holly and Noelle were dressed in matching jeans and Christmas sweaters. There were carols pumping from Holly’s phone on the counter, and they were both dancing around the kitchen, singing into wooden spoons putting on a concert. Thankfully, they didn’t hear me come in, so as stealthily as I could I crept into my living area and sat on the couch and watched the concert .

Something about the scene in front of me had me rubbing at that spot in the center of my chest. Something made me ache as I got hit by a tidal wave of sadness. The song ended, and I expected so would the show, but the next one started, and off they went again. Singing loudly off-key into their cooking utensils, dancing and shaking their asses like the world was fun, and for the first time in a long time, I found myself wanting to be a part of it.

When the song changed again, I pushed off the couch and stepped into the kitchen. “Something smells good in here,” I commented, and Holly squealed. It was such a high-pitched sound that I’m sure all the dogs in Evergreen Lake just perked up.

Holly dropped her spoon on the counter and grabbed hold of the edge, her eyes wide as she panted hard. “You scared the shit out of me!” she admonished, not taking her eyes off me.

“Sorry. You looked like you were having fun,” I told her.

“We were just …” Holly’s cheeks turned the most adorable shade of pink.

“Are you going to dance with us, Chris?” Noelle asked, looking up at me with wide eyes I knew it would be impossible to say no to.

“Um …”

“We need to get ready for breakfast,” Holly cut her off, turning away and pulling plates from the cupboard.

Even though this was my house, they’d made themselves at home and I wasn’t the least bit upset about it. Having them in my space, watching them move about like they were supposed to be there felt right.

“Breakfast?” I asked, peering over Holly’s shoulder.

“Pancakes,” Holly shrugged, playing it off.

“Pancakes? ”

“I got to choose. Do you want some?” Noelle was bubbly this morning.

I looked over Noelle’s head to Holly, who turned away and was intently focusing on the skillet.

“Absolutely. I’m gonna jump in the shower real quick then I’ll be out for some breakfast. There’s syrup in the fridge,” I told her before ruffling her hair and disappearing into the bathroom to buy myself some time.

I stood under the water, letting it pound down on my sore back and stretching my arms out in front of me. I was too old to be sleeping on an air mattress, but last night, there was nowhere else I wanted to be.

I tried to ignore the scent of Holly in my bathroom. I tried to ignore the pink lace bra hanging on the corner of the mirror and the hairbrush on the sink. I tried to ignore the red toothbrush lying there next to mine. I tried but my dick wasn’t getting the message. My balls were heavy, and it didn’t seem to matter what I did, nothing was helping.

I scrunched my eyes, already disgusted with myself, I wrapped my hand around my shaft and gave it a tug. I only meant to take the edge off, but the moment my fingers closed around my cock, I knew the only way I was going to be able to walk for the rest of the day was if I dealt with this. I grabbed the body wash and squirted a dollop into my palm before reaching for my dick again.

With one hand pressed against the tiles, holding me up, I worked my wrist hard and fast. The images of Holly filling my head, the dreams of Holly’s lips wrapped around me had my balls drawing up and my spine tingling. It was wrong, but it felt so damn good I pushed aside those thoughts as I shot my load on the tiles, panting as I rode out my orgasm.

There was a long moment afterward where I stood there and watched as the water washed away the evidence. Flipping the tap to cold, I blasted myself with the icy water to try to knock some sense into me. Holly was a woman who needed my help. She didn’t need me jacking off to thoughts of her on her knees sucking me dry.

As I stepped onto the bathmat, I shivered. Quickly, I wrapped a towel around my waist and wiped the condensation from the mirror. I needed a shave, but there were pancakes waiting and cold pancakes were a waste.

By the time I was dressed and moving into the kitchen, the music had been turned off while Holly and Noelle sat at the kitchen counter, quietly eating.

“Are they good?” I asked as I took my mug from the sink and filled it.

“Coffee is life,” Holly mumbled as she cradled her own cup between her hands, protecting it with her whole being.

“Someone’s a caffeine addict,” I commented as I stacked three pancakes on my plate and drowned them in syrup.

“Whoa!” Noelle exclaimed.

“What’s up?”

“That’s a lot of syrup!”

I smirked. What can I say? I have a sweet tooth.

“Mom says I can’t have that much. It’s too much sugar!” Noelle explained, shooting her mother the disappointed eyes.

“You’ve got plenty,” Holly told her, cutting off a bite of her own breakfast and popping it in her mouth.

I was a disgusting human being. I needed help. I watched as Holly ate her breakfast, and I found myself jealous of the fork as she wrapped her lips around it. I shook my head and stabbed at my plate of food, trying to force the idea from my mind.

“Can we go look at the big Christmas tree today?” Noelle asked.

“Umm …” I started only to get cut off.

“Noelle, we need to get going. We’re already late to the resort and Poppy’s waiting for us,” Holly began, explaining. “Chris?”

“Yeah?”

“Is there somewhere we can hire a car around here?”

“This week?”

“Yeah. We need to get up to the resort.”

“But, Mom! I want to go see the tree!”

“No, but mom, Noelle. We need to get out of Chris’s hair and let him have his apartment back,” Holly said, looking straight at me.

Her words felt like a knife being driven straight through my heart. The last thing I wanted them to do was leave, but I couldn’t ask them to stay either. I was fucked.

“Let me check the roads,” I grumbled, grabbing my coffee and moving into the living area, no longer hungry. If the roads were clear, I’d figure out a way to get her where she needed to go, but the chance of renting a car this week were about as good as the roads being passable.

It took longer than I thought. Seems not many people had started to venture out yet. But after a few calls and a bit of searching, for the first time in a long time it felt like the big guy upstairs was on my side. The roads were still blocked. The plows were working as fast as they could, but it would be another day, maybe two if I was really lucky before the mountain road was cleared and Holly would be able to get through.

“Oh.” Holly’s face fell as I explained the situation.

“Maybe the Inn …”

“You’re staying here,” I declared, not wanting to have that conversation.

“Chris, you’ve been incredibly kind and generous, but we don’t want to cramp your style or overstay our welcome,” Holly replied politely.

“Firstly, I’m surprised that you think I actually have style, but thank you. And as for overstaying your welcome, I don’t think that’s possible.”

As soon as I said it, I regretted it. Not because my words weren’t true, but because the look of shock on Holly’s face had me wishing I’d kept my big mouth shut. Just because I was crushing on the woman and completely captivated by her clever daughter, it didn’t mean anything. Holly wasn’t mine to keep, even if I wished she was.

“Chris …”

I didn’t want to hear whatever she was about to say. Call me childish, but I’d been hurt before and the last thing I wanted was to take another hit, especially not from Holly. She was too sweet, too innocent to be the bad guy, and the last thing I wanted to do was remember her that way.

Instead of letting her finish, I cut her off and spoke directly to Noelle. “Noelle?”

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Holly corrected, and Noelle ducked her head.

“Yes, Chris?”

“Why don’t you finish your breakfast, get your coat and gloves on, and we can go check out the Christmas tree and maybe even the festival down by the lake?”

I couldn’t stop the grin. Noelle was practically vibrating with excitement, her eyes wide. If only it was this easy to make her mother happy, I might actually have a chance.

“Mom! Can we? Pleeease,” Noelle begged, and I smirked.

Holly shot me a look that should’ve had my balls retreating inside me, but I wasn’t scared. If she wanted to throw down challenges, I was more than happy to pick them up.

Holly sighed dramatically and gulped down the last of her coffee. “Fine.”

“Yay! ”

“But only if you put your coat, gloves, and scarf on. The sun may be out but it’s still cold.”

Noelle ran over to where I was leaning against the kitchen counter, my ankles crossed watching it all play out. “She said we can go!” Noelle told me excitedly as though I hadn’t already heard.

“Great. You go get ready and I’ll clean up, then we can go,” I told her, turning to start filling the sink to wash the dishes as Noelle ran across the apartment and disappeared into my bedroom.

I stacked the plates in the sink and started cleaning up. I’d just put my hands in the soapy water when I felt Holly beside me. The warmth radiated from her. When I turned to look at her, she was standing there with a dish towel looking a million times better than she had been, despite her sniffles

“What are you doing?”

“What?”

“You’re not helping,” I pointed out.

“Excuse me?”

“You cooked, I’ll clean. You go get ready. This won’t take me a minute.”

The look that passed across Holly’s features was one I couldn’t quite place. Then she sat the towel on the counter and folded her arms across her chest, pushing her tits up, and my brain short-circuited. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask if her bra today was pink or blue. Or maybe even black.

“You want me to come?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.

Now it was my turn to swallow down the words. I buried everything I wanted to say and stuck to the safer option. “Of course. I might even be persuaded to stop in at Sips on Main and get a decent coffee,” I suggested, shooting her a wink and trying to keep everything light .

“Throw in the bookstore and you’ve got yourself a date,” Holly replied sassily, but I saw the moment she registered her own words.

I wasn’t about to leave her hanging though. “Done. It’s a date,” I confirmed, turning my attention back to the sink full of dirty dishes.