Two Purple Gloves (A Pear Street Christmas #2)

CHAPTER FOUR

“Well, maybe some things will be safe to touch after all.”

HARRY

“W hat are you wearing?” Jake looks at me with something akin to horror and I look down my nearly naked body to see what his issue is.

Okay, I’ll admit it doesn’t seem completely on theme. I have white shorts on that are more like boxer-briefs than anything I would normally wear in front of people. That’s pretty much it. Some white boots and a red scarf complete the ensemble, but the three black buttons drawn down the centre of my bare torso are what make it appropriate for my Christmas party.

“What?” I ask, unsure what he’s not getting about it. “I’m a snowman.”

“You’re a go-go dancer!”

I pout my disapproval at that analogy and point to the full coverage fur costume he’s wearing. “You’re going to sweat your nut-sack off in that. No girl’s going to want to touch you sweaty and red from fur-rash.”

“That’s why your junk is out? You want some poor unsuspecting girl to touch it?”

I roll my eyes. “First of all, don’t say it like that, makes me sound creepy—” He gives me a look that definitely says ‘ if the booty-shorts fit’ but I ignore him. “And secondly, my junk is not out.”

He looks pointedly at my crotch but doesn’t choose to argue any further. The red lipstick my housemate painted on the tip of Jake’s nose makes it shiny and honestly, I can’t really take him seriously. Between the nose and the antler headband, he looks—

“You look ridiculous,” my friend tells me.

“ You look ridiculous,” I counter.

With this being the last year of uni, my housemates and I wanted to go out with a bang so any excuse to throw a party, we’ve used it. Christmas is obviously no exception. Jake travelled down from his own school in the north to party with me tonight before my parents pick us up tomorrow.

There are already a few people milling about in our living room. As he always does, Jake immediately starts chatting and making friends because everyone loves Jake. He’s smart, funny, charming and—I guess—good looking. I enjoy large groups, hosting parties, and making sure everyone is having a good time. But one on one with strangers is awkward, making small talk and trying not to make a dick of myself can sometimes be too much. That’s why I like to swan from room to room, not spending too much time with the same group, making sure people have drinks and the beer-pong table is crowded.

I leave Jake getting to know my housemate’s football buddies while I go to the kitchen and check the makeshift bar. Everyone should be bringing their own drinks, but we have a few beers and cheap spirits with generic brand mixers set up for people to use if needed. There’s a huge stack of large, red plastic cups, a giant bucket filled with ice, cans of beers nestled between the cubes to keep cool, and even some pre-sliced lemon for anyone feeling fancy. I take out the snacks we pooled together to buy so there’s at least something around for people to line their stomachs. Throwing a university house party does leave you vulnerable to people hurling in random places, so giving people something to soak up the alcohol will hopefully help. Or it just gives them something to throw up later, either way, it’s called being a good host.

My housemates all make an appearance in the kitchen over the next hour as more and more people arrive, I get held up in there, helping people find things and being introduced to countless people and making friendly conversation for the minimum amount of time before I can escape and move on to the next group. I decide to go find Jake again, as I have kind of abandoned him and make my way back into the lounge, which is now heaving with people. I spot Jake in a corner, talking to one or two of the football team with a few other people, all of them laughing and chatting merrily. He sees me coming and beckons me over with a huge grin. I can’t help but let some of my amusement out when I see the sweat coating his forehead. You know, because he’s wearing a fur onesie and it’s a million degrees in here.

“You feeling okay?” I ask with a smirk.

“Just peachy,” he says stubbornly. “Come hang out with us.”

“Uh, yeah sure, let me just…” I trail off as I look around the room to see if there’s anyone I should say a polite hello to only to catch my eyes on…an angel.

Halfway across the room, talking to my housemate, Abby, and one of her friends, is the most beautiful girl in the world. A vision with white-blonde hair that falls straight past her shoulders and tapering off at her waist. Bright blue eyes and rounded, high cheekbones flushing a glorious pink from the heat in the room, lovely pink lips glossed and shiny as they move lusciously when she speaks. She’s tall, slender and wearing…lingerie? It’s a white dress but I can’t imagine it was made for public viewing as it ends just before the bottom curve of her butt, demonstrated beautifully when she turns round to gesture at something the other side of the room and I see the pertness of her arse and the lacey edges of her underwear visible below the hemline. On top of her head is a fluffy halo and she’s wearing purple satin gloves. I’m frozen in place, mouth gaping wide, and probably a little drool hanging from the corner of my lips.

“Hey, you okay?” Jake stands, frowning at me with genuine concern. I may look like I’ve had a stroke. He follows my line of site, landing on the same apparition I’m staring at and jerks his head back in surprise. “Whoa, she’s hot. ”

“Don’t talk about my future wife like that,” I mumble.

I feel his gaze swing to me, and he huffs. “Okay,” he concedes with amusement. “Do you know her?”

“No, but I’m going to.”

“Okay dude, but don’t be creepy about it, yeah? You look a little ‘ my precious ’ right now.” I forgot how good Jake’s Gollum impression is, and it snaps me back to reality.

“Come with me, I need to talk to her.”

“And you need a wingman?” he says, preening.

“Yeah,” I sigh, frustrated at the truth of it.

“Not afraid she’ll like me more?” he asks teasingly.

I look him up and down with distaste. “Not in that get-up.”

Jake rolls his eyes but pulls the fabric away from his neck to let in—what I’m assuming is—some much-needed fresh air. “Come on then, let’s go meet the pretty girl.”

“Yeah, okay,” I breathe, trying to shake out some nerves. “But just so we’re clear, I’m meeting the pretty girl, you’re there for back up.”

“You want to come up with a signal for me to give you if you start talking shit or just smack you upside the head?”

I glare at my best friend. “Just be polite but not too charming and be prepared to distract Abby and the other one if I get talking to her.”

He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “It’s sometimes hard to be your friend, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I scoff.

We make our way over to the girls who are all laughing at some joke we’ve missed. The object of my mission catches us coming first, beaming brightly at me as we approach. My steps nearly falter and I swallow, probably looking like a deer in headlights under the glow of her smile.

“You good, brother?” Jake mumbles out the corner of his mouth to avoid being overheard, clearly noticing the complete malfunction I’m having right now.

“Yeah,” I croak and clear my throat as we reach the women. “Hey.” Not my finest work .

“Hi,” Abby, my sweet housemate with a dark bob and a Mrs Clause dress that is anything but wholesome, says with a perky smile. She darts her eyes to Jake and her smile turns from friendly to sultry. “Hi, Jake.”

“Abigail,” Jake purrs with a smirk, causing her to blush and my eyes to nearly roll out their sockets.

“Um,” Abby flusters. “This is my friend Tia.” She gestures to a girl dressed as an elf. Unlike her two friends who have gone for sexy versions of their costumes, she’s buttoned up to her neck and wearing comically large elf shoes with curled toes and bells on. She gives me an awkward wave, looking distinctly uncomfortable with my lack of clothes, her cheeks pinking when her eyes dart over my chest before dropping to her own shoes. “And this is Tia’s friend Lisa,” Abby continues, holding a hand out toward the vision in white.

Lisa. She is literally the most beautiful creature I have ever seen and there’s a chorus of angels singing in my ears as I just stare at her…like an absolute creeper. A smirk starts to take shape from a perfect pout as she draws her eyes up to look at me, completewith her seductivehooded lids painted with just the right amountof shimmer. She silently shares that she’s amused by my lack of words and knows she’s melting my brain. Rescuing me from gaping like a loon any further, she takes over the introductions from Abby.

“You’d think after half an hour of baring my soul and providing stellar entertainment, Abby would have had the decency to introduce me as her friend, or even just Lisa but I’m going to have to work harder to get out of the friend of a friend zone.” She sounds as perfect as she looks. Her melodic voice has a slight huskiness and I can’t help but imagine her moaning my name but quickly avert my thoughts because a boner in these shorts would be anything but subtle. Poor Tia might have a coronary.

Abby smirks. “Sorry Lis, you’re right. Harry, Jake, this is Tia’s and my friend, Lisa. She’s on the same course as Tia and although I’ve only met her tonight, she is already one of my dearest friends. ”

Lisa bows her head reverently. “Better,” she says with an amused smile.

Then there’s silence. Obviously, it’s up to Jake and me to now say something. Jake is being a good friend and letting me take the lead but I’m still gaping at Lisa like a boy seeing a dirty magazine for the first time. It’s awkward and I feel I’ve already blown my shot, but I don’t want to give up, so I blurt the first thing that comes to my head.

“Gloves.”

Four sets of eyes look at me in varying degrees of shock and confusion, I can feel Jake boring ‘ what the fuck? ’ vibes into the side of my head, but I stay fixated on the angel.

“Gloves?” Lisa asks.

I clear my throat and blink hoping the momentary lack of having her in my sight will be enough to make way for some sense to penetrate my brain. “Uh, your gloves.” I gesture at the long satin gloves pulled all the way up to her elbow. “They’re purple.”

It looks like she’s trying admirably to hold in her laugh at my idiotic babbling. “Yeah, they are.”

“Do all angels wear purple gloves or do different colours have different ranks?” I’ve found my voice, now I just have to make sure it doesn’t make me sound any more stupid than it already has.

Lisa smiles wide, perfectly straight white teeth appearing between those plush pink lips. “Well, purple is the colour of royalty, so maybe I’m Queen of Angels.”

“You certainly are .” Her eyes glimmer and I feel heat creeping up my neck as I realise I said that out loud. I pull on the back of my neck and give a self-deprecating huff, but the Queen of Angels takes pity on me and gives a lyrical laugh.

“Actually, I already had the purple gloves from my Jessica Rabbit costume for Halloween and I didn’t want to buy more, because having two pairs of satin gloves seems a bit excessive.”

I’m speechless again as the thoughts of this woman dressed as my favourite cartoon character, who I definitely had some very confusing dreams about as an adolescent, dance through my mind. I feel the silence leaves room for everyone to see my imaginings and that heat rises from my neck to the top of my head like a thermometer showing exactly how hot under the collar this woman is making me.

“Just to play devil’s advocate,” Jake pipes up, saving me. “Do you need gloves?”

Lisa shrugs with that sexy smirk. “I was told there were four guys living at this house, I wasn’t entirely confident in the sanitation so decided it would be safer not to touch anything with my bare hands.”

Abby snorts. “Actually, Harry is the neatest person I’ve ever met. He made us a housework schedule and had us scrubbing the floors in preparation for the party.”

Lisa looks at me with darkened eyes. “That is so hot,” she rasps then laughs to show she’s joking, but my dick ignores that bit and jumps in excitement.

I shrug. “There’s six of us living here. If we don’t keep things tidy, it’ll soon become bedlam.”

“Well, maybe some things will be safe to touch after all,” Lisa says with a pointed look down my body and my cock practically waves at her.

“Uh, yeah…definitely,” I stutter and the girls giggle.

“So, what exactly is it you ladies are studying?” Jake asks with an easy smile.

Abby gives a quick head nod to Lisa to answer the question since she and Jake already discussed this very topic whilst mutually flirting all afternoon.

“Law,” Lisa says with an amusing wince.

“Oh lord.” Jake sighs, shaking his head.

She reaches over and playfully smacks his arm with her gloved hand and I hate him for the contact. “Oh, come on, don’t judge me.”

“Let me guess, corporate law?”

“Human rights, actually,” she says haughtily .

“Well, consider yourself slightly redeemed.” Jake smirks and she winks at him. Shit, I need to get back into the conversation.

Before I can think of anything fun or witty to say, I see something moving out of the corner of my eye and reach out my hand to catch the small missile just before it hits Lisa’s face, my knuckles a mere inch from her nose. Opening my palm, I find a white ping pong ball. I look over to the beer-pong table to see some classmates holding up their hands in apology.

“Sorry mate,” a guy from my engineering class calls over to me. “I didn’t get your girl, did I?”

I do not correct him, because Lisa will be my girl. “Control your balls, dickhead,” I warn him with a smirk. “Or I’ll play you next.”

He holds his palms up in defeat and huffs a laugh. “Nah, mate you’re good. I’m done. No way I’m standing in for another round just for you to obliterate me.” He stands down from the table, his friends following him out of the lounge toward the kitchen.

“Obliterate him?” Lisa asks with a perfectly arched brow.

I shrug. “Beer-pong champion. I’m undefeated.”

“Well, saddle up, hot stuff, you may have met your match.”

My lips pull up and I give her an assessing once over, taking in her long, slender legs in strappy silver sandals, and the soft flowing fabric of her dress which, with one swish would reveal the entirety of her underwear. “You think you can beat me?”

“Fairly certain.” She purses her lips and crosses the purple gloves over her chest in defiance.

“Care to make it interesting?” I ask.

“What are you thinking?”

“If you win, I’ll complete a dare of your choice. If I win, you’ll complete a dare of my choice.”

Her smile turns mischievous, and she looks round the room as if searching for inspiration. “Okay,” she says slowly. “ If I win, you have to wear my costume for the rest of the night.”

I take in the white, gauzy dress she’s wearing, it’s stretchy over her bust and although it might be a struggle, I reckon I could get it over my chest. “What exactly will you wear?” I ask, nearly drooling.

“I’m sure you’ll be a perfect gentleman and lend me a t-shirt.” She smirks.

“Okay, deal.”

“And if you win?”

I smile wickedly. “You’ll spend an hour with me in my bedroom.”

Her eyes widen and her lips part in genuine surprise. “To do what?”

“Whatever you want.”

She lets out a surprised little laugh. “Okay, Frosty. Deal.”

“Come on then, Angel.”

Twenty minutes later, we each have one cup left in front of us. Abby and Tia both bowed out early, heading off to talk to others and Jake rubs my shoulder gearing me up.

“Come on, Harry,” he rumbles. “You got this.”

Lisa looks a little flushed from the many cups she’s consumed but concentrates hard on the cup in front of me. “Be prepared for your costume change, hot stuff,” she goads before throwing the ball, only to have it clip the edge of the table in front of me and bounce noisily to the floor. The room is quiet as people are invested in our little bet and a choir of ‘oohs’ sound when she misses.

“Come on, Harry,” Jake cheers.

Without taking my eyes off Lisa’s, I throw my ball, it bounces on the table and with one high arch, it lands with a satisfying plop into her cup. The best part? She doesn’t even look disappointed as she brings the cup to her lips and downs the liquid inside.

“Come on then, Frosty. You have one hour to impress me.”