Why Not Now? (The Blue Vista Crew #2)

23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Ava

W e pick up my new car the next day, and it’s really cute. Not that it’s a requirement, but it is nice. It’s white, and, as Carter promised, drives well and there’s nothing wrong with it.

We go back to Derek’s house, where I stay for a few hours, since it’s his birthday. We didn’t have plans, but I make him dinner and we sleep together before I have to get home to Lacey.

On Wednesday and Thursday, I work both jobs, so I don’t get to see him at all. Friday, he comes over after work and hangs out with Lacey while I edit photos. It’s surprising how nice it feels just knowing he’s there. They make dinner, we eat together, and he spends the night, kissing my neck to wake me early in the morning before we have slow, lazy sex. After, while I’m showering, I find myself wishing I could wake up like that more often.

He fell back asleep while I was in the shower, which isn’t a problem since I have to leave for work, anyway. I kiss him before I go and he grabs me, pulling me into the bed again. I giggle as he peppers kisses over my face.

“Derek, I have to leave.”

“Go on then,” he says, still holding me, still kissing my neck.

I laugh, batting him away. “I can’t if you keep doing that.”

“You think that’s going to make me stop?”

I push him off me and get up, but he grabs my hand, sitting up. “I can walk you out to your car.”

“You’re naked, Derek. Go back to sleep. I’ll be home around one and you can take me to do whatever surprise Christmas activity you have planned for today.”

I press a kiss to his lips, holding his face between my hands. Then I let him go and head out to my car.

The restaurant is extremely busy, keeping my mind occupied all shift, making the time fly past until I’m done and returning home, surprised to find the place empty.

I call Derek, and Lacey answers.

“Are you home already?” she asks.

“Yes. Where are you guys?”

“We went to Derek’s place to feed Abyss. We were trying to be back before you got home. We’ll be there in five.”

“Okay. I’ll see you in a bit.” I hang up, telling myself there’s no reason to be disappointed they weren’t here when I got home. It’s silly to feel this way, and Derek needs to take care of his cat. I change out of my work clothes and into a pair of skinny jeans and a grey sweater with evergreen trees at the hem and snowflakes all over, my nod to the Christmas season.

Lacey and Derek are back by the time I get upstairs, Lacey’s eyes alight with excitement.

“What?” I ask.

Then I notice the present under the Christmas tree.

“We also got you something,” Lacey says.

“You didn’t…” I begin, but Lacey bounces off the couch.

“I asked him to take me. I knew exactly what I wanted to get. Then we went back to his place so I could wrap it.”

“You ready to go?” Derek asks.

I nod and he offers me his hand, like we’re a real couple, which we are, I recall with a thrill.

We get in the car and he gives me his phone. Maybe because of the way we decorated the house this week, maybe because of the present Lacey put under the tree for me, maybe just because I’m really happy for what seems like the first time in years, I put on Christmas music again.

Derek shoots me a smile before he pulls into traffic. “Carol of the Bells” starts the playlist and we listen to festive music while he drives us downtown. He parks in an underground parking lot, like he had when we went with Adalie to the Christmas Market, but this one is a different building.

“Who lives here?” I ask.

“Spencer and Lis. Let’s go up. They’re waiting for us.”

Like when we’d gone to Adalie’s house, he uses his own key and doesn’t knock before letting us in.

“Do you have keys to all your friends’ houses?”

“Yep,” he says. “For emergencies, mostly. But when we’re expected, we know we can all just come in.” Then he calls, “Hey, we’re here.”

“Oh, good,” Lis says from deeper in the apartment. “The last of the cookies are coming out of the oven now.”

Derek leads us down a short hall into an open-concept living room and kitchen where Lis is setting cookies onto a cooling rack.

A little corgi stretches and gets up from his dog bed in the corner, his tail wagging and tongue lolling as he makes his way to us, asking for pets.

Lacey squeals with delight and bends down to love on him.

“That’s Cerberus,” Lis says. “He’s a spoiled brat. Don’t believe him when he tells you he never gets any love or food. He’s lying.”

“He’s adorable!” Lacey says.

Spencer comes out of a bedroom, walking right to Lis to place a kiss on her cheek.

“Need any help, firecracker?” he asks.

“I think I have it all,” she replies, smiling up at him. She hands me a small package and a cup. “For you.”

She goes to Lacey and Derek next and gives them the same. Inside each package are a few cookies, and the cups are filled with hot chocolate.

Once we’re all prepared, we leave the apartment—without Cerberus, much to his dismay—and start walking down the sidewalk.

“Where are we going?” I ask Derek as Lacey and Lis talk about baking.

“It’s a surprise, sweetheart,” he tells me. “A surprise that’s a twenty-minute walk away.”

With his fingers linked through mine, I can’t even be annoyed that he’s not telling me.

We walk through the streets of downtown, chatting about food, Christmas, photography, and events at the venue. We eat our cookies and drink our hot chocolates. Lacey tells everyone about school and I notice she tells stories she hasn’t told me before. I wonder, not for the first time, if I should be spending less time working and more time with my sister. I also remember she wanted to talk about something last Monday, but I’d asked if we could discuss it later. We’d never gotten back to it.

When she finishes the story, and Derek asks Spencer about meeting him to work out this week, I link my arm through Lacey’s. “Did you still want to talk?” I ask quietly. “I’m sorry I forgot about it on Monday.”

She shrugs. “You’ve had a lot going on. It’s not a big deal. I’ve got everything under control.”

The way she says that makes me pay closer attention.

“Is there something I should know, Lacey?”

She shakes her head. “It’s not a big deal, Ava. We can talk later.”

She calls out to Lis and asks if she can have the snickerdoodle recipe Derek and I used last week because Derek wouldn’t give it to her.

We reach the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where a few people are going in and another couple are coming out.

“What’s this?” I ask.

“Have you ever been to Gingerbread Lane before?” Derek asks me.

I shake my head. “No. I don’t think I’ve even heard about it.”

“You’re in for a treat, then,” Lis says and laughs.

We enter the lobby into a low bustle of activity. Everywhere I can see, gingerbread displays are set up along the walls with cards explaining who made them and how to vote for your favourite. We start at the first one, a Santa’s village created with white frosting for the snow and so much candy, just looking at it makes my teeth hurt.

“Spencer,” Derek says. He nods toward a tall man with dark hair, a close beard, and glasses. The man is with a girl who looks to be a couple years younger than Lacey.

“Hey, Tanner!” Spencer calls loud enough that a few people turn, one being the man in question.

The man—Tanner—grins and waves before making his way over to us, looking around as though trying to find someone.

“Hey, guys,” he says when he reaches us, shaking first Derek’s hand, then Spencer’s. “What are you doing here? Date night?” He looks at Lis and me, both of us with our arms linked with the two men he knows.

“Yeah,” Spencer says. “This is my girlfriend, Lis.”

“Girlfriend?” Tanner says, his eyebrows raised. “Congratulations.” He turns to Derek. “You, too?”

Derek looks down at me with a smile that makes my heart melt.

“Yep. This is my girlfriend, Ava, and her sister, Lacey. Ladies, this is Tanner. We were at business school together.”

I shake Tanner’s hand, a thrill sweeping through me when Derek calls me his girlfriend. It’s such an official word. After I shake Tanner’s hand, I link my fingers through Derek’s, squeezing tight, and he squeezes right back.

“This is my niece, Juliet,” Tanner continues. “She dragged me out to this thing. Said she had to come.”

“Is this the niece who taught you origami?” Spencer asks.

Juliet smiles. “I am. Has Uncle Tanner made you something?”

“Not me,” Spencer says. “But I’ve seen some of the things he’s made. You’re a good teacher.”

“So, did Adalie or Vic come with you?” Tanner asks.

Derek shakes his head. “Adalie wanted to paint and Vic is going to see The Nutcracker tonight with a couple friends.”

The three men fall into a conversation about business while Lacey and Lis talk to Juliet about the gingerbread displays.

I consider the people in front of me, the conversations dropping to a hum in my mind. Two people who I care about more than anyone in the world, both of them here and happy. I pull my camera from my bag and focus it on the group, ensuring I have Derek’s face in the shot. He looks more relaxed right now than I’ve seen him lately as he talks with his two friends. I know his father’s calls have been weighing on him.

The picture I take captures his signature charm as he doles it out. He turns to me, his eyes finding mine behind the camera, and I snap another picture. He holds out his arm and I move into the space against his body while he holds me close, kissing my temple.

“You’re supposed to be taking pictures of the houses. Not of me.”

“I was taking pictures of all six of you,” I say. “I’ll take some of the displays as well. These will look amazing in my portfolio.”

“That’s why I brought you. Lis said some of these are insane.”

I look up at him, tucked in against his side, as I say, “You really do think of everything.”

“For you, sweetheart? Absolutely.”

He kisses me again, pulling my body flush against his now, teasing my lips with his tongue until I open to him. We break apart when someone clears their throat loudly. I blink my eyes open to see Spencer shaking his head. “You’ll have to forgive them, Tanner. They’re still in the can’t-keep-their-hands-off-each-other stage.”

Derek snorts, but he doesn’t let me go. “You and Lis are still in that stage, too. Don’t try to deny it.”

Lis moves to Spencer’s side and kisses his cheek. “We can be discreet when we want to be,” she says.

“Sure,” Derek responds as he lets me go enough that I’m only tucked against his side. “You just rarely want to.”

He moves us along as a group, now two people bigger, back to the first display again. I take pictures of each gingerbread structure—they’re way more than houses—from multiple angles while Lis describes to Lacey and Juliet how they were put together.

“Can you eat this stuff?” Juliet asks.

“Oh, I wouldn’t,” Lis says. “These will be out for weeks. By the time the show is over, they’ll be stale. Hard as rocks, I would guess.”

“Gingerbread is so good,” Lacey says. “I’d love to learn how to make it.”

“We’ve been talking about hosting classes at Blue Vista,” Derek says. “During the slow seasons. Maybe we could do a gingerbread one.”

They continue discussing the classes Lis could host and the paint nights Adalie wants to host. Lacey and Juliet sound very excited about the paint nights and Spencer promises to let them know when they’re going to be, but the first one probably won’t be until the new year.

All the while, except when I’m taking a picture, Derek has his arm around me. I’m filled with peace as I listen to the laughter of the people I’m with and the Christmas music playing softly in the background.