A Christmas to Love You (9 page)

“It’s uncomfortable.”

“Because you like her.”

“No.”

I laugh. “This is going nowhere fast.”

“Story of my life.”

Jaylinn and Layla come into the dining room holding drinks for themselves and also Eli and me. “Thanks babe.”

“Welcome.” Jaylinn sits on my lap, Layla takes the furthest seat away from Eli.

“Oh hey, Layla, Merry Christmas.” MacKenzie greets her with a messy faced Olivia in her arms.

“Merry Christmas.”

MacKenzie looks around the room, Jaylinn is sitting on my lap and Eli is sitting next to us and Layla is sitting all the way on the other side of the table. “This is awkward.”

Jaylinn sighs, Eli huffs and I laugh. It really is awkward.

Mom waltzes in. “Let’s have the kids open presents then we’ll have dinner.”

We all pile into the living room and watch the older boys tear into their presents opening them faster than they were wrapped. MacKenzie, Mason and Hailey are on the floor with the babies helping them open their gifts. Dad is in the corner picking up all the wrapping paper that Hunter is tossing at him trying to keep the room as clean as possible.

The look on the boy’s faces is priceless when they open their gifts, they’re so excited. Of course they want to open everything right away but grandma tells them they have to wait until after dinner and if they eat their dinners they can play with the new toys. These kids have already picked up on the fact that what grandma says goes.

A line forms in the kitchen as we all pile ham, potato salad, green beans, deviled eggs and all the other stuff on our plates and make our way into the dining room. I notice Sadie is being really quiet which isn’t like her, normally she’s interacting with everyone but not today. I catch mom and dad glancing in her direction a few times. Something is going on; I’ll have to ask them about it later. I’m sure it probably has to do with her asshole ex-husband. He’s been really quiet lately.

I wipe my face with my napkin. “Just think, this time next week you’ll be a married man.” Mason nods shoving an egg in his mouth. “Never thought I’d see the day.”

After he’s done chewing he takes a sip of his water. “Me either.”

“All your cleat chasers are gonna sob.” Jaylinn teases.

After dinner we had the kids play for a little while but not long as the day’s events leave everyone exhausted. Hailey and Mason are first to leave. The twins are cranky and need to get to bed. Hunter and MacKenzie are next. Sadie asks Hunter to give her a ride home claiming she’s got a terrible headache. And then Layla asks Jaylinn to take her home.

“You owe me an extra present.” I whisper in her ear.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah and I want to unwrap it and then I want it under me for the rest of the night.”

Jay moans and pushes herself into me. “As soon as I get home.”

“I’ll take her home.” Eli offers.

There is a twinkle in Layla’s eye when Eli offers. They both swear there isn’t anything going on but I’m not a fucking idiot. I know there is. Eli just doesn’t want me to know that he’s falling for her hard because I’ll finally be able to say I told you so. He swore up and down that he would never fall for a girl and be so wrapped up in her that nothing else mattered. Even the best of men have fallen prey to ‘the one’ who comes into their lives when they are least expecting it. Hate to tell him but he doesn’t stand a chance.

“Thanks, man.”

The four of us say our goodbyes to Jackson, Chloe, Alex, Mom and Dad.

“I’ll see you tomorrow at work?” Eli asks after shutting the front door.

Nodding, “Yup I’ll be there.”

“I’ll be there too.” Jaylinn adds. “Thanks for coming, guys.”

“Thanks for inviting us.”

I steer Jaylinn to my car deciding on leaving her car here until tomorrow morning because I don’t want to wait another second to unwrap my present.

When we get back to Cooper’s, he comes around and opens the door for me. I love that he does sweet stuff like this for me, not many would.

I place my hand in his and let him help me. “Thank you.”

He doesn’t let go of my hand as we walk up the driveway. It’s slippery and I’m in heels so I’m thankful for the extra support. Suddenly it starts to snow. On the way home it was flurrying but then had stopped.

Cooper stops and I run into the back of him. He turns carefully not to let go of me and wraps his arms around me pulling me closer.

He softly kisses my neck and slowly whispers, “Go with it.”

He reaches into his pocket pulling out his phone. He taps it a few times and a slow song comes on. Cooper sets his phone on the bench near the front door then offers me his hand.

With a smile, I reach for the hand that he offers me. Once he has a grip on my hand he tugs me into his arms, his arms slide to my hips and my arms go around his neck. Cooper slowly starts rocking us back and forth to the beat of the music. He dips me back and the snow tickles my bare neck.

He lifts me back up and places his hand on the middle of my back then kisses, sweetly at first, and then a little rougher.

I moan and go up on my tiptoes trying to climb up him, needing to be as close as possible to him. He lifts me and I wrap my legs around his slender waist and he places his hands under my ass.

Leaning my forehead against his, I whisper, “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”

Cooper continues to sway back and forth while the snow falls. It’s freezing but with the kisses he keeps giving me I don’t feel the cold. When the song is just about over, Cooper takes a couple of steps away from the door, I hear the snow crunching under his feet, he drops to his knees still holding me and lays me into the snow covering my body with his.

Bracing himself on his elbows he wipes the snowflakes from my eyelashes. His gaze meets mine and my heart skips a beat. He really did turn out to be exactly what I wanted him to be. Sweet, caring and protective. He always puts me first, except for baseball, but with every passing day that he’s gone I feel his love for baseball slipping. He’s got so much going on with the club that he feels like he’s being pulled in two different directions. I’m helping him as much as he allows me too. I’ve filled in bartending when they were shorthanded, helped him with interviews and inventory and even helped with entertainment a few times too.

I reach up and run the pads of my thumbs over Cooper’s cheeks. “I feel like Snow White.”

He smirks. “Did your fairy god mother grant you your wish?”

I start busting out laughing. I have to give him credit, he tried. “Wrong Disney movie, babe.”

His eyebrows furrow. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” I kiss him on the lips. “That was Cinderella. Snow White has the seven dwarfs and Prince Charming kisses her in the forest.”

“So you’re saying I’m a prince?”

I giggle. “Yeah, Prince Cooper.”

“That’s what I’m talking about.”

I shove him off of me, clearly this conversation was going right to his ego.

“What? What happened?” He asks reaching for me.

I shake my head laughing. “It’s snowing if you haven’t noticed and I’m freezing my ass off.”

Cooper jumps up like his ass is on fire and pulls me to the door. “Well, let’s get you naked. You know what they say, body heat is the best thing for keeping warm.”

I look up to the sky. “Dear Lord.”

“No baby, it’s Prince Cooper.”
Great, now he’s getting cocky about it.

Cooper drags me along until we’re in his bedroom. I may have slipped a few times in my heels on the hardwood floors but Cooper wasn’t slowing down. Aside from hitting my elbow on the doorframe we made it in one piece. Cooper toes his boots off as he unzips his jacket and throws it across the room landing in the pile of dirty clothes.

He glances over his shoulder. “What are you waiting for?”

Eyebrows raised, “Hell to freeze over.” I offer.

He throws his head back and laughs. “Twinkle toes, haven’t you realized it already has?”

I laugh and unzip my black pea coat jacket. I lay it on the chair in the corner of Cooper’s room. I reach down and slip one of my heels off. I moan in relief. Don’t get me wrong, I love my heels, but I’d much rather be barefoot. Reaching down again I slip the other off and toss it on the floor beside the other one.

Cooper rests his hands on my hips kissing my neck. I lean back into him and tilt my head to the side to give him better access. His hands make their way to the button on my black dress pants and then he slowly unzips them before slipping his hands in the waistband of my panties. I moan as his fingers slide over my slick folds and into me.

For the longest time I didn’t think I would ever get over what happened to me but with Cooper, I have. If it was anyone else I don’t know if I would have ever been able to deal with it. He’s gentle with me, understanding, slow, almost to the point where I want to scream at him to take what he wants. I know he holds back because he’s afraid he’ll spark a memory of that night but I know it’s him. He’s my safe haven.

As his fingers play me, my back arches as he winds me up. “Coop,” I pant.

“What baby?” He says with a hungry and desire filled voice.

“Stop playing with me.”

It seems to be his undoing. He spins me and then drops to his knees. He slowly pulls my pants and panties down and helps me step out of them, all that is left is my cream colored cashmere sweater and bra. With his right hand, he lifts my leg and puts it over his shoulder. I’m exposed to him now.

His eyes are smoldering blue and hungry, like he hasn’t eaten in days. He leans forward, his cool breath hitting the heat between my legs. I look up as his tongue flicks my clit once, twice, and my legs shake uncontrollably. With every touch he was setting a growing fire. Cooper continues licking and sucking until I can no longer hold myself up after an intense orgasm rips through my body.

“Bed.” I pant barely able to breath.

Cooper smiles smugly at me. “Add Prince Cooper to that and I’ll think about it.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re taking this a bit too far.”

He laughs and my insides tingle in the pit of my stomach. I love when he’s playful. He throws me on the bed, quickly slides a condom on and then pounces on top of me. Our fingers linked together he lifts them above our heads.

“I’m going to take something else a bit too far too.” It’s a passionate challenge, one I’m more than willing to test.

“Let’s play.” I say kissing his chin and grabbing a hold of his hair hard.

He growls as he bites my neck, hard but not hard enough to leave a mark. My hands skim down his back as he slams into me, his resolve has fallen away. I grip his ass pushing him in further and lifting my hips to meet his thrust. He’s relentless as he slams into me and then pulls out slowly. Another orgasm is building fast. I shake my head back and forth, the tingling starts, my toes curl, hands squeezing his as I fall over the edge into pure bliss.

Cooper flips me onto by stomach, straddles my legs and enters me from behind. He grips my hips hard as he finds his rhythm. “Fuck,” he roars as his movements become erratic coming just as hard as I had.

I feel Cooper’s body slump against my back, his forehead resting between my shoulder blades, his heart is beating so fast. He takes a couple of deep breathes, kisses my back before lifting himself up and hisses as he pulls out of me.

Now that he’s on his back, I wrap my body around him but he turns his head towards the bathroom door. “Coop,”

He still won’t look at me. I gently tilt his head to me, his eyes are full of pain. “What’s the matter?”

He looks up to the ceiling. “Did I hurt you?”

“Cooper,” he turns his head to me. “You did not hurt me, not at all.”

“I was rough.”

“I egged you on.”

He shakes his head. “Doesn’t matter I don’t lose control with you, ever.”

I straddle him, lean forward bracing myself on either side of his face. “You. Did. Not. Hurt. Me.” I stare into his eyes letting him see that there is no fear in my eyes. “I liked it. I liked that you lost control that you got caught up in the moment. I don’t always want slow and gentle. It’s boring sometimes.” I see the tension leaving him with my every word. “I know I’m safe with you. You’ll never physically hurt me.” I lean down and softly kiss his lips. “I love you.”