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Smiling, he said, “Last night I talked to Mom and Dad. I told them I’m spending Christmas here with you, and hopefully things with Alice will be fine by New Year’s and we’ll go spend it with them.”

The silence on the other end of the line wasn’t at all the reaction he’d expected. “Ems, did you hear me?”

“Yes, I did,” her tone was cold and sad. “Why did you do that? Your mom keeps complaining she doesn’t see you enough, and now you’re skipping Christmas with her to be with me? She’s gonna hate me, Taylor.”

Unexpected. That was the word. Her reaction was completely unexpected. “She’s not gonna hate you. She already loves you. We talked for a long time last night, and they get it. I need to be here. What makes Christmas special is being there with the ones you love. If you don’t do that, Christmas is just presents and food and eggnog. So, I’m staying, and they’re okay with it.”

Emily was confused. His incredible words combined with the feelings she’d been struggling with for weeks, was making her head spin. Happy tears lined her eyes as she let out the only word she could. “Yay.”

A beep sounded in Taylor’s ear, indicating he had call-waiting. Not recognizing the number, he told Emily he’d call her back and answered, “Hello.”

“You’ve got some balls to bail on Mom to be with a
friend,
bro. Are you and Ems going to be ho-ho-ho or ah-ah-ah,” Gabriel teased.

Taylor wanted to laugh at his brother, but he also didn’t want to encourage him. “I think this is some sort of record . . . not even nine in the morning and you’re already being an asshole. Nice.”

The two laughed as the younger called his brother a few expletives. “Where the hell are you?” Taylor asked.

“Tara’s, and before you ask, sexy, blond, fellow engineer. We’ve been having fun together for a few months. And she’s heading over to New Haven with me.”

His brother’s statement didn’t make any sense. “What the hell are you doing in New Haven?”

Gabriel fumbled a little with his words, but finally managed to say he was catching a plane home with Penelope. He also said that Tara, who didn’t have any close relatives, was heading to NYC to spend the holidays with some friends. From there the conversation continued, until Tara joined Gabriel, who hastily told his brother he’d see him soon before hanging up.

The next day, when Emily opened her front door, the image she saw was too familiar. In fact, it felt like a déjà vu.

Taylor stood in front of her door with a duffle bag in one hand, and the other filled with gift bags. “I need to stay here,” he said simply, walking into the apartment.

Emily saw the tension in his shoulders as he walked over to the tree and began placing packages underneath. She wasn’t even trying to hide her giddiness at having him under her roof. It was the best Christmas present she could ever receive, and she was on the verge of jumping on his neck with joy.

Once he was done with the gifts, he turned to her, the same tired and angry expression on his face. “I’m okay with sharing the apartment with Jude. After all, the past month has made me look past the guy-liner and the piercings. But Gabe just arrived with his new girl, and the fighting already has started. I can’t take that shit anymore, Ems. I’ll sleep on the floor if I have to, but I need to stay here. You mind?”

The smile he received melted away his tension, and finally put an end to his nervous eye rubbing. “Of course I don’t. I’ve been telling you to stay here for a month, and you still haven’t heard me.” He could hear her exasperation at the subject, even through her happiness.

Taking him by the hand and stopping briefly by the front door to collect his duffle bag, Emily led the way down the hall and into her bedroom. “Since Charlie and Chuck have apparently come to stay, a few weeks ago I cleared your stuff from the closet to make some room for them. I didn’t know where to put them, so I brought them in here.”

She opened the door to her closet and led him in. He looked from her face to his clothes that were hanging next to hers, and then back again. He didn’t know what she was telling him, but it had his heart racing.

When she continued, her eyes were fixed to the ground. “I’ve been thinking about this since before Thanksgiving, and the more I think about it, the more obvious it seems. To me, this place hasn’t been just my house since you came to hide from your sister’s boyfriend. I really like that it is our house and, if you like, this could be your closet and your room.”

Taylor didn’t know what to do. He wanted to jump up and down, or run around in circles, or kiss her, but he was completely frozen and overwhelmed.

She waited anxiously for him to say something. Yes, no, or anything, but he just stood there, looking at her. When she couldn’t take it anymore she let out a puff of air. “Just forget I said anything, alright? I don’t even know why . . . ”

Before she could even finish her sentence Taylor wrapped his arms around her midsection and lifted her from the floor, spinning her around and laughing. “Shush, don’t you dare take any of that back. I’m the man of this house now, and I’ll fight for my place if I have to.”

He placed her back down and looked into her eyes. They shared the same overjoyed expression. He combed a lock of hair behind her ear and took a deep breath. This was it, the moment that Taylor had waited for.

He brought one of his hands to her, neck and before he could say or do anything, his phone rang from his pocket. It was his brother’s ringtone and an uncontrollable urge to throw the device at the wall took over him. Kissing Emily’s forehead, he retrieved the device and answered his brother, who had finally made peace with Penelope and Jude, and wanted to go out for pizza.

Later that night, after Taylor’s things were properly stored in the closet space, dresser drawers and nightstand Emily had cleared for him, they got ready to go out with his siblings.

“Wow, you look beautiful,” Taylor exclaimed, entering the room wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist and a few beads of water on his chest. That wasn’t the first time Emily had seen him that underdressed. However, it was the first time her mind went completely hazy and her limbs soft as butter.

Standing in front of her, he traced the diagonal shape of her neckline, passing her neck and collarbone until he reached the curve of her left shoulder. She watched as his eyes became darker, hooded and incredibly sexy, reminding her of her dream.

Extending her arm, she wiped the drops that dotted his chest and shoulders. His skin was soft and warm under her hand. She’d touched him so many times before, but she knew this time was different—she could feel it in the tiny shockwaves that traveled from his skin to hers, and in the way both their chests moved with quickening breaths. He took a step closer to her until they were less than a palm away. Her hands traveled slowly down to remove the beads on his abs, at the same time as his head bowed, touching his lips to her exposed shoulder.

Her breath caught as he softly ran the tip of his nose up and down her neck, from collarbone to her ear and back again. He repeated the path, delivering slow and soft kisses. Closing her eyes, she angled her head to the other side, welcoming his lips. Their eyes mirrored each other, darkened and filled with fire, and their hearts hammered to the same beat. He tightened his arms around her when she moved her hand to cup his face, running her thumb on his lips. He closed his eyes in utter and complete bliss.

“Ems . . . ” They were so close that their breaths mingled.

Loud noise coming from the living room announced Gabe’s arrival, and their moment was gone. “I absolutely hate my family,” he murmured, making Emily laugh in spite of her own disappointment.

“No you don’t. You just find them annoying, as do I,” she said, a little embarrassed, kissing his cheek. “Go get dressed. I don’t think towels are allowed at the restaurant.”

“Then we bail.” His voice was still raspy. His arms folded her closer to him and he nuzzled her again, making her giggle.

A knock on the door interrupted them again, followed by his brother’s voice alerting that they were leaving in ten minutes. Rolling his eyes and cussing loud enough for his brother to hear, Taylor walked to the closet, sighing.

Dinner was delicious and, against all odds, they had a great time with both of Taylor’s siblings. Besides being supermodel gorgeous, Tara was also surprisingly nice and funny, both things which made up for her inappropriate clothing. Jude had earned his place amongst the brothers, and in the end, they had all become good friends. After the pizza, the group headed out to Old Joe’s for a few games of pool.

Having normalcy in her life was amazing, but beyond that, the change in her relationship with Taylor was incredible. She was still a little confused by everything, but one thing she didn’t doubt was that she was having the time of her life with him.

It was way after three in the morning when they arrived back at the apartment. They had gone about their nightly routine as they’d done many times before, with the distinct exception that, when it was time to say good night, they both entered the same room.

They stayed up, facing each other and talking about the most random subjects for hours, until Emily finally grew quiet and fell asleep, her breathing calm and deep. Fighting his own exhaustion, Taylor stayed awake and watched her for a while longer. In the past month he’d missed seeing her like that: peaceful, and happy, and ridiculously beautiful. He was about to give in to sleep when she rolled in his direction, placing her head on his chest and wrapping her arm around his stomach.

Holding his breath so as not to wake her, he rearranged his arms so one circled her, with his hand resting on her back, while his other hand covered the one she’d placed on his stomach. Finally closing his eyes, he welcomed sleep with a wide-set grin.