Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Brynn

“ O kay, I made some snacks, then we’re going right into our next competition,” my mom says.

“I’m tired,” I say, feeling deflated that Pierce didn’t kiss me on the lips under the mistletoe. Not to mention embarrassed.

I give him the green light, and he kisses my cheek. What the hell?

“I’m with Brynn,” Kenzie says, yawning. “I love you all, but you’re crazy.”

“What’s the next challenge?” Andrew asks.

“Oh, and next year we’re not coming. You’re turning my husband into you guys,” Kenzie adds and yawns. “You must be injecting testosterone into the food or something.”

“Stop being that way,” Tessa says, sitting Ryah in her high chair and feeding her some of the snacks in bite-sized pieces.

“Well, we also have an early Christmas gift for you guys.” Mom looks at Dad, who is walking in with a bunch of gift bags.

The only people here who don’t know what the gifts are would be Pierce and maybe Andrew and Kenzie. The rest of us groan.

“What?” Pierce asks me, eyes wary.

“You have to wait and see.” I hop off the couch to grab something to eat.

I can’t be upset with Pierce. I’m just upset in general. We’ve been toeing the line, and I’m a little butt-hurt that he didn’t kiss me when he had the opportunity.

“Before we open them, we’re going to have our snowman-making contest.”

“Carter and Faith haven’t returned from their afternoon delight.” Tre pops a piece of caramel popcorn into his mouth. “Speaking of which, who wants to watch Ryah for an hour?”

“I will.” I raise my hand.

Tessa shakes her head. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Tre blows out a breath.

“Then Carter and Faith will be disqualified. The rest of you can get going. We’re not putting a time limit on this one. So go enjoy your day in the snow.” Gwen points at the door.

“I feel like when we were kids, and they used to make us go outside when all we wanted to do was watch television,” Tre says as we walk to the door like a herd of cattle.

Andrew places Nolan in his high chair, and my parents take over feeding the two of them.

“I like the built-in babysitter aspect of spending the holidays with your family, but I just want to go have a nice long nap now.” Kenzie steps out into the sun, sits in one of the chairs, and rests her head back in her hands.

“You’re the one with all the Christmas spirit,” Andrew says, rolling some snow into a ball.

I sit next to Kenzie, while Tessa sits on my other side.

“I guess it’s just us guys,” Pierce says, way too excited to build a snowman.

The three of us watch them work, and eventually, I tilt my face up to the sun.

The guys decide that the best plan is to roll the snow into balls by starting behind the house and bringing them this way. Good luck to them.

Kenzie turns to face me. “So, you and Pierce, huh?”

“I’ve told him I want to give it a try.”

Tessa sits up and looks at me. “Really?”

“Good for you.” Kenzie places her gloved hand over mine.

“I thought you were looking cozy the other night. Tre said he walked in on something.” Tessa grins.

“We almost kissed, but we haven’t yet.”

“Why?” Kenzie asks with a frown.

I shrug. “I wanted to take it slow, then once I was over that, Tre interrupted, and then we had the mistletoe…”

“And…?” Kenzie’s forehead wrinkles.

“And he kissed her on the cheek,” Tessa tells her for me.

Kenzie sucks in a breath.

“Yeah.” My lips press together in a thin line.

Kenzie’s about to say something, but all three of the men are pushing huge snowballs toward the front of the main house.

“Look, babe,” Tre says to Tessa.

“Impressive,” she says with a tone that suggests she’s not actually impressed.

“What’s in the gift bags from your parents?” Kenzie asks.

“Pajamas,” Tessa, Tre, and I say in unison.

“And you’re going to have to wear them.” I bring my legs up to my chest and watch Pierce build the beginnings of a snowman.

I should probably go help him, so I lower my legs and scoot to the edge of my chair.

Kenzie grabs my jacket. “Don’t you dare. If you help, we’ll feel like we have to.”

“You don’t.” I stand and go over to Pierce.

“You’re mad,” he whispers once I’m settled beside him.

I help him shape the snowman so that the second ball won’t fall off the bottom one. “I’m not.”

“Don’t take the mistletoe thing to mean that I didn’t want to kiss you,” he says. “Because I do.”

I smile. “Let’s just finish this. I need a nap.”

He lets the topic go, and we keep building the snowman. He’s no frills for sure, but all of them are. Andrew is trying the hardest with the sticks he’s gathered, turning one into a cane and trying to make a mustache from pine needles.

“Done,” Pierce says.

“Great. I’m going to take a nap,” I say and head toward the villa.

When I enter the code, I feel Pierce right behind me. “Me too. I need a refresh.”

We walk in, and he groans at the couch, taking off his coat and boots.

“Sleep in the bed,” I say.

“No, I’m fine.” He picks up the blankets and pillows and puts them on the coffee table before taking the cushions off the couch.

“I’m serious. I’ll sleep here.”

He stares at the bed, and I feel guilty for hogging it this entire time.

“We can both sleep there,” he says.

He’s right, it’s a king with plenty of room.

I strip down to my T-shirt and leggings and climb on the bed. And when the other side of the bed dips, I close my eyes.

“Can we spoon?” he asks.

I laugh. “You’ll spoon me, but not kiss me?”

“Brynn.” He sounds exasperated.

“I’m joking.” I’m fully aware how passive-aggressive I’m being. “But just so you know, whenever you want to kiss me, I’m okay with it.”

“Good to know. Now sleep,” he whispers, wrapping his arms around my middle from behind.

It isn’t until I hear his steady breathing that I finally relax enough to fall asleep myself.

We all knew the gift was going to be pajamas, but we weren’t prepared for us to have matching PJs with our partners.

I raise my eyebrows at Pierce, who is staring at the pajamas as though he doesn’t understand how they work. They’re the adult version of baby onesies, complete with feet and a zipper that runs from groin to sternum.

“You sleep in them,” I say.

“I know that.”

“You look confused.” I take mine into the bathroom to change into them.

Since most of us napped or relaxed after the snowman competition, my parents delivered the pajamas to the benches outside our villas.

I come out of the bathroom to find Pierce putting on the pajamas, shaking his head.

“What?” I ask.

“I’ve done so much stuff out of my comfort zone this week.”

“But we match!” I put out my arms in a tada pose.

He laughs and zips up. “I hope you’re impressed.”

I sit on the couch. “You didn’t do it all for me. You’re having fun.”

“If you weren’t here, I probably would have told Andrew I was sick and either stayed in my villa the entire time or gone home.” He looks down at the ridiculous pajamas then sits down next to me.

“I had a really good nap,” I admit.

“Me too.” He smiles and bites his lip.

When is this man going to kiss me? I’ll give him until tonight, but when we get back to this villa, I’m taking what I want with the hopes that he’s on the same page as me. “We should go, otherwise we’re going to be late.”

“All right then.”

We leave our villa in our coats and boots, spotting Carter and Faith coming out of their room at the same time. They’re wearing matching green pajamas with reindeers on them.

“Don’t you both look cute,” I say.

“Same.” Carter lifts his eyebrows at me.

“Nice of you to join us. As you can see, there are only three snowmen done.” I wave at the yard. “It’s not like you to pass up on not one, but two, challenges. What gives? You won last year, so you’re ready to give up that spot on the tree to me?”

“It’s not over yet,” Carter challenges as I expected him to.

Maybe I’m wrong about the longevity of his and Faith’s relationship, because he’s spending a lot of time with her.

We all head inside, eat the meal Mom and Dad cooked for us, and finish up by watching Miracle on 34 th Street . As expected, everyone heads to their villas as soon as the movie is done.

“I’ll close up, Mom.”

She smiles and takes her hand off the knob to turn off the gas fireplace. “Don’t forget.”

“We won’t.”

After my parents leave, I take the blanket off me and stand, yawning because I realize I’m ready for bed myself.

“I’m going to get a water, do you want one?” I ask Pierce, heading into the kitchen. “Can you get the fireplace? Let’s go back to the villa.”

“Sure.”

I grab two water bottles and head back toward the door. It takes me a moment to realize that Pierce is just standing by the fireplace, staring at me. My stomach whooshes when I realize he’s standing under the mistletoe, and the fire is still going. He crooks his finger at me, and I walk toward him.

“What are you doing?” I ask quietly.

He takes the bottles out of my hands and places them on the coffee table.

“Pierce, you don’t have to.” I hope I didn’t pressure him into this.

“I’m doing what I wanted to earlier, but…” He steps closer to me, his hand cradling my cheek. “I wasn’t going to kiss you again for the first time in front of your family. I wanted it to be a moment shared between just the two of us. One we’d both remember.”

“Oh,” I say, feeling foolish for being upset.

“And I wanted it like this, right here. Me and you, a roaring fireplace, and us under the mistletoe.”

“Yeah?”

He chuckles. “Yeah. Can I kiss you now, Brynn?”

“You better.”

He lowers his head, and his lips meet mine. Familiarity and desire bloom in my chest. The six years of separation disappear, and there’s a natural ease between us that isn’t found when you kiss a stranger.

A low current moves through the warmth and tenderness of his lips. His tongue slides into my mouth, and it’s a rekindling of our passion. All the memories from that weekend flood back into my mind, and I push away the regret that’s accompanied them for too long. He’s right here, and we’re together again, so I rise on my tiptoes, running my fingers up and over his shoulders, offering myself to him.

His hands wind around my waist, tugging me toward him so that our bodies are flush. He deepens the kiss, his tongue sliding along mine. But when he slows the kiss, his lips moving off mine, I whimper because I wasn’t ready yet.

Pierce trails his mouth down my jaw. “I never forgot how you tasted,” he whispers. “And I can’t wait to taste every inch of you again.”

My core heats, and I clench my thighs, needing a lot more than kissing to satisfy what’s blossoming inside me. In my head, I told myself I’d take it slow, but I want him. I want him naked and on top of me. I want him in my mouth, and I want his mouth on me.

“Take me back to our villa,” I say.

“My pleasure.” He slides his hand into mine, turns off the fireplace, and we lock up the lodge before walking back to our villa.

Pierce presses the code, and opens the door, turning on the light.

“Oh shit.” He slams the door shut.

“What?”

“Um…” He turns around. “Stay here.”

I pull him back by his jacket. “What is it?”

“I think I saw a rat or something scurry by when I opened the door.”

There goes me getting laid tonight.