28. Lea

Chapter twenty-eight

Lea

M y cheeks hurt by the time we’re done with brunch. Liam’s inability to hold a grudge against anyone, especially Kai, works in our favor.

They’d been picking on each other for the last hour, and despite the fact that Kai had his own stack of chocolate chip waffles, which he topped with whipped cream and red and green sprinkles, he still happily ate from my plate.

If this is what relationships are like, I can understand why so many marriages end in divorce. Whoever I marry better keep their paws off my food.

Though, from the looks of it, that won’t be happening.

The three of us are crammed into the tiny living room, Liam sitting on the floor by the Christmas tree because, apparently, it was too soon to see me sit in Kai’s lap so Liam could avoid sitting on the hard floor.

But if he’s gonna be a baby about it, so be it.

“If you really think we’re gonna let you go over there alone, you’re dead wrong,” Liam tells Kai with a laugh.

“Come on, man. It’ll be awkward as hell, and if you two come, that’ll only be amplified.”

Liam rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest. “You act as if we haven’t already met the guy. He’s your dad , Kai. Our parents still live in the piece of shit apartment we grew up in before you and your mom moved to the trailer.”

Kai’s eyes land on me, the soft crinkle around them telling me that he wants saving, but unfortunately for him, I agree with Liam. “Kai, I think Liam’s right. It’ll be awkward either way, but if we go with you, at least you’ll have some more support.” I reach across the loveseat to take his hands in mine, squeezing them gently. “We want to be there for you,” I tell him, my voice a hushed whisper.

He closes his eyes for a moment before meeting mine again, bringing our hands up to his mouth to press a soft kiss along my knuckles. “Okay, you can come.”

Liam, always one for the dramatics, claps his hands excitedly. “Hell yeah!” he says with a little “whoop.”

Through the speakers, How The Grinch Stole Christmas plays on TV, with the narrator reaching the part about the Grinch’s heart growing three sizes that day.

Having Kai, this man I’ve had a reluctant crush on for the majority of my life, in our tiny, albeit cozy, apartment, my brother beside us, my best friend, and her fiancé on the way definitely leaves me feeling like my heart is growing at least three sizes.

I smirk over at Kai, a memory popping into my head. “You know, I still can’t believe you managed to keep your full name a secret,” I tell him.

Liam’s shoulders shake with laughter. “He sure as shit couldn’t get away with making fun of your name if you’d known.” Liam voices the same thought I had.

Kai raises his arms, his palms facing me. “Hey now,” he drawls. “I never said I was making fun of your name! I’m merely emphasizing every letter,” he says, smirking.

Liam, the shit-stirrer he sometimes is, leans back against the wall beside the fully lit tree. “Oh no, he was absolutely talking crap.”

I grab a pillow from behind me, chucking it at his face, but of course, his reflexes are entirely too fast, and he catches it and tucks it behind his back.

“Alright, children,” Kai says, standing and smacking his hands on his thighs. “It’s Christmas Day, which means we have cookies to bake and Chinese food to order.”

I roll my eyes at him. “In case you haven’t noticed our barren cabinets, we don’t have anything to make cookies.”

He dramatically opens two cabinet doors, the ones just to the right of the one that contains all of his not-so-hidden peanut butter-filled snacks.

My jaw nearly hits the floor, and my eyes suddenly feel misty. “Think again, angel. We have cookie supplies for days. Besides, it is your favorite holiday, isn’t it?”

Liam looks between us, his head turning side to side, almost comically. “How in the ever-loving-fuck did we get here, people? Come on! I leave you guys for less than a month and you’re already at this level of annoyingly adorable? It’s disgusting,” he says, tossing his hands up as he storms off to what used to be his room. “I’m gonna take a leak. You guys better get all your mushy feelings out before I get back,” he huffs.

I round the kitchen island, wrapping my arms around Kai’s shoulders. He crushes me to his warm body, and my head spins, my hands clutching his cheeks. I press a gentle kiss to his soft, full lips.

“Thank you,” I whisper, my voice watery.

He plants another kiss on my lips before reluctantly releasing me as my bedroom door creaks open. “Anything for you, angel,” he whispers back as Liam pulls out a stool, taking a seat at the kitchen island.

“I’ll oversee the project. You guys can do the actual baking.” He taps his fingers on the counter. “And don’t worry, I’ll do my part to clean up,” he says, winking playfully at Kai.

“Licking the spoon and leaving it in the sink for me to clean and you to get salmonella is not cleaning up,” I say, rolling my eyes.

The rest of the day passes in a complete blur of baking cookies, Liam eating so many that he looked green for the better part of the day, and Mona’s never-ending love for Americanized Chinese food leading to a competition between her and Kai over who could eat more.

It came as absolutely no surprise that the winner, by a landslide, was Mona.

When everyone’s either in my room or on the loveseat sleeping, Kai and I head to his bedroom.

A mistletoe now hangs in the doorway, and I look up at it, squinting before turning back to him. “When’d you put this here?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I didn’t,” he whispers, but a smile stretches his lips as he reaches out for me, tugging us underneath it. “But why waste a perfectly good opportunity for a kiss, Leonora?” he says with a smirk.

I roll my eyes, wrapping my hands around his neck, and stand up on my tiptoes, pressing my lips to his. Tiny sparks fly between us, and my heart rate speeds up.

He lifts me and carries me to bed, dropping me in the center before climbing in behind me.

Kai’s strong arms are wrapped around me, and I’ve never felt so safe.

In just a few short weeks, I’ve gotten to know him better than I had in the twenty-six years we’d known each other. That alone feels like a holiday miracle.