Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Emery

I couldn’t help humming “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” as I unpacked my decorations. I kept stealing glances at Max, who was eyeing the growing pile of holiday cheer with barely concealed alarm. Poor guy probably thought a few strands of tinsel would suffice.

“We need music.” I grabbed my phone from where I’d left it on the coffee table. “You can’t properly decorate without Christmas music. That’s like rule number one.”

“There are rules?” Max’s lips twitched, and I tried not to stare at how adorable his reluctant almost-smile was.

“Oh, honey, there are so many rules.” I scrolled through my playlists before settling on Michael Bublé’s album. “First, music. Then we tackle the tree before doing any other decorating. And absolutely no complaining about glitter.”

“There’s glitter?” The horror in his voice made me laugh.

“Everything festive has at least a little glitter. It’s basically Christmas dandruff.” I started laying out the fake tree pieces, trying to match the letters on each section. “Now come help me with this tree before I accidentally build it upside down.”

“I’m pretty sure trees only go one way.” He was already reaching for the base piece.

“You’d be surprised. I once managed to make it look like it was doing yoga.”

His laugh was unexpected and rich, sending warmth spreading through my chest. We worked together, arms and hands occasionally brushing as we assembled the tree. Each accidental touch sent little sparks of awareness through me, and I created excuses to reach past him to adjust branches.

“Holly Jolly Christmas” started playing as we were finishing up, and I couldn’t help singing along, using a tree branch as a microphone. Max shook his head, but I caught him mouthing the words when he thought I wasn’t looking.

“What the hell happened in here?”

I spun around to find Ronan standing in the doorway, staring at the explosion of Christmas decorations with an expression that suggested he’d walked into an alternate dimension.

“Christmas!” I answered cheerfully, refusing to be intimidated by his scowl. “We’re decorating. Want to help?”

“Absolutely not.” But instead of storming off like I expected, he disappeared to his house, or whatever it was, returning a few minutes later in jeans and a fitted gray t-shirt that did dangerous things to his shoulders.

Holy candy canes.

I’d only ever seen Ronan in business attire, all sharp suits and perfectly pressed shirts. This version of him, with slightly messy hair and socked feet, was doing serious damage to my ability to think straight. The casual clothes somehow made him look both more approachable and more devastating.

“If you’re going to invade our house, at least let me make sure you don’t make it look like an elf threw up in here.” He reached for a box of ornaments.

“I’ll have you know these are very tasteful decorations.” I tried not to stare at how his biceps flexed as he lifted the box off the floor. Why did these men insist on being so unfairly attractive? It was really very inconsiderate of them.

“The light-up reindeer I just saw suggests otherwise.” He set the box on the coffee table and lifted off the lid.

“Rudolph is a classic!” I turned to Max for support. “Back me up here.”

But Max was watching us with an odd expression, something almost soft in his eyes before he quickly masked it. “I’m staying out of this one. But if that reindeer starts singing, I’m leaving. The singing Santa in the break room is where I draw the line with singing animatronics.”

“You’re both impossible.” I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. Having them both here, helping despite their protests, made something warm settle in my chest that had nothing to do with holiday spirit.

Though, watching Ronan bend down to pick up an ornament hook he’d dropped definitely sparked something festive in me. I just wished Levi was here too.

I bit my lip, trying to focus on untangling lights rather than how distracting both men were. “So, um, is Levi on a date or something?” I aimed for casual, probably missing by a mile.

Ronan’s laugh was unexpected. “Levi? On a date?”

“He’s at his bowling league.” Max reached over my head to hang a sparkly snowflake. His chest brushed against my back, and I nearly dropped the lights. “Every Friday night.”

“Bowling?” I pictured Levi in those special shoes and couldn’t help giggling. “Like, with the funny shirts and everything?”

“Everything that you can imagine.” Ronan smirked, passing me another strand of lights. “He takes it very seriously. Has his own custom ball and everything.”

“That’s actually kind of adorable.” I smiled, imagining him getting competitive over bowling pins.

“Don’t let him hear you say that,” Max warned, but his eyes were twinkling. “He thinks he’s very intimidating with his bowling stance.”

We fell into an easy rhythm decorating, the three of us moving around each other like some kind of festive dance. Every now and then, one of them would make a sarcastic comment about the amount of glitter or question the necessity of another Santa figurine, but I caught them both admiring the way the tree and the decorations were coming together.

“Wait until we add the pinecones.” I reached for the box where I usually kept them. “They add this perfect rustic touch that-” I stopped, frowning as I dug through the container. “Oh no!”

“What’s wrong?” Max paused with an ornament halfway to the tree.

“My pinecones are missing. I always put them on the tree and make this gorgeous display for the mantle.” I rifled through another box desperately. “They must still be at Josh’s... or I guess now they’d be at Goodwill or in the trash. I can’t believe I forgot them.”

“We literally have pine trees in the backyard,” Max pointed out. “There are probably hundreds of pinecones out there.”

Ronan checked his watch. “Maybe tomorrow morning we can go pick some up. It’s almost eight.”

“Perfect pinecone hunting time!” I was already heading for my room to grab my jacket and shoes. “The flashlights on our phones will work great.”

“You can’t be serious,” Ronan called after me, but right before I turned into my room, I saw him heading for his own, hopefully to get his own outerwear.

Once we were all bundled up and had bags, we went into the backyard, which was huge with a covered patio and outdoor kitchen, a pool, a jacuzzi, and enough space to host a football game. Pine trees surrounded the yard, and I felt like a kid in a candy shop.

The moon was bright enough to cast long shadows, but we still needed our phone lights to spot the pinecones once we reached the trees.

“This one’s too small.” I discarded another reject. “They need to be just right.”

“You’re worse than Goldilocks.” Ronan’s teasing voice was closer than I expected. When I turned, he was right there, holding out a perfect specimen. “How’s this?”

“That’s...” I swallowed hard, very aware of how close he was. “That’s perfect.”

“I found a lot over here.” Max was standing near a large pine tree. When we joined him, he was gathering several large, symmetrical pinecones. “Do these work?”

“Yes!” I reached for them, our fingers brushing. The simple touch sent electricity shooting up my arm.

We worked our way around the yard, and I realized how often one of them would end up close to me. Ronan put his hand on my lower back to steady me when I nearly tripped over a fallen branch. Max’s arm brushed mine as we reached for the same pinecone. Their bodies bracketed mine as we compared our finds.

The air felt charged with something more than the winter chill, and I lingered longer than necessary, making excuses to stay out in the dark with them. When Ronan’s fingers grazed my neck while helping me untangle a pine needle from my hair, I nearly dropped my bag of pinecones.

“I think we have enough.” Max’s voice was rough, like he’d been talking up a storm. “We should head in before you freeze.”

I nodded, not trusting my voice. The walk back felt endless and too short all at once. I shivered violently as we entered the house, every bit of my skin burning.

“I’ll start a fire.” Ronan shrugged out of his coat and kicked off his boots before heading to the large fireplace.

I took my coat and shoes off but couldn’t stop shivering even though we were inside now. My teeth were practically chattering as I moved closer to the fireplace as Ronan expertly build up the fire.

“You’re shaking like a leaf.” Max was behind me, his hands suddenly on my upper arms, rubbing warmth back into them through my shirt. I nearly melted at the contact, his touch firm but gentle as he worked the heat back into my frozen skin.

Definitely should have worn more layers instead of just my old jacket. I hadn’t wanted to get my new wool one dirty, though.

“I’m f-f-fine.” I probably wasn’t helping my case. “Just need a minute to warm up.”

Ronan turned from the now-blazing fire, his eyes darkening as they landed on where Max’s hands were moving on my arms. The intensity in his gaze adding a different kind of heat to the room.

“Body heat is the most effective way to warm someone up.” His voice was low as he stepped closer. “Here, let me help.”

Before I could process what was happening, Ronan was standing in front of me, his hands coming to rest on my waist. I was surrounded now with Max’s solid presence at my back, his hands still moving on my arms, and Ronan’s warmth at my front.

“Is this okay?” Max’s breath tickled my ear.

Was it okay? My brain felt like it was short-circuiting. Having them both so close was doing absolutely nothing to help my shivers, though they were now less from cold and more from the way my body was responding to their proximity.

“Y-yeah,” I couldn’t trust myself to say more. Ronan’s thumbs were making small circles on my waist, and combined with Max’s continued attention to my arms, I was pretty sure I was going to spontaneously combust.

“Still cold?” Ronan’s voice had dropped even lower, and the sound sent a shiver down my spine that had nothing to do with the temperature.

“Getting warmer.” I was proud that my voice only shook a little. The fire crackled behind him, casting shadows that danced across his face and made his eyes seem even more intense.

Max’s hands slid down to my forearms, leaving trails of heat in their wake. “Good,” he murmured, and I could have sworn his lips brushed my ear. “We can’t have our Christmas Spirit catching a cold.”

I let out a shaky laugh. “Is that what you’re all going to call me now? I thought it was just Levi’s thing.”

“Levi doesn’t own the nickname.” Ronan’s fingers flexed on my waist, and the possessive note in his voice sent a thrilling ripple through me.

“You’re still shivering.” Max’s chest felt like it was rumbling behind me.

“That’s not from the cold,” I admitted before I could stop myself, then immediately wanted to die of embarrassment. “I mean…”

“We know what you mean.” Ronan’s hand left my waist to brush a strand of hair from my face. The simple touch sent electricity crackling through me.

The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, and I held my breath, caught between them like a Christmas wish I hadn’t dared to make. The fire popped loudly, making me jump slightly, pressing back against Max’s chest.

Ronan’s eyes darkened further as he watched us. For a moment, I thought one of them might kiss me… or maybe both of them.

The moment stretched between us like a glowing thread of Christmas lights, making my skin tingle everywhere they touched me.

I realized then that I wanted this. I wanted them and so I grabbed onto the front of Ronan’s shirt and kissed him.