A Wild Wonderland

by Weston Parker

  I sat up at that, my mind going over my friend’s words. Legendary? That was pretty cool. I didn’t think I’d ever been legendary before.

  The surprise description made me lose my grip on the rage within me, and I paused to think. Brayden had always been incredibly kind and caring and everything I could possibly want in a man. He was thoughtful, and he never went out of his way to hurt anyone. Why was my first conclusion that he was having some sort of torrid affair with a thirty-year-old woman from the city paper? A woman who he had told me he was meeting. Maybe I needed to slow my roll and think things through a little.

  Slowly, I wiped my eyes, considering her words. Was she being naïve, as I often thought she was, or was she being particularly insightful? As a writer, it was hard to tell which was which with her. She switched so often from not understanding how to read basic red flags on people to being able to understand people’s motivations when she’d only met them once. I felt like she was being more of the latter, but maybe that was what I wanted.

  Who could say? I certainly didn’t know. I felt like I didn’t know much of anything lately.

  “Maybe,” I sighed. “Maybe you’re right.” I knew one of the reasons I had reacted so strongly so rapidly was because of my father. I was still assuming all men were evil, and my subconscious was more than happy to find reasons to prove myself right. “It’s probably my whole anti-frat thing influencing my opinion.”

  “I’m glad you’re figuring that out. It can be very hard to detach and analyze those emotions.”

  “Yeah,” I took a deep breath and wiped from my face the last of the damp tears. “I think I’ll let him in.”

  I shuffled to the door, feeling a strange mix of embarrassed at my reaction and also ashamed. I unlocked the door and, sure enough, Brayden was standing there, shivering.

  “Hey,” I said quietly, shuffling from foot to foot.

  “Hey,” he responded just as subdued. I moved aside for him to come in, and he walked past me, remembering to take off his shoes just like the last time.

  “I’m sorry.” We both started at the same time, me apologizing for my actions, and I assumed he was trying to explain what I had heard. I made the motion of zipping my lips, and he continued.

  “Nothing happened between that lady and me. I did flirt, and I am so sorry for hurting you like that, but she was flirting with me, and I knew if I turned her down, it could bury our story. I couldn’t risk it. I’m so, so sorry. Please, forgive me.”

  Warmth instantly flooded me. When had I become such a softy? I didn’t know, but I was so incredibly thrilled to hear his explanation that I couldn’t help it.

  “I’m sorry too,” I said, steeling my voice. “Just … be patient with me. I’m not used to this whole relationship thing, and I think it’s making me a little crazy.”

  He laughed at that and pulled her into a hug. “Me, too, Hailey. Me too.”

  Chapter 19

  Brayden

  “And I’ll take one hundred dollars for Mr. Fischenbach. Going once, going twice, sold! To the blond in the back in the blue dress. Thank you, ma’am, you’ve certainly made a whole lot of kids very, very happy.”

  The announcer clapped his hands, and the whole room joined in, clearly feeling the mood. Looking over at Hailey, I saw her eyes were brimming with unshed tears, her hands trembling as they pressed to her mouth.

  “And ladies and gentlemen, I am very sorry to say this, but we are down to our penultimate bachelor! We are incredibly grateful for all of you turning out, and we are sure that will never compare to how the children you are helping will feel this Christmas. You all are changing lives tonight and, hopefully, having a lot of fun while doing it.

  “Now, who’s ready to bid on some grade A man meat?”

  Another cheer sounded, and it felt like it didn’t stop until the end of the auction. I personally couldn’t believe how successful it was. Bids went all the way up to five hundred dollars, for Jake naturally, and by the end of the shindig, Hailey was crying outright.

  Even Noah had a moment. He was ‘bought’ by a short redhead who looked a bit like a certain event organizer, and he was over the moon. If our fearless leader noticed the similarities, she didn’t say anything, her eyes locked on the stage after bachelor after bachelor sold with rounds of applause.

  I caught the mountain of a man looking at his buyer several times, a goofy, smitten expression clear across his broad features. It was only after I realized I probably gave Hailey that same look that I reminded myself not to judge him. Who knew, maybe something amazing would come out of it.

  Personally, my heart was soaring. While we didn’t know exactly how much we raised, there was no doubt we had been successful beyond our wildest dreams. It almost seemed a bit surreal, and time took on a wobbly sort of state as the night ended and we saw our patrons out.

  Cleanup was going to be a doozy, of course, and we had to do it ourselves. Hiring a cleanup crew had been way out of our budget, although considering how well we had done, I found myself wishing several times that we had splurged on the five hundred dollars.

  However, the entire time I was cleaning, I was thinking about how we had done, wondering how successful we had been. It nagged away at me, like a little bug that wouldn’t be satiated until I found the answer, so the moment I saw Hailey holding court by the donation table, going over a clipboard with a serious face, I rushed over to her side.

  “So, how’d we do?” I asked, grinning broadly at her.

  “Shh,” she hissed, not even looking up at me. I didn’t mind, however, figuring that she was gleaning information from the chicken scratch in her hands.

  I waited, but I certainly wasn’t patient for it. I hopped from foot to foot, trying to glance over her shoulder to see the paper that she was holding.

  “Well, I would certainly consider this a success, Mr. Keller.”

  I recognized that voice and turned to see the reporter from earlier in the week. She certainly looked dashing in a blue evening gown, but I found myself more than a little dismayed at her sudden arrival.

  “Ms. Hernandez! Thank you.” I was going to ask her opinion on something, or introduce her to everyone else to get her attention off me, but I was suddenly being dragged down into a kiss.

  My heart skipped a beat once my mind caught up and figured out it was Hailey pressing her lips to mine, and I didn’t fight at all. When we broke away, I could see that Ms. Hernandez looked more than a little dismayed.

  I couldn’t describe the feeling that swept over me as we parted, but I suddenly wanted to blurt that I loved her right then and there. It wasn’t exactly the most ideal situation, though, so I settled for a tight hug before turning back to the reporter.

  Except she was already walking away. Oh well, I couldn’t please everyone.

  “I don’t think we can take full inventory, count all the money, and calculate our expenses tonight,” Melina said, gently taking the clipboard from Hailey’s hands. “Why don’t we focus on cleanup, and we can do the nitty-gritty numbers tomorrow when we’re all refreshed?”

  There was a murmur of agreement all around, and then we were back to work, cleaning like mad men and women. We finished after about an hour or so, and then we all began to wearily file out one by one.

  My body might have been exhausted, but my spirit wasn’t. We were the last two to leave, and I grabbed Hailey’s hand as she shut off all the lights, walking her back to my place after putting the money into our charity’s locker in the administrative building. We didn’t say much the entire time, but we didn’t have to. We were both soaking in the victory we’d had that night and enjoying sharing it with each other.

  We reached my house right after midnight, and without a word, I took her to my room as my heart thundered in my chest.

  I closed the door behind us and reached for her. “I need you to know something.”

  “What’s that?” She lifted her chin and locked eyes with me.

  Fuck me, she was so far beyond bea
utiful.

  “I’m falling in love with you.” I leaned down and brushed my lips by hers. “You okay with that?”

  She smiled against my lips and let out a cute little giggle. “I’m falling in love with you too, and I more than okay with it.”

  “We should total commensurate this beautiful moment.” I moved back and wagged my eyebrows. “With a night of love making?”

  “You’re not going to hear no from me.” She pulled me in for a long kiss, and the night was set on fire. My Christmas hadn’t just been a winter wonderland, but a wild wonderland.

  Luckily for me… it was just the first of many.

  Epilogue

  Hailey

  I ran as fast as my little legs could take me, trailing behind Brayden by a good chunk. We had gone to Dean Kline’s office to triumphantly announce our numbers from the smashing success of our auction, but her secretary had informed us she was on her way off campus and wouldn’t be returning until after the holiday break. While it was true I could have emailed her, I wanted to see her face when she saw how her punishment idea had paid off.

  So that was how I ended up running to the faculty parking lot at full speed. However, my full speed was apparently woefully lacking, at least compared to Brayden’s.

  “Dean Kline! Dean Kline!” The man shouted from where he was far ahead of me, waving his arms. He slowed to a stop, and I was able to catch up, reaching his side as the petite woman walked to us.

  “Ms. Martin, Mr. Keller, to what do I owe the honor?”

  “We just wanted to tell you our numbers this year. We’re getting ready for the party, and we’ll have already thrown it by the time you get back.”

  “Surely, you could have emailed me the information, although I certainly appreciate the enthusiasm.”

  “I-I had to see your face,” I answered between pants. “I just had to.”

  “Oh, so it’s good news then, I take it?”

  My grin was so wide it threatened to split my face. “Well, last year we were able to collect one hundred and fifty different toys. This year, we doubled that to three hundred.”

  “That’s fantasti—”

  “And also raised three thousand dollars for the children’s families.”

  There was a beat of silence as the dean’s jaw dropped, and then she was hugging me. I was shocked for a moment, but I quickly relaxed into it.

  “That’s incredible!” The woman breathed, separating from me with gleaming eyes. “I should have known if anyone was capable of it, it was you. And you,” she turned her gaze to Brayden. “She couldn’t have had a better partner. Thank you, Mr. Keller.”

  There was an all too familiar sort of glint in her eye, and I had a sudden revelation. “Wait a minute, you weren’t trying to play matchmaker with all of this, were you?”

  While it wasn’t out of the question, it was strange to think that the dean would take any interest in their love lives.

  But the woman looked from one of us to the other, a demure smile on her face. “What? Setting up my favorite frat president and my favorite old family friend? I would never.” With that, she turned on her heel and marched toward her car. “Merry Christmas!”

  I watched her go, shaking my head as she got into her car and disappeared. When I looked to Brayden, he seemed as amused by the sudden revelation, and his long, long fingers wrapped through mine.

  “Why aren’t you wearing gloves!” I nagged. “It’s freezing.”

  “All the better to touch you with,” he answered, earning a groan from me. “But hey, that’s a bit strange to think of, isn’t it?”

  “What? Your lack of proper winter wear?”

  “No, that the dean made a love match without either of us knowing. It’s … strangely involved for someone who always tries to keep everyone at such a professional distance.”

  “Yeah, last year shook her up pretty bad. But I have to admit, I’m surprised too. I’ve known her since I was a little child, but she never showed any interest in my relationships before.”

  “Well, I certainly am not complaining.” Suddenly, he stopped and pulled his hand from mine. I was about to protest, but his strong arms wrapped around my waist as he lifted me, spinning me around like a carousel. “You’re the best Christmas present I’ve ever had.” He laughed, effortlessly holding me aloft.

  I laughed giddily, my cheeks flushing from the sheer romance. After he set me down, I stood on tiptoes to deliver a kiss to the tip of his very cold nose. “Well, if I’m your present, why don’t you take me to your place and unwrap me.”

  His face brightened at that, and he offered me one of his arms. “With pleasure,” he murmured, his voice taking on that low, melodic tone that always made my knees weak.

  I quickly wound my arm through his and walked back toward his place, warming with anticipation of what was to come. Somehow, we had done the impossible, completely shattering all the charity records held at any drive at our school, clearing the name of Alpha Kappa Psi after the unfortunate Santa hat prank, conquered my irrational hatred of all things centered around fraternities, and finally, found a real sort of love with each other.

  It was a very Happy Holiday indeed.

  The End

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  About the Author

  The name is Weston. I'm a former firefighter/EMS guy who's picked up the proverbial pen and started writing bad boy romance stories. I co-write with my sister, Ali Parker as we travel the United States.

  Romance is a genre that is oftentimes written by women, but my novels give you the chance to see through the eyes of some of the men that perhaps you fantasize about, and the opportunity to read about passion from the other side for a change. Stories told about real relationships, legit problems and past experiences… unless you’re an ex, in which case any resemblance to women living or dead is merely a coincidence. ;)

  You're going to find Billionaires, Bad Boys, Mafia and loads of sexiness. Something for everyone, hopefully. I'd love to connect with you. Check out the links below and come find me.

  Hope you enjoy my stories and feel free to reach out at any time. Join that Insider’s group below… let’s stay connected.

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