Because Naughty Holidays Can Be Oh So Nice 2015

by Nicole Edwards

  The corner of Travis’s lips quirked, and Gage knew Travis was entertaining the notion.

  And that meant today was going to be a Thanksgiving celebration that he’d remember forever.

  Chapter Two

  FOR KYLIE WALKER-MATTHEWS, the morning flew by in a rush, as did much of the afternoon. After helping Lorrie cook alongside her sisters-in-law Zoey, V, Cheyenne, and Kennedy, as well as her own sister, Jessie, Kylie decided to slip upstairs for a shower. She’d bypassed one that morning, instead giving Gage and Travis a few minutes alone.

  Although they never asked for it, Kylie knew their private time, just the two of them, was limited. She, however, got to spend quite a bit of time with each of them alone, though real life was getting in the way due to so much going on. Not that she was complaining. Everyone had to deal with the trials and tribulations of the real world at some point. Not to mention, they had a beautiful baby girl, family they got to see every week, stable jobs that allowed them to provide for one another. All in all, Kylie knew they were blessed.

  But now, she got to steal a few minutes alone to take a shower in Ethan’s old room, which had been turned into a guest room after Jared had moved into Kaleb’s old house. After locking the bedroom door, Kylie rummaged through the bag she’d brought with her extra clothes, then laid them out on the bed. She grabbed her toiletry items, stripped, then hurried through her shower. Afterward, she wrapped the towel around herself, then used the spare hair dryer beneath the sink to dry her hair.

  A sound in the bedroom startled her, and Kylie opened the door and peeked out.

  Nothing.

  Pushing the door open all the way, she saw where the noise had come from.

  There, lying on the bed on his side, was one of her beautiful husbands.

  “What’re you doin’?” she asked Travis, noticing the mischievous gleam in his blue-gray eyes.

  “Watchin’ you get dressed.”

  “Is that so?” she taunted, taking a step closer to the bed. “Where’s Gage?”

  “Talkin’ to Ethan and Beau.”

  “So you slipped away?”

  Travis nodded. “I figured it’d be my only chance before dinner.”

  “They’ll realize you’re gone, you know.” Allowing the towel to fall to the floor, Kylie watched Travis carefully.

  The way his eyes widened and his nostrils flared with obvious approval sent a chill down her spine. She’d never had body image issues, but after giving birth to Kate, as with most mothers, her body wasn’t the same as it used to be. So seeing the subtle yet definite approval made her body hum.

  “You’re not gettin’ lucky right now,” she told him as she reached for her panties and then slid them on. Her bra came next, then her shirt, and finally her jeans.

  “You know, I like it much better when your clothes are comin’ off,” Travis grumbled, dropping to his back, his gaze never leaving her.

  “Well, if you’re lucky…”

  A deep, rumbling growl came from Travis’s chest, and Kylie laughed.

  “Is everyone here yet?” she asked as she shoved her dirty clothes into the bag to take back home and wash later.

  “Almost. Waitin’ on Sawyer and Kaleb.”

  “Where’d they go?”

  “To get more lights for the house.”

  “More? I’m not sure this house can handle any more lights.”

  “Oh, it’s not for Mom and Dad’s house. They’re gettin’ more lights for their houses.”

  Yep, they were definitely starting a new tradition. While the Walker family still strung the lights and put up the tree at Curtis and Lorrie’s house on Thanksgiving night, the brothers now were battling it out over whose house could have the most elaborate decorations. Since they were all now married off, or close, anyway, they had their own houses and their own families. Which meant new traditions were forming. Only, when it came to the seven brothers, those traditions were quite competitive. At least this one, anyway.

  “Let me guess,” Kylie said, taking Travis’s hand and pulling him up from the bed. Not that she did much in the way of getting him up, but he did get the hint and got to his feet. “You and Gage stocked up.”

  “Damn right we did,” he said with a shit-eating grin.

  Travis pulled her into his arms, linking his fingers behind her back as he stared down at her. “Don’t think for a minute that I’m lettin’ Braydon and Jessie win again.”

  Kylie didn’t mind a little competition, and since her sister had won last year, she was fully behind Travis’s need to go bigger this year. But she also knew that this could get way out of hand. And probably would, whether she wanted it to or not.

  “Plus,” Travis said, leaning down and kissing the tip of her nose, “Kate will love it.”

  He was right about that. Their little princess had just turned one, and Kylie knew that the lights would likely be the highlight of her holiday.

  That and all the gifts Kylie suspected Kate’s daddies would be getting her.

  “Okay, fine,” she agreed, taking his hand and opening the bedroom door so they could go back downstairs. “You just have to promise to keep it reasonable.”

  Travis chuckled. “Define reasonable.”

  The gleam in her husband’s eye told her everything she needed to know. Over the top … yeah, that would probably be an understatement before all was said and done.

  AS USUAL, THE feast at his parents’ house was impressive. The number of people in attendance had doubled in the past few years because Travis’s brothers had all paired off and many of his cousins were coming around more and more often. Not to mention the babies and the in-laws. And of course, the pets. It was almost to the point that the family gatherings had outgrown Lorrie and Curtis’s house. Next year, they might have to rent a banquet hall just to get everyone together.

  And with the sheer volume of people came a tremendous amount of noise. Conversations, laughter, babies crying, dogs barking. It was their new normal.

  After helping his brothers clear the table, pack up the leftovers, and clean up in the kitchen, Travis took a seat on the couch closest to his father, who was holding Kate in his lap while watching Kennedy and Cheyenne sort ornaments. Behind them, Brendon and Jared were putting up the artificial tree.

  “Lemme guess,” Curtis said, glancing over at Travis, “the boys are all outside?”

  Travis nodded. “They’re gettin’ the lights put up on the house.”

  “’Course they are. So they can head home and do their own.”

  “That’s the plan,” Travis told him with a smirk. In fact, for the past few weeks, he and his brothers had been talking about the holiday decorations, ordering lights and other accessories online, picking up some in the stores when the big retailers had started putting them out.

  “You gonna let Bray and Jess outdo you again this year?” Curtis joked, smiling over at him.

  “Not a chance,” he said softly, not wanting the others to hear.

  “Da!” Kate cooed when she noticed him. Her little chubby arms lifted, and Travis leaned over, taking his daughter from his father’s lap.

  He tossed her up in the air, then brought her down, burying his face in her sweet-smelling neck and blowing air against her skin, making her giggle.

  “When’re y’all gonna have another one?” Curtis asked.

  “Dad, she just turned one,” he said, as though that explained anything at all.

  “Don’t matter. She needs a brother or sister.”

  Well, if Travis had anything to say about it, she’d have several more. Eventually. He didn’t care if it was nine months from now or two years. Whenever it happened, he was ready.

  However, right now, these were the moments he lived for, the ones that seemed to be few and far between these days.

  “How’re things at AI?” his father asked, taking a cup of coffee from Zoey when she delivered it. “Thank you, darlin’.”

  “You want some?” Zoey asked Travis.

  “I’m good.
Thanks, though.” Turning his attention back to his father while Kate ran her little fingers over the bristle on his face, he said, “AI’s doin’ good. Busy.”

  “That’s what you wanted, right?”

  He nodded. “It is.” It definitely was, but he had to admit that when he’d decided to go all in, he hadn’t actually thought he’d ever be married with a kid. Sometimes he felt as though he gave more to the resort than to Kylie, Gage, and Kate, and that was the last thing Travis wanted to happen.

  “Well, boy,” Curtis said, sipping his coffee, “just don’t let it take all your time.”

  “I’m tryin’.”

  Someone turned on Christmas music, and everyone’s eyes lifted, trying to find who the culprit was. Travis peered over his shoulder to see Zane grinning like a fool before darting out through the back door.

  Crazy little shit. He always moaned and complained about the music, but this year he was the one to kick it off.

  Figured.

  Getting to his feet, Travis held Kate close to him. “I’m gonna take her outside to see the lights.”

  His father nodded. “I’m gonna stay right here and supervise.”

  “You do that.”

  “Hey!” Jared called out from his spot behind the tree. “Can Derrick and Mason go with you?”

  “Absolutely,” Travis said, smiling down at Jared’s two-year-old son, Derrick, and Kaleb’s almost-two-year-old boy, Mason. “Y’all wanna go see the lights?”

  Both boys jumped to their feet, and when Derrick started jumping up and down, hollering, Mason was quick to follow.

  “Come on, let’s go.” Travis urged the boys in front of him, and as he passed through the kitchen, he snagged Sawyer to help out.

  Peering over, Travis noticed his mother was cooing over Reid, Zane and V’s five-month-old little boy, while Zoey held Kellan, her and Kaleb’s four-month-old boy, in her arms nearby.

  “What’s up, little one?” Sawyer asked, squeezing Kate’s cheeks when he joined them. She practically leapt into her uncle’s arms, and Travis passed her over.

  “How’re the weddin’ plans?” Travis asked as they followed the boys down the steps and around to the front of the house.

  “Done.”

  Travis’s head snapped over to his brother. “Seriously? How’d you manage that?”

  “My girl’s simple like that. Now the only thing left is the gettin’ hitched part.”

  “Cold feet?”

  “Hell no,” Sawyer said, then glanced at Kate as though he hoped she didn’t repeat what he’d said. “I just wish we coulda done it already.” Sawyer kissed Kate’s cheek. “I’m ready to start makin’ babies.”

  Travis laughed.

  Buster, Sawyer’s cocker spaniel, came bounding over, sniffing around Mason and Derrick as the boys watched in awe as Kaleb, Braydon, Beau, and Ethan all attempted to string the lights up in one of the trees while Zane instructed from the ground.

  “You gonna decorate this year?” Sawyer asked, bouncing Kate gently on his hip.

  “A little,” he told him. “I think Kate’ll get a kick out of it.”

  Kate’s little hands clapped together as she stared up at the house, where the lights were already hung and flashing. There was a huge smile on her face, which made his chest swell.

  His thoughts drifted to his own house and the decorations he and Gage had bought already. If he knew his brothers, he was going to need to make another run to the store in the very near future, because he fully intended to win this year.

  “For Kate, huh?” Sawyer’s gruff chuckle told him he hadn’t gotten anything past his brother.

  “That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.”

  Chapter Three

  “IS SHE ASLEEP?” Gage asked Kylie when he joined her in the living room, referring to their daughter. It was late, so he figured he knew the answer already, but he asked anyway.

  Kylie smiled up at him from her spot in front of the recently decorated tree. “Yep. I put her in her bed. She passed out while staring up at the lights.”

  God, Kylie was beautiful. He admired her from a few feet away, watching as she fingered one of the dangling ornaments, her eyes flashing with excitement. She stifled a yawn, then leaned back, stretching her legs out in front of her while propping herself up on her elbows.

  “Long day,” he said, moving to join her on the floor.

  “Definitely. But it was nice.”

  It had been nice. They’d spent most of the day at Lorrie and Curtis’s for Thanksgiving dinner, then they’d come home and decorated their own tree, the one Gage and Travis had snuck out to get yesterday so they’d have it for tonight.

  While Kate had sat on the floor by her mother, Travis and Gage had strung the lights, then Kylie was in charge of the ornaments. According to her, if she let them do it, they’d all be crowded in one place. Women. Sometimes he wondered whether she realized they did some things on purpose, merely for attention from her. Just because.

  “Where’s Travis?” she asked, glancing over at him when he lowered himself onto the floor.

  “Right here,” Travis called out from behind them.

  Gage glanced over his shoulder to see Travis flipping off the light switches with his elbow before coming toward them, three steaming ceramic mugs in his hands.

  “Is that…?” Kylie’s eyes lit up.

  “Hot chocolate,” Travis said with a smirk.

  “Hopefully there’s a touch of liquor in there,” Gage grumbled good-naturedly. Or a lot of liquor. He wasn’t a fan of hot chocolate, but he knew Kylie was.

  “Just a little.” Travis winked.

  After passing them the mugs, Travis eased down onto the floor on the other side of Kylie, his back propped against the couch, the three of them staring up at the tree.

  They remained quiet for a moment, the colorful lights flashing red, green, yellow, while most of the room was shrouded in darkness. Gage was at peace, enjoying the simple calmness of it all until Travis turned, retrieved something from the cushion above him.

  When he pulled it into his lap, Gage saw what it was.

  An iPad. He smiled.

  “Are we gonna watch porn?” Kylie huffed, a teasing smirk lighting up her face.

  Best idea yet.

  “That hadn’t been the plan, but…” Travis glanced over at her.

  “No? That’s surprising,” Gage said, feigning disappointment as he placed his mug of hot chocolate on the table that had been pushed out of the way to make room for the tree.

  “Oh. My. God.” Kylie barked out a laugh. “You have got to be kidding.”

  “What?” Travis’s face was a mask of innocence.

  Gage dropped his gaze to the iPad to see a video playing. More specifically, a video of people putting up holiday lights.

  Gage chuckled. Yep, Travis had it bad. He was out to win the contest this year, and Gage didn’t see him letting up until the final decision was made.

  “Y’all aren’t gonna let this one go, are you?” Kylie’s head swiveled back and forth between them. “You’re gonna spend the next few weeks putting up lights and decorations until it’s impossible to see the house.”

  “That’s the plan,” Travis agreed, nodding his head at Gage.

  Gage leaned over and pressed his lips to Kylie’s ear. “That might be his plan,” he whispered. “But mine involves something else.”

  “Yeah?” she rasped. “What’s that?”

  “You naked. Beneath me.”

  “I like the way you think,” she said, turning her head so that their lips brushed.

  Kylie shifted, reaching up and putting her arm around his neck, pulling him to her. Gage adjusted his position so that he was leaning over her, resting on one elbow. He slid his free hand beneath the T-shirt she’d put on. One of Travis’s, if he wasn’t mistaken.

  When her lips parted against his, Gage groaned as he licked into her mouth, tasting her sweetness combined with the chocolate. He slid his hand higher until he found one
bare breast. Cupping her and sliding his thumb back and forth across her nipple, he felt it pebble beneath his touch.

  Kylie sighed into his mouth, her arm tightening around his neck.

  “Fine,” Travis grunted with a laugh. “The lights’ll have to wait.”

  Gage felt Kylie smile against his lips. If the man could focus on anything other than the sexy woman laid out between them, then he had far more willpower than Gage did.

  Forcing the soft cotton T-shirt up over her belly, then higher, Gage finally revealed her breasts to his hungry gaze.

  “So pretty,” he mumbled, grazing his lips over her jaw as he ventured lower.

  Kylie released him as she reclined on the floor, peering up at both of them. Travis had stretched out on her other side, resting on his right elbow as he watched them. “Don’t stop on my account.”

  His voice was rough with the obvious lust coursing through him. Gage knew how he felt. It’d been a while since they’d stopped long enough to enjoy a moment like this. Sure, their sex life was still going strong, but the spontaneity had died down some. Most of the time, they were in their bed before one or more of them got the urge.

  But tonight, here in the living room in front of the tree, Gage was looking forward to what was to come.

  KYLIE SENSED THAT Gage wanted to take things slow, so she decided to oblige him despite the fact her body was on fire, aching for their touch. Since that morning, when she’d heard them in the shower together, she’d been hot and bothered. Putting things off until tonight hadn’t been easy, either, especially when she had found Travis in the bedroom waiting for her after she’d taken a shower.

  But now she was glad she had waited, because having the two of them… It didn’t get much better than this.

  “Shirt off,” Travis instructed as he cupped one of her breasts in his big, warm hand, his tongue darting out to lash across her nipple.

  Thankfully, Gage assisted, pulling the shirt up over her head and discarding it somewhere behind him. His attention immediately returned to her, his mouth latching on to her other nipple, causing her to moan from the sheer ecstasy of it all.