by C. Morgan
“Were there lots of pineapples?” Julio asked seriously, but he still grinned as he shook my hand after their mother let me go. “Or was it coconuts? It was coconuts, right? I’ve heard coconut milk works miracles. That’s the only explanation for your ugly mug turning into this.”
I laughed, gripping his hand before deciding to pull him in for a hug. Julio and I used to be kind of tight, in our own way. The kid had looked up to me once upon a time.
“You’re right about the coconut milk, but we actually soaked chunks of pineapple in it,” I joked. “Want to give it a try? I can run out to the store and we can see if it works its wonders on you by the end of the weekend.”
He flinched, taking a step back as he gave an exaggerated shudder. “Thanks, but if that’s what it takes, I think I’ll just stay short.”
I laughed again, but that was only until I noticed Mr. Sage observing my interaction with his wife and son, greeting Hadley before finally coming up to me. Haddie was still hanging onto Leah, and Mrs. Sage put an arm around Julio’s shoulders to gently nudge him closer to his sister.
It was pretty obvious she was trying to give her husband a minute with me, and I was grateful to her for it. The last thing I wanted was to be the cause of a scene on the first day of Thanksgiving weekend.
“Daxton,” Mr. Sage said, extending his hand toward me. He’d aged since I’d last seen him, the wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes more pronounced. Other than that, he looked exactly the same with his daughter’s dark hair but with bright green eyes instead of brown.
“It’s good to see you, Mr. Sage,” I said, putting my hand in his. “Thank you for having me for the weekend.”
“You’re welcome here.” He paused for a moment, his gaze sweeping across my face as if he’d be able to see my true intentions there. “You hurt my daughter. I’m not okay with that, but I believe she’s forgiven you?”
“She’s working on it, sir,” I said. “It doesn’t change what I did, but I want you to know that I really am sorry. Haddie means everything to me. I was just too blinded by the past to realize what a mistake I was making at the time.”
“Do you plan on hurting her again?” he asked.
I gave my head a firm shake. “Definitely not. I’m lucky that she’s agreed to give me a second chance. I won’t squander it. I know I won’t get a third.”
After moving his eyes from one of mine to the other for several long seconds, a slow grin spread on his face and he nodded. “In that case, come on in. You’ve always been part of our family, Dax. If Haddie’s forgiven you, then I can too. Just know that if you ever do anything like that again, all the money in the world and your fancy last name won’t be enough to save you from me.”
“It wouldn’t be enough to save me from myself either, sir.” I looked away from him when I caught movement from the corner of my eye.
Hadley had come to stand with us, exchanging a loaded glance with her father before turning to me. “Everything okay here?”
“Everything is perfect,” I said. “Your dad and I just needed a quick talk about that elephant so it wouldn’t follow us into the house.”
“Ah.” She smiled and linked her arm with mine. “Well, if the elephant is gone, do you want to come meet Leah? She’s got to go soon, but she really wants to spend some time with you before she does.”
“I’d love to,” I said, even though I had no idea what spending time with a tiny little girl entailed. It turned out not to be so different to what we spent the rest of the weekend doing anyway.
We played boardgames and cards, laughed, ate, and drank. Haddie’s family took me in as one of their own again like nothing had ever changed. It was like every rosy-hued Thanksgiving scene in every movie I’d ever watched, except it was real. And I was a part of it.
There were no fancy parties organized. No dressing up, networking, or events, but it was perfect in its simplicity. In fact, this kind of life appealed to me much more than the one I’d grown up in.
The fact of the matter was that it was the goodness of these people that had shaped the woman I loved, and I could see now more than ever why she was the way she was. I also understood better than ever why it was so important to her to help them.
Later, when the house was quiet and everyone else had gone to bed, Haddie curled up with me on the pull-out sofa. The TV in the den was on but muted, and the lights in the room were off.
Colored light from the TV flickered across her features where she lay on my arm, gazing up at me as we talked quietly. “Sorry again about not having a guest room. Julio really wouldn’t have minded sharing with you, though. He was being serious.”
“I know, but then I couldn’t cuddle with you without him overhearing us,” I said, running my fingers over the exposed skin on her lower back where her sweater had ridden up underneath the blanket covering us. “I don’t mind the sofa. I even kind of like it. It’s cozy in here.”
She smiled, her fingertips resting lightly against my jaw. “Yeah, well. At least you would’ve had a bed. It’s not like we’re saying anything particularly saucy that he could’ve heard.”
“You want saucy?” I grinned, moving my lips closer to her ear. She shivered beside me, moving closer into my side. “I could say something saucy, or I could tell you something I’ve been wanting to tell you for a while now.”
“Since we can’t do anything about the saucy ideas you might have, how about you just tell me this secret of yours? Is it about the bet?”
“Nah. The bet’s old news now. Although if Ryker finds out I said what I’m about to say, he might want to up his winnings.” I brushed her hair back and then pulled away from her ear so I could see her face again.
She propped herself up on her elbow, bringing her eyes level with mine. “Okay, now I’m curious. He’s already won since we’re official now and all. Why would he want more money from you?”
“Because the bet was just about me being in a relationship. If he’d taken it a step further, I’d have doubled his money that he was wrong.”
“What step further?” A slight crease appeared between her brows, but there was humor in her eyes when she inched her mouth closer to mine. “You’re not about to do something crazy like propose, right? Getting engaged would definitely be a step further, but I really don’t think it’s a step we should even be thinking about.”
“I’m not proposing.” Yet, I added internally. “I do want a future with you, though. I’ve been daydreaming about building a life with you just like the one your parents have here.”
She laughed softly. “What? One where we struggle to make ends meet and there are no jet skis, surfboards, or extra cars in our garage?”
“You saw those back in Hawaii, huh?”
“Yep.” She bumped the tip of her nose against mine. “David was in the garage when I left your house. He was waiting at the car.”
“Next time we go, we’ll take out all the toys. I promise.” I breathed in deeply, capturing her gaze again when I’d hooked my arm around her. “I wasn’t talking about the trappings of my life or yours. I’m talking about a family. A home that our kids will want to come back to for the holidays or even just to come steal our food when they don’t want to live on ramen for that day.”
She let out a contented sigh, smiling as she dipped her chin in a nod. “I like the sound of that. It’s a long way off, but it’s a nice dream to have.”
“It’s a dream that we’ll turn into our reality,” I said. “I love you, Haddie. That was what I really wanted to say. I love you. I love your family, and I love what we have. If it wasn’t way too early for that, I would’ve been planning on proposing to you this weekend. Hell, I would’ve proposed before I even left for Hawaii when we were in the tenth grade.”
Tears filled her eyes, but a gorgeous smile took over her face before she pressed her lips to mine and murmured against them. “I love you too, Dax. I would’ve said yes to you then, I’d have said yes to you today, and I’ll say yes to you one day y
ears from now when you finally ask. My answer is always going to be yes. As long as it’s you doing the asking.”
Epilogue
HADLEY
“Christmas break, baby,” Dax cheered as soon as I walked into my dorm room. He stood up from my bed, practically tackling me as he swept me off my feet and spun me in a circle. “Fucking finally. I can’t wait to have you with me for the next few weeks without a textbook in sight.”
Despite being so tired that I’d barely made it up the stairs, I laughed and looped my arms around his neck. “Yeah, that does sound good. Only after we’ve gotten about a million hours of sleep, though. How was your last exam?”
“I knocked it out of the park.” He showered me with kisses while he spoke, setting me back down on my feet but keeping his arms around my waist. “Yours? Last exam before Christmas break, but at least it’s done now.”
I groaned. “Let’s hope. I feel like it knocked me out of the park, but I compared answers with a few other people while we were walking out of the building, and if I failed, so did all of them.”
“You didn’t fail.” He gave my ponytail a light tug, and when I tipped my face up to his, he claimed my lips in a fervent, heated kiss that almost made me forget how tired I was. Almost.
When we finally broke apart, his eyes were like twin blue flames on mine. Since I was still pressed up against him, I could feel his erection growing against my stomach as he looked at me.
Twisting my fingers into the hair at his nape, I pulled his head down again and planted a much softer kiss on his lips. “I missed you too, Dax. I really need a shower, though. Can you wait just ten more minutes?”
He chuckled, letting out a deep sigh before shaking his head and dropping his arms back to his sides. “Not really, but I’m going to have to anyway. Sadly, it won’t only be just ten more minutes, either. Go shower. I’ll put the genie back in the bottle while you do. Then we’ll talk.”
“You’re calling your cock a genie now?” I teased, running my fingers across his chest before realizing that I was only torturing us both by touching him like this right now.
A low moan came from him, and he screwed his eyes shut. “You’re definitely not allowed to say the word cock to me when it’s been so damn long. In fact, no more naughty words or speak at all. Just go shower, would you?”
I sighed but nodded and put some distance between us. As I walked toward my wardrobe, I turned to look at him over my shoulder. “Remind me why we’re going to have to wait more than ten minutes? Ruby’s gone. She finished yesterday and went home early this morning. We’re not leaving until tomorrow. By my calculations, that means we’ve got at least eighteen hours ahead of us to do whatever we want. Sleep for me mostly. But I’m sure I could squeeze you in before.”
“Don’t talk about squeezing me in anywhere either,” he groaned, falling back on my bed and covering his face with his hands.
The bulge in his jeans drew my gaze down, but I deliberately turned my focus back on my wardrobe before I jumped him despite all my good intentions about getting cleaned up first.
A long, hot shower wasn’t only an option, though. It was the only option after the week I’d had. I’d showered every day, but it’d been a quick, two-minute in-and-out just to wash all the important bits. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d washed my hair or shaved.
With that thought firmly in mind, I fled the room before either of us could try to change the other’s mind. True to my word, however, I was back in the room just over ten minutes later. After stashing my things, I went over to where Dax was still lying on my bed and sat down next to him.
“Okay, spill. What’s going on?” I asked when I saw that my carry-on suitcase had been pulled out from under the bed. It was overflowing with what looked like all the underwear that’d been in my drawer but nothing else. “It doesn’t look like you’ve moved since I left, but that bag didn’t pack itself.”
He smirked under the arm he had thrown over his face, then pulled it back and sat up. “I have a surprise for you. I wanted to try to pack your bag so it’d be ready when you got out of the shower, but then I realized I have no idea what you’d like to bring.”
“Bring where?” I frowned. “We’re only leaving for my parents’ house tomorrow. There’s plenty of time for me to pack before then.”
“That was the plan, yes.” He grinned. “That’s where the surprise comes in. We’re not going to your parents’ place right away. I’m taking you on a Christmas getaway for the weekend first. We’ll still spend a couple of days and Christmas Eve with your parents, then go to Hawaii for Christmas Day and the rest of the break, but before all that, I need you to myself for a few days.”
Excitement surged from deep within me, chasing away the last remaining tendrils of exhaustion that’d been clinging to me even after my shower. “We’re going away by ourselves for a few days?”
“We are.” He leaned forward to plant a chaste kiss on my lips, pulling away before I could even attempt to turn it into something more. “My bags are all packed and the accommodation will be ready for us whenever we get there, so as soon as you’re ready, we can hit the road.”
“Then I guess I better get ready.” Leaning forward and bracing myself with my hands on his chest, I kissed him and everything in me melted. “God, I love you. Not just because you’re taking me away for a break, either. I just love you.”
“I just love you too, which is why I’m stealing you away for a few days,” he murmured against my lips. “You’ve been studying so damn hard that we’ve barely spent any time together. I figured we needed at least a weekend to make up for it.”
“I’m not the only one who’s been studying so damn hard,” I reminded him. “Our schedules just didn’t line up and my exams ran a couple of days longer because they started later.”
“True, but no more talk about exams, okay?” He kissed me again, then wrenched his lips away from mine with a massive sigh. “Please pack, woman. We’re not even going to make it out of your room if we can’t leave soon.”
My lips tingled from his kisses and my entire body clenched with need for him. The last few months had been the best of my life. Ever since Dax and I had gotten back together after the race, things had been going better between us than I ever could’ve imagined.
Bringing him home for Thanksgiving had been a big step for both of us, but I was glad I’d done it. He and my dad had gotten to spend some time together over the weekend, and he’d had my back when I’d eventually told them about having declared my focus area.
My parents had been thrilled that I’d chosen law and it had given the entire trip a festive feel that’d led to us talking about Christmas. We spoke to our own and each other’s parents often enough that it hadn’t come as much of a surprise to any of them to learn that we wanted to spend our Christmas break together.
Dax respected that my studies were my priority, and I felt the same about his. His position in the fraternity was also solidifying, which ate up more of his free time. It was important to him, though. Most of the time he had to spend on frat stuff, I had to study anyway. Unfortunately, that meant not getting to spend nearly as much time together as we’d have wanted to.
As a result, we were practically glued to the hip whenever we could be, which was why I was confident that our parents had seen our decision about break coming. Especially since it’d been weeks since we’d even spent more than five minutes together in person.
The last few days, after his exams had finished, Dax had waited for me outside of my exam venues. He’d walk me back to the dorm or the library, then say his goodbyes and take off again. We’d spoken on the phone in the run-up to the exams as well as during them, but I was pretty sure we’d both fallen asleep on the line more often than we’d actually spoken.
Lowering my head, I pressed a soft kiss to his shoulder and then scooted back. “Okay. Okay. You’re right. We’re never going to get out of here at this rate. I’ll pack. Do I get any hints about where we’re go
ing so I know what I’ll need?”
“Well, we’re staying in New England for the weekend, then your parents’, then Hawaii.” He grimaced when he looked at my wardrobe. “Fuck. Packing for all that isn’t only going to take a few minutes, it is?”
“Nope,” I said, moving to stand up so I could get started.
The next thing I knew, his powerful arms wound around my waist and we bounced on the bed from the force with which he pulled me back onto it. Pinning me down and covering my body with his, he was breathing hard when he looked down into my eyes with those flames ignited in his once more.
“Fuck it,” he groaned. “The accommodation isn’t going anywhere. They’ll be ready for us whenever we get there.”
His mouth descended onto mine and I opened for him willingly, wrapping my legs around his hips and my arms around his shoulders as I kissed him back. Regardless of how eager I was to see where he was taking me, I also just wanted to be with him. Properly. Which was why I had a surprise of my own for him as well.
“Dax?” I whispered between kisses after our clothes had gone flying.
“Hmm?” He lifted his head but his hands kept doing their thing, driving me crazy as they caressed my bare skin. “You okay?”
“Do you remember last weekend when I sent you that link for the sexual wellness day at the student health center?”
He frowned, his hands stilling as he nodded. “Yes, but that’s a really fucking random thing to bring up right now.”
I shrugged, but I couldn’t hide the laughter that rolled through me. “Not really. Did you manage to go get tested between your study groups?”
“Right now?” He mouthed, then groaned as he buried his head in the crook of my neck. “Okay, fair enough. I guess we are naked and shit can happen even if people aren’t having sex, but fuck.”
His voice was strained, but when I didn’t say anything, literally waiting with bated breath for him to answer my question, he sighed. “Yeah, I went. I got tested and I’m clean. Can we be done talking now?”
