Our First Christmas (The Penalty Kill Trilogy)

by Lindsay Paige

  “Huh?”

  “Do you,” I lean closer to him. “Want to,” I brush my lips against his. “Take a nap?” I gently peck his lips as a small smile forms his lips.

  “I would love to nap with you because we haven’t napped in a long time.” His eyes drink me in, and I can’t help the blush on my cheeks. He grabs my hand, and we quickly, but quietly, head up to his room.

  He quietly shuts the door and gathers me in his arms. His kiss is hard, and I kiss back just as hard. I miss his lips so much. Levi quickly tugs on my shirt and pulls it over my head, and I do the same to his.

  “I’ve missed you, Presley.” Levi’s breath is ragged as he leans down and looks me in the eyes. My heart beats faster with the look he gives me. He gave me the same look when we first had sex. It’s the look of the lion coming in for his prey.

  “I’ve missed you too.” He is guiding me over to the bed. My knees bump up against it and I sit down. I bite my lip as I undo Levi’s jeans and pull down his zipper.

  “You know I have trouble being quiet, right?”

  “You’ll have to try.”

  I smirk at him as I pull his pants all the way down. “Guess I’ve got to figure out a way to be quiet.”

  “Smarty,” he groans my name as I take him in my mouth. He grips my hair as I dig my nails into his hips. He guides me to go faster, and my tongue works his shaft. He groans louder, and I feel myself becoming more turned on.

  I can feel him tighten up and in a blink of an eye, he pushes me onto my back. He rips off my jeans and underwear with brute force, and I can’t help the flutter of anticipation of what is to come. I need him and I want him. He grabs a condom from the nightstand and rolls it on. I push myself further up the bed as Levi’s body covers mine.

  “Levi,” I breathe out his name as he cradles himself in between my legs.

  “I love you.” He pushes into my core as he words still hang in the air. My body is tight and there is a slight ping of pain, but it goes away soon as he rocks harder into me.

  My nails dig into his back as I say his name over and over. He covers my mouth with his lips and gently bites my bottom lip. I don’t know what it is about him biting me that drives me crazy, but it does.

  I’m getting louder, but I can’t help it. Finally, Levi releases my lips and slams into me harder. He looks deep into my eyes and I can’t help my emotions. I need more of him as I raise my hips.

  I can feel my body grow tighter, as Levi covers my mouth with his hand. At the same time, he bites my neck. That is my trigger. My yell is muffled by his hand, as my body releases onto him. He grunts my name as I feel him relax around me. He uncovers my mouth as we both try to catch our breath.

  “I’ve missed you,” Levi whispers in my ear. “And I love you so much.”

  “Levi.” I look deep into his eyes. ” I don’t want to be anywhere else, but right here. I love you.”

  Chapter Four

  Levi

  Today, Presley and my dad are sitting in lawn chairs, bundled with blankets to keep warm, watching as I hang some lights on the house. Every couple minutes, one of them stops me to say I’m doing it wrong, whether I am or not. They are enjoying themselves entirely too much, but it’s great to see them both happy. I finish this strand, step off the ladder, and start to move it over.

  “Levi,” Pops starts. “Turn on those lights, so we can see them.”

  He chuckles, whispers something to Presley that causes her to laugh, and I wonder what they are talking about. I do as he asks, turning the lights on, and nothing happens.

  “What the hell?” I mumble.

  Presley and Pops both start laughing hysterically. “Don’t you know that you’re supposed to check the lights before you use them?” Pops says between laughs.

  “Why didn’t you mention that before?” I ask.

  “It’s funnier this way.” He shrugs.

  I glare at them as they clutch their stomachs, laughing harder. This is bullshit. Now I have to take them all down! It’s not until I move the ladder back to where it was just a minute ago and climb up it, that my father speaks again.

  “What are you doing, son?”

  “I have to fix it.”

  He starts laughing once more and says, “There isn’t anything wrong with the lights. That I know of anyway. You just need to go flip the switch so the outlet will work.”

  “Pops! You’re a cruel man and if you two don’t sit over there and keep quiet, you can both go inside,” I chide as I glare at them. “I try to be nice and this is how y’all repay me?” I shake my head and ignore their laughter.

  A couple hours later, I’m all done. There’s a wreath on the door, the lights are strung, and a little inflatable Santa is in the yard. We head inside for supper. Presley’s phone rings a couple of times, but she ignores it. Afterwards, it rings again. This time, she answers and leaves the room. I look over to Pops, who is watching me carefully.

  “I told her I would take her home if she wanted to go, Pops. I’ve told her more than once too. She’s choosing to be here.”

  “Okay,” is all he says. He doesn’t like getting too involved, but I can tell that he’s worried about Presley and how this is going to affect her relationship with her parents. I’m worried about her too, but I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t think I can. Not right now anyway.

  “What’d I miss?” Presley says, entering the room.

  “Nothing, Smarty. How’d that go?”

  “Fine,” she answers, sitting beside me on the couch. “It was just Trev.”

  My dad changes the channel and we start watching Frosty the Snowman. “Amanda always loved watching all the Christmas shows.”

  “Me too,” Smarty says, snuggling into me. “This is my favorite.”

  “Mine too,” I whisper before I kiss the top of her head. The rest of our evening is spent watching movies and TV shows all centered around the holiday. When ten o’clock rolls around, I help Pops to bed. He’s starting to get irritated from my help. Too bad. I can’t have something else happen to him and if he needs a little help, then he’s going to get it. By the time I go to my room, Smarty is laying in bed with her eyes closed.

  “Asleep already?” I ask, even though I know she’s not.

  “If I was, would you feel stupid that you asked? I mean, I’m laying in bed with my eyes closed.” She opens one of her eyes and smirks.

  “Yeah, but you were tapping your fingers. Do you do that in your sleep?” I grin, pulling my shirt over my head. Both of her eyes are open now as I take off my jeans and change into a pair of pajama pants. “Drooling isn’t attractive, Smarty.” I laugh.

  “Shut up, Levi. I wasn’t drooling.”

  Her eyes follow me as I turn off the light and crawl into bed beside her. She snuggles up to me and I wrap my arms around her.

  “I have to ask, so don’t glare at me, okay? It’ll be the last time, promise.”

  Presley leans back to look at me, her eyes wary. “What is it, Levi?”

  “Are you sure you want to spend all of break here? You could do half here and half with your family.” I push her hair away from her face. “I don’t want to make things worse, Presley.”

  Her arms squeeze around my waist. “It can’t get any worse than it already is. Besides, here,” she buries her face in my chest, “is exactly where I want to be.”

  Her words warm my heart and all I can do is whisper that I love her and listen as she tells me the same thing. I hold her tight as I drift to sleep.

  ~

  “Levi! Wake up!”

  I roll over to see Presley looking out the window. “What?” I groan.

  “It’s snowing!” She grins at me quickly before looking back outside.

  Laughing, I say, “It’s not Christmas morning and it’s not like we’ve never seen it before, Smarty. We live in the North. Snow isn’t uncommon.”

  “I know that, but I love when it snows in the morning, especially around the holidays. Don’t be such a grinch, Levi.�
� Presley’s smile is breathtaking in combination with her crazy bed-hair. “What are you grinning about, Carr?” she asks, coming over to the bed.

  I grab her wrist and pull her down on me, causing her to giggle. “I’m grinning because you’re beautiful and all mine.” Quickly, I kiss her. “You should go get dressed.”

  “Why?”

  “So I can take you outside where you can play like a little kid.”

  “Are you going to play with me?” She raises an eyebrow and I chuckle.

  “We’ll see.” We get dressed, head downstairs, and find Pops in the kitchen. “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m fixing you lazy bums some breakfast.”

  “Are you sure you need to be doing all of this?” I ask, which earns me a glare.

  “C’mon, Levi,” Presley says, pulling me outside. “He’s fine,” she adds when we walk outside. “He won’t overdo it, so don’t worry.”

  I nod, keeping my thoughts to myself. Presley kneels down and picks up some snow, molding it in her hands. I look around at the houses nearby, all decorated for the holidays. Something hits my shoulder and I look down at the remnants of snow, then to Presley who is grinning widely.

  “Oops. It slipped from my hands.” She smiles.

  “And flew across the yard?”

  Smarty nods.

  “You’re going to regret that, Smarty.” I bend down, pick up some snow to make a snowball, and throw it at her. Quickly, I make another as she does the same while running for cover. Soon, we’re in a full-blown snowball fight and she is losing terribly.

  “Levi,” Presley calls out from behind her pitiful cover of a tree. I’m behind my SUV. “I’m cold, hungry, and ready to surrender.”

  The front door opens and my father announces that breakfast is ready.

  “We’ll be in soon, Pops. Presley was just surrendering.” No way am I going to let her give up, especially when she got the last hit. I have to throw at least one more.

  “Son, you let her come in. I know you better than you think.” He turns to where Presley is hiding. “He’s going to get ya one more time, pretty girl.”

  “Is that true?” she yells to me.

  “Of course, it’s true,” Pops answers. “Now, Levi, you are going to stay right there and let her come in. Understood?”

  “Sure,” I lie.

  “Hands in the air,” he says.

  “What?”

  “You are sneaky, Levi. Hands in the air.”

  “Fine,” I groan, holding my hands up. Pops motions for Presley to come inside and she runs into the house. No worries. I’ll just have to plan a sneak attack.

  Chapter Five

  Presley

  I can’t remember the last time I was involved in a snowball fight. When Victor finally gets me inside, I rush up the stairs to warm up, and change before Levi attacks me again. I put on a clean pair of jeans and my favorite Penguins hoodie. I turn around and see Levi leaning against the door. I didn’t even hear him come in, or shut the door. He is wearing his signature smirk and I can’t help but stare at him.

  “To be continued, Smarty.”

  “What?”

  “The snowball fight is to be continued.”

  “Aw, Levi, are you upset that I won?” I tease. He just glares back at me. I know how much he hates to lose and I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of me. “Come on. Let’s eat and then can we spend the day together? Just the two of us? Maybe have a date day?” I’ve missed hanging out with him.

  “Um, I don’t really want to leave Pops alone for too long.” His eyes grow sad, and I know he’s still concern about him.

  “Levi, he’ll be fine. We’ll be gone for a few hours. I’m sure he would love to have some time to himself too.” I squeeze his hand.

  He looks deep in my eyes, and I know that he’s thinking of an excuse to not go, but he can’t.

  “I need to change, Smarty.” I hate hearing his voice so sad. I just nod and head down stairs.

  Victor is getting the rest of breakfast onto the table when I walk into the kitchen.

  “Need any help?”

  “Nope, just sit down and enjoy, Presley. Where is Levi?”

  “Changing and I’m trying to convince him to spend the day with me, but he doesn’t want to leave you alone. So, I guess we’ll hang out here and watch movies or something.” I try to sound cheerful, but I really want to explore Levi’s town a little bit. Trevor used to tell me all about it and I did visit a couple of times, but Levi grew up here and I bet he knows a lot more to do.

  Just then Levi comes into the kitchen and Victor winks at me. I’m not sure why he did, but I go ahead and dig into the food on my plate. Victor really knows how to cook and I’ve loved everything that he has ever cooked for me.

  “Levi, what are your plans today?” Victor gives him a pointed look.

  “Just hanging out here, figured we could play cards or something?” Levi shrugs.

  “Get out.”

  “What?”

  “Get out of the house. Take Presley out. I’m sure you both are sick of being cooped up in this house as much as I am, so get out.” Victor goes back to eating.

  “Pops-”

  “This conversation is over, Levi James.” Victor’s voice has a stern tone to it, and I just stare at my plate. I didn’t want Victor to use that voice on me.

  We eat in silence, and then when we finish, Levi and I do the dishes. We haven’t said a word to each other. I don’t want him to be forced to hang out with me.

  “I’m gonna get my boots on and then we can go.” He walks away from me before I can say anything. I hear him run up the stairs and I follow him.

  He is sitting on the side of the bed, lacing up his boots. “Hey, if you don’t want to go, we don’t have too.” I sit next to him.

  “No, it’s not that, Smarty. I just don’t want to leave him alone.”

  “Levi,” I rub his back. “He’ll be fine. We’ll stay in town and only be a few minutes away. Okay?”

  He thinks about it for a few minutes, then finally nods.

  After saying bye to Victor, we jump into the SUV and head towards town. Levi still looks sad and this isn’t how I planned our day together at all.

  “Hey, why don’t we just drive around a bit and then head back?” I suggest. “This way we would’ve hung out and that will make your dad happy. Plus, we won’t be that far away from him and can go back.”

  Levi takes a deep breath, slams on the breaks, and pulls onto the side of the road. He puts the car in park and looks over at me. I think he’s mad, but then I see his eyes are sad.

  “I’m sorry, Smarty.”

  “For what?”

  “I’m just…sorry. Look, let’s have a great day together, okay? I think we both need it.” He leans over and kisses me. When he pulls away from me, he has that amazing smile that I love, plastered on his face. He puts the SUV into drive and we head off.

  Our first stop is a shopping center in the middle of town. I’m still undecided on what to get Levi and Victor for Christmas and I’m thankful that we’re going shopping. Levi holds my hand the whole time and I can’t help but smile. I love spending time with Victor, but I want some alone time with Levi too.

  “Hey, I’m going to head over to the sporting goods store.” We had been shopping for over an hour and I was looking for the perfect gift for Levi.

  “Um, okay.” He turns and heads that way.

  “No, I want to go by myself. I need to get a gift…for Trevor,” I stammer.

  “And I can’t come? I thought this was a day about us being together.” He looks at me with a confused expression.

  “Levi, please.” I pout slightly because I know that he can’t say no to it.

  “Fine,” he huffs. “I’ll run over to the drug store real fast and we will meet back here.”

  I give him a quick peck on the cheek and head across the street. I walk through the whole store to see what would be perfect for Levi. The
n I find it. It’s behind the counter in a glass case.

  “May help you?” the man behind the counter asks.

  “I want to purchase that.” I point to the Sidney Crosby edition hockey stick. It’s larger than a hockey stick, and it has Sidney’s face on it, along with his accomplishments on the shaft. I know Levi will love it.

  “Will this be a Christmas gift?”

  “Yes, could you wrap it?”

  The associate nods and takes it down. I pay for it and I’m very thankful he put it in a box so you can’t tell what it is. I also grab a gift card for Victor, because I know he needs some new hunting gear.

  Levi is leaning against the SUV, waiting for me. I put the stick in the back and when Levi asks me what it is, I just say it’s something Trevor wants.

  “Where to next?” I ask.

  “Let’s just drive and see where it takes us?”

  I nod, because I like that idea. Levi heads out onto the street. As he drives, I look out the window and see what a beautiful town this is. It makes me think of when I visited the first time when Trevor and Dad lived here. It seems like a lifetime ago and I can’t believe how far I’ve come. I’m in college and in love, and even though it’s not the same as being with my family during the holidays, I feel as home here with Levi.

  “What are you thinking about, Smarty?” Levi squeezes my thigh.

  “Actually, I’m thinking how happy I am right now.”

  Levi smiles and I can’t help the butterflies I feel from being with him.

  He drives me all over town showing me places that were special to him. I can just imagine him running the streets, playing hockey, and being, well Levi. We finally make it home and we bring our bags in.

  Victor is asleep in his chair when we come in, and I can see some relief on Levi’s face now that we are home and he can see Victor. We take all the stuff upstairs and I flop on the bed. Levi laughs and lays next to me.

  “Did you have fun?” I turn over to look at him.

  “Well, let’s see. I spent all day with you shopping and driving.” He thinks for a second. “Meh. Guess it wasn’t too bad.” He smirks.

  I slap his shoulder and laugh.