Mistletoe & Molly

by Matilda Martel

  She shrugs. “You don’t fool me, Molly.”

  “Meaning?” I sneer.

  “You’re dying to spend time with that boy. I saw the way you were looking at him.” She raises an eyebrow and swings the door open.

  I clutch imaginary pearls and feign shock. How dare she figure me out so quickly. “I don’t have the faintest idea...”

  She cuts me off. “That’s enough lies for one evening. Now please, rest for a spell, then make yourself presentable. You’re lucky it’s freezing, or I’d come in here and wrestle your big behind into a dress.”

  I gasp and throw my pillow at the door. “You better stay out of this or I’m leaving early.”

  She ignores me.

  And my behind is not big. Jerk.

  Travis

  https://youtu.be/YvI_FNrczzQ

  When I was a kid, my parents brought me to the Trail of Lights every year. It was a tradition. The city sets up an annual Christmas light display in Zilker Park, the same place that gets torn apart every year for music festivals. Although I missed the last eight years, the ritual never changes. We wander through aimlessly, fawn over the same old displays, listen to music, eat crap and sometimes, like tonight, freeze our asses off.

  “Oh, my god! Why did they want to come tonight?” Molly shivers as she sips some hot chocolate.

  “Aren’t you used to cold weather, yet? You’ve lived in New York for twelve years.” I keep moving, hoping to get us closer to a heat lamp.

  “No, I don’t hang around outside in cold weather.” She chases after me, hopping as she walks.

  We reach the lamp at the same time a group of college students usher in, stealing all the warmest spots around it. I glance down at Molly. Her pale face is blotchy. Her nose is red and runny. I can hear her teeth chatter. But she’s still the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. Her big blue eyes sparkle with the light from a nearby display and although her pouty pink lips are chapping, I’m dying to kiss them.

  When she hugs herself and whimpers, I open my coat and invite her in. She won’t want to take the invitation. She’s too stubborn.

  “No, it’s okay.” She shakes her head and tries to pull her scarf over her hair.

  “I’m not going to grab your ass. This is just for survival’s sake.” I point to our mothers who are still halfway through the trail.

  Her eyes survey the surrounding area, searching for an alternative, but nothing appears. She taps her foot. A few jumps for warmth. One more glance towards her mother and her eyes dart to mine. Before she can think too hard, she rushes forward and wraps her arms around my waist. Smiling from ear to ear, I cover her with my coat and let her melt into me. She’s freezing, but it’s the sweetest, warmest feeling I’ve felt in ages.

  Without thinking, I hug her. I can’t help it. Molly is in my arms for the first time in twelve years. I want to hold her. I never want to let her go. To my surprise, she lets me.

  “Is that better?” We’re so close, I talk into her hair.

  She nods, rubbing her ear against my ribs. “Yes, thank you.”

  “Hey, Moll.” I whisper.

  She gazes up and her chin rests flat on my chest. “Yeah.”

  “Do you want to get out of here?”

  “Where would we go?” She pouts and snuggles into me.

  A hotel. Let’s go to a hotel and I’ll get you warmed up in no time.

  I take a deep breath and go with the safer option. “Coffee. Let’s go grab some coffee.”

  Travis

  “Why have you stayed away so long?” Molly hums a Christmas tune while she pours a glob of honey in a cup of chamomile tea.

  I take a sip of black coffee and consider my answer. Gazing into her blue orbs, I wish I had to courage to tell her the truth. She deserves to know I was miserable. She should know I thought about her daily and dreamt about a moment like this, sitting across from her, more times than I can count. But I chicken out.

  “Did you think I stayed away to avoid you?”

  She smiles as she stirs. “You never could answer a direct question. Easier to turn it around on me and make me look dumb, huh?” She clinks her spoon on the edge of the cup and brings it to her full lips. Savoring it, a smile creeps over her beautiful face as the warmth spreads down her throat and into her chest.

  She’s breathtaking. God, I missed her.

  With a quick step, she jumps out of her seat and peels off her coat. When she walks towards the wall to hang it on a nearby hook, I pull off my jacket and sling it over the back of my chair. Sliding back into her seat, she lifts her spoon, waves it at me and winks.

  “I asked you first, Travis. You’re not getting off that easy.”

  When I hesitate, she waits a beat, then continues. “But if you want to be mysterious, we can just sit here in silence, look out the window and take in the magic of Christmas.” She smirks and takes a sip of tea.

  “Habit.” I shrug. “It was you at first. I waited for years for you to come home for Christmas. To come home for anything. Summer. Thanksgiving. Whatever. But you stayed away in that fucking city. When I left, I wanted to leave all reminders of you behind.” I grimace in remembrance of those terrible years.

  “Oh.” She purses her lips and slouches.

  With her eyes downcast, appearing fascinated with something in her teacup, she whispers, “Did you miss me?”

  The words are still hovering in space between us, when my hand slams down on the table. “Jesus Christ, Molly. Of course, I missed you!”

  Her eyes shoot open then narrow as her brow creases. “God damn, Trav. It was just a question. No need to wake the dead.” She rolls her eyes and takes another sip, infuriating me with her apathy.

  But she’s just getting started.

  When I open my mouth to speak, she lifts her palm and then holds a finger over her mouth. I’m confused. I look around. Right to left. Is someone watching us? My eyes return to her. Her neck is beet red. Her shoulders are tense. There’s a tick in her jaw. It’s clenched and wound as tightly as her tiny fists. If she had hackles, they’d be raised.

  Oh, shit. She’s trying to calm herself down.

  Through gritted teeth, she rasps, “If you missed me so much, why didn’t you fight for me?”

  “What?” My mouth falls open. My heart nosedives into my stomach and time stops momentarily.

  “You heard me!” She points an accusing finger.

  “Why wasn’t I worth fighting for? I loved you. I was crazy about you. You felt bad because I didn’t come crawling back to Austin. But you never once got your bony ass to New York to fight for the woman you loved. Not once! I’m outta here!” Flushed with anger, she slings her purse over her shoulder, stumbles out of her chair and storms out of the café.

  The few tables around me stare in stunned amazement. They’re judging me. I can feel it. And they should. I didn’t fight for her. She’s right. I wanted her to come home. I waited for her to come back to me, but there was nothing stopping me from taking a plane or bus to New York. Why the hell didn’t I do that? What kept me from going? Pride. It was pride. She left me. She broke my heart. Deep down, I wanted her to fail and come home.

  Oh, god. No. I can’t be that big of an asshole.

  Someone shakes their head. A woman nearby whispers asshole under her breath. She knows. My pulse spikes. My stomach twists in knots. Everyone knows the truth about Travis Ford.

  He’s the world’s biggest asshole.

  He’s the guy who didn’t fight for his woman.

  I never fought for my Molly.

  But I will now.

  Molly

  https://youtu.be/UkOKCWDJ4iA

  I push the door open and a blast of cold air slaps my face. This is precisely what I need. Like a bucket of cold water, this air represents reality. Truth is cold. Reality is cold. For a few moments I lost myself. Wrapped in his arms, cuddled into his huge chest and soothed in his warmth, I forgot about all those years of waiting. Wondering what the hell I did to deserve his callousness.


  I just wanted to play piano!

  Wiping my tears, I shiver and pace. In my frenzied rush, I forgot my coat. There’s no going back. I left. It’s too humiliating to storm back in with my tail between my legs and reach for my coat. I said my peace. I addressed twelve years of heartache and feelings of inadequacy with a simple question followed by a small tantrum. I’m satisfied. Mama can buy me a new coat. This is partially her fault, anyway. I’ll give her a piece of my mind when I get home.

  But for a now, I’m carless. No subway. Buses don’t go out to the hills. My options are limited. Scrolling through my phone, I search for a ride. They must have ride share. This city’s huge. The closest car is eight minutes away. I groan and shake my fist. That’s ridiculous! I never wait over five minutes in New York.

  I swear, I’m not high maintenance. I’m still a Texas girl. But the cold is killing me, and I can’t wait inside. I resign myself to this first world problem and inch closer to a nearby table’s heat lamp. Just before I hit confirm, a blanket of warmth covers me, and someone snatches my phone out of my hand.

  “What the fuck?” I cover my mouth. I don’t like to use the f-word. Swore it off years ago. Too many people throw it around like hello in New York and I was sounding like a sailor.

  It’s Travis. Without a word, he shoves my phone in his pocket, then pushes my arms into the sleeves of my coat. When he buttons it, his voice cracks.

  “I’m sorry, Moll.”

  I blink in surprise. “You don’t need to say that. It’s been over for years.”

  “Let me say this.” A sniffle catches my attention. When I look up, his skin is flushed, and his amber eyes appear glassy.

  “You were right. I never fought for you. I waited for you to come home. I thought you’d eventually come back to me. I blamed you for leaving. And when you never came back, I convinced myself you never loved me.”

  He takes a deep breath and brings his forehead to mine. My hateful eyes betray me and well with tears. When he sighs and wraps his arms around my waist, my lower lip joins the party. Pouting, I try to squeak out a few words, but he stops me.

  “I was wrong, Molly. No one loved me like you. You were my soul mate and I ruined everything. That’s why I’ve been so fucking miserable without you. I have missed you every single fucking day. I miss you now. I always will. How the hell do I ask you for another chance after twelve years?” He kisses my nose and his warm breath surrounds me.

  “Trav...” My voice falters. Between the cold air and my rapid heart rate, I fight to catch my breath.

  “Don’t answer yet, Molly. But give me this.” He lifts my chin and smothers my lips with a wild intensity that steals my breath. I go limp. Maybe I swooned. It doesn’t matter. He holds me up while he feasts. While patrons of Mozart’s Coffee House look on, Travis Ford has his way with my lips, groaning with passion while our tongues dance with years of ferocious unrequited love.

  For the sake of propriety and decency, I try to push him away, but it’s only seconds before I bring him back in, desperate to trail kisses down his earlobe, lick his neck and lay my hands all over this new hard body so unfamiliar to me.

  I miss my old skinny Travis. But I’ve never been one to shy away from change. If we don’t change, we don’t grow. Or something like that.

  “Baby, let’s go somewhere. I’m so fucking hard for you.” He purrs in my ear.

  I look down and take a gander at the jutting erection between us. Ripples of lusty adrenaline course through my veins and drip into my panties. My limbs shiver. My core trembles with a need that won’t be denied. It’s been too long. Far too long. I’ve dated, but I haven’t been with anyone since I left Austin. Sex without love was never an option and I’ve never loved anyone but Travis.

  “Where?” I push away and try to think.

  He brings me back into his arms and leads me to his mother’s car. “A hotel. Let’s go to a hotel. We can spend the whole night making love. We never got to do that as teenagers.”

  My knees weaken. Fortunately, he’s holding me.

  “You know I want to, but I can’t do a walk of shame in the morning. To my parents’ house. During the holidays! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve’s Eve.” I bite my fingernails and look to him for answers.

  Our eyes meet. This simmering desire won’t wait until tomorrow. I need dick. I know it’s the holidays. I know it’s inappropriate and dangerous considering the heartache I’ve carried around for the last decade, but this is truly necessary. Almost medical. Travis meets my qualifications. I still love him. Maybe this won’t last past the holidays, but it isn’t sex without love.

  One more kiss and he starts the car. “If you’re going to make this difficult, I’ll take you home. Then I’ll sneak into your bedroom like the old days.”

  Travis

  It’s too early to head over. Her parents are still awake. Loafing around my bedroom, going out of my mind thinking about kissing Molly for the first time in twelve years, I jump on my computer to stalk her social media. I do this every night. It’s a sickness. And if I can’t make this work, this creepy behavior will only get worse.

  Someone from high school, a girl named Reese Johnson-Delaney, just posted a photo of them in their cheerleading uniforms. It’s a throwback from senior year. My heart flutters. My mouth waters. I spent many evenings stroking off to visions of Molly in this red, white and blue get-up.

  Good god. Look at her. I remember this day.

  I’m a wicked man. She’s seventeen here, but this is my Molly. We’d been together for four months when this was taken. It’s two days before her eighteenth birthday. Two days before we lost our virginity to one another. How the hell did I ever get Mary Margaret Gunther, perfect, gorgeous Molly, to fall in love with me? It made no sense to me or anyone else.

  I’m not being modest. I was hideous.

  Cursed by unruly hair I could never control, I kept it long to disguise my giant head. Monthly dermatologist appointments hardly made a difference in my acne. These yellow-brown cat eyes that only she ever loved, looked twice as big with my thick prescription glasses. My lips were too big for my skinny face and I was too tall for high school. None of my clothes ever fit me right. I was a fucking mess. The only person who ever looked at me and not right through me, was Molly.

  I never expected her to give me a shot. But she did. After years of wanting, waiting, dying to be with her, it all came together so easily.

  A kiss under the mistletoe.

  One long kiss under the mistletoe at Reese Johnson’s parent’s lake house led to more kisses in the backseat of my car. Those kisses led to maniacal dry humping in my parent’s den while they attended a New Year’s Eve party downtown. We did as much as we could and pushed the envelope, day after day, week after week, but we promised to wait until her eighteenth birthday to have sex. By the time they took this photo, my balls must have been as blue as this tiny skirt.

  My finger traces over the screen, outlining her teenage body, the one I thoroughly pillaged two days later. A smile creeps over my lips. I’ll never forget the look on her face the first time I slid inside her. The way she felt. The way her body gripped my cock before she arched her back, bit her lip and let go, surrendering to me, to sex, to the thrill of being claimed.

  Leaning back in my chair, I unzip my jeans, pull out my stiff cock and think about that night.

  “Baby, let me in.” It was well past midnight. A school night. Neither of us had the willpower to wait for the weekend. We’d set a date months earlier and that date had arrived.

  “Lower your voice.” She giggled just before her beautiful face peeked through the curtains and slowly raised the window.

  I crawled in like a cat burglar, scrambled across her bedroom floor, and gazed up at the sight of my Molly in a thin cotton baby doll teddy that left nothing to the imagination. Short and low-cut, it revealed most of her round, ample breasts and hid none of her gorgeous, tight behind. My eyes almost flew out of their sockets. Smiling sheepishly, she twirled ar
ound for my benefit, then flipped up the bottom to show me she’d left off wearing panties.

  My jaw dropped and our night almost ended before it started. She was beautiful. A pornographic dream. My biggest fantasy. And she was mine. All fucking mine.

  While she stood in the dark, bathed in moonlight, I rose to my knees and walked her towards her bed. I felt like an animal. Like a predator pouncing on his innocent prey. But we were both innocent. We were experiencing everything for the first time, and I needed her to enjoy it as much as I knew I would.

  Licking her legs, I spread her thighs and dragged my tongue towards her naked, bare, virgin pussy. One lick and a greedy growl rose from the pit of my stomach, demanding more. A stroke to her clit and I eagerly plastered my face into her folds, overcome with a shark-like frenzy to consume her whole.

  I wasn’t aroused. I was provoked.

  It wasn’t the first time I was tasting her, but it was the first time I’d had this much room to do it right. I’d been desperate to see her in all her glory. It had been a fixation and now face to face with Molly’s pussy, I was mesmerized. Like an idiot, I’d worn my menacing glasses, fogged up and smudged until they impeded my hunger.

  But I’d had enough. Molly needed to be satisfied.

  Tossing them off, I threw her legs over my shoulders and buried my tongue in her glistening slit. Her soft moans turned to whimpers as her hips elevated into my mouth. Pulling my hair, rocking her hips, she directed me to her spot and taught me how to please her. I feathered her clit, suctioned and sucked until her soft moans grew stronger, louder and her pussy overflowed with so much honey I thought I’d drown in it.

  She was so wet, I had to touch her. I had to drag my finger down her slit and sink it inside to feel how hot she’d feel. I wanted a taste of the warmth that would soon surround my cock when I guided it deep inside her. With my mouth on her clit and my fingers inside her, she quickly unraveled. Moaning, sinking into my hand and tugging my locks, I felt her tense. In one hard thrash, her body stiffened, her hips rose in mid-air then slammed down on the mattress. A silent whimper evolved into a guttural wail and then my sweet Molly shattered into a writhing, spastic orgasm that took my fucking breath away.