“I’m going to kill them.” Lennox tries to pull out of my arms, but I pull her right back.
“We’ll kill them together. Later. There’s something more important I want to do right now.”
I find her lips in the darkness, and my entire world lights up. Her lips are soft and taste like vanilla and hope. I want her in my life. Always and forever. I do. Or whatever it is. Whatever promise I have to make to keep her, I will.
She threads her fingers through my hair, deepening the kiss, deepening my love for her.
When she pulls back, a growl escapes my throat.
“Oh, I almost forgot. I have a present for you,” she says and flips on the lights.
My eyes take a moment to adjust to the room and when they do, she’s handing me something.
A sturdy, wooden chest. The chest I gave her.
I run my fingers over the carved wooden lid, the same symbol on my chest.
“I know yours burned, so I figured we could share mine.” She bites her bottom lip.
I want to cry, but I’ve done enough of that for the foreseeable future. So I school my features into a solemn frown. “You’re re-gifting me your old things,” I say.
Her eyes go wide. “What? No— I… You lost your grandpa’s I...” She covers her mouth with her hand, but it doesn’t stop me from seeing the red creep into her cheeks.
I pry her hand away from her mouth. She should never hide such a thing of beauty. “I’m kidding. I love it. Thank you.”
She smiles that soft sweet smile that has always had me rolling over like a puppy and begging for more.
She plays with the collar of my shirt, and I shiver when her fingernail tickles my skin. She goes up on her tiptoes and I drop my head, but she turns my face to the side and puts her lips near my ear.
“Will you still love me if I say, you owe me a hundred dollars?”
I scratch my head, confused, before it hits me. But she’s already sprinting out of the room.
“I'm not giving you money for dating another man,” I holler, chasing after her.
Everyone is in the family room, and I don’t even care. When I catch Lennox there, I give her a kiss, long and hard, to the cheers of our audience. They wanted it. They got it.
Someone clears their throat. “Hey, maybe not so close to the Christmas tree, guys.”
Epilogue
Grant
Three months later
“I bet you ten bucks she’s wearing tennis shoes so she can take off before making it down the aisle,” Sean whispers in my ear.
I casually elbow him in the gut, and he groans. This is my wedding; I can’t really take him out right now.
My wedding. I never thought I’d say that. I also never thought I’d be waiting for Lennox to walk down that aisle. We only dated a month before getting engaged. Why wait when all we’ve ever wanted was each other?
I look out at the crowd. Everyone I have ever loved and cared about is here. Even my dad. He is doing better for now, and I’m enjoying getting to know the man I always wished for while growing up.
Lennox and I closed on our house a month ago and we filled it with things we picked out together. We made it our home. And now when I go home, I know I won’t be alone anymore. Because she’s there. She’s my home.
But where is she now?
I send her a text.
