Page 112 of Elite Connections: an LGBTQ Romance Charity Anthology

One year later

Christmas morning,and I wake up the same way I’ve woken up every day over the last year. With Liam’s arms wrapped around me.

I roll over so I can face him, then lean forward and place a soft kiss on his lips.

“Merry Christmas,” I whisper.

“It’ll be a whole lot merrier if you let me sleep longer,” he grumbles, eyes still closed.

“But it’s Christmas.” As I climb out of bed, I accidentally pull half the blankets with me, exposing Liam.

Shit. Normally, seeing my boyfriend laid out naked would tempt me back into bed to have another round of the fun we had last night, but not today.

Because right now, I’m almost vibrating in excitement about the present I have to give to Liam.

Liam opens one eye, then shuts it again, groaning.

“Come on. Mom will have breakfast ready. You don’t want to miss her Christmas breakfast,” I say.

It’s Liam’s first full-immersive O’Conner Christmas experience. Last Christmas, we’d only just started officially dating, and we hadn’t felt comfortable staying the night at each other’s place or abandoning our families completely.

But this Christmas, my mother has incorporated Liam and his dad into all our family’s festivities. One major advantage of getting together with the boy who lived next door—the commute is not exactly a hardship.

Liam’s still slowly waking up, so I riffle through his duffel bag and pull out some clothes for him to dress in because functioning well first thing in the morning isn’t something my boyfriend excels at.

Liam continues to grumble as he puts on the clothes I’ve picked out, but after he’s dressed, he pulls me into a sweet kiss.

I smile as we pull apart.

Everyone talks about friendship being such a great basis for a relationship, but it turns out that being enemies for most of your life works well too.

Liam and I moved in together after only a few months of dating because it seemed ridiculous not to live with each other when we were spending every night together.

And together, we’ve managed to navigate the stresses in our professional life in the last year, him starting his gym, me continuing to stand up to Paul and lead my company in the direction I want.

Liam has been an incredible sounding board and cheerleader, and I like to think I’ve done the same thing back to him.

With a few insults thrown in for fun, of course.

“Coming, buttercup?” I ask as I open the door.

“Sure thing, my sweet elf,” he replies.

I raise an eyebrow at him. “Elf?”

He shrugs. “I figure we’d go for a Christmas theme today.”

I’m still laughing when we arrive downstairs into the kitchen. Sure enough, my mother has an amazing breakfast spread laid out with a frittata shaped like a Christmas tree, eggnog French toast, and gingerbread pancakes.

Liam’s dad is already there, enjoying a cranberry mimosa.

“Breakfast first, then presents,” my mother says to us.

She meets my eyes and gives me a co-conspirator smile. By necessity, I’ve had to rope my parents and Liam’s dad into helping me with Liam’s Christmas present.

I can barely eat a bite of breakfast because nerves are swarming in my stomach.

I really, really hope Liam likes his present.

When everyone has finished breakfast, we move to the lounge, where a stack of Christmas presents is waiting under a blinking Christmas tree.

“Where’s Dad?” Liam asks, looking around for his father, who has disappeared between the kitchen and the lounge.

“I think he said something about going to your house to get presents,” Mom says.

“Okay.” Liam’s forehead is furrowed.

“I’ll go help him carry them.” I bolt in the direction of the door.

Liam’s eyebrows fly up, but I’m out the door before he can question me.

I meet Liam’s dad at the front door where he’s coming in. He hands Liam’s present to me with a smile.

Liam looks up when I enter the room, the confused expression on his face morphing into shock.

“Merry Christmas,” I say.

The golden retriever puppy in my arms squirms, so I carry her over to Liam and put her in his lap.

His arms immediately come out to cradle her, and she licks his face.

“Holy shit,” he says. He buries his face in her fur.

I hover next to them. “That’s a good ‘Holy shit,’ right? Not a ‘Why the hell did you make a major life decision without consulting me’ curse?”

When he glances up at me, his face is full of emotion. “It’s definitely a good holy shit.”

“I thought we could try out our skills with a dog first before we advance to kids,” I say.

“I can’t wait to see the kind of kids you two produce,” my dad comments.

Liam just throws me a grin as he pets our new family member. “Imagine the pranks we’ll be able to teach them. They’ll be the most awesome pranksters ever to live.”

I laugh at that as I sit on the couch next to him, reaching out to pat the puppy. She moves to lick my hand, continuing to cuddle into Liam’s chest.

“I thought we could call her Maxine,” I say. “In tribute to Max.”

He smiles. “I love that.”

“Anyway, it’s your turn to give me my gift.” I don’t add the beat that buttercup at the end of the sentence, but it’s definitely in my intonation. Liam and I have still retained our desire to one-up each other, only now it’s morphed into a contest over who can be the best boyfriend. Which might be a tad heathier than the dynamic we had growing up.

Liam gently moves Maxine off himself and onto my lap, then gets to his feet. He looks hesitant.

“Uh…it turns out I had a gift idea along the same lines,” he says.

My eyes widen. “Don’t tell me we’ve now got two puppies?”

“No. My gift is slightly smaller.” He runs his hands through his hair. “But it has the same idea of looking toward the future.”

He heads to the Christmas tree and rummages underneath.

My heart stops when I see the shape of the present in his hands as he comes back to me.

Because…because that looks like a ring box.

And the fact he’s currently dropping onto one knee in front of me confirms it.

I swallow the lump of emotion clogging my throat, burying my hand in Maxine’s soft fur to keep myself calm.

“I always like it when you drop to your knees,” I manage to say.

“I heard that,” my mother groans.

Shit. I was so focused on Liam in front of me I forgot we weren’t alone.

“This is why you shouldn’t propose in front of our parents,” I inform Liam.

He raises an eyebrow. “Are you seriously critiquing my proposal technique when I’m halfway through it?”

Oops. “Sorry. Keep going, by all means,” I say.

Liam holds out the ring box to me.

“Matthew O’Connor, for years, you were the person who made me the angriest. And for the last year, you’ve been the person who’s made me the happiest. Will you do me the honor of becoming my husband?”

Any smart-ass comment I’m brewing dies when I see the emotion glistening in his hazel eyes.

“Yes,” I whisper. “Yes, I will.”

I take the ring box from his hand and unwrap it to find two matching platinum rings.

I glance over to see my mother wiping tears away from her eyes.

“I thought I was the one who was supposed to cry,” I say.

“I’m just remembering the time I got called to school because you two had wrecked the art classroom with that paint war. For some reason, I never predicted we would be at this moment.”

“Did you notice how he only decided he liked me after I became a millionaire?” I ask as I slide my ring on.

“Well, there has to be some perks for enduring your company,” Liam says.

I’m laughing as I lean forward to kiss my fiancé for the first time.

That afternoon, I send a photo to all my friends showing me squashed up against Liam, holding out our hands with our matching engagement rings, with Maxine snuggled between us. I caption the photo: Best Christmas ever.

After I post it, I glance out the window to where Liam is out in the backyard, patiently throwing a ball to Maxine. She seems naturally gifted in the fetch-and-chew aspect but hasn’t quite grasped the concept of returning it yet.

My phone beeps with a reply from Andrew.

Massive congratulations! At some point, I may need to chat with you about what happens when you fall in love with your enemy from high school…

I blink at his message.

Andrew’s falling in love with his enemy from high school? I thought he was in London? He’s been quite secretive about exactly what he’s been up to the last few times we’ve chatted, only telling me he was working on a “project.” There has to be a story there.

I’m sure I’ll hear about it soon.

But right now, I’ve got to go join my fiancé and puppy.

* * *