Page 37 of Everything In Between

THIRTY

jersey

“Jersey,” a sing-song voice whispers in my ear, startling me awake. I groan into the soft pillows and stretch. “Wake up, Jersey.”

Slowly, I flutter my eyelids open to see Hayes staring down at me, scruffy stubble lining his jaw and his eyes bright with excitement. I stretch again, fighting off the grin at seeing that level of affection in his eyes.

He leans down and presses a kiss to the tip of my nose. “Wakey, wakey.”

“Too early,” I mumble, still grinning despite the ungodly hour.

“It’s ten o’clock.” He laughs.

“Too early.” My eyes squeeze shut again and I will sleep to overtake me.

“It’s Christmas.” He runs his nose along my jaw before placing another kiss by the crook of my ear. “And there are cinnamon rolls waiting for you downstairs.”

I open one eye and my mouth involuntarily waters at the thought. “Cinnamon rolls?”

Hayes leans back and gives me another shit-eating grin. “Yup, but you gotta get out of bed if you want one.”

“Ugh, so mean,” I grumble. Despite myself, I toss back the covers and step into the bathroom so I can put in my contacts and wash away the remnants of sleep from my eyes.

When I emerge, Hayes is lounging on the bed, arms tucked behind his head. He eyes me with a smirk on his face.

“What?” I ask him, suspiciously.

“Nothing. Just like the sight of you walking around my bedroom, like it’s yours.”

My cheeks flush and I pull one of Hayes’s shirts out of his dresser as well as a pair of my own underwear from my drawer. His shirt swallows me, acting like a loose-fitting dress, falling past my hips. “So, about these cinnamon rolls?”

Hayes pushes himself off the bed, still limping quite a bit from the knee injury that’s only a few days old.

He’s taken to hobbling around with his crutches and using me as a support whenever necessary—which suspiciously is all the time.

I tend to think he likes to be touching me at every possible opportunity.

Not that I’m complaining.

Slowly, we make it down to the kitchen, passing by the living room on the way.

I nearly stop dead in my tracks when I catch sight of his Christmas tree standing proudly next to the fireplace.

It’s not the tree that’s giving me pause, or even the sight of Periwinkle sitting on the couch in a Santa hat and a red plaid sweater, but rather the presents sitting underneath.

“Hayes,” I say, breathlessly. He follows my line of sight and chuckles.

“Some are for my parents and Riley, too. They’ll be over later today to exchange gifts,” he answers my lingering, silent question. His parents stayed in town after his injury and are staying at a hotel not too far from his house. Riley flew into Milwaukee last night, and I can’t wait to meet her.

A sense of relief overcomes me. Hayes and I agreed to exchange Christmas presents this year, even though we’ve only officially been dating a few months. I definitely didn’t go overboard with my gifts, so I would’ve felt guilty if he had.

“Come on.” He tilts his head sideways. “Breakfast first, presents later.”

In the kitchen, I find a pan of melty cinnamon rolls waiting for us, along with some coffee. I plate up two of them each and place them on a tray along with mugs of coffee to take back into the living room so we can eat by the light of the glittering Christmas tree.

After Hayes settles in his seat, finding a comfortable position for his knee, we waste no time digging into the cinnamon rolls before they get cold.

“Oh my gosh,” I mutter, shooting him an impressed glance. “This is incredible.”

He chuckles and then leans forward, wiping his thumb along my bottom lip, collecting the icing that slipped from my bite. I track his movements, watching as he takes his thumb and sticks it in his mouth, licking the frosting off.

“You give me too much credit,” he says once he’s finished licking the frosting off his finger. “These are just the canned ones.”

“Well, they’re good anyway,” I say with a shrug, taking another bite.

We both polish off our breakfasts in record time, unable to help ourselves from the warm, sweet treat.

Once our plates are empty, I collect and take them back into the kitchen.

When I come back, I gather up the presents from underneath the tree, carrying them over and placing them on the cushion between us.

Hayes picks up a small box wrapped flawlessly with a shiny silver bow on the top and hands it to me. Once the package is in my hands, I tease, “Did you wrap this?”

He chuckles. “Hell no. My housekeeper helped me out. If I had wrapped them, they would not be nearly as fancy.”

Fighting off a smile, I start on the edge, sliding my finger under the paper and opening it up delicately.

“Oh, come on, just rip it,” Hayes teases.

I blink at him, unsure that I’ve ever ripped a present open since I was a child.

My cheeks warming a bit, I do as he says, clumsily ripping the paper and finding I enjoy it much more this way.

Beneath the discarded wrapping paper lies an unmistakable jewelry box.

Carefully, I lift the lid and reveal the present inside. My breath catches in my throat at the sight of it—a gold-plated number eighteen necklace, Hayes’s jersey number. Across the front are a multitude of diamonds, or what I suspect are diamonds.

“Are these real?”

Hayes nods, watching me warily to see if I like his gift.

I’m speechless really. I can’t imagine how much something like this would’ve cost him.

Though I know with Hayes’s yearly contract, it’s probably a measly drop in the bucket.

He doesn’t act like he’s loaded, but there’s no doubt he’s living comfortably like the rest of the big name football players in the league.

“Wow,” I whisper, studying the necklace again. My fingers run over the beveled edge and the ridges of the diamonds. “This is beautiful.”

I hear him swallow next to me. “Do you like it?”

“I love it,” I correct him. “Will you put it on me?”

Hayes’s eyes go soft. “Of course. Come here.”

His instructions send butterflies through my belly, and I hop off the couch to the floor, positioning myself in front of him and handing over the necklace before pulling my hair off my neck.

I hear him fumble with the packaging, trying to get the dainty necklace out of the box using his big hands.

Then he’s reaching around my head, positioning the necklace and clasping it at the back.

When he’s done, he leans down and kisses my shoulder next to the strap of my tank top, sending tingles down that entire side of my body.

“Let me see,” he says against my skin, his voice husky and low.

I turn around ungracefully on my knees, dropping my hair off to one side. Hayes takes me in, his chin lifting and a proud smile gracing his lips.

“Fuck, honey. I love the sight of my number on your body,” he rumbles, eyes glued to the pendant lying on top of my breastbone. His praise sends my head spinning with sensations I don’t think I’ll ever get over—passion, adoration, longing.

“I like the way it feels on my body,” I say, my cheeks heating with the admission.

Hayes seems to like that and his eyes darken. His voice is a low growl when he says, “I’m going to need you to open your next one before I take you right here in front of the Christmas tree.”

I laugh to myself, reaching for the second smaller box that he gave me and setting it in my lap.

To be honest, I wouldn’t mind a little sexy interlude, but with Hayes’s injury still so new, I know that is unlikely to happen right now.

Hopefully next year we’ll be able to make plenty new memories of us making love in front of the Christmas tree.

“Here, it’s your turn now.” I hand him a box, feeling giddy at the prospect of him opening his very first Christmas present from me.

“For me?”

“Just for you.” I wink. I picked out a watch for him, engraved on the back with our names and the phrase Everything In Between.

Hayes runs his thumb over the engraving and looks at me with deep, emotion filled eyes. The intensity of his amber eyes as he stares at me makes me ache for him. Seeming to catch onto this, he leans over and cups my cheek, kissing me deeply.

When he pulls away, I can tell he’s thinking about having sex in front of the Christmas tree again. The idea is enthralling, and I lick my lower lip. His eyes have darkened as he tracks the movement. Moments later, he rakes his gaze over me, appreciating every little inch of me.

My heart feels full as I preen under his gaze. Leaning forward, I kiss him again, wishing I could freeze time. I never thought sharing a Christmas with someone could be so intimate, but I should’ve known Hayes has a way of making everything so much more exhilarating.

“Thank you,” he says, focusing on the watch as he slides it on his wrist. “This is great.”

“You’re welcome,” I whisper, loving the way the watch looks on Hayes’s wrist. “I was hoping you’d like it.”

“It’s honestly perfect. I’ve been needing a new watch, and now I get to carry a piece of you with me when I wear it. Now open your second one.”

My heart skips a beat and I suck in a tight breath, dropping my eyes from him—he couldn’t possibly know how spot on his words are.

I waste no time ripping apart the packaging and revealing the box inside. I tear through the thin layer of tape and pull out the Styrofoam box. I hate Styrofoam, but I manage to put my ick on the back burner and open up the present.

What’s inside is even more stunning, even more breathtaking, than the expensive necklace that’s now sitting proudly around my neck.

“Oh my god,” I say, taking in the small snow globe in my hands. “This is—”

Before I can finish my sentence, I give it a shake, watching as the snow flits around the globe surrounding the couple sledding down a steep hill, arms wrapped tightly around each other.

“That day was really special to me,” Hayes says, his voice sounding thick. “I wanted to commemorate it. I hope it’s not too cheesy.”

“Not at all,” I respond, eyes still glued to the pair on the sled. “Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever gotten something more thoughtful.”

To anyone else, it may appear a trinket, a souvenir, to my time spent here in Wisconsin. But to me, it’s the immortalization of when I knew what we had was special, and what we could build together could be something magical.

I’ll never forget falling asleep that night, tucked warm and safe against Hayes’s bare chest in front of the flickering fireplace. The minute I closed my eyes, I could see it all, exactly what he said. The milestones.

The good. The bad. And everything in between.

Now, more than ever, I want that with him. We’ve barely begun our journey together, but I know without a doubt that it’s going to be the journey, the partnership, of a lifetime.

“Your second present isn’t really something tangible,” I say. His eyes crease a little in suspicion. “It’s more of something I want to share with you.”

He’s been asking me for this, waiting patiently until I was ready to share this side of me with him. Share the side of me that only those closest get to see.

My skin feels itchy, but I push my discomfort aside, knowing sharing this vulnerable side of myself with him will be worth it. I know I can trust Hayes, and I want him to know this part of me.

He’s watching me intently, waiting for me to share what’s on my mind. “Okay.” His confusion dissipates, and he waits for me to explain myself further.

Setting the snow globe down, I hold up one finger. “One second.”

I bound up the stairs, throwing open the door to Hayes’s room and rummage around in the closet to find my stashed guitar.

Unbuckling the case, I run my fingers over the smooth strings of the instrument and pull it out, hoisting it up into my arms and setting the strap around my shoulders before going back to the living room.

Hayes is waiting patiently. When I round the corner, his eyes widen as he takes in the guitar in my hands.

I brace myself and raise my chin, knowing that this is an important moment for the both of us.

“I want to sing for you. One of my songs.”