Page 16

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHEETAH

I wake in the morning and reach my hand over to the other side of the bed, wanting to feel the warmth of Kam’s naked body but knowing that I won’t. As expected, it’s cold and empty.

I blink my eyes a few times and see her curled up, sitting on a chair staring out the window with nothing but a blanket wrapped around her. She’s so breathtakingly beautiful.

“Morning, Kam bam.”

She turns her head and forces out a smile. It’s clear from the redness and puffiness of her eyes that she was crying.

“What’s wrong?”

She shakes her head. “Nothing.”

“Did you sleep?”

She nods. “A few hours. Merry Christmas.” She masks her sadness and gives me her special smile that I love. “I’m hoping to get into the spirit. Do you have a candy cane for me under there?”

I chuckle as I open the blankets to encourage her to rejoin me. “I do. You’re more than welcome to deck the balls and empty Santa’s sack.”

Her eyes light up as she stands, drops her blanket, and crawls back into bed. She nuzzles into me and my exposed morning wood.

I kiss along her jawline. “Merry Christmas morning.”

She lets out a soft moan. “I’m hoping for a not-so-silent night. Want to fill me up with some holiday spirit?”

I smile into her face. She always makes me smile. Reluctantly pulling away, I reach down and grab an envelope from the bag on the floor next to the bed, excited to hand it to her. “Merry Christmas, Kam bam.”

She raises an eyebrow before shaking the envelope like it’s a regular present. “Hmm. This feels like a gift certificate for a threesome.”

I shake my head. “Nope. Guess again.”

“A gift certificate for anal.”

“No, but that’s not a bad idea.”

“Batting lessons.”

“Kam bam, you led your league in batting last year. I don’t think you need lessons from me.”

“Lessons for you, kitten.”

I laugh. “Not that either. Just open it.”

She tears it open and begins reading. Tears fill her eyes. She whispers, “You remembered?”

“I remember everything you’ve ever said.”

“Is it for both of us?”

I nod. “Once we get back, we’ll have a little over six weeks until I leave for Spring Training in Florida. I found a ballroom dancing class that’s offered twice a week for six weeks. It’s perfect. You can finally take the dance class you always wanted to take.”

She blows out a long breath. “This is really thoughtful. Thank you.”

“It’s a selfish gift. I get to fondle you twice a week, and we can show off our moves on the field this summer during the seventh-inning stretches. We’ll shock the fans with our badass moves. Maybe we can choreograph a routine.”

She giggles. “You’ll probably replace me with a younger and hotter model by then.”

“Maybe. She won’t suck dick as good as you do though. No one makes my South Pole go north like you.”

“So romantic.” She kisses her way down my body. “I’ll give you a reminder of that right now.”

KAMRYN

“Whose deep voice is that?” I ask after hearing a cackle that practically makes the entire house shake.

Cheetah lets out a laugh as we make our way downstairs. “That’s my Aunt Maria. My father’s sister.”

“That’s the voice of a woman?”

“An out-of-shape woman who smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, severely down from the four packs she used to smoke.”

I scrunch my face in disgust. “Ugh. Do people still smoke cigarettes? That’s so twenty-five years ago.”

He nods. “Totally. She’s a fucking character, but at least she has blue eyes. Proof I’m not the bastard child my brothers like to claim I am.”

“Ah, proof you’re a real Gonzales.”

“Yep. I do have a cousin with blue eyes too, but he lives in New York. My mother said he might make an appearance sometime this week. I think he’s dealing with the sale of his mother’s house. Hopefully you’ll get to meet Cruz.”

“Cruz?”

He smirks. “Yep. His name is Cruz too. It’s like our mothers share a brain sometimes. They’re cousins, but they’re very close. More like sisters.”

We arrive downstairs to what sounds like a stadium.

The living room in the Gonzales house can best be described as complete and total mayhem. There are at least forty people chatting and sipping their morning coffee, with all the little ones tearing into their gifts. The floor is covered in discarded wrapping paper, bows, and ribbons.

He looks down at the big bag I’m holding full of gifts. “I told you not to buy anything. I sent all the gifts in advance and wrote that they were from both of us.”

I shrug. “I got small trinkets for your nieces and nephews. Kids should get tons of gifts on Christmas.” I was lucky to get one gift each year. I would have killed to have a Christmas like these kids do, surrounded by dozens of family members and piles of gifts.

“What did you get them? You don’t know what they like.”

“When you’re awake as many hours as I am, stalking social media to see what kids are into isn’t that hard. I know which kids like sports, which like art, which like dance, and which like music.”

He rubs my back. “That was nice of you. Thanks.”

I twirl my diamond ring which feels very heavy on my finger. “I’m a great fiancée. I can’t wait to trade this sucker in five days from now. I’m gonna get a new car with the funds,” I joke.

He laughs. “It’s yours. Do with it as you please.”

My chin drops. “I’m just fucking with you. I’m not keeping this Queen of England ring.”

He shrugs. “Suit yourself. I got it from a bubblegum machine.”

No he didn’t. It’s the real deal. I can tell.

We walk through the living room to an absolute sea of hugs, kisses, and well-wishes. It’s awesome. I quietly add the presents to the pile under the tree.

Cheetah’s mom serves everyone a tray of what appears to be hot chocolate. He smiles at it. “It’s called Abuelita. It’s a Mexican hot chocolate. No one makes it better than Mamá. Best drink you’ll ever have in your life.”

All the mugs are one color except the one she hands me. I raise my eyebrow as she encourages me to take it. “Did you poison mine?”

She smiles. “Cruz said you prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate. I made you a special one.”

Of course he told her. He thinks of everything. I rub his arm and whisper my thanks for always considering me.

Cheetah’s parents and siblings were all kind enough to get me gifts. Shoes, purses, dresses, and a designer wallet. I’m totally overwhelmed by their generosity. I’m a stranger and yet every single one of them thought to buy me a gift. I think I might need to buy an extra suitcase to take all this stuff home with me.

Aunt Maria is a piece of work. Her boobs must each weigh more than me, and I think she cracked one of my ribs when she hugged me, but she’s as happy as can be watching the Christmas morning magic of the Gonzales household unfold. Apparently she never married or had kids, so her brother’s family is her only family. It occurs to me that she may very well be me in forty years, sitting in a chair watching Bailey’s family in action.

As the morning roars on, Cheetah’s mother grabs a can of Diet Coke away from his father. “Ay, dios mio. I told you. No more diet soda. Nunca.”

I bite back my smile, but Cheetah asks, “Why can’t he have soda? He always drinks Diet Coke in the mornings. It’s been his choice of caffeine for as long as I can remember.”

His mother winks at me. “My daughter-in-law-to-be and I couldn’t sleep last night. Apparently, she’s a bit of an insomniac like me. While I usually cook, she likes to spend that time learning new things on the internet. We learned things together. Right, mi hija.”

I grin. “Right, Mamá.”

Cheetah looks at me skeptically and mouths, “Mamá?”

I shrug. “We bonded. Turns out we have more in common than I thought.”

Like that she’s a dirty bitch. We were up half the night laughing as she discovered just how many things you can find on the internet.

Mamá nods emphatically. “I learned that diet soda kills testosterone, which kills erections. Your father is no longer permitted to have diet soda. I thought I threw it all away.”

Cheetah and his siblings all start dry-heaving while his mother and I laugh.

She continues, “And raw eggs have the opposite effect. Raw eggs will now be part of your daily diet, mi amor.”

Cheetah narrows his eyes at me. “What did you do to my sweet, innocent mother?”

I whisper back, “You didn’t think you were coming out of this whole fake fiancée thing unscathed, did you?”

He shakes his head at me, but I can tell he’s amused. He mumbles, “You’re going to pay for that, Kam bam.”

I wink at him. “Can’t wait, kitten.”

As more gifts are opened, I notice he’s constantly checking his phone. It’s very unlike him. I ask, “What’s going on? You can’t watch porn on Christmas morning.”

He lets out a laugh. “It’s not porn, you degenerate. My father’s gift is running late. It was supposed to be here an hour ago. They’re going to text when it arrives.”

“What is it?” I ask.

“My mother is going to kill me, but if you can’t spoil the people you love, what’s the point in all this? It’s—”

Before he can continue, his phone vibrates, and he looks at it. His eyes move to mine, and he bites his lip nervously. “It’s here. I’m going out to deal with the delivery guy. Will you bring everyone outside in five minutes?”

I nod. “Sure.”

He kisses my cheek as his dimples come out. “I’m so excited. See you in a few.”

He really is very cute, especially when he’s excited.

He practically skips out the front door, and I’m hit with yet another wave of emotion at how truly happy he is to give his father a nice gift. At least, I’m assuming it’s nice.

Exactly five minutes later, I manage to wrangle everyone and get them to make their way toward the door, with his parents leading the curious charge. His mother is already mumbling about hoping Cheetah didn’t go overboard.

Everyone steps outside, and his mother gasps. His father has tears pooling in his eyes. There’s a giant, and I mean giant, brand-new shiny black pickup truck with an oversized red and green bow.

His mother croaks out, “Ay, Cruz, what have you done? It’s too much.”

Cheetah has a huge smile as he waves his hand dismissively at her. “It’s not for you. It’s for him. He works his cojones off. He deserves something nice.”

She pinches her eyebrows together. “But he already has a truck.”

Cheetah shrugs. “Give his truck to your church. They can use it to deliver food to shelters.”

His mother, clearly overcome with emotion, nods. His father practically skips over to Cheetah and pulls him into a bear hug. “Thank you, mi hijo. It’s the most beautiful thing these old eyes have ever seen.”

With a tremendous amount of pride, Cheetah shows his father the inside of the truck and teaches him all the bells and whistles, half of which I imagine he’ll never use but Cheetah just wanted him to have.

I would love to be able to do something like this for my father one day. He’s had such a tough life, one that I can’t imagine he wanted. To give him a moment of pure joy like this would be truly incredible.