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FORTY-ONE

Ellie

CHRISTMAS

M erry Christmas!” My sister’s arms flung around me, pulling me into a hug.

“Hi, Abs,” I said, hugging her back just as tight. “I missed you.”

She squeezed tighter. “Me too. I know why you left, but damn, it’s weird having you so far away.”

I rolled my eyes. “Says the professional jet setter who stayed an extra two weeks in France because she was having such a good time.”

My older sister’s cheeks pinked. She’d inherited our dad’s coloring—thanks to the Italian American on his side—and tanned beautifully, plus having dark, thick hair. But just like me, all of her emotions showed on her face. “About that…”

“What?” I raised an eyebrow. “You’re not going to tell me the two of you eloped, right?”

“No. God. Of course not. It was just a fling.” She waved me off. “He was good in bed, but I don’t foresee it going any further.”

Oh. “I’m sorry, sis.” I wanted her to find her person. Especially now that everything with Owen and I was so good. I wanted her to have someone to love.

“But I wanted to tell you I?—”

“Girls!” My mom’s voice interrupted us, and she practically squealed.

I turned to her, and I couldn’t hold back the tears even if I wanted to. “Mom.” I’d missed her so much.

“Oh, my love.” She pulled me into her arms. “I’m so glad you’re home.” She rubbed my back in that comforting way she had ever since we were kids. “When did you get in? I thought you wouldn’t be here till later?”

“Well, we left Seattle earlier than we originally planned. Owen couldn’t wait to be home.” I looked over to the living room, where he was sitting with my dad, and I had to bite my lip to stop from smiling. “Honestly, neither could I. I can’t believe how long it’s been.” We’d brought our bags in earlier, and he’d carried them up to my childhood bedroom. Never in all my teenage fantasies had I ever imagined us sharing a bed in my parents’ house, but apparently it was happening tonight.

“I’m so happy you two worked things out, sweetie.” My mom cupped my cheeks, squishing them together slightly like I was still her toddler and not a grown woman. “It was hard seeing you two mopey all those years.”

Crossing my arms over my chest, I frowned. “I wasn’t mopey .” Maybe I hadn’t really been living as fully as I was now, but I’d still made it out the other side.

“Don’t give her a hard time, Mom,” Abigail said. “Ellie figured things out in the end, didn’t she?”

My mom nodded thoughtfully. “She did. Now it’s your turn.” She poked my older sister in the arm. “Someone’s going to give me grandkids eventually, right?”

Abigail winced, but quickly recovered. “Just don’t hold your breath that I’m going to blink and find the love of my life just standing in front of me.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m perfectly capable of doing life without a husband.” Abs bit her lip, like she wanted to say something else, but decided against it .

I wondered what she was going to tell me before mom interrupted us. Hopefully, I’d find out later.

“You can do anything you put your mind to, sweetheart. But you never know,” my mom added with a shrug. “Your father and I were best friends for almost a decade before we realized we were in love with each other.”

I was glad it hadn’t taken Owen and me that long to figure it out. Sure, we were still young—he turned twenty-five next month—but we hadn’t needed a marriage pact to decide to be together. A part of me would always love my parent’s story, though. Just like I loved mine.

Owen was my first and only, and I was his.

I slung an arm around my mom and my sister. “Come on. Let’s go put our pjs on and watch some cartoons. It’s Christmas, after all. I want to spend every second of these next four days celebrating.”

If it was all the time we had, I wanted to make it count.

I had always loved this time of year. There was something about the magic of Christmas, of the chill in the air and the way it brought everyone together that couldn’t be beat. This year, it was even more special.

Because everyone I loved was under one roof. I sat on Owen’s lap as we watched Christmas cartoons until the late hours of the night, drinking cider. The house was warm and full of laughter, and it was perfect.

Everything that I’d ever wished for.

I smiled, snuggling deeper into the covers and enjoying the warmth of my bed.

Something hard pressed into my ass, and I rubbed against it, letting out a small moan from my throat.

“Ellie?” There was a rasp against my ear. Blinking my eyes open, I opened my eyes to find a smiling, handsome face looking down at me.

“Morning,” I yawned, stretching out my arms. “What time is it?”

“Time for presents,” Owen grinned.

It was almost strange having him here, sleeping in the bed of my childhood bedroom. When we were younger, we’d never had sleepovers. Our parents might have trusted us, but that had always been the rule. We could have stayed over at his house last night instead, but everyone was coming to my parent’s house for Christmas breakfast this morning.

He kissed the tip of my nose. “Come on. I already let Zambi out.”

I sat up, the sheets falling off of me, exposing my little red nightgown. “She likes the yard, huh?”

“ Loves it.” It was the perfect yard for a dog. I felt bad that our girl was cooped up in an apartment and didn’t have one, but with how much time he spent taking her for walks at home, she probably barely even noticed a difference.

“Mmm. Guess we’ll need to get our own one day.”

He smirked, grabbing a shirt and pulling it on, covering up those glorious muscles. I pouted a little, and he laughed. “You don’t like my apartment?”

I shook my head. “I love your apartment. Are you kidding? It’s beautiful.” That was an understatement. And I had no desire to know how much it cost every month. “But I don’t want to live in the city forever.”

He leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “Me either. Now get that sweet ass out of bed and put something on so we can go open presents with your family, baby.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “This isn’t acceptable?” I circled a finger over my cleavage, lifting the little bow between my breasts. “You don’t think my family will like it?” I batted my eyelashes innocently.

Owen’s responding growl made me glad I wasn’t wearing any panties, because they would be soaked. I giggled, getting up and finding an old pair of Christmas pajamas that still fit, pulling them on and tossing my nightgown back on the bed.

He quirked an eyebrow as I turned to him, pulling my hair up into a high ponytail. “What?”

“You’re seriously not putting any panties on?”

“Nope.” I popped the p, and blew him a kiss. “Now come on, Hockey Boy. Let’s go open presents with our family. And then you can open yours later.” I winked.

His only response was a resounding groan.

The entire living room was full of us kids, and our parents had escaped to the kitchen. We’d already had Christmas dinner, and now we were enjoying the night, trading presents with each other and hanging out for the first time since May.

My brother had flown in last night, and I was so happy to have my whole family back together. Owen was sitting at my side, his hand resting on my hip possessively. I let him keep it there, because I loved how he needed to touch me all the time, like that reminder of my physical presence was enough to calm him.

Plus, after we’d opened presents and I’d tortured him all morning, we’d fucked in the shower and even though it had been a tight fit, my god. Teasing him was the hottest thing ever. I was considering asking him to wake me up with his tongue tomorrow, because I couldn’t get enough.

“What are you thinking about?” Owen murmured in my ear, brushed a piece of hair back. I’d curled it and left it down with my champagne covered glitzy dress and a pair of heels.

“How glad I am that we could be home this week,” I answered, saving my dirty thoughts for later. I was so glad the NHL gave their players a few days off for the holidays, because it meant we’d be able to come back. “I’ve missed everyone.”

“Me too.” He nuzzled his face against mine.

Penelope was sitting on the couch across from us, deep in conversation with her cousin, Avery, who looked like a model. To be fair, she actually was one. She’d grown up going between Hollywood and Portland, since her mom—Owen’s Aunt—was a famous actress. Her younger sister, Amelia, was sitting in the corner with my youngest cousin Lucy, since the two of them were the closest in age.

It was too loud to eavesdrop, but I was warm, tipsy, and content in my boyfriend’s arms, so I didn’t even mind that I had no idea what everyone else was talking about.

All of our parent’s friends were here too. Owen’s dad’s best friend from college had brought their kids—Theo and Jenna—who were older than the rest of us by a few years. Theo had turned twenty-eight this spring, and Jenna was the same age as Abigail. My sister and her were chatting off to the side, probably about Ab’s clothing brand.

Zach, Wes and Beau were all in a little huddle. If Beau wasn’t my brother, I swear, I would think those three were triplets. Aunt Abigail always liked to joke that the Bradford genes were strong, and damn if it wasn’t true. My Aunt Abigail and Uncle Benjamin’s boss, Nicolas, had brought his family too. His wife, Zofia, had been his assistant when they’d fallen in love, and they had Alexander around the same time mom had Abigail. The two had grown up together, and I knew at one point my sister had a giant crush on him, but nothing had ever come of it. His younger sister, Bianca, was best friends with Wes, and she was sitting with Quin, who was showing her photos of the new baby animals that had been born at the zoo over the last few months. Bianca was a singer, and though she hadn’t made it big yet, her voice was beautiful.

God, there were a lot of us. But this was my family. And I loved them. I loved our little coffee shop dates. Our silly quips and the way we all teased each other. We were close, and in a world when so many people lost touch with their families or had a falling out with their siblings, I knew how important it was that we all loved each other.

Owen leaned over, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I love you.”

“I want this,” I blurted out. My voice was low enough with everyone talking around us that no one else paid attention to me, but my boyfriend’s lips curled up in a soft smile.

“Yeah?” He gave me a soft smile.

I nodded. “I love our families. I want this. All of us being together every year, catching up and celebrating.”

Kids. A family of our own. Lauren and Stefan had their baby a few weeks ago, and my ovaries had cried the moment they’d placed that tiny, sleeping baby in my arms. She was precious. Not that I was ready for that. Not yet. Some day, though.

He pressed his lips to my head. “Me too. One day, after I’ve retired, I’d love to move back home.”

I rested my head against his chest, humming my agreement.

“Merry Christmas, baby,” he whispered in my ear.

“Merry Christmas, Owen.” I snuggled against him, letting my eyes drift shut, feeling more love than I ever thought possible. “Love you.”

Our time in Portland passed quickly, and on our last full day, I couldn’t help but feel a little blue. Life would go back to normal soon. I wouldn’t be surrounded by my parents or my cousins, and though I loved the life I’d found in Seattle and the friends I’d made, it was still bittersweet. But Owen only had four days off of hockey, with a game on the twenty-eighth, so we couldn’t stay longer.

I didn’t want to drive home by myself just to stay a few extra days. Besides, he was my person. I loved being with him.

Abigail and I had gone on a shopping trip yesterday, and I’d bought the most adorable new sweater. This morning, when I’d been getting dressed, I hadn’t been able to resist wearing it.

Zamboni jumped on my bed, and I rubbed her snout. “God, you’ve gotten so big, Zambi girl, huh?”

When I looked up, there was Owen, leaning against the doorframe. He was wearing a pair of jeans and his favorite hoodie—a Seals one, no surprise there—and yet, he’d never looked more handsome.

“Hi, Hockey Boy.”

“Hey, Skater Girl.” He pushed off the door, coming to stand in front of me. He wrapped his hands around my waist. “Did you bring your skates?”

I nodded. “Of course. They’re in my bag in the car.” I’d thrown them in the car at the last minute, just in case. Since I’d been going to the rink more by myself these days, I hadn’t even second guessed the decision. It felt… right. I narrowed my eyes. “Why?”

He flashed me a grin. “It’s a surprise. Come on.”

I looked down at my outfit. My new sweater was yellow and adorned in daisies, and I’d paired it with a white skirt, tights, a pair of matching yellow leg warmers and a pair of boots. “Am I dressed okay?”

Owen laughed. “Yes, Ellie.” He leaned down, pressing his lips against my forehead. “You look beautiful, baby.”

“Thank you,” I said, kissing his cheek. “But that’s not what I asked.”

His expression gave nothing away. “It’s perfect, Daisy girl.” He tightened his grip on my waist, holding me close. I shut my eyes, relishing this feeling .

After softly kissing my forehead, he interlaced our fingers, leading me downstairs and into the car. He was uncharacteristically quiet as we drove, and I wondered what was going through his mind.

“Owen.” My voice caught in my throat.

We pulled up to an outdoor ice rink, one that was normally crowded at this time of year but looked completely empty. Of course, it was later in the evening, but I still figured someone would be here. There were string lights hung around the edges of the rink, and it reminded me of all the times when I was younger that we’d come out here.

While we were constantly at the practice rink, Owen had brought me here for dates, too. It was one of the few times we really skated for fun, with no expectations or requirements. We weren’t practicing. It was just us, enjoying each other’s company as we circled the ice.

“Come on. I rented it out, so it’s all ours for the night.”

“You… you rented it out?”

Owen chuckled. “Ellie baby. You gotta stop being surprised when I do things like this. NHL superstar, remember? I have more money than I know what to do with.” I punched him in the arm as we got out of the car.

He interlaced our fingers after grabbing our bags from the trunk, and led me towards the gate.

A few minutes later, after he’d laced up my skates and then his own, we both stepped onto the ice.

“This is truly the perfect way to finish our time in Portland,” I said, doing a little spin before taking his hand again. “Thank you.” We started a slow lap around the rink, never dropping our combined hands. It was peaceful. Just what I needed.

“You don’t have to thank me for making you happy, Eleanor. I just want to.” He pinched my cheek.

“I know I don’t have to. It’s one reason I fell in love with you.” I pressed a kiss to his hand. “You’re my best friend and the love of my life.”

We stopped in the middle of the ice after another loop, and Owen cupped my cheeks, kissing me softly. Tenderly . Like this, right here, was the only thing that mattered in the world.

When we pulled apart, I shut my eyes for a moment, letting my smile creep over my face.

“Look,” he murmured, tracing a line across my face.

“What?” I opened my eyes, looking in to his deep brown ones. Full of love and emotion. Pride.

His smile filled my heart. “It’s snowing.”

It was the beautiful ending to a perfect holiday.

The first of many to come.