Frat Boy Christmas

This scene was removed for no other reason than that the book was getting near 100,000 words and I’m trying to stay under it. Ha! This takes place between chapters 34 and 35.

Edin

I appreciate how the temperature is never super low in Southern California. Even in December. The nights can get a little chilly, reaching the mid-forties, but it rarely hits freezing temperatures. That’s not to say it couldn’t, but in the three-plus years I’ve been here, it’s yet to get that cold.

We’re walking down the sidewalk on campus from Dak and Sparrow’s house while Mo talks about cheer. We’ve been looking into different cheer opportunities, but it’s proved difficult to find something at this time of year since tryouts and signups are usually during summer. At least, that’s the issue we’ve been finding for the programs around here.

Mo looks up at me. “I really miss the frat,” she says.

Sighing, I rest my hand on her shoulder. “I know. I do too. But that’s where we’re headed once Eli and Zeke are done, right?”

Mo gives me a wistful sigh. Then she looks up at me with alarm. “I really love living with Uncle Dak and Uncle Sparrow, too.”

“I know you do,” I say, smiling.

She nods and we continue walking. Christmas is right around the corner. This year, I’d planned to spend both Thanksgiving and Christmas in the frat house. There’s always someone that stays behind. Usually several someones, plus guys coming and going all through winter break.

That means Dak and Sparrow can finally start their own holiday traditions without the burden of me and Mo. Not that I think they feel we’re a burden, but we’re two bodies they didn’t sign up for when they got married.

My plan can’t happen now, so I’m extra thankful we have a home with Dak and Sparrow. I love them so much and owe them… everything. I love spending time with them and honestly, I love living with them. It’s an easy, happy home that we have.

Now that we’re living there again, I know they’re considering changing their plans. They’d planned to head up north to Sparrow’s family for the holiday and Dak’s dads were flying in, too. But now I know they feel conflicted.

They know I don’t like to be alone. During the day is fine because I have Mo to entertain. But in the silence of night, it gives the dark voices time to infiltrate my peace.

What I really want in my secret heart is to spend Christmas with Mo and Elijah. I’ve been careful not to look too much into that wish, but that’s how I’d like to spend the holiday. The three of us. Well… maybe four if Zeke wants to join us.

“Dad?”

I look down at my daughter as we approach the gym where the cheer squad practices.

“Are you sad?”

“No.” I brush her hair from her forehead. “Why do you think I’m sad?”

She shrugs. “You look kinda sad.”

“I think my thinking face and sad face must look the same.”

Mo giggles. “What are you thinking about?”

I hesitate, unsure of how to answer this question. When I don’t answer right away, Mo frowns.

“You don’t want to tell me.”

“Sometimes, it’s not the kind of serious thing like we’ve discussed before. Sometimes, I just need you to not worry about something.”

“Is it private?”

I grin. “No. Not in the way you’re asking, I think.” I pause and think about what had me so caught up. “I just want you to have a special Christmas, Mo. That’s all.”

Her eyebrows knit together.

We’ve gotten permission to go inside to wait for Elijah as long as we’re quiet. In routines where people are thrown around, sudden distractions can be very dangerous. I carefully open the door just as Elijah is sprung into the air. I swear, his head nearly touches the mile-high ceiling. My heart jumps into my throat as he comes down.

He’s caught, of course. Relief floods my body as I step further inside, shutting the door as silently as I can. We walk over to the bench where there are a couple of others sitting and take our seats a little down from them.

“That was so cool,” Mo whispers.

I was going to say terrifying, but sure. Okay.

We’re quiet as we watch, and Mo’s positively enchanted. I don’t know if cheer was something she only became interested in once she saw it in person or if she was curious about it prior to that, but my girl is completely in love with all things cheer. She even has the bow Elijah gave her in her hair right now.

“Daddy?”

I turn my attention to her. Mo wraps her arms around mine and leans into me. “Christmas is always special.”

“Is it?” I ask.

She nods. “As long as it’s me and you, it’s special.”

Fucking hell. Why does she have to say things like that? Sighing, I lean down and kiss her head. “It’s always going to be me and you,” I promise. “No matter how old you get or when you have a family of your own, we can always spend Christmas together.”

“And Thanksgiving,” she adds. “I’s about the things you’re most thankful for, and I’m always most thankful for you.”

My god, my damn heart.

I gently pull my arm from her grip and wrap it around her, hugging her tightly into my side. “Me too, Mo. Love you, sunshine.”

“Love you too, Daddy.”

I also love that she hasn’t grown out of using Daddy yet. She throws in a Dad here and there, but I’d say at least fifty percent of the time, she calls me Daddy. Part of me hopes she never fully grows out of it. I want her to always be my little girl and there’s just something too grown up about Dad.

We’re still sitting in a huggy embrace when Elijah walks over. “This is my favorite picture, right here,” he says with a smile. I open my eyes just as he’s taking a picture.

“Are you ready to go?” Mo asks, excitement in her voice again.

“Mm-hmm,” Elijah says. “Where are we going again?”

“To the frat!” Mo yells enthusiastically.

Elijah meets my eyes, chuckling. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Zeke coming too?” Mo asks as she gets to her feet.

“Actually, he already left,” Elijah says, tilting his head and frowning. “Ran out rather quickly and said he’d see me ‘in a minute.’ It was very suspicious. My brother isn’t subtle.”

Mo looks between the two of us before taking my hand and pulling me to the door. “Let’s talk on the way. I don’t want to be late.”

Considering we said we’d be there after cheer practice and didn’t give them a specific time, I’m not sure we can be late, per se. But Mo’s excited. She has us practically running through campus. She only releases my hand when we reach the path to the door of the frat house and sprints toward it without us.

“I think she’s excited,” Elijah says. “Though maybe I’m misinterpreting incredibly upset or angry.”

“Oh no. You’ll recognize both of those moods right away.”

“I’m home!” Mo shouts as she throws open the door.

A very loud chorus of “OPA!” answers her. We step inside as Mario and Brent stick their heads into the entry. Mo abandons taking her shoes off and runs to them, jumping into Mario’s arms. She wraps an arm around Brent’s neck, not giving him a choice at all but to get up close and personal with Mario.

“If I didn’t know any better, you’d think that she hasn’t seen them in months. Years,” I say. “It’s been two days.”

“That’s a long time,” Mo complains.

“Hurry and get your slippers on,” Mario tells her. “We have so much to catch up on. Everyone is here.”

Mo beams. She leans sideways in Mario’s arms to kiss Brent on the nose and then Mario’s cheek. Both big men blush. I don’t think they have young siblings Mo’s age.

Mario sets Mo down and she hurries to take her sneakers off and shoves them into her basket under her cubby. She sticks her backpack on the hook, stuffs her feet haphazardly in her slippers, and then runs after Mario and Brent.

Meanwhile, we’re still standing just inside the front door.

“Yeah, not excited at all,” I muse as we walk inside.

“Wow!” Mo’s voice carries to us from the other room. “Why are there so many boxes? Are we making a box fort? Wait—is that a tree?”

I look at Elijah and we drop our bags in the cubby, not bothering to take off our shoes. We stop in the doorway that Mario and Brent had been in a minute before, and can see the entire gathering room is filled with unopened boxes.

Mario has Mo in his arms again as he shows her the tops where the labels are. “Actually,” Denton says, “we have a surprise for you. I think we all planned to spend some time with you and Edin this Christmas, but things have changed. We decided we didn’t like that change.”

“So you’re going to hide me and put me in a box fort,” Mo suggests.

“No, but that’s a good idea,” Mario says.

Brent snorts. “We’re celebrating Christmas early. Tonight we’re decorating all over. Starting with this big tree. Then we’re going to decorate a bunch of stockings and see what we can do to hang them over the fireplace. It’s a big fireplace, but that’s a lot of stockings.”

“Then we’re baking cookies,” Zeke adds from where he’s sitting on the couch with his legs folded under him. Now we know where he ran off to. “And while we wait for dinner to arrive—we already ordered So. Much. Food.—we’re going to decorate the rest of the house quickly.”

“It’s going to be a marathon of decorating,” Mario says.

“We’ll eat and then we’ll open presents,” Brent says. “Stay up late in Christmas pajamas and watch movies.”

I sigh, leaning back against Elijah.

“Wait. Uh-uh. I didn’t bring any presents for you. You didn’t tell me!” Mo argues.

“Correction,” Mario says. “You’re opening presents tonight.”

“That’s not fair!” she complains and twists in his arms to look at me. I’m surprised to see big crocodile tears in her eyes. “We didn’t bring them presents, Dad.”

“We’ll bring them presents later.”

Her lip trembles, but she wipes her eyes. “Okay.”

Mario hugs her tightly. “Don’t be sad, MoMo. All we want to do is have fun with you tonight. Christmas fun.”

She wipes her eyes again. “Me too.”

“Good. Let’s get started with the tree,” Brent says. “Want to help me open the box?”

Mo nods and Mario sets her on her feet. She looks at me again, giving me a big smile. Then she does a double take, and that smile turns into a sly grin. “Look!” she says, pointing above us.

Elijah and I look up.

“Well, we did a little bit of decorating to start with,” Brent says. “Just some conveniently placed mistletoe.”

“Who you plan on kissing, Brent?” I ask.

Elijah grips my hip and pulls me to his chest. How this man always manages to make my breath catch never gets old. “I don’t need mistletoe to kiss you,” he whispers.

I’d have been shocked if he just pecked me on the lips. Nope, this is a full devouring and yeah, I feel it in my toes.

“Ugh. Not that kind of kiss!” Mo exclaims. “There are little girls in the room, Dad!”

Elijah laughs and lets my mouth go. I try to ignore the way I’m breathing. We move further into the room—careful not to stop under any more hanging greenery—to watch as a whole lot of guys and one little girl try to set up a Christmas tree. For some reason, this one is not only twelve feet tall, which will look amazing with the old Victorian high ceilings, but also needs to be assembled branch by branch.

“This was bad planning,” Denton grumbles as he sorts through the color-coded branches.

“Nah,” Mario says. “Everything is exactly perfect. And this was the best tree.”

“Think your room is still available?” Elijah murmurs.

I nod. “They’re keeping our rooms in case we can move back in.”

“Then, while Mo’s occupied, let’s go upstairs for a minute.” Elijah takes my hand and pulls me along like Mo had.

Grinning, I allow myself to be led. When he shuts my bedroom door behind us, I say, “Can’t wait till she’s asleep, huh?”

He gives me a sultry look as I drop onto the edge of the bed. The bed, which is still made. There are still clothes in my drawers and other things throughout my room. Until I walked in just now, I had no idea how much I missed it.

Elijah distracts me from my thoughts as he straddles my lap. “Hmm. I just realized you’ve only been inside me once.”

My skin immediately burns as I lean back on my hands to see him better. Elijah drags his palms over my chest and down to my stomach.

“Want to fuck me again, Edin?”

How does he infuse his voice with so much sex? Someone, please tell me the secret. That’s a talent. I’m so tongue-tied, all I can do is nod.

“That’s what we’re doing tonight. I’m riding you.”

I groan. “Is that what you brought me in here to tell me?”

“Actually, no. I wanted to ask what your plans are for Christmas. You’re staying at Dak and Sparrow’s while they go up north, right?”

Sighing, I nod. “Yep.”

“You don’t sound happy about it. You know you can go with them, right?”

“I know, but I want them to be able to do their own thing without worrying about me and Mo. We’re not their responsibility and sometimes, I feel like we are.”

Elijah shakes his head. “You’re not. You’re family. You may not share blood, but you’re still more family than most blood-relatives are.”

I nod. “I know that. Did you know they were married for only about a week before I dropped Mo and myself onto their laps to take care of? Just a week. They still haven’t had time to live as a couple without us. To make their own traditions and live just for them. As a married couple. Not with me and Mo. They were just starting to when my fucking mother showed up and ruined everything. Now we’re back under their roof and I know they’re feeling guilty and considering staying home for Christmas now because we’re there.”

“The only thing I’m going to say is this—they’re not feeling guilty. That’s not why they’re considering staying, Edin. Also, you need to talk to them about this. I’m not sure you truly understand how much they love you and love having you around.”

I sigh. “Yeah. Maybe.”

“No maybes. Talk to them.”

I give him a bemused look.

“Anyway. How would you feel if I stayed with you?”

My heart leaps into my throat for the second time today as I stare at him. “What?”

Elijah nods. “I want to spend Christmas with you and Mo. If that’s okay.”

I can’t breathe. Is he serious? Did he really ask that? I lean forward and wrap my arms around him as tight as I can.

Elijah sighs, holding me just as tightly.

“I thought you were going home,” I say, my voice muffled by his chest.

“Actually, I told my dads I’d probably stay here when I told them I wasn’t going home for Thanksgiving. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I despise being without you. I know we can distract ourselves during the day with family and Mo and whatever. But I’m always looking for you when you’re traveling for away games and the nights are cold and lonely and I hate it. Besides, there’s nothing I want more than to wake up with you and Mo on Christmas morning. I haven’t stopped thinking about it for weeks.”

I’m not sure it’s possible, but I squeeze him tighter. “Yes. But… What about your family? Zeke?”

“Oh, sorry. I just assume people understand Zeke will probably always be with me. Yes, he’ll stay too. I hope that’s okay.”

“Definitely okay.”

“I was going to invite you home with me, but I didn’t think you’d be ready for that. Not for Christmas. But maybe for spring break or something. You can meet my parents then.”

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” I whisper.

Elijah kisses my head. We stay wrapped around each other just like that for a long time. Not speaking. Not rubbing our semi hard dicks together. Just holding each other.

Right up until my daughter yells up the stairs. “Why aren’t you helping us decorate, Dad and Eli?”

“Sorry,” I yell back. “We’ll be right down.”

“Two minutes, Daddy. Or I’m coming up.”

“Sometimes I really can’t tell which of us is the adult in this family,” I mutter.

Elijah laughs.

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