AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I look at Abby, feeling almost overwhelmed by her thoughtfulness.
It’s been a long time since anyone bought me a Christmas present that wasn’t liquor, gift cards, or something expensive that I didn’t need or want.
This…
This is handcrafted. Thoughtful. Intentional.
It’s beautiful.
“There’s one for you too, Rusty,” I hear Abby say, though her voice is kind of muffled as I continue to stare at her gift.
I just keep standing there, staring at it, feeling oddly choked up and emotional.
“Do you like it?”
I turn my eyes to where Abby is sitting on the edge of the couch, wearing those damn pink fuzzy socks and that same semi-see-through sleep shirt.
“I love it,” I say, wanting to make sure she understands how much it means to me. “Thank you.”
She bites her lower lip and gives me a soft smile before scooting back on the couch and snuggling up under a throw blanket.
“Now open this one,” she says, pushing another box toward Rusty with her foot.
While her brother opens his next gift, I stare at Abby, feeling like I’m physically unable to look away.
Last night was more than a little surprising. I waffled for a good twenty minutes about whether or not I should come down when I heard her feet pad softly past my door, but I’m so glad I did. Talking with her last night, hearing her memories of her family…it made me seriously consider whether I’m missing something in my life.
I wasn’t lying when I told Abby this Christmas has been my favorite holiday in memory, or when I said sitting with her in front of that tree last night will be the thing I look back on someday as my favorite holiday moment. The lights twinkling across her face, the way her eyes glowed as she talked about her parents…it was enough to make me realize that my feelings for Abby are growing a lot deeper and a lot more quickly than I ever could have expected.
And it’s not only the physical, either. Abby isn’t just someone I want to spread out naked and feast on every day. Well, actually, that’s exactly what she is, but she’s also a whole host of other things. She’s kind and fun and outgoing and confident, not to mention beautiful as hell. Watching her play that card game last night, it was hard not to stare every time she laughed. That titter in her voice, the sparkle in her eye, the sheer joy on her face…I feel hooked.
With how I’ve felt about relationships in the past, these feelings bubbling up so soon and so intensely should make me want to get some distance, some perspective. Instead, all I can think about is drawing her closer, tucking her in under my arm and making her mine.
Which would make it difficult to keep my promise to Rusty.
“But your last gift is something we have to drive to go see.”
I look back at where the two of them are seated on opposite ends of the couch, catching the quizzical look on Abby’s face.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean exactly what I said. We have to get in the car and go somewhere for your final gift.” Rusty smiles at her. “Let’s go.”
We move slowly as we try to get out the door—far too slowly for Rusty’s liking if the way he’s pushing us along is an indicator. Eventually, we’re backing out of the driveway and heading off in what I think is the opposite direction of town.
“And you won’t give me any hints?”
Rusty shakes his head. “Nope.”
We drive for close to twenty minutes, looping most of the way around the lake until we pull into the driveway of a tiny bungalow.
Abby’s eyes are narrowed as she stares at it. Then she turns to her brother. “What did you do?”
He shrugs and gives her a grin that’s slightly goofy, then opens his door and gets out.
She glances back at me. “This is the place Briar and I are moving into on the first.”
I nod, not having realized she was planning on moving out of the home she and Rusty currently share.
