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Ryan hands me the remote. "You choose."
"Really?" I ask, then look around at the warm glow of the Christmas lights and hear the crackling of the burning wood. Immediately, I change it to the Hallmark channel.
Ryan cracks up. "Again? I should've known."
The first movie that comes on is about a rich girl who goes to a small Christmas town to buy the only tree farm. Of course, she falls in love with the young, handsome owner and decides she wants to stay instead of returning to her corporate life.
Ryan snorts. "Yeah right."
"What?" I turn to him. "It could happen."
"No way," he says and gives me a smirk before standing. "Be right back."
"Where're you going?"
"It's a surprise," he tells me before walking to the kitchen.
I grab the fluffy blanket and throw it over my body, then sink further into the couch. After ten minutes, Ryan returns, carrying two mugs. He gives me one, and my eyes widen in excitement.
"Hot cocoa and a candy cane?" I gasp, stirring the warm liquid.
"I found some in the cabinet earlier, and watching everyone on this damn movie drink cocoa made me want some," he explains.
"Thank you. So perfect too." I smile, then blow on it to cool it. When I take my first sip, I hum at how delicious and warm it is. "This is happiness in a cup.”
"Better be. Looked expensive." Ryan clinks his mug against mine, and we watch another ridiculously cute movie.
When the guy almost kisses the leading lady under the mistletoe, I let out an aww.
"Jesus.” He shakes his head in disappointment. “He could've kissed her at least ten times by now."
I place my finger over his mouth and shush him. "That's not the point."
"Really?" He pops a brow.
"Yeah! It's about the chase. Come on, Distant Diva, you should know this!"
"I'm sorry, what did you call me?" He sets his mug on the coffee table, then grabs mine and does the same. Now I know I’m in trouble.
"You heard me!"
Seconds later, he's tickling the hell out of me.
"No, no, no," I yelp. Bending over, I try to fight him off me as he laughs.
"Stop!" I screech. "If you keep it up, I'm gonna pee myself," I warn, but he keeps going. As soon as he pulls away, I go into attack mode and try to get him back.
He jerks around, trying to get me away, but fails. Another adorable thing I've learned about him—he’s as ticklish as me. Once we've both laughed ourselves stupid, I remove the distance between us and slide my lips against his.
"You taste good," I tell him. "Like chocolate and sexy man."
He chuckles against my lips and cups my cheeks. "You taste like Christmas."
I smile. "My favorite holiday."
He presses a soft kiss on my forehead. “And mine, but I have a feeling this year might be the best one yet.”Chapter FourteenRyanWhen I look at the time, I realize it's barely past seven, though we’ve already had dinner and watched two Hallmark movies. Kendall’s getting antsy, and if I'm being honest, so am I. I've never had so much time to sit around and do nothing but overthink.
Kendall grabs us each a bottle of water, then sits back on the couch next to me. "I'm bored."
"I know. I can only check the weather and watch so many G-rated movies before I feel like mush," I admit.
"Are there any board games here?"
I think about it for a second and know there are some in one of the spare closets upstairs. "I believe we have Monopoly and Scattergories. There may be some others. I can go look," I tell her.
"Monopoly!"
I give her a sly grin. "You sure you wanna play?"
"Of course." She laughs.
"Just remember you chose it. Cami stopped playing board games with me when she was ten for a reason," I tease, standing to go find it.
Kendall bites on her lip. "We'll see about that."
I hurry up the stairs to see if it’s where we left it all those years ago. When I open the closet door, it's full of old games. I grab the box and head downstairs.
When I return to the living room, Kendall’s on the floor with pillows around the coffee table.
"Hope you're ready to get your ass kicked," she playfully threatens.
I let out a chuckle, setting down the game. "We'll see about that."
Kendall pats the floor, and I add a few more logs to the fire before I sit next to her.
"Do you want to be the banker?" I ask, taking the top off the box and laying out the money.
"Sure." Kendall grabs the instructions and reads over them. "I need a refresher. It's been a long time."
"So we're not playing by house rules?"
She lifts a brow at me. "Like what?"
"Monopoly isn't fun if you play by the official rules, but go ahead and read them. I learned the summer after fifth grade that they were incredibly stupid."
