“No.There!”
“That’s where it is!”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, let me!” Van der Hoff pushes into my personal space and grabs for the glass ball.
Feeling it slip from my fingers at his impatience, I hiss and reach over with my other hand to catch it. For a moment we’re all tangled up: Van der Hoff’s shoulder digging into my chest, his hair tickling my throat, our arms locked around each other.
At least the ornament doesn’t drop.
I quickly relent and pull my hand out from under Van der Hoff’s, taking a small step back. Still my heart jumps into my throat. Stupid, after such a brief touch, when he has been much closer. But that was when I was half-mad with anger and lust.
“Do you have eyes? How could you miss a huge gap like this?” Van der Hoff berates me, his voice carrying just a hint of strain. He hangs the ornament in the exact same spot where it was before he interrupted me.
I snort and shake my head, picking up a glass pinecone.
“Do you do this every year?” I ask, raising my voice to make clear the question is directed at both twins.
“Yeah,” Nate smiles as he passes me on his way to the other side of the tree. “When we were small, Oma would decorate the tree in the night, and we’d wake up to it. But since we moved here, we’ve always done it together.”
I hum and walk around the tree to the other side, where Nate has put so many golden balls that I barely find spots for red ones.
By the time we’re finished the whole tree is sparkling and looking like a proper Christmas tree. Except for–
“You’ll never reach. Let me do it.”
“We’re the same height!”
I look over to where the twins are arguing again, raising a brow when Van der Hoff successfully shakes Nate off. He leans toward the tree, hand outstretched with a star-shaped tree topper.
“Ugh, I’ll get a ladder.” Nate rolls his eyes when he walks past me.
I chuckle, but also go over to make sure Van der Hoff doesn’t fall into the tree in his attempt to finish it. He’s not missing the tip by much, maybe one or two inches. But he’s stretched out as far as he can, shirt riding up to reveal the dips next to the curve of his spine, just above the waistline of his pants.
I bite my tongue and turn my head to make sure Nate is gone, then take another step closer, coming up behind Van der Hoff.
“Let me,” I hum lowly, sliding my hand over the small of his back to steady him, the other reaching up to take the ornament from him. I feel rather than hear his sharp intake of breath, mirroring him unconsciously. The smell of his aftershave—sandalwood—rises into my nose, mixing with the scent of the pine needles.
With the heat of his skin radiating into mine, I almost forget why I’ve touched him, but the cool glass in my other hand reminds me. Grasping the star, I reach up and gently place it on the top of the tree.
Feeling the curve of Van der Hoff’s back aligning with my front keeps me stretched out for a moment longer before I settle back on my feet.
“There we go,” I say, unnecessarily betraying my breathlessness, but I manage to take a step back before loud clanging announces Nate’s return.
“Oh, how did you do that?”
“Told you I could reach!” Van der Hoff turns to his brother, his eyes carefully avoiding mine.
Nicko, December 19th
The next morning, a high-pitched scream wakes me. Completely disoriented, I sit up in bed, pressing the heel of my palms against my eyes.
It takes me a moment to realize I’m at my parent’s place, and the excited hollers from next door are coming from my twin brother.
“Shut. Up!” I call out, my fist hitting the wall next to my head where I assume Nate is hopping up and down on his bed like a toddler on a sugar high.
“There’s snow, Nicky!Snow!Look outside!” Nate lets me know, excitedly thumping from the other side of the wall.
Frowning, I swing my legs out of bed and pad over to the window. I push my blinds open and immediately have to squeeze my eyes shut to protect them from the brightness. Shielding them with both hands, I carefully blink them open again. My mouth drops open in surprise at the sight.
