Page 47 of Last Slice of Pie

“You okay?” I ask her, standing up and pulling away.

“Better than okay,” she says, sitting up and looking completely blissed out.

Satisfaction rolls through me, and I run my hand through my hair, silently telling myself it’s too soon to do it again, and that’s when I spot it over her shoulder. The rest of the house is covered in red and green decorations, but she forgot the most important one.

“Why didn’t you decorate your tree?”

She twists around to see what I see and then looks back at me. “I thought we could decorate it together.”

Staring at her, the emotions I feel for her start burning at my toes, and they climb until they’ve reached every square inch of me. I knew I was falling for her, but I never expected it to feel like this.

When we were kids, Christmas was my favorite time of the year, because it was the only time Cole allowed me to sleep at GiGi’s house. She made sure to include me, and some of my favorite memories are of us watching Christmas movies, stringing popcorn, and decorating the tree. It was the one time of the year I truly felt like I belonged to a family, even though I didn’t.

“That sounds nice.” The effect of her thoughtfulness is thick in my throat. I don’t even care if she hears it.

“Right? I thought we could lounge around all day, be lazy, watch old movies, and decorate the tree.”

I didn’t bother to put up a tree at my house. I never have, so it didn’t even cross my mind. In fact, other than a poinsettia the clubhouse handed each of us to support a local high school fundraiser, there is nothing festive at my house. It may as well just be another day.

“Can we be naked while we’re lounging?” I grin while not so subtly sneaking another peek and appreciating her nakedness.

She laughs, pushes me out of the way, and jumps down off the counter.

“Maybe later, while lying under a blanket on the couch. But for now, your shirt will do.” Eyeing me mischievously, she snatches it off the floor and slips it on before I can protest. What she doesn’t realize is I would gladly hand over my entire wardrobe if it meant she would walk around in front of me wearing my clothes.

“It smells delicious in here.” I grab my pants and slip them on.

“Thanks. I thought you might come early, so last night I made an overnight French toast casserole, and all I had to do was pop it in when I woke up.”

She cracks open the oven door and bends over to look inside. A groan escapes me, and not because of the breakfast. She jerks upright with her cheeks flaring pink, and she starts laughing.

“Whoops.” She tugs on my shirt.

If I died today, I’d die a happy man.

After breakfast and enjoying a cup of coffee together, she turns on some Christmas music and I suggest lighting the fire. She eyes it skeptically, but Danny assured her it was fixed and ready to go, so I feel a holiday redemption is due. December can be unpredictable when it comes to the weather, but fortunately for us and all the dreaming little kids out there, it’s rather cold. There’s another frost warning, which means, although we don’t get snow in this part of Florida, the ground will still be white tomorrow morning.

A white Christmas.

If someone had told me just a few months ago I would be spending Christmas here with her, I would have thought they were crazy. But, here I am, truly feeling like it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

“So, what will you do when the season is over?” she asks, not looking at me, focused on hanging an ugly reindeer on the tree.

“Sleep.” I chuckle, but she tucks her head down and moves to pick up another ornament. We haven’t talked about what’s happening next, but it is around the corner, so I can see why she’s wondering. I just need to remain focused on these next few games. That’s what’s most important, and then I can think about other things.

“Hey . . .” I say, reaching over and gently grabbing her arm. She stops to look at me, but her emotions are in check. She’s keeping her cards close, so I have no idea what she’s thinking. “I have six weeks left. I can’t plan for after because it feels superstitious. I need to take things one week at a time right now to get me to February third. Okay?”

Her eyes roam over my face before landing back on mine. I feel my brows lower just a bit, because I don’t understand where this is coming from or where she’s hoping to take it, but eventually, her lips tip up just a little and she says, “Okay.”

She’s quiet as we finish decorating, the music filling the space between us, and as we step back to admire what we’ve done, we both start laughing. The tree looks bipolar. Much like myself, my side is very thought out with organized placement and an even distribution of the colored balls, whereas her side looks like she threw the ornaments at the tree and hoped they’d stick. It’s colorful, expressive, and a lot chaotic.

The sides are very different, but we are different, which is why I love it, and this has officially become my favorite tree ever.

They say opposites attract, and well, I’m about as attracted to her as I can be.

Overnight French Toast Casserole

THE CROWD ROARS to a deafening level as the clock runs down and hits zero. The Tarpons have done it, finishing the season undefeated, although they just barely scraped by in today’s game, one in which they should have crushed the other team instead of barely hanging on.