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I gestured to another seat. “You want to pull up a chair and come join us for Christmas dinner?”
Her face lit up with a smile, and I caught Sam watching us from across the table with a little smile of her own. Viv pulled up a chair while Abby grabbed an extra plate for her with some lasagna on it.
Looked like another Gordon was returning to their roots.
THIRTY
Sam in a fitted gold dress was a problem. Especially when it hugged every curve and dipped low enough at the back that my hand found bare skin when I placed it there—a fact that made patience feel less like a virtue and more like a punishment.
The hockey house had been transformed for New Year’s Eve. Liam had taken charge of the decorations, which meant there were too many string lights because he knew Ava loved them and a disco ball he’d found at a random store downtown. Drew had handled the playlist, and the bass thumped through the floorboards while people moved around with drinks in their hands. It wasn’t a rager, but there were enough people here that the room was getting hot from the mass of bodies.
Viv was also here. She’d bought a place in Missoula, claiming she needed to be close to the future stadium site while things got underway, and despite being a few years older than all of us, she’d fit into the group faster than I’d expected. She and Harper had hit it off almost immediately as two women with sharp tongues and zero tolerance for male bullshit. Harper also knew a thing or two about your family disapproving of your career choices. But despite my gaze bouncing around the room to see if everyone was having a good time, it was Sam that I always came back to.
Sam and that damn gold dress that I was certain she’d bought just to torture me until I could get her out of it.
She was in the kitchen pouring herself a drink and laughing at something Abby was telling her. Her head was tilted back, her throat exposed, and the gold fabric of her dress caught the light every time she moved. She looked happy. Every day since we’d returned to Montana, she’d seemed a little lighter, her smiles coming easier, her laugh more vibrant. It was more obvious than ever how much the past had weighed her down before.
I leaned against the doorframe and watched her. It was an old habit. I’d watched her like this at every single party we’d thrown in this house since the moment she moved in. But it was different knowing I could touch her now. I could walk up to her and slide my hands over her hips, drop my lips to her neck, or kiss her behind her ear and watch her shiver. She was mine now, and it made watching her even more exciting than it had been before.
“Staring is creepy, you know.” Liam appeared next to me, beer in hand, grin firmly in place. “Even when she’s your girlfriend.”
“Says the man who can’t stop staring at his woman.”
Liam’s cheeks flushed but he didn’t deny it. He glanced back at Ava. “Well, you can’t deny she’s a sight to behold. You think they all went shopping together and got dresses designed to torture us?”
“Absolutely.”
He laughed and headed back toward the living room where Drew was attempting to teach Viv the rules of beer pong. She’d gone to Yale but hadn’t partied as much as I had here at CFU. I think she’d always held herself apart from her peers because she’d been trying to prove to my parents that she was serious and responsible.
It was nice to see her finally letting her hair down a little. And from what I could see, Viv was already winning.
Sam slipped her hand into mine and tugged me toward the living room as midnight approached. Liam had pulled up the countdown on the TV, and Drew was distributing champagne in plastic champagne glasses he got from the dollar store.
“Classy,” Harper said, eyeing the cup Drew handed her.
“It’s not the vessel, Freckles. It’s the vibes.”
“Noted, Andy.” His face broke out in a grin before he kissed her temple and pulled her into his arms.
Sam pressed into my side, her hand resting on my chest while I easily wrapped an arm around her waist. I never got tired of feeling her body against mine.
“Thirty seconds!” Liam shouted.
The room got louder as everyone coupled up. Sam looked up at me, her blue eyes bright, her lips curving into the kind of smile that used to gut me because I thought I’d never be the reason behind it.
Now I was.
“Ten! Nine! Eight!”
She went up on her toes, already closing the distance.
“Seven! Six! Five! Four!”
My hand slid to the back of her neck.
“Three! Two! One!”
Our lips met in a deep and claiming kiss. My hand tightened on her neck, and her fingers curled into the fabric of my shirt while the room erupted around us.
