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I let Thorn pull me from Rebel’s bed and lead me downstairs. I figure if everyone’s comfy, we can head down and open some gifts before showering and getting dressed and stuff. In the lounge, we turn on the fairy lights, and Ace heads to the kitchen to get the oven warming up. I grab a seat on the sofa and pull the fluffy blanket around me. It’s not cold, but the leather on my bare skin is chilling, so I make Thorn light a fire. I love a real fire, I’d have one in the middle of a heatwave and just wear less clothing.
We all sit around, and Jax passes out the presents. I’m surprised that I have a small pile, I wasn’t expecting anything, and I assumed that my bracelet was my gift from the guys. But looking down at the ever growing collection, I realise that they all got me gifts, individually too. There’s even presents from my grandma and my parents, which I definitely wasn’t expecting!
I watch as the guys tear into their piles. Thorn hunts around and digs out his gift from me first. When he opens it, he smiles and laughs at the bumper collection of chick lit DVDs I got him. I smile at him and tell him there’s months worth of date nights right there. He pulls out the specialist surf watch that I got him. I know he has a pretty decent watch which is waterproof, but the guy in the shop assured me this was much better for a hardcore surfer like Thorn. His face lights up as he puts it on and starts fiddling with the buttons, failing to notice the final gift lying at the bottom of the box. I smile and don’t say anything. He’ll find it eventually.
When he does find the gift certificate and reads that it’s for a custom Gulfstream surfboard of his choice, he immediately gets up and comes over to me, giving me a huge hug and a lingering thank you kiss. As he pulls away I go to say, “You’re welcome” but as I open my mouth, he kisses me again, boldly, right in front of everyone. When he pulls away, I’m blushing.
“Fuck. Where’s my gift from Rae? I want to give her a thank you kiss.” Rebel breaks the tension in that unique way of his, and I turn to watch him open his gift.
He impatiently rips open the package and dives in where he finds an oxcloth bodybuilders’ shirt that’ll fit over his massive arms, an appointment card for a session at Bar Inka, his favourite tattoo shop, and a gift certificate for his favourite music shop. He leaps to his feet and grabs me up off the sofa, swinging me around and kissing me hard. I love his enthusiasm, but I’m not sure if it’s because he really loves his gift or if he just wants to one-up Thorn in the kissing department. I’m not complaining either way. I have to pull away from Rebel’s kiss because the temptation to spend the rest of the day in bed with him is just too strong. He puts me back down and goes back to studying his gifts from me.
“This is really amazing Rae, thank you.” He sounds so earnest and humble that it melts my heart a little. I don’t see it often, but I love this softer side of Rebel. I give him a sweet smile in return.
I turn to Ace and tell him to open his gift next. He slowly and carefully opens the paper. Inside he finds an enrolment for an evening cooking school, a set of my favourite throwing knives, and a signed copy advanced edition of Mary Berry’s latest book that’s not due out until next Spring. His smile is so warm that I feel like a cat basking in the sunshine. I can’t wait for him to open his birthday present in two days! His thank you kiss is slow and sensual. It makes me want to go back to bed to lose myself in his unhurried teasing once again.
Jax is the last to open his present, patiently waiting his turn and contemplative. His is the gift I’m most nervous about; I know him the least well, and I went off a hunch for his present. He’s always so hard to read. When he opens a digital SLR camera, enrolment for an online photography course and a gift card for some camera accessories, he turns to me and studies me intently. Just as I’m starting to worry that his is the one gift I seriously misjudged, he says, “You’ve really put a lot of thought into these gifts. How did you know?”
“For you? I saw the black and white framed pictures in your room. And I had a little help. Thorn and Rebel were easy, and once I spent some time with Ace, his fell into place too.” My stomach’s still twisting painfully, unsure if he likes the gift I spent so long agonising over.
“But why? Why go to so much trouble...”
“I wanted to show you how much I care.” My response is quiet as I realise it’s true; I stressed over finding them the perfect gifts because in a short space of time they’ve all come to mean so much to me. Too much to me. My voice is a whisper when I say, “I can change it if it’s no good or…”
Jax gets up and comes over to hug me. His embrace is soft, and I melt into it, relieved. He gives me a tender kiss on the forehead, but I raise up onto my tiptoes to kiss his lips. Jax causes me the most uncertainty. I think he wants me, but I can never quite work out if that’s just wishful thinking on my part. I never know what he’s thinking or feeling, but he shouldn’t miss out on a proper kiss, though. I kiss him tentatively, not sure how he’ll react to me. My kiss is a question. His response is to take control of the kiss. It’s just as demanding and powerful as our first. I may not have had many, but Jax’s kisses leave me weak-kneed.
I think that after that moment, things will be awkward between us all, but somehow it isn’t. The boys jump straight back in to opening gifts, screwing up the paper and launching it at each other. I quietly open the gifts from my parents and my grandma; the first got me a gift certificate that I can use in a range of shops, the latter got me a gift certificate for a holiday of my choice. Both are great gifts but a little impersonal. Maybe I’ll use the flight voucher to meet up with Grandma on her next world cruise. I think she might like that. The guys’ gifts are completely excessive and overwhelming. From experience days to festival tickets, surfing lessons to a set of new throwing knives, I start to lose track of all the beautiful, thoughtful things they got me. I thank them profusely and make a small neat pile of gifts, setting them aside to go back to and have a closer look at later.
Gift unwrapping done, Ace and I leave the guys playing on their consoles in favour of starting dinner. Ace insists he doesn’t need any help, but I follow him anyway thinking I can at least keep him company. In the kitchen, he puts music on, and we sing and dance along. It’s fun and silly and natural. Today’s definitely been the best Christmas I’ve had in years.
Dinner is a fantastic feast. Ace has outdone himself, and everyone’s stuffed. I don’t think I can move, let alone face pudding. We just about crawl to the sofa to watch a film, but I end up dozing and not taking it in.
When I wake, I notice the guys have let me stretch out on the sofa. One of them draped a blanket over me, and there’s a refreshing glass of orange juice waiting for me to drink. It feels late. I get up, and I peek through the curtains before turning back to the guys. It’s dark outside, but the sky has that funny, strange light to it that’s indescribable but can only mean one thing. “It’s going to snow tonight.”
“No way,” Rebel protests.
“It is. I can tell. Look at the colour of the sky. Listen to the eerie silence. I think we’ll have a heavy downfall by morning. It’ll even settle I’ll bet.”
“You’re wrong. There’s no chance. We rarely get snow here, being so close to the coast, and when we do it never settles. What do you want to bet on it?” Ugh. Everything with Rebel has to be a game or a challenge.
“If I’m right and we have snow, you have to lie in it, face first for three minutes. Naked.”
“Savage. Okay, and if I win...you have to go in the hot tub with us... naked.”
I gulp. A second ago, I was prepared to bet anything that it was going to snow, but now I was wavering. I’m pretty sure it will, but am I willing to risk it? The challenge in Rebel’s eyes tells me he doesn’t think I’ll make the bet. Challenge accepted.
“Deal,” I say and shake his hand firmly.
“Right guys, I’m going to bed. Thank you, all, for an amazing day. I couldn’t have hoped for a better Christmas.”
“Night Princess,” Thorn and Rebel tell me.
“Merry Christmas,” Ace adds.
“I’ll help you with your gifts,” Jax offers, scooping half of my pile up into his arms. I’m a little apprehensive after running from him last night, but it’s not like I can say anything when he’s already out of the room. I grab the other half and follow him out and up the stairs.
By the time I catch him up, Jax has already entered my bedroom, put my gifts on the dresser and is sat on my bed. I add my pile of presents to his, but before I can join him on the bed, he’s moved. I feel the air shift around me, rather than actually hearing him move, and the heat of his body presses intrusively against mine. He’s not touching me, but I can tell he’s close.
I turn slowly and find that I’m right. Jax is mere inches away from me with a dark, unreadable expression on his face. It’s dark in my room, neither of us having bothered to turn on the light, and so there’s only a little moonlight shining through my open curtains. In the darkness, Jax looks...mad? I can’t tell. His eyes are pools of black that I want to drown in, but which refuse to give me entry.
