Going Long (Waiting on the Sidelines #2)(71)

She rolled over and pulled the blanket tightly over her head. So damned adorable. I pulled the corner of the blanket up and snuck underneath next to her, lifting it slightly and nestling my nose right against hers. “What do they call those? Eskimo kisses?” I said, nudging her cheek then with my nose.

She scrunched her face, still keeping her eyes tightly shut. “Ewwwww, your breath stinks,” she said, raising her hand up to pinch her nose shut. I pulled it away and breathed at her again, just to tease her. “Gross!”

She peeked one eye open at me then. “Popeye,” I teased her. She smacked my bicep and pulled the blankets up around her nose. “Okay, okay. I get it. I’ll brush my teeth. But youuuuu have got to get up.”

I yanked the blanket from the bed, leaving her there half exposed and uncomfortable while I went into the bathroom. “That was a jerk move,” she grumbled.

“Yeah, well, desperate times call for desperate measures, Princess,” I said, tapping on my wrist to signal what time it was. This seemed to get her moving quickly as her eyebrows shot up a bit, and she jumped from the bed, pulling up her pants and running her fingers through her hair.

“Shit, do you think anyone’s awake?” she asked.

“No, I’m pretty sure we beat the house up,” I mumbled through my toothpaste-filled mouth. Nolan cracked the door open then and listened while I finished getting ready.

“Shhhhhh,” she whispered over her shoulder. “I think we’re good.”

I followed Noles down the hallway and to the stairs, poking at her sides and forcing her to stifle giggles. We made it into the kitchen just in time to see Jason sliding through the front door, coffee in hand. I slid a mug over to Nolan, and she pretended to have just finished drinking when I picked it up from her, and asked her if she wanted a refill with a wink. “Yes, please,” she said, grinning at me behind Jason’s back.

The house started to fill up with people, and Nolan slipped out unnoticed to head to the guesthouse to shower and change, just as her parents came in to join us. Rosie started cooking breakfast, and by the time she was done, Nolan was back.

Christmas Eve was always a tradition at my dad’s house. Most of his buddies from college, and their families came to the house along with some of his closest business partners. Pops always had a big Christmas Eve gathering; I think partly to make up for the fact that I always had to spend the actual holiday with Mom. Rosie seemed to be in her element, serving up sausage and biscuits to the dozens of people now filing into the house. She’d been helping my dad on Christmas Eve for years. And the time hit me in the face when her son Edmund showed up with a family of his own.

“Mijo, come here,” Rosie said, squeezing my arm and turning me to follow her. “You remember Edmund? You were probably five years old when he used to babysit you. He’s on leave for the holidays. George couldn’t make it, but it’s nice to have one of my boys here.”

I shook Edmund’s hand, and shook my head in disbelief. Here was this mature, grown man who I remembered looking like a teenager. Rosie was hugging Edmund’s wife hello when a little girl with long pigtails came running up and leapt into Edmund’s arms, burying her face into her father’s chest. She reminded me so much of Nolan.

“Samantha, can you say hi?” Edmund said softly in his daughter’s ear? The shy girl peered from under his arm, and smiled at me softly before ducking back into her father’s arms.

“It’s okay, maybe next time,” I smiled at Edmund who just shrugged his shoulders.

“She’s super shy. She’ll warm up to you, though,” he said, patting me on the back while he walked away to join his wife in the living room. As he did, Samantha popped her head above his shoulder and smiled bigger now, raising her tiny hand to scrunch her fingers at me for a covert wave. I raised my hand and gave her a small one back before putting my finger to my mouth to give her a shhhhh, like it would be our little secret.

Rosie’s family was beautiful, and I found myself envious of her son. I walked out to the patio where I found Nolan talking with her parents, and for the first time in weeks, my grandmother’s ring made its way back into my thoughts, it’s weight comfortably back on my mind.

Christmas Eve was a full day of eating and drinking at the Johnson house. A few card games were in progress on the back patio and, somehow, old UofA football games made their way to the big screen TV, my dad and his college buddies camped in front of it reliving their glory days. Nolan’s dad, Rich, seemed to like the stories, though, because he was settled in on the sofa next to my dad, honestly interested in every word. The scene made me laugh a little when I made my way to the front driveway to get a little air and look for my girl.

“Hey, you see Nolan?” I asked Jason who was leaning against the garage, smoking a cigar. He always smoked cigars on special holidays. I don’t think he even really liked them, he just liked how important they made him look in his own mind.

“Nope,” Jason said, uninterested.

“Okay then, thanks…*,” I said the last part a bit under my breath.

“What was that?” Jason asked, walking up to me and stomping out his cigar on the ground. We hadn’t been kind to one another in years, so why he was taking offense to it now baffled me.

“Look, man. I was just razzing you, no big,” I said, backing up and turning around. Just then, I felt a fist slam into my back, knocking the wind out of me, and sending me forward on my feet.