Tangled in Tinsel (Holidates #1)(28)

Now he’s talking to me.

“Princess, I don’t care what questions, stipulations, or terms you have. You can have whatever the fuck you want. Including the spotlight or my dick down Alec’s throat if that ensures me inside that pussy.”

Reed chuckles. “Sunshine, just say yes. No, guys aren’t even our thing.”

My chest is rising and falling faster and faster. My official answer is on the tip of my tongue as butterflies explode in my stomach. My lips part just as my knees feel like they’re going to buckle.

Holy shit. I blink.

“I’m seeing stars.”

“Not yet, you aren’t,” Reed counters.

Cole grips my chin between his fingers.

“Shit,” he growls.

My eyelids flutter. “Ummm…I’m passing out.”

“Fuck.”

The air hits my body as Cole rips the jacket open and off in seconds, exposing the truth—me in that damn T-shirt from earlier.

I was always a foregone conclusion.

Albeit an unconscious one now.

One minute I’m staring into Cole’s eyes, and the next, I’m lying on the floor hearing: “Do you see what I mean? Every time she’s nervous, she rambles. It’s fucking adorable. Come to think of it, it probably didn’t help the overheating.”

Jace.

“Shut up and put the towel on the back of her neck. She won’t fuck us if we kill her.”

Reed.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice she was wearing those fucking training pants. They’re designed to insulate and make you sweat to death.”

Alec.

My eyes blink open, slowly locking onto Cole’s. He’s all brows drawn together, staring down at me.

“Welcome back, Samantha. How about a bath?”

Oh, they’re dreamy.

I slowly lift two fingers to Cole’s mouth, pressing them against his lips before bringing them back to mine.

“What was that for?” he breathes out, staring intensely into my eyes as if I’ve put him in a trance.

My head shifts to see they’re all looking at me like that. My gaze travels up past Cole to the top of the fireplace hearth. The place where I was supposed to come out and kiss Reed to seal the deal.

“Mistletoe,” I say with a smile.

“Is that a yes?” Reed asks from my side.

I shake my head, looking between them again.

“It’s a yes, yes, yes”—my eyes stop on Cole’s—“and yes.”





eleven





“How are you feeling, cutie?”





jace


She’s sitting at the edge of her bed. Alec knelt in front of her taking his boots off her feet. I keep glancing up while I’m drawing her a bath, watching her watch him. It’s erotic, in a way. I get why Alec is a voyeur.

There’s so much more to see than meets the eye.

Because what I’m watching isn’t him taking shoes off that are too big. It’s Alec taking his time, running his fingers under the snow pants, before sliding the boots off her feet. Pressing gentle kisses to her covered knees before he sets one aside to do the other. The best part, though, is Samantha weaving her fingers gently through his hair as she bites that damn bottom lip.

Fuck.

I’ve never really…we’ve never done this. We fuck women and worship them sexually. But this is different.

The moment Samantha went limp in Cole’s arms, we might as well have been a crew of medics.

Everyone scrambled, getting ice, a cold washcloth, and water. Cole destroyed Alec’s jacket, ripping it off her as we laid her on the floor. And none of us spoke, hovering until she started waking up.

I’m sure we’d have done that in any same situation. Still, the attention to every detail of care makes what’s happening right now so different.

Samantha’s not just some chick that passed out in front of us.

We like her. Each of us in our own way. That much is clear.

“Did I die? Because this looks a lot like heaven,” she teases, loud enough for me to hear.

“Stop talking for once and relax,” Reed throws back, grinning at her scowl.

He’s next to her, eyes never leaving her. Slowly dragging the cool washcloth back and forth from the nape of her neck to the small amount of collarbone showing under her shirt.

“No more snowsuits. Or Alec’s T-shirts,” Cole says gruffly. He frowns, pulling her hair to the side, giving more room for the cloth to run over her skin. “You’ll go through my closet. Take what you want.”

I’m not the only one that glances at him.

Mr. I probably get my underwear pressed is letting her rifle through his shit and take what she wants.

Yeah, we like her.

It makes sense. Sammy’s like a breath of fresh air. No filter. Audacious as all hell. Brave enough to jump right in and change the rules for herself.

I shut the water off, dipping my hand inside to ensure the perfect temperature before I stand and make my way to the doorway. She’s talking as I lean a shoulder against it.

“Say what now? Is the beast going to let Belle borrow his clothes? Don’t go falling for me, Cole. Because I’m more like a perverted Cinderella. I expire on Sunday at midnight, and I’m taking my shoes with me.”