The Hazards of Mistletoe (14 page)

I heard some more buzzing so I looked again.

Come on, I have to leave for my grandparents’ soon. Did he kiss you again? Was it as good?

OMG are you with him? Is that why you aren’t replying?

I glanced over to where Savy slept. The Savy I knew wouldn’t mind me texting her friend back, but maybe she’d changed.

Did you spend the night with him??

I couldn’t resist. I had to do it. I replied.
She did.

Uh, who is this?

Glen. Savy’s sleeping.

In your bed or hers?

Mine.

Just so you know, if you hurt her, I kill you.

That’s fair. I don’t plan to hurt her.

You have in the past.

I have, but I love her, and I’m going to be careful.

Does she know you love her?

Yes. I told her many times last night.

Tell her to call me later, and Merry Christmas!

Same to you. I’m feeling in the holiday spirit suddenly.

And that wouldn’t have anything to with the girl whose phone this is?

It has everything to do with her.

“Glen? What are you doing?” Savy grabbed her phone from me. “Were you texting with Jade?” She typed something into her phone. She was taking over the conversation.

“She asked a question, I was merely answering.”

“I should be annoyed right now.” She pouted.

“But you’re not.”

“Nope.” She smiled. “But promise me you wouldn’t have done that if it was my dad.”

“I do value my life.”

“Good, because I want to be able to spend as much of the rest of this week with you as possible.”

“You’ll be spending all of it with me once I take care of something.”

“And what’s that?” She pulled the comforter up around her, and I didn’t blame her. It was cold.

“I have to talk to my parents.” Now that I’d fixed things with Savy, I needed to deal with the other strained relationship in my life. I was done avoiding them.

“Want me to come with you?”

“How about you strategically show up and save me?”

She curled into my side. “I can arrange that.”

“I should probably get you home soon.”

“You should, but you have one other job to do first.”

“And what job is that?”

“Warming me up.” She threw off the covers. “And you’re not getting any help from the blankets.”

“I don’t need help.” I moved over her. “Warming you up happens to be my specialty.”

An hour and an amazing shower with Savy later, I’d finally dropped her off. Lucky for me the only one home was Laney. She grinned at us, and quickly pulled Savy inside.

“Call me or text me when you want me to come over.” Savy stood just inside the doorway.

“I don’t want you waiting around for me. Go out and enjoy the day.”

“We need to wait for everyone else anyway,” Laney quickly replied. “We’re going snowmobiling. I’ve never done that before. Want to come?”

“He does.” Savy answered for me. “Don’t you?”

I smiled, loving how happy having me around made her. “Absolutely. Hopefully this doesn’t take too long.” I kissed Savy goodbye and walked down the hall.

I hesitated outside the door to my parents’ condo. It had been months since I’d talked to either of them, and the last conversation hadn’t been pretty. They’d told me that if I didn’t agree to transfer schools they were cutting me off. They hadn’t just meant financially. I wasn’t surprised that my dad had reacted that way, but I’d expected my mom to cave. And maybe she had. I’d been ignoring her calls for weeks.

I knocked on the door, half hoping no one was there. My mom opened the door. “Glen!” She pulled me into a hug. That wasn’t the response I was expecting.

She didn’t release me for a few moments, and I didn’t try to either. Finally she stepped back and just looked at me. “You look good. How are you?”

“Hey, mom. I’m doing well.” I was now. One night with Savy had changed everything.

“We were wondering when you were going to come by.” She was smiling. That was also something I hadn’t expected.

“We? Dad was too?”

“Yes. He misses you. We both do.”

“You have a funny way of showing it.” I followed her into the living room. I wasn’t going to let the initial response get me too comfortable. I was positive my dad wasn’t going to be quite so welcoming.

“You know we love you. We both care about you, but we just don’t understand your decisions.”

“I was trying to help a friend.”

“We understand that one. But taking the fall? Refusing to transfer schools?”

“It was the principle. The dean wouldn’t listen to reason.”

“And we respect that.” Dad walked into the room. “You felt duty bound to protect a friend, but sometimes in life you have to think about yourself too. About your own future.”

“I do think about my future.”

“And what are your plans then? You can’t mean to spend the rest of your life working here.” Dad wasn’t smiling. I wasn’t surprised.

“I was thinking of looking at some other schools.”

“Oh really? That’s news.”

“I’ve had the chance to do some thinking.” I needed to find a way to give Savy what she deserved.

“And those other schools wouldn’t happen to be located in South Carolina, would they?” he asked.

“Uh, what makes you say that?”

“Layden Fells may have mentioned you have been spending time with Savy again.” His expression was unreadable, so I decided to tread lightly.

“Yes. I have.”

“She’s a lovely girl.” Mom’s expression was very readable. She loved Savy, and she wasn’t hiding it.

“She is.” I smiled. I couldn’t help it. Savy wanted to be with me, and that thought made everything else seem inconsequential.

Dad’s lips twisted up into a smile. “I’m sure the admissions office at Harrison would consider a transfer application for next fall. If you need our help with it just let us know.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of their reaction. What happened to the angry rants of a few months before? Had the fact that I hadn’t come crawling back to them for money and help worked? Did they understand I was going to have to find my own way? “Thanks. I’ll keep you posted.”

“What are your plans for the rest of the week?”

“Maybe going snowmobiling with the Fells today. I work tomorrow and then hopefully spending Christmas with you guys if you’re willing to have me. Well and Savy too.”

“Wonderful.” Mom smiled. “Maybe we can do something together with the Fell’s like we used to.”

“Sounds great, but is it ok if I bring my roommate? He’s here for the holidays.”

“Absolutely. You know we always end up with too much food.”

I wasn’t sure whether Winston would be interested, but I needed to at least ask. He didn’t have any family around, and he’d proven himself to be a good friend the last few days.

“Go have fun with Savannah. We’ll catch up tonight.”

“Thanks.” I hugged them both. “I’ve missed you guys.”

“We’ve missed you too.”

I couldn’t believe I had agreed to go snowmobiling. Evidently it was one of the planned activities my dad had eluded to. Adding Glen into the mix was easy, especially since I had no intention of driving a snowmobile myself. I was more than happy to get my view while holding onto Glen. Driving a car was the only kind of driving I did, and it wasn’t my strong suite.

To his credit, my dad didn’t say a word about the change between Glen and me. He seemed to accept we’d worked things out on our own, and he was glad I was enjoying myself. I’d tell him eventually, but I just wanted to get the most of every minute I had with Glen and my family.

My dad pulled me aside when we reached the lodge where we were meeting for our snowmobile tour. “Can we talk for a second?”

“Sure.” I was in such a good mood that I felt prepared for whatever he threw at me.

“You seem to be getting along well with Dalton and Laney.”

I nodded. “I like them. They’re really down to earth and fun.”

“That’s great.” Dad looked off into the distance.

“Dad? Is there something you want to tell me?”

He looked at me. “How would you feel about spending more time with them? And Gina?”

“I want you to be happy, and Gina makes you happy.”

“But what about you? What would make you happy?”

I smiled. “You already made me happy by even talking to me about this.”

“Does that mean you’re giving me a green light here?”

“Did you really need my approval?”

“Yes. Yes I did.”

I hugged him. I held onto him for a full minute before I finally let go. “Love you, Dad.”

“Love you too, kid. Now go have fun.” He patted my shoulder, and I walked over to where everyone else waited.

We went on a two hour tour through the picturesque snowy landscape. The wind was biting, but it didn’t seem nearly as bad when I held onto Glen. He knew exactly what he was doing, but I could tell he was trying to keep his speed in check for my sake. I loved that without me telling him, he knew exactly how I felt. Eventually he slowed to a stop as we returned to the lodge we’d left from.

“You doing all right there?” He helped me down and pulled off my helmet.

“I think so, you’re good at that.”

“It’s more enjoyable with your hands on me.”

“I like having my hands on you.”

He grinned. “You have permission to have your hands on me anytime.”

“That permission goes both ways.” I kissed him on the cheek and walked over to where Dalton and Laney waited. My dad and Gina had fallen a little ways behind.

“Don’t tease me,” Glen called after me.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

Dalton rolled his eyes and Laney grinned. I was really starting to enjoy their company.

Exhausted and cold, we split from my Dad and Gina and decided to head over to a hot tub when we got back to the condo. Glen had to run over to his apartment to grab a swimsuit, so he told us to go on ahead. Laney was bursting at the seams to go, so I agreed. I hoped I’d still be in the water when Glen got back.

I hesitated inside the door to the deck where the hot tubs were before making a run for the water. I threw down my towel, and slipped in next to Laney. The water felt unbearably hot at first, but then it became relaxing. I tried to keep as much of my body in the water as possible to avoid the chilly wind. Despite the cold, it was a beautiful setting. The snow covered mountain dotted with evergreen trees was so breathtaking it almost looked fake.

“Are you ready to tell us about last night?” Dalton asked with a quick glance over his shoulder. It was only two o’clock and earlier than the usual hot tub rush. Most people were still out on the slopes.

“What do you think happened?” I eyed Laney. Wasn’t Dalton the one who was worried about me being a bad influence on his sister?

Laney groaned. “Oh come on. I’m not a baby. You can talk about sex in front of me.”

Dalton shook his head. “No, no we can’t.”

“Laney has a point. She isn’t a kid.”

“She is to me.”

Laney rolled her eyes and picked up her phone from where she left it just outside the hot tub. She was kind of attached to the thing.

“Ok, then let’s change the subject.”

“But you guys are together now, right?” Evidently Dalton wasn’t ready to drop it yet.

“We are,” I said without wavering. I believed Glen when he said he knew we could make it work. If we both wanted it badly enough it was possible.

“Look at that confidence.” Dalton grinned. “Glad it worked out for you.”

“I’m happy.”

“And happy is a good thing.”

“Like making friends is?” I arched an eyebrow.

“Oh my god. On my god.” Laney looked like she was in a state of shock.

“What?” Dalton asked with alarm.

“I got in! I got into Harrison!”

“What? Now?” I found myself getting as excited as she was. “That’s so awesome! Congratulations!”

She held up her phone. “Just got the email!”

“That’s amazing, Laney. Congrats!” Dalton beamed.

“Ahh, I have to tell Mom!”

“Hey, did I miss something?” Glen stripped down to just his swimsuit and got into the hot tub right next to me.

“Laney got into Harrison!” I liked the idea of us going to the same school. She was fun to be around.

“Congratulations!” Glen smiled. “That’s great news.”

Laney hopped out and grabbed her towel. “I’m going to tell Mom.”

“I’ll go with you.” Dalton got out. “Don’t stay out here too long.” He winked as he followed Laney back inside.

“Looks like you’re going to have some company at school next year.” Glen put an arm around me.

“Yeah, I’m excited about it.” If only Glen could move closer too. That would make things even better.

“We’ll all have to celebrate later. I bet my Dad has some champagne he’d be more than happy to break out early.”

“Sounds great.” I snuggled into his side.

“You look great. I may have seen you in even less last night and this morning, but that bikini is kind of killing me.”

“Well, seeing you shirtless is hard on me too.”

“Is it?” He brushed his lips against mine.

“And that’s making it worse.” I glanced up as something cold fell on my face. “It’s snowing.”

“Is it me, or do you actually sound excited about that?”

“I am… it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, snow is a good thing.”

“I knew I’d get that Christmas spirit back.”

“You know what would help even more?”

“What?”

“If you kissed me again.”

“I think I can manage that.” He cupped my face with his hands. “I plan to do that any chance I get.”

My planned reply of ‘me too’ was lost as his lips met mine.

I got lost in the kiss, and I needed more. I wrapped my arms around his neck and crawled into his lap. I didn’t want any space between us.

Throat clearing had me jumping to the other side of the hot tub. “Oh, it’s just you.” I let out a deep breath. “I thought you were my dad.”

Dalton laughed. “It would have been, but I had a feeling I’d find you guys this way. Any chance you can uh, finish this up later? Laney is dying to go celebrate.”

“Of course,” Glen answered for us. “I was just telling Savy I need to ask my dad for some champagne.”