Perfect Fit: Book 4 of the Fated Hearts Series (26 page)

I DID MY
best to make our first Christmas the absolute best one Jag had ever experienced. I wasn’t foolish enough to think that I would be able to wipe away all the sadness he felt from missing his mother and his brother, but I thought I could at least give him something happy and hopeful to cling to when things got rough for him.

I was planning an outrageous Twelve Days of Christmas to work some sexy humor into the season. I was calling it the Twelve Days of Sexmas as I made my list of things to buy from the adult toy store. My game didn’t include multiple sets of the same item like the song, I mean, what the fuck would we do with three sets of handcuffs? A spare, because no way I’d share Jag with anyone. Just the thought had me wanting to start thumping my chest like a dominant gorilla on steroids.

I finished my list and smiled when I read it back: dildo, masturbation toy, handcuffs, scented massage oils, cock rings, butt plugs, nipple clamps, flavored lubes, riding crop, blindfold, flavored condoms, and vibrating bullets. We were going to have the best Sexmas ever. I knew we’d have a lot of fun with most of those items, but I didn’t see either one of us going for getting whacked with the riding crop, but who knew.

The cutest thing about the holiday was that I brought Lucas and Lily over to help Jag decorate his tree. We put strands of popcorn and homemade ornaments on his tree along with the ones we picked out at the store. Jag seemed touched by the ornaments that Lucas and Lily made for him. Personally, I thought it was the prettiest tree I had ever seen.

After the tree was decorated, we ate cookies from the bakery – neither of us could bake worth a damn – and drank hot chocolate. Lily curled up in Jag’s lap and he read Christmas stories to her. Lucas tried to act like he’d outgrown that particular tradition, but I saw him hanging onto every word that came out of Jag’s mouth. Lucas wasn’t the only one either. I found myself captivated by the deep timbre of his voice as he read. We had a fabulous day together and we were both sad when Darryl and Destiny arrived to pick up their brood.

Lucas and Lily hugged and kissed us goodbye and grudgingly went home with their parents. Jag and I curled up on the couch in exhaustion. It was hard work being on our best behavior and not using foul language all day. Plus, I had to keep my contact with Jag at a kid-friendly level. That’s not to say I wouldn’t kiss him or hug him in front of the kids, because it was appropriate for them to see G-rated affection between us. I just couldn’t sneak in any crotch grabbing or grind against his groin like I would have if we were alone. The sacrifice was worth it and the delayed gratification made the sex that night more intense.

We attended Christmas parties for both of our jobs and had a great time. The best party by far was the Ugly Christmas Sweater party that Chase and Gray hosted. Their new house was packed with merry wishers wearing the ugliest, gaudiest sweaters ever created. My Aunt Susan made sweaters for Jag and me to wear. They started out as red sweatshirts, but once she was done you couldn’t see the original fabric beneath all the appliques.

Jag chose a Christmas Vacation theme and had Griswold mishaps all over his sweater, including cousin Eddie’s RV and the famous sled ride with sparks shooting out from beneath the round medal disk. I was a little bit jealous because I felt that Aunt Susan put more effort into Jag’s sweater.

I chose a Home Alone themed sweater and was super excited about all the different pieces of the movie until Jag showed me his sweater. My sweater must have been pretty damn good too, because people came up to me all night and pointed out different parts of the movie and laughed. Most everyone was freaked over the tarantula sown onto the sweater and acted like it might crawl off and get them at any point. I named him Tyrone and petted him just to creep people the fuck out.

Even the babies got in on the action. Ellie’s newborn daughter, Sofia, wore a knitted bonnet, sweater, and pants that made her look like a gingerbread cookie. Ava’s little boy, Jacob, was dressed in a knitted outfit that had reindeer and snowflakes all over it.

I really thought Jag and I were contenders for the prize but Gram won the contest and took home the first ever Ugly Christmas Sweater trophy. Her sweater had the Twelve Days of Christmas plastered all over it with enough silver and gold to blind us all when the lights reflected off of it.

Jag handed me a cup of spiked rum punch in a plastic moose glass like the ones they used in the movie his sweater represented. Jag was the designated driver so I could drink and be merry, but I only had the one glass. I knew how he felt about drunkenness and I didn’t want to ruin what had turned out to be a pretty perfect holiday season up to that point. I leaned in and gave him a light kiss on his lips because we were the only ones in the kitchen. I was debating about pulling him into a bathroom to do a little more than light kissing when we were interrupted.

“Aren’t you boys adorable?” Gram said, as she stepped into the kitchen to get a cup of rum punch.

“Careful, Agnes, that might interfere with some of your old lady medications,” Jag said. He loved to try and get under her skin. It rarely worked

“Drinking water tonight, JJ?” Gram nodded to his unopened bottle. “Afraid you won’t be able to get it up later if you have a few drinks? They make a pill for that too, you know?”

Jag threw his head back and laughed so loud that the people in the living room turned to look. He hooked an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Her head barely came up to his armpits. “I love you, you crazy old woman.”

Gram jabbed her elbow hard into Jag’s ribs, making him groan and rub the afflicted area. “Listen here, boy. You can call me any vile name you want, but don’t you ever call me ‘old’ ever again.” She pointed a finger at him. “Do you hear me?”

“Yes, Agnes.”

She frowned and tried to jab him again, but he moved quick enough to avoid her bony elbow. “How many times do I need to tell you to call me Gram?”

“At least one more time.” Jag gave her his patented shit-eating smile.

She narrowed her eyes at him and then cast her eyes upon me. “So, are you posers done with your ‘I don’t believe in love’ bullshit? You two aren’t fooling anyone any more. You might as well embrace the fact that you two love each other and are as sappy as all the others.” She waived her hand around, gesturing at the couples who were dancing to Nat King Cole’s “Christmas Song.” I hadn’t really thought of Christmas music as being romantic before, but I was learning a lot of new things once I opened my eyes to the possibilities. “Boys, there’s so much more to life than fucking and it’s past time you realize it. You can waste time pretending you’re not madly in love with each other or you can get on with living and loving.”

“Gram, not everyone wants wedding bells and babies,” Jag told her. “It’s not a secret that I’m in love with Miller. I may not broadcast it all over for everyone to see and hear, but that’s just not my style.”

“It’s not really my style either, Gram, but that doesn’t mean I love Jag any less than Gray loves Chase. Whatever we’re doing works really well for us and I’ve never been happier in my life.” Jag’s dark brown eyes locked on mine and I saw how affected he was by my words.

“I never said you had to get married and have babies, sweet boys. I simply said you needed to quit your pretending that you are anti-love and commitment.” She focused her piercing blue eyes on Jag and said, “I’ve never seen you this happy as long as I’ve known you and I’m including the time that you dated Chase. You two weren’t meant to be together in that capacity, but you’ve continued a beautiful friendship over the years. Chase found the man he was meant to be with, and because he did, you’ve found the person you’re meant to be with also.” She turned and looked at me next. “Thank you for bringing joy and happiness to JJ’s life. I no longer see the shadows of sadness in his eyes, and that’s all because of you.” She stood on her tiptoes and I leaned down so she could kiss my cheek. “You boys have a very Merry Christmas.” Jag bent over so she could kiss his cheek too before she left as fast as she arrived.

“I hope I’m as spunky as her when I’m her age,” I said as I watched her walk over to her fiancé.

“I can make you spunky as soon as we get home. There’s no need to wait another forty years.” Jag purposely misconstrued what I meant. “I haven’t had too much to drink and I promise you I can get it up.”

“Why wait. There has to be an empty bathroom in this house.” I said it loud enough for Chase to overhear as he made his rounds with a tray full of party snacks. Chase narrowed his eyes as he tried to fight off a smile.

“Santa is going to bring you a lump of coal, Miller.” Chase replied teasingly. He stuck out his tongue and continued on with his tray of goodies, purposely skipping us.

“I guess he told you.” Jag pulled me close and whispered huskily in my ears. “I want to go home and open my next Sexmas gift and play with it.” Jag was enjoying his Sexmas gifts a lot more than I thought he would. I got pleasure from seeing his laughter and being on the receiving end of whatever his gift was that day. I couldn’t remember a time I loved Christmas more.

We spent Christmas Eve at my parents with my brother and his family. Lucas and Lily were all over Uncle Jag the minute we walked through the door. I’ll never forget the look on his face when the kids started referring to him as their uncle. The widened eyes and slack jaw turned into a broad smile and a joyful expression in his eyes.

My mom cooked an extraordinary meal for all of us and we ate so much that we practically had to roll ourselves out to the Christmas tree to exchange gifts. I think Jag was surprised by how many gifts he received by my family or that he had a Christmas stocking with his name on it, but like I reminded him on the way home, he was one of us. My mom never called me and talked to me without asking about Jag. An invitation to dinner at her home always ended with “bring Jag.”

My mom and dad didn’t need for us to make a formal announcement that we were together or that we were in love. It was accepted and understood that Jag was the part that made me whole. Hell, I didn’t even know I was only half of a person until I met him. Every day that we shared seemed to bring us closer and closer. I never questioned how he felt about me or worried that he would tire of me and move on someday. On the other hand, I wasn’t opposed to making our commitment permanent. I would gladly marry that man if it was what we both wanted, but it wasn’t make or break for me.

Jag and I exchanged gifts when we got home from my parents’ house. We said we wouldn’t get too carried away and we mostly stuck to that agreement. I did buy him an expensive watch and I got a secret thrill seeing it on his wrist. His extravagant gift for me was season tickets to the Nationals. As much as I loved the baseball tickets, my favorite gift by far was the glow in the dark dinosaur boxer shorts. He loved the boxers I bought for him that said “Jingle These” above a picture of a giant set of silver bells that hung over his crotch. Later, we modeled our new undies for each other, but we didn’t get to wear them long before we yanked the shorts off each other and tossed them to the floor.

The next morning, Jag surprised me with another gift. “It’s from Santa Claus,” he said as he laid it on the coffee table.

“Why is it wrapped in the same paper as your other gifts? Are you saying that Santa bought his wrapping paper from Target too?”

“Well, apparently he did, Miller. Quit being silly and open the gift.” He sounded a little nervous.

I stared at the large rectangular box for a few minutes before curiosity got the best of me and I ripped into it like a child. “Huh,” I said when I lifted the lid and found a miniature sand box filled with white sand. On top of the sand was a child’s sand shovel and rake. I looked up at him and he grinned wickedly at me.

“Use those tools and excavate until you find your gift.”

“You haven’t left this anywhere that Maleficent or Ursula could find it, right? That’s not the kind of gifts I want to be digging up.”

“No cat poop. Scouts honor.” He held up his hands and gave me the Star Trek salute and not the Boy Scout one.

“You’re no Boy Scout, Jag.”

“I’m always prepared.” He pulled out a condom wrapper and a tube of lubricant out of his robe pocket, both from his Twelve Days of Sexmas.

“Wow, this must be some gift that
Santa
brought me. You’re all prepared to receive ‘thank you’ sex on his behalf.” I picked up my shovel and rake and began to comb through the sand. The box was deeper than I thought. The first thing I dug out was a pair of cheap sunglasses. I looked at him with a raised brow.

“Keep digging, Bones.”

“I suppose this is for supple lips for the blow job I’ll give you once I figure out my gift,” I said, holding up a tube of lip balm I dug out.

“Now that you mention it…” He laughed again at my skeptical expression after digging up the first two items. “Get to digging so I can get my ‘thank you’ sex.”

I rolled my eyes so hard it hurt, but then I began digging immediately after. I didn’t admit it just then, but I thought this was the coolest gift I’d ever received. I dug out a bottle of suntan lotion followed by a plastic suitcase that probably went to a Ken doll. I shook the little suitcase and realized it had stuff in it. I pulled out a pair of doll sized flip flops and a pair of swim trunks. My heart started to speed up as I realized what I was uncovering. At the very bottom was a folder that contained two airline tickets and a pamphlet showing gorgeous pictures of a resort in the Turks and Caicos Islands.