Trace + Olivia Series Boxed Set (33 page)

Avery and I exchanged a look and shook our heads. I had no idea where that was heading, and frankly, I didn’t want to think about the possibilities.

When they started making lovey dovey eyes at each other I wanted to point a finger at my head and yell, ‘Mom! Look at me! Your daughter! Over here! Stop staring at the guy young enough to be my brother!’

Nasty
.

I didn’t understand how she’d become so smitten with Nick so soon. I would’ve thought that after finally getting the courage to leave my father…um, Aaron…the last thing she would have been interested in would be another guy. I guess I was wrong.

“I got you something,” Avery beamed and plopped a box in my lap. It was large, but light, and wrapped in shiny green paper with stockings on it.

“Avery, you didn’t have to get me anything,” I told her.

“I know,” she shrugged, smiling at me, while she played with a strand of red hair.

“I feel bad,” I frowned. “I didn’t get you anything.”

“Don’t,” she smiled. “Besides, Christmas is about
giving
gifts not
receiving
them.”

“Are you sure you’re Avery Callahan?” I tapped her forehead.

“Yes,” she rolled her eyes. “I do have a heart, you know. Now open it!”

I smiled and began tearing off the wrapping paper. It was just a plain brown box, tapped down on all four sides. I used the edge of my fingernail to rip off the tape and then took the lid off.

I pushed aside the red and green tissue paper to find a stylish infinity scarf in different shades of blue and a navy button down pea coat.

“Avery,” I gasped, pulling the items out of the box. “They’re beautiful.”

“I knew you’d love them!” She clapped her hands together. “As soon as I saw them, I knew you had to have them. There’s a hat too,” she shuffled more tissue paper aside and pulled out a beanie in one of the lighter shades of blue from the scarf.

“Avery, this is too much. I can’t accept this,” I whispered.

“You can and you will. You’re my best friend, Livie, and I wanted to get you something nice, for putting up with all my crazy shit,” she smiled.

“I-I-thank you,” I stuttered, completely taken aback by the sweet gesture.

“You’re welcome,” she beamed.

I hugged my best friend to my chest. “I’m so lucky to have someone as wonderful as you in my life,” I confessed. I didn’t tell Avery enough, how much she meant to me. A lot of people were less than happy with their roommate, but I had found a lifelong friend with mine.

“I didn’t know a coat would make you this happy,” she giggled. “I only wanted you to stop wearing those sweatshirts.”

We both dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“My sweatshirt sure didn’t stop Trace,” I whispered in her ear.

“Oh my God,” she laughed. “Livie! Too much information!”

“You’re the girl who asks me a million and one questions about my sex life,” I giggled, “and gives me the explicit details of hers.”

“True,” she put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. “I do like me some details.”

After that, it was hard for us to reign in our laughter.

Once every present was opened, I insisted on helping clean up. After all, they were letting my mom and me stay there for free. It was the least I could do.

Two trash bags were filled to the brim with wrapping paper and I was finally sure I had gotten everything.

I tied the bags shut, and carried them to the garage, dropping them into the trashcans.

On my way back inside, my phone buzzed.

I pulled it out and saw that I had a text message from Trace.

I’ll b there in 10 min. B ready.

Ok.
I replied right back and couldn’t help smiling.

I dashed upstairs, and changed out of my pajamas, into a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved sweater with an owl on it. I cut the tags off of my gifts from Avery and put them on as well. I spotted the heel bootie’s she had given me at the beginning of the school year and sat down on the end of the bed to put them on.

I opened the door and was greeted with a low whistle. “Lookin’ nice,” Dylan, the brother closest in age to Avery, said. He towered above my small frame and his blonde hair waved on the ends. His eyes were the same shade of dark green as Avery’s.

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

“Where you goin’?” He asked, crossing his arms over his massive chest. All of Avery’s brothers were huge, tall and muscular.

“Out,” I replied casually. It’s not like I owed him a lengthy explanation or anything.

“Dylan!” Avery yelled up the steps. “Leave, Livie alone. She’s not going to suck your dick for you, so give it a rest!”

“Avery!” I shrieked.

“It’s true!” She hollered.

With a quick glance at Dylan, I ran away from him, and down the steps before Avery could say anything else embarrassing.

I met Avery in the foyer and she assessed my outfit. “I knew that would look good on you.”

“I love it,” I did a little twirl and the ends of the coat flared around my knees.

“I take it Trace is coming to get you,” she smiled and we started towards the garage.

“Yeah,” I blushed. “Was I that obvious?”

“No…you just smile differently when Trace is involved,” she opened the door that led to the garage and leaned inside to push the button that raised the garage door.

“I’ll see you later…or maybe not,” she winked.

I shook my head. “Thank you again for the coat and-”

“You’re welcome, Livie,” she grinned. “I’m happy you love it so much.” She pulled me into a quick hug.

I stepped outside and she closed the garage door behind me.

Trace was pulling into the driveway and I scurried inside his car before the cold penetrated my coat.

“Excited to see me?” He grinned crookedly at my speedy entrance.

“I didn’t want to get cold,” I laughed.

“Aw,” he put a hand to his chest, “and here I thought you were excited to see me. I’m hurt.”

“Hmm,” I leaned over and kissed his stubbled cheek, “how can I make it up to you?” I whispered.

His eyes met mine and the green had darkened to a mossy gray color. “I’m sure I can think of a few different ways.”

“That sounds…” I paused, messing with him. “Exciting.”

“Oh, it is,” he grinned and backed out of the driveway.

“Where are we going?” I asked, looking at the snow-covered lawns.

“My place,” he answered. “Unless you don’t-”

“No, no, that’s fine,” I interjected.

“Good,” he smiled and adjusted his grip on the steering wheel.

Christmas music played softly in the background, and the smell of hot chocolate permeated the air, along with the scent of freshly baked snickerdoodle cookies. Not only could Trace cook, but he could bake as well. Was there anything he couldn’t do?

“How many marshmallows do you want?” He asked from the kitchen.

I sat on the couch and turned so I could watch him. “Are they mini’s?”

“No, the big ones,” he looked up at me, and held the bag aloft, shaking it for emphasis.

“Two, then,” I smiled.

He fixed the hot chocolate in coffee mugs, and added the marshmallows, then carefully carried them to where I was. He placed them on the coffee table and winced. “They’re a little too hot.”

Before he sat down, he went back to the kitchen, to grab the plate of cookies.

He held the plate out to me and I took one of the cookies. It was cooked to perfection, and every bite was chewy, just the way I liked them.

“You’re Betty Crocker,” I laughed.

“It’s not like I made them from scratch or anything,” he defended, sitting down beside me so that the sides of our legs touched. “It’s not that difficult to heat up the oven and stick em’ in. You just have to watch them so they don’t burn.”

“They’re delicious,” I finished off the first and reached for a second.

“I’m glad you like them, but you haven’t tried my hot chocolate yet. Now,
that
I do make from scratch,” he grinned, a cookie crumb sitting on the corner of his mouth.

I couldn’t help myself. I leaned over and licked it away.

When I pulled back, his eyes were closed, and his Adam’s apple was bobbing.

“That wasn’t nice,” he whispered and opened his eyes. The green was light and playful.

He pounced on me and my second cookie fell to the floor as I squealed.

He pressed me into the couch as he hovered above me.

“Fair is fair,” he grinned, pinning my wrists to my sides as I squirmed against him. He bent and licked the side of my mouth in the same spot I had licked his.

“Now we’re even,” he gazed down at me and pressed his hips into mine.

“No, we’re not. I didn’t have any cookie crumbs on my mouth,” I panted.

“I can fix that,” he folded both of my hands into one of his and lifted them above my head. With his free hand, he reached for a cookie. He broke a corner off of one and held it above my mouth, crushing it in his palm, and letting go so that the crumbs covered my mouth and cheeks. I’m pretty sure a few went down my shirt but I wasn’t telling him that.

He appraised his handy work, and before I could come back with something snappy, he covered my mouth with his, sucking the crumbs away.

My body responded and my mouth opened underneath his. I felt his tongue nudge its way inside and I welcomed it. He growled low in his throat and released my hands so his fingers delved into my hair.

I grasped his ears in my hands, forcing him closer to me.

“Olivia,” he gasped my name.

“Don’t stop,” I begged, clutching at his shirt.

He nodded, and sat up, hooking his thumbs through the back of his shirt, pulling it over his head. He tossed it behind him and then covered my body once more with his.

My hands skated over the smooth hard muscles of his chest, and his hands skimmed under my shirt.

He sat up, pulling me with him, and in record time, my shirt was off.

“That’s better,” he grinned and kneaded my breasts.

I moaned his name and pressed my face into the crook of his neck.

I hugged my arms around his chest and kissed the edge of his chin. “Bed,” I gasped breathlessly.

He stood, and grabbed my hand, leading me into his bedroom. He ripped the covers back and they pooled on the floor.

He sat on the edge of the bed and yanked his boots off. I used the doorway for support and removed my shoes as well.

I felt his eyes gliding over my body but I refused to blush.

“Come here,” he crooned huskily.

I stepped quietly across the room until I stood in front of him. He hooked his index fingers in each side of my jeans and tugged until I was straddling him.

“That’s better,” he grinned and then kissed me.

The taste of cookies still lingered but Trace’s own unique taste was more prominent. Our hands were everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He sucked at a spot on my neck and I cried out.

“Please,” I begged. The ache that only he created inside me was growing stronger by the second. I needed him to fill me.

“Not yet,” he whispered, ghosting his lips along my collarbone. I shivered in response, and clung to his shoulders, my knees on either side of his hips.

He kissed over the curves of my breasts and then released the snap holding my bra in place.

I lifted my arms from his shoulders and let the bra fall away.

He gently palmed them in his hands, and little mewling sounds escaped my lips, as I rubbed my hips against his. I felt his hardness pressing against me, and knew he was more than ready, but he insisted on taking it slow.

“Olivia,” he warned, placing a kiss on my lips.

“I want you,” I pleaded.

“I know,” he whispered. “I want you too.”

“Then, please-”

“Not yet,” he repeated.

What was he waiting for? Did he want me to come in my pants? If that was the case, I was pretty close.

He gripped my hips and pushed me off so that I was standing in front of him once more.

I cried out in protest, but he stood, and silenced the noises I was making with another kiss.

He pulled his lips away and dropped to his knees. With a quick flick of his fingers, the button of my jeans popped, and he slid the zipper down slowly. He gazed up at me and placed a kiss on my stomach, then removed my jeans, kissing each part of my legs the fabric exposed.