“I’m now soaking wet and frostbitten,” he grumbled, but his eyes were still alight with the fun we’d had. “If you want a damn tree, we should probably get on that before it gets dark.”
I looked up at the darkening sky and saw that he had a point. It had already been late afternoon when we had decided on this half-baked plan, and this time of year sunset came early. We needed to move quickly and pick an easy tree. I did really want one for Christmas—it hadn’t entirely been a ploy to get Ryan outside.
“Alright, fine. Truce,” I agreed, eyeing him from my hiding spot. “You swear that you are done?”
“Yes, I swear. How about you?”
I could clearly see one empty hand, but the other was hidden behind his back.
“Of course,” I answered, smiling innocently.
We simultaneously stepped out from behind our shelters, and nailed each other with our last snowballs. Ryan tackled me into the ground with a laugh, but when I smashed some loose snow into his face, he shook his head to get rid of the icy stuff and stopped.
“Ok, really though. We need to get moving.” He stood and helped me up.
Finally, somewhat serious again, we walked just a short distance before we found a cute little pine tree that would work perfectly. I didn’t have much to offer except encouragement as Ryan started up the saw and quickly cut it down since it was so small. We awkwardly grabbed onto the trunk through the branches, and shuffled back to the cabin. We’d cut it close on daylight, but we’d made it.
We focused on maneuvering the tree inside and into the living room. After removing all our sodden layers and hanging them in the entryway to melt onto the old tile, we started setting up the tree. While Ryan got it propped up in the rusty metal base, I ran down into the basement to collect the dusty cardboard boxes of decorations.
I put on some not too annoying Christmas music, and danced around while we decorated the tree as best as we could. It wasn’t nearly as nice as my mom’s work, but I was pretty proud of how it had turned out. The colorful lights and the smell of the needles made it extra cozy and cheerful in the drab room.
Once we were done, I pulled out some decorative candles from the box and placed them around the room, and then we sat down and admired our work.
“What do you think?” I asked Ryan.
“It’s nice, I guess.” He answered quietly, but I’d seen his expression earlier. He liked it more than he was willing to admit. I was getting better at reading him.
“It’s probably silly, but I just wanted you to have some kind of Christmas. I know it’s a hard time of year for you, and without Jeremy and my parents here…”
I trailed off, unsure how to say what I meant. Sex or not, I was a poor substitute for the people that he really loved. I couldn’t change any of our circumstances, but maybe I could hopefully keep it from being yet another bad holiday experience for him.
Ryan didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked away, and swallowed hard. I was starting to think that I had made a mistake by bringing it up at all. I should have stuck with light and fun, rather than bringing up his worst memories surrounding the holiday.
“Sorry, this isn’t stuff we normally talk about,” I said quietly. “Not that we talk much at all. I just thought we both deserved something joyful.”
“No, it’s okay. You were right. This actually does make me feel better,” he said, giving me a barely perceptible smile. “I’m glad that you made me do it.”
I smiled back at him and touched his arm before I realized what I was doing. This was one of the first real conversations that we’d ever had, and it was both nice, and weird. It was also straying into dangerous territory. It had been hours since the last time we’d gotten naked together, and I didn’t even mind. Not that I didn’t want to jump him all the time, because I did, but the snowball fight and decorating the tree had been satisfying in their own way.
And that was a problem. I needed to get us back on track.
“Ok, enough talk. It’s time for the next part of the evening’s itinerary,” I announced, making my voice extra bright and cheery.
“What now?” He narrowed his eyes at me. “Neither of us can make cookies, and I’m not singing Christmas carols.”
I walked over to the box and picked up the last items inside. “I was thinking of something else actually.” I turned back toward him, holding up the two cheap polyester hats, and waggled my brows. “How about some dirty Santa and naughty elf role-playing?”
Ryan’s exuberant laugh startled me because it was so uninhibited and free and real. A laugh that he’d never directed towards me before, and it made me feel tingly. I slid the elf hat on, complete with ears, and posed for him.
“I’m going to need you to get over here and lay across my knee right now,naughty elf,” he said, his voice low and sultry.
“Pretty sure it’ssiton your knee, Santa,” I quipped playfully as I slowly strolled back towards him, putting some extra sway in my hips.
He barely repressed his smirk. “Talking back earns you another spanking.”
“In that case, I plan to be extra sassy,” I said, just as he grabbed my wrist, positioned me across his lap, ass up, and made good on his promise.
CHAPTER TWELVE