"Okay,Drew, so the plan is lights up along the edge of the roof, lining all upper windows, and then again the roof of the front porch, again windows, and finally the garage, including the doors," Jim said as he stood over top of the boxes of lights. "Drew, you will have to take the high ground. My knees and hips can't take a ladder anymore."
"Not a problem," I answered and went into the garage. I pulled the extension ladder down from where it hung on the wall, carried it out of the garage, and set it up against the house.
We quietly and quickly unraveled the strands of lights, Jim sorting them into the correct piles for windows and the roof. We plugged each strand in, replacing any broken or nonworking bulbs before putting them up. I took the strand for the garage roof and climbed the ladder quickly, hooking the cords into the hooks that Zach and I had put in a few years back to make this a faster and easier job. Once the garage was done, I quickly took the roofline strands for the house and front porch, climbed the ladder, and secured those lights as well.
"Boys, I have some hot chocolate for you," I heard Barbara call as I climbed back down the ladder to get more lights.
I walked over and took the mug from her, sipping on the hot liquid. It was cold this morning, and I was thankful for the warm drink.
"Did you want the green or red around the upper windows?" I asked, sifting through the strands.
"How about green on Lexi's window, red on ours, and then green on the other," Barbara said.
"Sure thing."
"I'll do the opposite down here on the two living room windows and around the garage doors while you finish the rest," Jim said, coming for a drink as well.
I drank down the rest of my hot chocolate and grabbed the three strands of lights I would need to complete the upper windows. I started at Lexi's room. I just needed to get this wrapped around the casing and be done.
As I began, one of the hooks fell out after rusting off. I grabbed a new one from my pocket and began screwing it in when movement from inside caught my eye. Lexi's bedroom door flung open and she came wandering into her bedroom wrapped in a towel. I slowly continued replacing the screw, trying hard not to peep in on her.
"Please just leave the room," I whispered to myself, but she didn't. Instead, she dropped her towel to the floor, exposing herself to me without knowing it. I hung the first light up slowly on the hook as I patiently watched. "Just get dressed," I whispered. She didn't. Instead, she walked over and laid down on her bed. She laid on her back, her right hand resting on her stomach, gently running her fingers over her soft skin. Skin I longed to touch again. Her left hand came down and rubbed over her breast, her fingers gently rolling the nipple. I felt my cock start to stiffen as I hooked yet another part of the lights up. I closed my eyes. There was no way this could be happening. There was no way I was out here on the roof watching her touch herself. I closed my eyes tightly, saying a silent prayer to the man upstairs as I felt a bead of sweat roll down my back. When I opened them, she was still there, still rolling her nipple between her fingers. I tried to ignore what was happening through that window and quickly began fastening all the lights around the casing. I was just about to step away when I saw her slip her right hand between her legs, her head tilting back as she slowly rubbed herself.
My heart rate accelerated as I continued to watch. I was so hard I was sure I was about to blow my load in my jeans when I heard some commotion in the background down below me. I ignored whatever was going on down below and kept my eyes glued to her bed.
"Fuck, Drew, what the hell is taking you so long, man?"
I jumped back, almost falling off the roof as Zach came up the ladder. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. It's fine." I swallowed hard. I could feel my face going red as I scrambled to grab the next strand of lights. "I just needed to replace a few hooks that had rusted off on this window, but I need to get more for the others. Let me come down and grab some," I said, coming over to the edge of the roof, waiting for Zach to climb back down the ladder. The last thing I needed was him coming up on the roof with me and peeking and seeing what I witnessed.
Zach backed down the ladder, allowing me to come down. We fished around in the garage looking for more hooks, finally finding them tucked in Jim's toolbox. We both walked out of the garage, ribbing one another, and came around the corner. I stopped dead, dropping the package of hooks on the ground, as I saw Lexi standing on the porch talking with her father. She glanced over my way, waving.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Zach asked, smacking me on the back. "Look like you've seen a ghost." He laughed.
"I'm fine." I shrugged, reaching down to pick up the package and heading for the ladder.
* * *
I satin the corner of the coffee house reading the paper and sipping on hot coffee, trying to relax. After I had gone back up on the roof to finish the lights, Lexi had gone back into the house to bake with Barbara. I had never been more relieved. I could feel the tension within myself as she had stood talking with her father, both glancing over at me occasionally. I knew Zach sensed it too because he kept staring at me. After she had gone back inside, I had to ignore his constant questioning and nagging. I had finished putting the lights up, and then decided to head into town. Now here I sat, alone with nothing but my thoughts and this cup of coffee.
I had been sitting here reading the same article repeatedly for the last twenty minutes, thinking of what I had seen through Lexi's bedroom window. I dropped the paper down and stared out the window as shoppers bustled up and down the street, carrying bags, laughing and talking with their shopping partners. Everyone around me seemed happy, and here I was, once again caught up in my own feelings, only this time they had nothing to do with Laura. Going away this Christmas was supposed to be a good thing.
I let out a sigh. I had done no shopping yet, and I needed to get on it. Christmas was fast approaching and wasn't going to wait for me to make up my mind on when and if I should start shopping. I drank down the remainder of my coffee and left the little shop, stepping out into the cold and blowing snow, and wandered up the street.
I spent the remainder of the day in town, wandering in and out of the shops, accomplishing nothing. I slowly wandered up the street and turned into the driveway of the house. Zach was busy securing his skis to the hood of the car.
"Hey, man, going skiing with Ann Marie?" I asked, stopping to help him for a second.
"No, she is busy with her parents and little brother. I was hoping you would hit the slopes with me tonight. Lexi is moping around the house, and Mom and Dad just want to relax."
I glanced at my watch. It was only seven. Plenty of skiing hours left. I thought for a quick second. I could stay at the house praying I could ignore Lexi or I could ski with my best friend. "Little night skiing, sure thing. Let me just run inside and get changed."
"Sure thing. I'll just finish up here."
I ran up the front steps and into the house, kicking my shoes off and running upstairs to my room. I quickly changed, grabbed my ski pants and jacket, and stepped out into the hall just in time to see Lexi climb up the stairs with a mug of hot tea. She looked over at me like she was going to say something, which was soon replaced with a sad look on her face. She walked into her room, closing the door behind her. I was tempted to go and see her, but I needed so bad to distance myself from her right now that I couldn't be bothered. The sad look in her eyes was no doubt because of me, because I was already disappointing her. Just as I knew I would.
Zach and I drove down to the ski hill, and he waited patiently while I grabbed some skis, and then we bought our lift tickets and headed up the mountain. For the next few hours, the only thing on my mind was scenery as we cut up the fresh powder beneath our skis. My mind was free of everything by the time we had loaded the car back up.