Chapter 40: Brooks
True to their word, Olive’s sisters run interference when we get to her childhood home. Gran hugs me around the middle and just as she starts feeling up my bicep, Lilah pops her head out of another room.
“Gran, do you smell something burning?”
“Oh shit, my gingerbread!” Gran yells before hustling off towards the kitchen, straightening her “Drink Up, Grinches” apron. Lilah shoots Olive a wink, making her laugh.
Christmas with Olive’s family is so different from the quiet, restrained holidays I grew up with. Maybe it’s because I was an only child, but my parents never seemed to get in the holiday spirit. Decorating was “unnecessary” and “a waste of time.”
It’s clear Olive’s grandmother does not share that opinion. Lights are strung from every tree in the front and back yards of the house. In the house, Gran has three full size Christmas trees decorated in different themes and a Christmas village so big that Asher built a mantel extension to display all of it. The whole house feels packed with cheerful people, music, and amazing smells.
I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m selfish with Olive, keeping her close as much as possible. I pull her into my lap under the guise of making room on the couch for everyone else. She rolls her eyes but wiggles back on my lap, smiling knowingly when I can’t control the way I harden under her.
She knows I’m dying to get back inside her. I wish her family could have given us at least another hour alone, but it’s Christmas and this is what their family does. It’s worth the blue balls to make her happy and spend the day with her tucked up into my lap.
Olive’s family exchanges gifts, trading each other boxes containing a real gift and a gag gift. “It’s something Grandpa always did,” Olive explains.
Asher hands me a box while wearing a pair of mittens with googly eyes sewn onto the knuckles. “This is from all of us,” he says with a straight face.
Inside is a really nice bottle of bourbon and… “Is that a Karate Kid chia pet?” I ask.
“YUP!” Lukas calls out from across the living room while Olive laughs, trying not to spew her mouthful of hot cocoa.
“Where did you guys even find that?” She asks.
Lukas shrugs. “Amazon.”
“Thanks,” I smile at each of them. “I’m not sure where I’ll put the chia pet. Maybe poolside?” I ask Olive. She grins and I can’t help imagining how sexy she’s going to look swimming in the pool this spring.
“Open mine,” Olive says while crawling under the tree to pull out a large flat box from the back. The wrapping paper has reindeer wearing sunglasses and they’re throwing the cloven hoof version of gang signs.
Laughing at the wrapping paper, I tear into it and lift the lid of the box. Inside is a star chart framed with the words, The Night We Met. Olive looks up at me through her lashes. “It’s the night sky over Napa on the night we met.”
“I fucking love it,” I tell her as I pull her back into my lap for a kiss.
“Oh thank god!” She laughs against my lips. “Look underneath it.” She points back at the box and wiggles like an excited puppy, stirring up sensations I’d rather not have in front of her entire family.
Lifting the large frame out of the box reveals a layer of Styrofoam peanuts below. I swipe my hand through it and come up with a CD case.
“Oh Jesus. Bon Jovi’s Greatest Hits?” I ask her with a grin. Olive laughs so hard she almost topples off my lap, but I catch her. Julia cackles, and Lilah tries to hide her laugh behind her hand.
“What’s so funny about Bon Jovi?” Lukas asks. Asher shrugs. It seems the brothers haven’t been given the details of how we met, which is probably lucky for me. I may be big, but there are two of them.
“Nothing,” Olive replies. “It was just playing the night we met.”
She throws her arms around my neck and snuggles into me. Breathing her in, I take a minute to be thankful for the way she feels in my arms; the soft vanilla scent of her body pressed against mine and the way she’s fearlessly let me into her heart.
“Thank you, baby,” I tell her as I stroke her hair.
After gifts, we sit and chat in the living room, drinking cocoa while Christmas movies play in the background. There’s a knock on the front door and before anyone can get up, Luis pops his head inside.
“Knock knock! Look who I brought!” I don’t miss the way Julia’s head whips up or the disappointment that crumples her face when she sees the man that follows Luis inside. Olive doesn’t miss it either, and she stands up looking torn between being polite to Luis and comforting her sister. I give her a gentle push towards Julia while I stand to shake Luis’ hand, blocking them from view.
“Mateo!” Gran cries as she wraps the man in a bear hug before patting his cheeks. “Look how handsome you’ve gotten!”
Luis beams with pride as he introduces me to his younger son, Mateo. “He got shore leave for Christmas and surprised me this morning!” I’ve never seen Luis smile so hard.
Mateo shakes my hand. He’s got to be ten years my junior with an innocent, clean shaven look, fitting his navy uniform. “I’ve heard you’re dating Olive,” he says with a grin as Olive and her siblings pile in around us, hugging him all at once. My girl seems to have gotten Julia put back together because she’s joined in the fray.
Olive pulls back and tilts her head to the side with a soft, sweet smile, all for me. She doesn’t take her eyes off me while she answers him. “Yeah, we’re dating.”
Her look warms me all the way through and I raise a corner of my mouth, returning her smile. She makes me so damn happy.