Page 6 of Tickled Pink

I nod. “All right.”

“Besides, I’m more worried about seeing your parents than I am about seeing mine,” he says.

“Eh, don’t be.” I rest my head on his chest again. “They’re so excited. Mom’s probably annoying flight attendants with stories of me, me, me as we speak.”

He chuckles as the door opens and closes again downstairs. “Good.”

Thad stumbles back up the stairs with the constant tap of Stinky’s paws darting beneath him. “Careful…” he warns her. “Please don’t kill me, girl.”

Max and I laugh as Thad appears in the bedroom door again. Thad kicks off his shoes and peels his shirt off, passively dropping it to the floor along with his pants.

“Tag me in, dude,” he says. “I’m freezing.”

“I need to shower, anyway.” Max kisses me on the lips, soft and sweet, before extending his hand upward into the air.

Thad smacks it as Max quickly rolls out of my reach, leaving the warm place beside me completely empty for him. I open my arms and Thad hops into place, snuggling up with me beneath the thick, over-sized comforter on our bed.

I watch Max’s bare ass as it disappears into the bathroom. The moment he’s gone, Thad hooks a finger under my chin and guides my attention to him instead.

He kisses me on the lips, firm and true. “Alone at last,” he says with a wink.

I rest my head on his thick chest and smile, warmth cascading through me from my head to my toes.

Ya know. This really might just be the best Christmas ever.

Chapter Two

Thad

There’s no better feeling than knowing that you’re right where you belong.

It has taken me years to figure that out. For most of my adult life, I rejected the status quo and considered the clouds my family. Not that I had much in the name of family to begin with, unless you count an absent-minded father who wanted nothing to do with me (and said that to my face after my high school graduation when he kicked me out).

For years, it was just me, the clouds, and my best friend, Max. He stuck by me through all of it. Even offered a place to crash whenever I needed it. No questions asked. If I called, he answered, and I returned the favor whenever I could. I thought nothing could ever come between us.

I was wrong.

Kind of.

Phoebe Pink stands in the middle of the bathroom the three of us share wearing nothing but a bath towel tightly wound around her naked body. She bends over with another towel in her hands and furiously rubs her scalp to dry her dripping red locks.

I pause in the doorway and bite my lip. Her back is to me, leaving her covered rump on display. Doesn’t take much in the realm of my imagination to picture what this view would be like without the towel. Maybe Santa will grant me a Christmas wish and her towel will fall to the floor. Or I can just walk over and do it myself…

“Thad?”

I clear my throat. “Yeah?”

Phoebe shifts around and glances at me. “What are you looking at?” she asks with a chuckle.

“Oh, silly pinky,” I say. “You know what I’m looking at.”

She scoffs as she stands and tosses her towel down on the bathroom counter. “Didn’t get enough this morning?”

“How many times am I going to have to explain this?” I quip. “There is never — and I mean never — enough of you.”

She laughs with rolling eyes. “Well, be that as it may, I’m not sure there’s enough time to mess around. My parents land in an hour and there’s still so much to do...”

I shrug. “Like what?”

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