Page 46 of Being Julia

I kissed him gently on the lips. “I love you.”

“I love you more,” he whispered as he started to tickle me.

I grabbed his hands and tried to make him stop as I giggled so loudly that my dad came up the stairs.

“Sorry to interrupt your fun, but dinner’s ready.” He smiled.

“Okay, Dad. We’ll be down in a minute.” I laughed.

Jake and I walked downstairs and sat at the table for dinner. He had become part of the family and pretty much a permanent fixture at our house.

“Jake’s family is going to the Hamptons for Thanksgiving, but Jake is coming with us to Aspen,” I said as I looked at my dad.

“Great. You’ll have a good time, Jake.” My dad smiled at him.

“Of course, he will. He’ll be with me,” I said as I scrunched up my nose at Jake.

“Hey, Jake. Do you want to play someCall of Dutyafter dinner?” Collin asked.

Jake looked over at me. “Are we going anywhere, babe?”

“No. You two can play. I have to study anyway.”

“Yes!” he said to Collin.

Once dinner ended, Jake kissed me and went upstairs withCollin. My dad went to his office to do some work, and my mom and I stayed back to clean up.

“Are you cooking for Thanksgiving, or are we going out?” I asked her as I cleaned the table.

“We’re all going to cook a big dinner. You know your grandma always cooks for Thanksgiving.”

“I can’t wait to go skiing. I haven’t skied in a couple of years,” I smiled.

“Julia, you do know that you and Jake won’t be able to share a room, right?”

“Yes, Mom. I know that.”

“Okay. I’m just making sure because I don't want you to get mad when your dad says something to you about it.”

“Don’t worry. I already knew that.” I smiled.

We cleaned up the rest of the dishes, and I headed upstairs to Collin’s room.

We left for Aspen the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. My dad wanted us to have a full day of skiing on Wednesday, and everyone arranged their schedule so they could fly with us.

“Pretty cool, huh?” I smiled as we stepped on our private jet.

“Yeah. I’ve never been on a private plane before. This is amazing.”

Mason and Landon boarded the plane, and I ran up to them and hugged and kissed them.

“How’s my princess doing?” Mason asked.

“I’m fine, Uncle Mason.”

“You’re more than fine. You’re glowing, and it must havesomething to do with that handsome man standing next to you.” He smiled.

“How are you, Jake?” Landon asked as they shook hands.

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