Page 26 of HoHoHo for You

~ BRIDGET ~

“What’s going on?” My voice was rough and tight. And screaming alarm.

I’d woken up to the gorgeous sight of Sam leaning against the wall, shirtless and drinking coffee. I smiled until I saw the Krampus pants and the hunted look in his eyes.

I hadn’t thought about what day it was until he looked at me like that. Now I didn’t even need to calculate it in my head. Iknew.Still sitting on the bed,I quickly scanned the rest of the cottage, afraid he’d somehow erected a tree in the night, or something.

“Bridget… do you trust me?” he said quietly, his voice rough with sleep—which was divine—but his eyes never losing that slightly feral alarm.

I blinked. Frowned. “Of course I trust you. What—”

“No, Bridget, I mean… do youtrustme?”

I couldn’t breathe. “Sam, what have you done?”

He cleared his throat and straightened, holding his coffee mug in both hands. “I have another present for you. The last one.”

My head buzzed as I scrambled, trying to figure out how that could be a bad thing.

“I… like presents?” I said cautiously.

He gave a little smile and nodded, but every inch of his body was tight.

“Sam, what the fuck is going on?”

“Nothing bad,” he said, then sighed and turned, leaning around the corner into the dining room space behind him. He tucked a box under his arm—a large square wrapped in black with a white ribbon, like the others—then picked up another mug and walked over to the bed and offered it to me.

I took it hesitantly, though it smelled divine. As I sipped at it, he sat down on the bed with me and explained.

“This last present is something for us to do. Together.”

I looked up at him over my coffee feeling a little hunted myself.

Sam sighed. “No, don’t look at me like that, this is… I think you’lllikeit, but I want to say… we’re trying to heal. Not just avoiding… right?”

I couldn’t move. “I don’t… I don’t think I know how,” I whispered because it was true.

Sam’s chest expanded as he took a deep breath. “I had some ideas, and I talked to Gerald to make sure I wasn’t going to make a mistake. He thinks… he thinks it’s a good idea.”

Oh god.I leaned back. “Do I have to decorate a tree or some shit—?”

“No, no! Nothing like that. This isn’t aboutChristmas,Bridget. This is aboutyou.”

“Then why are you acting so weird?”

“Because I’m having such an incredible time and you seem so happy, I was reluctant to bring this back up. But…”

He shook his head and looked away and I feltterrible.He was always so ready to help me—to help anyone, really—that sometimes he forgot about himself. He was right. We’d been having a blast. And Ididn’twant to break up this bliss with real, heavy, hard things. But maybe… maybe it was time for me to put my big girl pants on and try and help him?

I blew out a shaky breath. “Well, then… Can I see it?”

He nodded and picked it up to hand it to me, his eyes on mine, shining with love, but also with a little fear. By the time I had the ribbon untied and ripped the paper off I was sweating, certain whatever was inside this box wouldbite.

But when I pulled the top off it and looked inside I was confused.

A big stack of glossy brochures and… a bunch of snacks that I liked?

“Sam? What—why were you acting like there was a snake in here?” I laughed shakily as I grabbed a handful of the brochures to see what they were about.

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