Page 77 of Vixen's Guide to Christmas
“Okay,back the fuck up. You’re meaning to tell me that in the span of two weeks, you met a guy, fucked said guy, ended up being snowed-in with said guy—who oh, by the way, hates you and you didn’t know it, so then you hated him, fell for him, almost let it get away, decided against it, and then went to on a beach vacation with him, where I presume you had a shit-ton of sex?”
I’ve only met Logan’s sister-in-law, Quinn, a few times. But every time we’re around each other, I wonder why we haven’t become best friends. Because this woman is a fucking hoot.
“Yeah, that pretty much covers it,” I say. “Speaking of—where is he?”
I look around the living room of Logan’s mansion, where all the women who have gathered here tonight on New Year’s Eve have found ourselves. And we must’ve been into some good conversation, because now I realize there isn’t an ounce of testosterone in sight.
“Where the men always end up anytime we host a gathering. The game room.”
“That sounds about right,” I say to Maeve, Logan’s wife and the likely planner of tonight’s party. I love my best friend, andif I tell him to give me, or anyone, the shirt off his back, he’ll do it in an instant. But throwing a party? Even an intimate one, for family and friends like we’re having right now, is not in his wheelhouse.
Now Maeve? The interior designer who at this time last year decorated an entire mansion, and a festive party for the who’s who of Nashville, in three weeks? I have a feeling this is all her doing. And that has nothing to do with the guest list.
For the most part, everyone here is related to her, including her four siblings, their partners, as well as any children that come with them. But it’s not limited to the Banks family. Logan’s brother, Callum, who in the eleven years we’ve known each other I’ve never met, is visiting from England. I hadn’t talked to Logan since Grayson and I left for St. Lucia, so needless to say, my jaw was on the ground when I saw the tall, beefy, rugby player hanging around Logan’s kitchen tonight when Grayson and I arrived.
While I was shocked by that guest, Grayson’s jaw dropped when a few random professional football players passed by him and introduce themselves. One is Linc Kincaid, who dates one of Maeve’s sisters. The other apparently is a man named Maddox, who Grayson absolutely fanboyed over. Apparently, Maddox didn’t have plans and wanted to keep things low-key because their team, the Nashville Fury, have a game the day after tomorrow. And all he needed to hear was “video game room” and he invited himself to the party.
It’s quite a mashup, but it feels right.
I’ve been having that feeling a lot lately. Even just thinking that makes me sound cheesy as hell, but I guess ’tis the season.
Once Grayson and I left the Timberline, we actually took the first few days in St. Lucia to just relax and learn more about ourselves. We might be on one of the wonkiest timelines ever when it comes to dating and the beginning of our relationship,but we did agree that we needed to pause for a little bit and really get to know each other. Spend time with each other.
And we did. We laid on the beach and talked for hours. Tried different restaurants. Walked, talked, and shopped. The man even got me to go out on an excursion—it was short, and I didn’t need hiking boots. We had an amazing time. But sometime between our third day on the beach and the nighttime dinner cruise, we realized in the two-ish weeks we’ve known each other, all but two of them have been in a hotel room. It was time to get back to Nashville, and we made it just in time to ring in the new year surrounded by friends.
And, most importantly, sleeping in one of our own beds tonight, where sleeping is the last thing we do.
“Mommy! I beat them all!” We all turn to Maeve’s seven-year-old son, Jayce, who is sprinting into the living room and launching himself into Maeve’s lap. “They playrealfootball, but I just beat them on video game football.”
“I still don’t think it was a fair fight.” Maddox says. “The little man lives here. Unfair advantage.”
The guys all laugh and give Maddox a pity back slap as they all make their way to their respective partners.
I can’t help but smile as I watch Grayson and Logan walking toward Maeve and me. While I don’t think I’d ever break up with someone if Logan didn’t like them, his approval means more to me than anyone else's.
“Kat, I’m going to say this with all of the love in my heart… but if you fuck this up, we’re done. I’m picking him.”
I gasp as I stand up off the couch. “Logan William Matthews! How dare you pick him after our decade-plus of friendship.”
“Wait, what’s this about?” Maeve asks, joining us in the conversation. “Are we picking breakup teams already?”
Logan shakes his head. “Not at all. I don’t want them to ever break up. I’m just saying, it might be a tough decision if I ever had to make it.”
“You were with him for an hour. What happened in that hour that made my best friend put me on notice?”
“I didn’t mean to,” Grayson says as he puts up his hands in surrender. “I just mentioned how I think video game cheat codes ruin the experience. Which led us to talking about other things that we think are sacred. Which led us to talking about movie sequels and a thousand spinoffs and remakes of classic things that shouldn’t be messed with.”
“Oh geez,” I mumble. “Are you a comic book nerd too?”
Grayson pulls me into his side, kissing my cheek. “Big time.”
I let out a groan as Maeve and Logan chuckle next to us.
“I must say, Grayson, I knew you were different right away.”
“Really?” Grayson says with a smirk, adjusting us so we’re now holding hands. “How was that?”
“What happened to best friend confidentiality?” I ask. “Or did one mention of fucking Spider-Man shift your allegiance?”
