Page 23 of Christmas Sunrise
"Will you come and stay at ours?" Marty asks from the driver's seat. "I'll run over to Ma and Da's to get you some clothes in the morning. But I don't like the idea of you going back there alone tonight when they’ll already be asleep."
I squeeze Maeve’s hand. "Yes, please do that. Stay over with us. The dogs will go nuts when they see you."
"But Jake's in the spare room."
"I'll take the sofa," Jake says quickly.
"Ha! So you can be with the dogs!" Marty teases.
"No," Jake replies petulantly. "So I can wait for Father Christmas, of course. You know I like me an older man."
"Speaking of which, any regrets about turning down that Niall fella, Sweet Cheeks? "
"Not especially. Besides, I may or may not have got his phone number," my brother says triumphantly.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," I interrupt. "I want to know if my pseudo sister-in-law is staying with us tonight."
I expect Maeve to protest and insist on going back to her parents' house but with a hiccup and a nod of her head against mine, she agrees.
"Please," she says. "That would be really nice."
And then she hiccups again, loudly, and we all start to laugh.
*****
It's a wonderful thing having a man who is always sober enough to do his nightly skincare routine but it's quite an annoyance when you want them to be done in the bathroom already and come to the bedroom so he can see his present. And for once, his present is not me wearing lingerie or kneeling on the floor with a shibari rope in my mouth. No, tonight his present really is a gift, and it's a medium-sized box neatly wrapped in brown paper and tied up with a red bow, all thanks to Maeve. But because this is me, I am also wearing a red silk negligee with spaghetti straps and I'm kneeling up in bed, my legs apart, a position I know he likes to find me in.
Poor old Maeve," Marty says as he opens the door, not seeing me immediately. "She's got herself in a right state."
He moves to the chest of drawers opposite our bed, takes off his watch, and pulls open a drawer to find a clean pair of boxers. He swiftly swaps them for the ones he walked in wearing. "You know she and Jake are sharing the spare bed tonight. She insisted. I think she wanted the company, you know, because—"
Marty stops speaking as he turns, his hands still on the waistband of the boxers he just pulled up. Even after all these years, seeing him almost naked lights a very short and horny fuse inside me. If I didn't want to study his face for every second of his reaction at seeing my gift for him, I'd be crawling my way over to him and getting rid of that underwear again. But no, I want to watch the surprise brighten his eyes and maybe, maybe some gratitude moisten them a little...
Except that is not what I'm seeing. Not at all.
"Jenna, what's that?" His eyes haven't left the box.
"It's your Christmas present," I say quietly.
"We said we wouldn't do presents this year." Marty's tone is quiet and curt.
He still won't look at me so I climb off the bed and come to stand in front of him. My hands hesitantly reach to touch his arms as they hang limp by his side.
"Marty, I wanted to get something for you because you work so hard and—"
He lifts his arms quickly to shake me off and he takes a step away, heading to his side of the bed.
"Why would you do this? I haven't got you anything!" He sits down like his body is made of lead.
"I don't want anything," I say as I come to sit beside him.
"Neither do I!" His voice is loud and strained.
"You don't even know what it is," I say, pulling down the hem of my nightdress. There is nothing like being on the verge of having a fight with your partner while wearing a red silk negligee with a lace bust to make you feel ridiculously underdressed.
"I don't want to know!" And that much is clear. His back is turned on the present.
"But Marty—" I begin.
