Page 28 of All I Want for Christmas Eve

Chapter Eleven

Good sex does wonders for your mood. Not that we’ve even had actual sex yet—but Adam’s oral skills have blown my mind. I feel like I can’t even look at him the same.

While shoveling the driveway together, I’m smiling like a giddy schoolgirl. Every time I look at him, I sigh like he’s got rainbows coming out of his butt. Like he’s covered in tinsel, or sparkling like certain vampires do in the slivers of starlight across the Alaskan sky.

Maybe it’s because it feels like he’s mine. I realize that it’s easy to feel that way out here in the middle of nowhere when it’s just us against the world. I know that once we get back to the city and reality sets in, things will be different. I’ve never even seen Adam interact with another person. What if he has really weird habits? What if he’s a massive flirt with every single woman he sees? We polish off the work quickly.

When we get back into the house, I decide to text my sister Clara, because my mom and Mary have already teased me enough. The text reads:“I think I’m falling for this dude I just met. Am I nuts?”

She writes back shortly after.“Are you sure you’re not drunk?”

I smile as I pack the last few items from my office.“Nope. I think this one’s a keeper”

It takes a while before her next message arrives.“So, you’re drunk on good sex. Evie. When you don’t get laid for years and years, everything seems like good sex. Don’t lose your head.”

“Okay. But what if he’s the one?” I text back. “Sent specially for me from Santa himself to warm up my frozen heart this Christmas.”

“Bah, humbug,”Clara replies.“You live in Alaska, my love. Even lukewarm loving probably feels like tropical heat to you.”

I put away my phone. Lukewarm! That was anything but lukewarm. It was sizzling. But I really don’t have much to compare it to. Especially not recently… You know what? I’m not going to let her logic kill my buzz.

We are loading the suitcases into the car when I receive a phone call. I excuse myself from Adam to run into the next room and take it. “Mary? Are you in Minnesota? How’s Dad?”

“I am here in Snowflake Creek,” she answers, “but we haven’t gone home to see them yet.”

“We?” I ask her. “Is Sebastian there with you?”

“No, Eve.” She pauses. “Not Sebastian. That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about,” she says awkwardly.

“Not Sebastian?” I respond. “Then who the hell is with you?”

“His brother, Sven.”

“Hisbrother?”I ask with exasperation.

“Look, Sebastian dumped me a while ago and became a massive jerk,” Mary explains, “and Sven was there for me…”

I really feel like I am in no position to judge. But I can’t resist poking fun at my big sister, to pay her back for teasing me about Adam earlier. “What the hell is wrong with you?” I ask her. “Do you have a fetish?”

“Sorry?” she responds, and she sounds worried.

“Dating men named after animals from Disney movies! First Sebastian the singing crab fromThe Little Mermaid, and now Sven the reindeer fromFrozen? Who’s next? Olaf? Simba? Abu?”

Mary sighs deeply. “I didn’t choose their names, okay?”

“Are you going to call me one day and say you’ve hooked up with Nemo?” I ask her. “Iago? Mushu? Stitch?”

“Stop it, Eve,” she says with a groan. Now she is the one groaning, and that’s satisfying. So, so satisfying. I mean, not as satisfying as multiple orgasms. But still.

“It was completely unintentional,” Mary explains, “and that is also not the whole point of this phone call. You see, Mom was pressuring me to bring Sebastian because she thought it would cheer up Dad. So, I was planning to just… pretend that Sven is Sebastian. So that Mom and Dad don’t know how complicated everything is. But Sven says we shouldn’t start our relationship on a lie, and I know it’s not fair to him. What do you think I should do?”

“That is… a tricky question,” I say. “Can you turn on video, so I can see your reindeer?”

Mary initiates the video call, and I accept. It is really good to see my sister’s face.

“Hello, Rudolph,” I say with a wave at Sven. Holy shit, that guy is huge. Go, Mary! “Don’t you have some muscles.”

“Am I going to have to deal with reindeer jokes for the rest of my life?” Sven asks, making a face.

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