Page 31 of His Christmas Gift

I held her gaze for a second, feeling the strongest urge to kiss her. I wanted to kiss her every second, but I held myself back. I didn’t want to risk pushing her away now that we were so close. Who knew what she wanted? I figured she wouldn’t mind holding my arm on the walk back, so I held it out to her.

Autumn smiled and started to reach for me until she heard a voice ahead of us.

“Dean! Is that you?”

I turned to see Oliver Tyland walking down the street toward us in his white and brown uniform from one of the local hardware stores. He used to be stout as a kid. Now, he was taller with a shaved head and a heavyset build. I thought that I wouldn’t see him again, and I knew that Autumn hoped that was the case too.

Back in school, Oliver was a part of my friend group that messed with Autumn. While I mostly joked and teased, Oliver made sharper comments. I told him to lighten up since we were just playing, but kids could be mean. I wasn’t sure how much he had changed since then.

“Hey,” I greeted him casually, already sensing Autumn tense up beside me. She didn’t deal with blasts from her past well. She had tried so hard to move on, but she kept getting dragged back to moments that she wanted to forget.

“Last I heard, you were some big shot, man! I bet you got the nicest house, the sweetest car, the hottest girls,” Oliver chuckled as he slapped my arm. He then looked over at Autumn and laughed again. “So, what are you doing with Freckles?”

Autumn grimaced at the old nickname we used to call her back in school. I always thought her freckles were cute, but they were the easiest thing to tease her about. Back then and now, she always was beautiful.

“It’s Autumn,” she corrected him, narrowing her eyes slightly.

I subtly smiled to myself, wanting her to put him in his place. She had certainly done the same to me already. She made me start to fall for her. I couldn’t think of a better form of revenge.

“Oh, right. Sorry. Easy to forget,” Oliver smirked, acting just as much of a bully now as he used to be. Some people really didn’t change.

Now, it was my turn to step in.

“You can remember her as my fiancée,” I said as I put my arm around her waist to pull her against me.

At first, Autumn gave me a surprised look, but she quickly fell into her role. She placed her hand on my chest, smiling up at me with dazzling eyes before staring hard at Oliver.

“And don’t you forget it,” she added.

A sheepish look filled Oliver’s face as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Oh, I didn’t know,” he said, sounding as embarrassed as he looked.

“Now you do,” I replied before pretending to check the time. “It’s been great catching up, but our private plane just landed. We have to run.”

Autumn’s body trembled slightly as she tried to conceal a laugh.

“Oh, sure,” Oliver said as he stepped aside.

I ushered Autumn down the sidewalk and around the corner before we both burst out laughing, holding onto each other as our bodies shook.

“I promise I never actually act that way toward nice people,” I told her. It just seemed like the funniest thing to say at that moment since he looked down on her like that. It just triggered something inside of me to defend her.

“I know,” Autumn said, her arms steadily moving to wrap around my neck. “Thank you… for taking up for me.”

“You took up for yourself,” I reminded her. She fought too.

Autumn shrugged.

“Still. You’ve changed since then, and I’m not just talking about being a billionaire now,” she replied.

I was glad that she recognized that. I didn’t want to be a bully, to waste my time dragging other people down. I probably could’ve had a better school experience if I didn’t mess around with my friends so much, but the past was the past. All I could do was make up for all of that with her now.

“Changed for the better, right?” I chuckled as I placed my hands on her waist, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed against mine.

“Way better,” Autumn said, teasing at the back of my hair. She then leaned close to me, her lips nearly brushing mine. “Take me back to the hotel.”

My heart nearly jolted out of my chest when she said that. The look of desire on her face backed up her words, though, and I wasn’t going to waste any more time trying to decipher her. She told me what she wanted.

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