Page 127 of Kings & Chaos

Chapter49

Willa

Christmas morning dawned with a strange light in my room. I got out of bed and padded to the window in Rock’s sweatshirt and thick socks, then laughed out loud.

It was snowing. Not hard, but crystalline flakes were falling from the sky, making the ocean beyond the trees look even bluer as the snow coated everything white.

I ran into Oscar’s room first, jumping on his bed and squealing, “It’s snowing, it’s snowing!”

“What the…?” Oscar opened his eyes and blinked, then pulled me into his arms. “Snow is awesome. You know what’s even more awesome? You. In my bed.”

I laughed as Rock came into the room, looking sexy as hell in sweats and a rumpled T-shirt that lifted to reveal his perfect abs when he yawned. “Jesus kitten, I think you woke the dead.”

I got onto my knees and grinned. “It’s snowing!”

“I heard,” he said, laying on Oscar’s bed and pulling me down between them. “It’s not nearly as exciting as you in nothing but my sweatshirt, those tiny panties, and socks.”

I pretended to slug his arm, then snuggled into the covers. I wanted to breathe in the moment, because I was pretty sure it was the only time in my life I’d ever wake up on Christmas morning to two gorgeous guys who were terrifyingly close to owning my heart.

I thought of Neo, alone in his room down the hall, and felt a pang of sadness.

He belonged with us too.

I felt more sure of it every day, and I didn’t know how to bridge the gap between us. It was why I’d chosen to sleep alone last night. Christmas was special. I didn’t want to leave anyone out, and I couldn’t bear to wake up with both Oscar and Rock knowing Neo had slept alone.

I probably shouldn’t have cared, but fuck me, I did.

“You know what’s just as exciting as snow?” Oscar asked, kissing my head.

I flipped onto my stomach and looked up at him. “What?”

“Presents.”

“Damn,” Rock said. “I thought you were going to say my homemade cinnamon rolls.”

“I’m excited about your cinnamon rolls,” I said. “I’m excited about all your cooking, and I have the five extra pounds to prove it.”

Rock had been churning out amazing food since we got to the island. Even the great sex we were having wasn’t enough to keep my pants from getting tight. Not that I cared.

Pants were overrated.

Rock grabbed my ass in both his hands. “I willnevercomplain about more of this.”

“Morning.” The voice broke into the room, and I looked over my shoulder to find Neo standing in Oscar’s open doorway.

And I had to say, it was a damn shame he was sleeping alone, because a sleep-rumpled Neo on Christmas morning was about the sexiest thing I’d ever seen. His feet were bare under worn jeans that slung low on his hips, revealing that trail of dark hair that I knew firsthand led to heaven.

He hadn’t bothered with a shirt, and the angel tattoo shadowed his pecs, still defined thanks to the work he did around the property, clearly a more than adequate stand-in for his usual workouts at the gym.

His dark hair was messy, the slightest bit of five o’clock shadow on his jaw that I knew would be scratchy in the best of ways between my thighs.

“Good morning,” I said. “Merry Christmas.”

He hesitated. “Merry Christmas.”

I hopped out of bed. “That doesn’t sound very merry. I think you need coffee.”

I started for the hall, but Neo’s arm came down to block me from leaving the room. He was inches away, smelling like day-old cologne and sleep.

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