Page 64 of Home for the Holidays

Iris moved across the room, her rope sash knotted loosely enough that Heidi could see she was still wearing the Christmas dinosaur pajamas. Even in pajamas, her face completely clean of makeup, her hair pulled up, she was breathtaking. Being able to see her like this, her authentic self, was refreshing and sexy all at the same time. Watching her every move made Heidi’s insides twist with anticipation. She sat on the edge of the bed, breathed out, still not making eye contact with Heidi, which was unnerving. What was she going to say or do that she didn’t have to courage to look at her?

“I, um,” Iris started softly, breathing in deeply, as if gathering courage buried deep down inside of her. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

Heidi’s heart clenched. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“And?” Heidi reached forward, cautiously, and touched Iris’s hand. “What were you thinking?”

“That I am falling for you, and I don’t even know how that’s possible.”

“Falling for me?” Hearing Iris say that was astonishing, though she didn’t understand why. She could feel the pull between them and was also falling at a rate that felt completely unprecedented. Why was it so shocking that Iris could feel it just as strongly?

“My whole life has changed.” She finally locked her gaze onto Heidi’s. “My whole world has shifted.”

“The universe works in mysterious ways.”

“It really does.”

Heidi was rubbing Iris’s hand with her thumb in soft, comforting strokes. “You can sleep in here if you want.”

Iris let out a chuckle. “Sure. That won’t seem weird at all.”

“Don’t leave.” She smiled. “Don’t go back to New York.” She shrugged. “Stay. Spend New Year’s with me.”

“Heidi…” Iris’s voice cracked. Her eyes, the pools of blue, were filled with disbelief, but layered right beneath seemed to be hope… Hope that maybe this could work. “What do we tell Zac?”

“The truth.”

“That will go over well.” She chuckled. “Hey, I’m going to stay in Vale Park with your mom because I’m falling in love with her.”

“You are, hmm?”

“Yeah,” Iris answered. “I am.”

“Stay.” Heidi licked her lips. “Don’t go.” And in one fluid andverysmooth move, she pulled her glasses from her face and got to her knees. The mattress dipped from their shared weight as she placed her hands on Iris’s face and closed the distance between their lips. The kiss was soft at first, but after a few seconds, the desperation in Heidi’s soul had her deepening it. She slid her tongue into Iris’s mouth, across the edges of her teeth, against her tongue. She tasted like cinnamon toothpaste and extraordinarily momentous decisions.

Iris suddenly broke from the kiss, panting and blinking rapidly, as if the frenzied movements would prove that she was not in fact in a fantasy, but rather in an actual moment in her life. “You don’t sleep with pajama bottoms on?”

Heidi chuckled. “I do not.”

“Fuck.” The look on Iris’s face was layered with trepidation, trepidation that crossing this line could have a disastrous outcome, and desire, uncontrollable, carnal desire. Never in her life had Heidi seen someone look at her like they quite literally wanted to devour her. It was almost frightening except for the fact that she herself was filled with ravenous need as well.

The look on her own face had to be one of desire, probably mixed with her own amount of fear, of course, but she wanted to do it again. No, sheneededto do it again, and instead of ripping apart every reason why she shouldn’t, she breathed out the words, “Screw it,” and allowed herself to lunge back at Iris, capturing her lips in another searing kiss.

The feel of Iris’s lips on hers was so inebriating she was convinced she was going to pass out. The softness of them, the way they fit so perfectly with her own… How warm her mouth was, her saliva, the feel of her slick tongue. Goddammit, everything about kissing Iris was perfect. Her gentle nips, the sound of her soft moans, the way she held Heidi’s face so lovingly. Kissing her was like taking a bath after a long, hard day. Warmth surrounding her, caressing her aching and bruised heart with tenderness and love but at the same time, blanketing her with a very real yearning and sensual excitement that she had quite literally never experienced before. Her entire world had spun off its axis, like a top that’d fought valiantly against gravity before succumbing to the inevitable. Breaking apart from her again was simply not an option. Iris was the only thing keeping her from floating away into the ether. She pressed her fingers gently against the base of Iris’s skull. The uncontrollable urge to touch her everywhere, all at once, was so strong, but she knew she could only mentally handle one body part at a time. Anything more would send her to an early grave.

Iris started to lie down, and Heidi situated her body next to hers. She kissed her way down Iris’s jawline, to her neck, where she licked her as she unknotted the sash of Iris’s robe. She kissed her chest, above the hem of her pajama top, up her neck, and back to her mouth. She had to keep reminding herself that this wasreal. This was happening. This was not a dream.

Their bodies fit so perfectly next to each other. Heidi charted every touch, the sensation of sliding her knee between Iris’s thighs, the weight of her hand on Heidi’s cheek, the way she could feel Iris’s breasts against her arm, the way she knew she was going to explode if she didn’t get release soon. She didn’t want to miss a single moment of the kiss either, which—out of nowhere—skyrocketed into the most erotic kiss she’d ever experienced in her entire life. It even surpassed the kisses she’d received with the Eiffel Tower as her backdrop. The smell of Iris’s lip gloss, the taste of mouthwash on her saliva, the feel of her hands and lips and,oh, Jesus Christ,her tongue. She gladly accepted her, delighting in the deliciousness of her pillow-soft lips, her velvet skin. It was blowing her mind that a kiss filled with so much passion could also be so delicate and graceful.

And then suddenly, that pesky thing called her conscience appeared out of thin air. What they were doing wasn’t okay. She was so much older than Iris. She was Zac’s mom. She was nothing important and no one special, and to do this, and for Iris to possibly ruin her entire friendship with Zac over her, would be the dumbest move either of them could ever make.Right?

Heidi broke away from the kiss. “Wait, wait.” She sat upright on the bed, pushing her hands into her hairline, as if gripping her hair would give her a better grasp on the truth that was scaring the shit out of her. “Holy shit,” she whispered. “Holyshit.”

The look on Iris’s face, as if she had done something wrong, when, god, it was all so very right, was heartbreaking. She sat upright, too, wringing her hands, clearly not sure what to say.

“I’m sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Heidi shook her head. “I didn’t mean to allow myself to… I mean, I didn’t—”

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