Page 53 of Home for the Holidays

“You okay?” he whispered to Iris.

She let out a tiny puff of air. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’ll be down in a second.”

He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, his spicy cologne a stark contrast to his father’s. As soon as he disappeared down the basement stairs, she rushed over to where Heidi was standing. She looked so incredible, her hair down, falling in loose waves around her face. Her Christmas sweater was light blue and—what was that…?

“Is this aStar Warssweater?” Iris asked. “Is this…” She reached over and pulled the bottom of Heidi’s sweater so she could see the whole thing. “Is this Hoth?”

Heidi let out a laugh. “Yes, yes, it is. I’m impressed.”

“Come on now, I’m a major geek.” Iris smiled. “You’ll love my sweater then.”

“I was going to ask if you planned on wearing one or if I would have to shame you into one of my old ones.” Heidi reached out and placed her hand on Iris’s, squeezing it lightly. “Are you okay?”

Iris nodded but said, “No,” with a small smile. “I’ll survive either way, though.”

Heidi’s face fell. “What did he say?”

“You’re one hundred percent off-limits.” Iris laughed. “So that settles that.”

“What do you mean?”

She sighed. “He literally said, ‘Do not sleep with my mom.’”

Heidi let out a frustrated groan. “I’m a grown woman; I can sleep with whomever I want.”

“So, you want to sleep with me, hmm?”

Her face filled with heat. “I’ve considered it.”

“Only considered it?” Iris tilted her head. “You haven’t thought about it nonstop? Because I certainly have.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t say I haven’t gone through the motions in my head a few hundred times.”

“Ahh, anything in particular you keep coming back to?”

Heidi’s gaze was glued to Iris’s lips, the peaks of her top lip, the way the light pink complimented her light skin so well. “Honestly? It’s our first kiss that does me in…every single time.”

Iris’s eyes lightened. “Yeah…god…that was a great first kiss.”

“Can I ask you something really weird?”

“Of course.”

She clenched her hands into fists, trying to rid the ache from her fingers. “Do your hands ache? Like…when you think about…”

“Us?”

“Yes.”

“Everything aches for you.” Iris shrugged a solitary shoulder.

“God,” Heidi heard herself breathe out. “What is happening to me?” She reached forward, tentatively, and grabbed onto the sleeve of Iris’s sweater. “Whatever it is, I do not want it to stop.”

“Me, either.” Iris’s whisper soft voice sent chills up Heidi’s spine. “By the way,” she started after taking a small step closer. “He has literally no idea that you’re also in the closet. So there’s that.”

“Well, great.”

“Yeah, good times.”

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