Page 44 of All I Want For Christmas Is You

“Twenty minutes I’ll never get back.” He stretched and yawned. “But Jesus. I lost my fucking mind. That’s never happened before.”

“That’s because I’m an animal in the sack.”

He chuckled. “What kind of animal? I blacked out, so I couldn’t tell.”

“Hm. That’s a good question.” She called over her shoulder, “Hey, Siri.”

Her phone answered, “Uh huh?”

“What kind of animal makes its partner pass out from sex?”

“That’s not a thing,” Beau said with amusement in his voice.

“Here’s an article for you,” her phone said. “‘Fourteen Weird Facts About Animals.’ Would you like to read about it?”

“Hell, yeah.” She rolled over to click on the link and read the first fact. “Holy shit. Did you know giraffes drink each other’s urine?”

“Margot? We just had mind-blowing sex. How are you talking to me about piss?”

But she’d already moved on to the second fact. “Wait, wait, wait. There’s an Australian marsupial who has sex for fourteen hours straight.” She cut him a look. “Can you do that?”

“I mean.” He reached for his semi. “With you? I’m game to try.”

At that moment, the lights went out, and the room went eerily silent. “Uh oh.” But a few seconds later, everything came back on. “That was scary.”

He didn’t seem worried. “I’m sure the lodge has a generator.”

“No, I meant for your flight. You need to get home.”

“I’ve been watching the forecast, and the storm should’ve passed over by now. The roads’ll be fine in the morning.”

“Okay, good.” She hadn’t checked her messages in hours, and now, she saw she’d missed a few from her son. “Look. This is my son’s unit dressed as Santas as they deliver toys to an orphanage.”

“Which one’s your son?”

“He’s not in it. He’s taking the picture.”

He pulled himself up to a sitting position, stacking the pillows behind him, then tipped his chin to her phone. “Show me one of him.”

She clicked out of the text message and scrolled through pictures. “Here. This is Owen.” She missed her sweet, quiet boy. “Isn’t he handsome?” It was a high school picture of him wrestling. “This”—she tapped the screen—“was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to watch. At the first meet, I walked into the gym and saw this boy wearing a head and neck brace. I asked what’d happened to him, and the mom next to me said he was a senior who’d gotten injured last season. I’m like last year? And he’s still wearing a brace? How awful is this sport?”

“I was lucky. Walker refused to wear ‘a spandex onesie.’ How did your son like it?”

“It wasn’t really for him.” Thank God. “Did you play sports in school?”

“I did. My parents bought a house the summer before I started tenth grade. It’s a tough age to be a new kid, so it seemed the fastest track to making friends was to join a team.”

“What’d you play?”

“I showed up for track, but…” With a shake of his head, he grinned.

“What?”

“It was stupid.”

She nudged him with her elbow. “What was stupid?”

“Running endlessly around a track. I felt like a hamster on a wheel. What was the point?”

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