Time for another dedication ð, so this chapter is dedicated to my little Taurus sister @1_cara_5 I hope you like the story so far ð Thank you for your support and friendship, you're awesome â¤ð
"You're under the mistletoe!"
Theone and I both jump away from the sprig of mistletoe as if it was a bomb ready to explode.
Emily's timing would have been perfect if it had been someone else standing next to me, but as she points at the both of us, I'm just cursing her and her attentive gaze in my head.
"No, no, we aren't." I force a tensed smile and another lie.
"Oh yes, you were." My mom appears behind me, making me jump back to my spot under the mistletoe that I'm now also cursing. "So you gotta kiss."
Oh, no! I've promised to be civil with him, but this, I can't. No, never.
I really should have killed him when I've got the chance.
"Um, no... I'm not gonna kiss her in front of her boyfriend." For once, there is no hint of mockery in Theone's voice as he pronounces these words, and he seems as horrified as me, glancing nervously at all the eyes staring at us.
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one disgusted by this idea, but at the same time, do I look that repulsive? Who does he think he is to think he's too good to kiss me? No, that's not the point. I don't want to kiss him, and I need to avoid it at all costs.
"I'm sure it doesn't bother him. It's just a kiss, right?" Emily turns to Aden, not leaving any of us a choice.
"And it's the tradition," my mom adds with a smile a little too wide to my taste.
This tradition is stupid, and it seems like everyone is against us. The holidays are supposed to be warm and cozy, yet right now, I'm breaking out into a cold sweat like a prisoner ready to be executed as my gaze slides on all those expectant eyes, searching for some pity or help until they stop on Aden, who offers me a sorry smile. I'm praying for him to say something and save me like a knight in shining armor, but he just gives me an embarrassed look that says 'it's the tradition', exactly the one I've planned to offer him in my little plan.
I gulp the bitterness in my throat, as the sweetness of chocolate has totally vanished like my hope, and I turn to the green eyes that are still staring at me the same way.
I guess I have no choice... So I quickly lift on my tiptoes and put my lips on Theone's cheek. The light stubble tickles my lips in the exact opposite way Aden's cheek has felt so smooth this morning, yet I still notice Theone's jaw softening under my touch, probably as relieved as I am by my bright workaround.
Like my mom has said: I'm really creative, and I always find a solution. Yet my proud smile doesn't have the time to form.
"This is not a kiss!" My mom lifts one of her eyebrows, her arms crossed in front of her chest letting me know that she won't concede.
"I think it is," my dad protests, and for once, I agree with his overprotective view.
"See?" I nod and wave my hand to my dad in a desperate attempt, but I already know it's useless as my mom doesn't flinch, and Emily even adds,
"Come on! It's just a little kiss!"
Why are they so eager for it then? It seems that everyone is taking a great delight in watching the twists and disasters of my life like a tv show.
"Yeah, and I did the little kiss. Now can we start the games?" I throw another glance around for help, particularly searching for a special gaze.
But I don't even get to glimpse the cinnamon shades because a hand grabs my cheek, and warm lips catch my breath, figuratively and literally, as my gasp is sucked in by Theone's mouth on mine.
The strong taste of chocolate and mint hits me instantly, and then it's the contrasting softness of his lips moving smoothly against mine and pulling my mouth to return the kiss. I don't even know why. It's like the heady taste of chocolate is blurring my thoughts, yet it isn't fresh like mint; it's warm like a fireplace, and each brush of his lips makes it hotter until I can feel the flames in my veins.
Luckily, it doesn't last long, and his lips leave mine before I can get burned. I shake whatever smoke is blurring my mind, but what I'm not expecting is to find an as-dizzying shade of green when I open my eyes.
I have to blink a few times to dispel the haze in my mind, and when I finally take in what has just happened, I jump away as if seared by a fire.
"Happy? Now, can we start to play?" My voice sounds more breathless than I've imagined, and I realize just now how hard my heart is thumping, still trying to escape my ribcage.
"That, it's a real kiss," my mom notes, and I don't even look up to see the smile I hear easily in her voice.
It is indeed, but I shouldn't be surprised; after all, he has a lot of experience.
I quickly go to the sofa to take a seat as I still feel a hazy sensation in my legs, like the heady taste of minty chocolate has been infiltrated deep in my veins. I haven't remembered a kiss could be so intense. I guess it's been too long since I've been kissed.
***
"Penelope? Are you here?! Penelope?!"
"Yes, I'm right there!" I wave at the screen in front of me, but my friends don't seem to see my wide gestures.
"Do you see her?" Kyle asks, squinting at his screen.
"No, I just have her profile pic on the screen," Amy replies, and I give up waving at my screen.
I turn off the whole video call and quickly try to open it again. Like I've said, I'm not one to give up easily, and I really need my friends' advice and cheers after my failed attempt at mistletoe kissing. Well, I've got a kiss, but not from the one I've wanted, and I don't even want to think about it. I still have the heady taste on my lips, even after washing my teeth and my mouth four times. It's like it's permeated deeper, yet I'm hoping that a particular cinnamon savor could erase it. Seeing how the games and the rest of the day have unfolded, I think it's still possible.
A knock on my door pulls me out of my considerations and away from my laptop. Could my thoughts have summoned him? I rush to open the door.
Wrong number, I guess there is a problem in the networks.
"What do you want, Theone? There's no more comforter here."
Theone chuckles under his breath, and it becomes louder as his eyes take in my full appearance. "And you have the cheek to make fun of my shirt?"
I glance down at the smiley reindeer on my shirt, its pompom red nose matching my fluffy red socks that are covering the lower half of my legs, while my little reindeer-printed shorts are hiding the upper part.
"First, it's PJ's, and secondly, it's the holidays, so no comparison with your shirt, Mr. 'Bikini inspector'." I offer him a tight-lipped smile to stop before saying something that would get me in trouble. "Now, if you've only come to make fun of my shirt, excuse me, but I have better things to do." I close the door and go back to my computer, but alas, he's quick to reopen it and follow me.
"No, I'm here for the decoration list. I'll probably go shopping early tomorrow, while you'll still be snoring."
I don't even turn to look at the smirk I hear in his voice, and I'm even surprising myself when I don't raise his comment. I'm too focused on my laptop and on trying to find the reason why the video call isn't working â besides the fact that the universe is against me.
"It's on the dressing table, and it's only what's written in red, the rest, I'll try to manage it with what we have in the attic." I let out a sigh in front of the small circle spinning endlessly on my screen. "You should find most of it at the hardware store."
"Okay, I'll go at the opening time so there's less people." He heads for the left corner where my dressing table is, while I keep my gaze on the circle that is making my head spin with the tiredness.
"What's up with you being so early? Aren't you tired?" I ask, finally typing my log-in when the circle disappears.
"Jet lag, I'm still at the Indian timâ No?! You've made a list?!" His laughing gasp prickles my nerves like an electroshock, and I whip round to find him near my bedside table, holding a piece of paper, but this is definitely not the decoration list.
I jump faster than my heart, my feet stopping for a second as my bed is standing between us, but his cackle sends a rush of adrenaline through my veins, and I quickly hop on the bed.
"Christmas plan to make Aden fall in love with me," he reads out loud, calling buried memories of when he's read my letter to Santa in which I've admitted all my naughty actions of the year, and exactly as when I've been 6, he keeps the paper in his hand above his head where I can't reach it.
Yet today, my gaze is even more murderous, and it makes him take a step back.
"Give it to me! You have no right to go through my things like that."
"I didn't! You told me to grab the list on your table." He puts his hands up, yet the one holding the paper is slightly lower than before, and I take the chance to leap and try to reach it.
But he's faster, backing away, while I almost crash into the ground because of my jump from the bed. It isn't that it's high, but face first, it would still hurt. Though I have more important and dangerous downfalls to worry about right now.
"The dressing table," I groan, pointing to the baroque vanity where the decoration list is placed in evidence, contrary to my precious list that has been hidden under my old teddy bear.
"Who knows the difference?!" He widens his eyes, and I don't know if it's because of my 'complicated' vocabulary or because I'm throwing daggers at him with my eyes.
"Okay, now, give it to me," I speak slowly through my gritted teeth as the steam is building up inside faster than a pressure cooker ready to explode.
"Come on, just let me read it!" He rolls his lips into his mouth to hide his smirk, yet his left dimple is still there to taunt me as he glances between me and the list.
I don't let him time to read it though, already jumping up again, and he starts running, which in my small room is equal to five steps before I have him cornered between the wall and my bed. Okay, maybe my 5'3 height may not be really impressive in front of his 6' strong frame, but you should never underestimate a small woman who is fighting for the last bits of her remaining dignity.
Besides, the despair running through my veins mixed with boiling anger might turn into something as magical as Santa's flying reindeers. With some momentum, I leap and manage to grab the paper in his hand. Yet sadly, I realize that despite my outfit, I can't fly magically, and quickly the gravity pulls me back down, along with Theone, whom I take down with me.
In the blink of an eye, we're on the bed, and most importantly, the paper isn't between my fingers anymore.
"Give it back!" I hiss, wiggling to reach his arm that is still extended above his head. Being on top of him should make it easy, but once again, Theone manages to make me struggle, immobilizing me â I don't even know how.
"Um... no." He smirks, totally unfazed by my desperate attempts to stretch out and reach his hand.
Though I freeze when I feel his finger poking my stomach. "Don't even think about it," I warn him, glancing between his fingers an inch away from giving me a tickle torture at one of my most sensitive parts and the twinkle in his eyes already irking my nerves.
"Then let me read it. I already know your lies, it's no big deal." He lifts one of his eyebrows, staring at me with this smug look as if he's already won, and I can tell you that whoever has said green is a calming color clearly hasn't seen his eyes.
Though maybe it's because they aren't only green; they're teal near the edge like the ocean of the paradisiacal places he visits, and with spikes of golden, more or less, depending on his mood. So, right now, with how entertained he is, they're once again looking like a snowflake fallen on top of an illuminated Christmas tree. It's almost hypnotizing, especially as they are inching closer, and for a second, I forget that it's anger burning in my veins.
"It's finally working, Penelopâ Ooh, are we disturbing?" Kyle's loud voice makes me jump, and as his words process to my brain, I realize I'm currently straddling Theone on my bed.
From the view of my laptop's webcam, it must look more intimate than it is â actually, from any angle, since my wiggling and arching to get my paper has only pulled me closer to Theone, my chest pressed to his and my hips straddling exactly on his... I fully and abruptly move away upon this realization, the anger simmering in my veins morphing into a rush of embarrassment in my cheeks.
I don't completely lose focus though, and taking advantage that Theone is still dumbfounded, I grab the list from his hand.
"Here." I hand him the right paper, keeping the other tightly in my grasp, and I open the door as he gets out, surprisingly without another word.
I take a big breath, trying to steady my heart rate after all this agitation and preparing to face my friends' curious attacks. But I don't even get to breathe out.
"Who is this hottie? And is he single?" Amy asks before I'm even seated.
"And more importantly, what were you doing?" Kyle adds almost at the same time, and even through the screen, I can see their eyes shining like kids on Christmas day.
I guess I'll have to be the one to tell them that Santa doesn't exist.
"First, you're engaged, should I remind you?" I lift an eyebrow at Amy.
"I know, and I was asking for the girl who was straddling him."
Another rush of heat reaches my cheeks as hearing it out loud is even worse.
"Ugh, no! It's Theone, my brother's best friend!" I realize I'm a little too loud, so I take a breath and add quieter, "It was nothing."
"This makes me regret being an only child!" Kyle interrupts, putting something in his mouth; today, it isn't popcorns, but some nuts I think.
Anyway, I ignore his comment and continue, "He was annoying me, andâ"
"And you decided to take him on the bed?" Kyle cuts me off once again, his twinkling eyes making me shiver at what must be crossing his mind.
"You didn't tell us he was this hot! Why are you wasting your time on Aden when you can have a hottie like this in your bed?" Amy adds, the only difference between Kyle's shining gaze and hers being the color.
Why have I thought it's been a good idea to call them again? Well, it would have been a good idea, if it hasn't been for Theone barging in and hypnotizing them. I don't even know how they've seen how he looks since he's left the room in three seconds.
"We were on the bed because he had taken my romance plan, and I was fighting to take it back. That's all. Stop with your crazy and dirty minds," I state serious, suppressing the shiver running down my spine at their inuendos.
"Don't tell me you've never noticed how hot he is?" Amy asks with the same flat and serious tone, her brown eyes scanning for the truth even through the screen.
"Okay, maybe I had a crush on him when I was 13 or something, because yes, he's hot, but his charms all vanish when he opens his mouth."
"Is he 100% straight? Cuz I can think of plenty of ideas to put his mouth to good use..." Kyle wiggles his eyebrows, and I swear it's frightening, almost as much as the flash that rushes in my mind of Theone's mouth on mine.
"Ugh, stop, please! Yes, he is, and he's also a player. Now, can we talk about something else?" I shake my head to push away the memory.
"Yeah, tell us about your kiss!"
My heart stops; just when the image has finally left my mind, it comes back with the same indelible taste. "What kiss?!"
"Um, your mistletoe kiss with Aden, what else?" Amy furrows her eyebrows, probably noticing the bright color of my cheeks contrasting with the white of my wide eyes.
"Oh, yes, this kiss... It didn't happen." My tongue instinctively slips out to pass along my lips, and I shake my head as if it would help erase the remaining taste and memory. "I think it was too soon, and it's not that way that I'll make Aden fall for me. It's better to stick to my original plan and make him fall for me before. I'll get plenty of kisses after!"
And it'll help erase this disaster from the afternoon! But that, I don't tell them; they've already freaked out enough with just the glimpse they've witnessed. If they knew, I would never hear the end of it, and I've heard enough about Theone.
"Babe, my mom wants to know if you wanna go shopping with her for your boots?" Chris, Amy's fiancé, calls from somewhere inside their room, and soon, we see him appear on the screen. "Oh, hi, guys!"
"Yeah, tell her I'm coming." Amy looks up at Chris as Kyle and I wave at him, and she turns back to us when he leaves the room. "Sorry, I have to go! I ruined my snow boots in the snow. How is it even possible?!" She puts her hands up with a wide horrified look. "I hate Alaska," she whispers before blowing us a kiss and leaving us with her smiley profile pic and a blank screen.
At least she's got snow because there is no snow on the horizon here, and it's one of the must-haves of every Christmas romance. I guess it's another thing that I'll have to work with, or more exactly without.
Three knocks on my door stop me with my mouth open as I'm about to ask Kyle if he too has holidays disasters.
"Sorry, I guess I'll have to go too." I glance at my closed door, hoping that this time, my thoughts have called the right one.
"Aw, why I'm the only one who doesn't get interrupted by hot guys?" Kyle whines, taking another handful of nuts.
"Because you're the hot guy!" I laugh at his puppy expression. "Bye!" I quickly wave and log out to rush to the door, the knocking echoing again, more insistent, and my heart flutters, ready to fly as I'm already imagining who can be this impatient.
"Theone?" My heart drops with my excitation, replaced by the irking annoyance that hasn't been far.
He hands me a flash drive that I eye dubiously. "I forgot to give you the pics I've taken of the function room, to help you planning the decoration." His green eyes are more serious than minutes ago, making them take a darker shade, and it's almost disturbing.
"Oh, um... yes, thank you."
"Good night." He walks away before I can even process it.
This is the most normal encounter we've had, and it leaves an uneasy impression in my stomach, like a calm before a hurricane, which might be whatever he's planning.
I shake it off anyway, and I focus on the party I have to plan, grabbing my laptop and the list of requests. However, I'm barely seated snugly on my bed that another knock resonates against my door.
I clench my hands into fists as one of my pillows falls on the floor, and I lose my perfect cozy position, though my muscles are already tensing anyway.
"What again, Theonâ" I stop myself, but unfortunately, my hands have already thrown the other pillow that meets wide-eyed cinnamon eyes. "Oh, Aden, sorry!"
"Do I bother?" he asks hesitantly, picking up the cushion at his feet.
"No! No, I thought it was... someone else. Nevermind, why are you here?" I straighten myself and my shirt, discreetly also arranging my hair.
"I wanted to show you my article... But if you're busyâ"
"Yes! I mean no, I mean, I'd love to read it." I smile, trying to not make more a fool of myself, yet it's even harder when he sits down on my bed, and warm butterflies tickle my skin.
"You really love Christmas, don't you?" He points to the fluffy nose of my reindeer shirt, and I feel my cheeks turn the same color.
"Yes, I do, and I hope you'll love it as much by the end of the holidays..." I don't know how I find the courage to say this, but maybe it's the warmth of his fingers brushing mine as he hands me his tablet and the loud thuds of my heart screaming something just slightly different.
'Games and Mistletoe kiss', my heart jumps in my throat, and I snap my head up to Aden, whose soft eyes are already wandering around the room. It would have been a beautiful title if my plan had gone right, but right now, it just calls back the memory I'm trying to push away. Though maybe I should read the rest before making a big deal of it. After all, maybe Aden has written that he wishes it's been him instead of Theone. A girl can dream!
So I throw a glance at my nightstand, or night table, to make sure that my teddy bear is still protectively hiding my precious list, before coming back to Aden's article.
'Lesson 1: Games and mistletoe kiss
The Christmas lessons have started, and if the first one might sound strange, it makes sense. Both games and mistletoe kisses bring people closer and make them forget the world outside. I have only experienced the games, but I must admit that I've got caught in the competitive spirit of board games, and even if I haven't been in the winning team, I've really forgotten work and all my worries. As for the mistletoe kisses, from what I've witnessed, it seems to really hold something special too...'
"You've visited all these red points?" Aden pulls my eyes away from his words just when they're about to fall out from their sockets.
Actually, my heart is also about to break out of my ribcage, and my whole being is protesting. 'Special'? There has been nothing 'special' about that kiss. Why has he written this? This only sets an uneasy feeling in my stomach.
Aden's finger is grazing the red points on the world map that he's now standing in front of. But the only red points I see are large interrogation and exclamation points. They're flashing in my head, and they only disappear when Aden turns back to me with a curious gaze, my mind dissolving into a warm cinnamon latte shade.
"No, it's all the places I dream to visit one day."
Maybe with you... I bite down on my smile to not add this out loud as my thoughts are taking off to these foreign places and dreams.
"There are so many beautiful places and cultures, that's really inspiring for decorations andâ That's it!" I exclaim, putting the tablet aside and grabbing my notepad instead. "That's gonna be the theme for the orphanage Christmas party: Christmas around the world. This is perfect to include all the requests and also the kids' origins!"
My hand is already rushing to scribble all the ideas flashing in my mind, though I still stop for a second as Aden comes closer, peeking at my notes. "Thank you, you inspired me."
Sooo... This minty kiss... what do you think? ðð They're getting closer, quite literally! ð
Also, Amy and Kyle are back, still as fun! Do you agree with them that she shouldn't bother with Aden when she has Theone on her bed? ðð
Speaking of Aden, what do you think of his article? ð A lot has happened in this chapter, I hope you liked it, and if so, don't forget to vote â and comment!!
I wanna thank you once again for all your support on this story because right now I'm tired and stressed, but you're my biggest motivation and inspiration to write this story â¤ð