“Merry Christmas,” he said, just before his lips covered mine and his hand slid to the back of my neck, gripping it the way I loved, holding my lips to his as he slanted his mouth to fit over mine perfectly. His tongue pressed against the seam of my lips and I opened for him eagerly, wanting to taste him, to feel his love for me in that kiss.
He groaned into my mouth and I felt the vibrations shoot directly between my legs, heat pooling there. His free hand roamed down my back, then gripped my waist, pulling me fully on top of him, then wandered down to cup my ass. I wanted his hands everywhere, wanted to rid us both of the fabric between us, wanted to feel him inside me and take me to that place where only the two of us mattered.
His hand slid between my skin and the stretchy fabric of the yoga pants I was wearing, gripping my ass and growling again. For one moment I had a thought about everyone in the house being aware of us, it being Christmas, my father being just down the hall, and I almost stopped him. Almost.
Instead, I lifted my hips just high enough to grab at his belt, unbuckling it frantically, popping the buttons on his jeans one by one, and urgently trying to push the denim down his legs. I’d only gotten as far as his hips when I was startled by the sound of his phone ringing.
“Shit,” he growled, leaning over to the bedside table and turning the screen of his phone on. “Damn it,” he said, with even more anger. I watched as he answered the call although I couldn’t see who was calling, but his hand was still on my ass so I figured it couldn’t have been too important. “Hello?” His voice was angry and his greeting was short.
I leaned up a little farther, pressing a kiss to the underside of his jaw, a place he rubbed frequently when he was stressed or thinking about something too much. I followed the line of his neck with my lips, passing over his Adam’s apple, splaying small kisses all the way down to the base of his neck, loving the way the vibration of his voice tickled my lips.
“Erin, it’s Christmas,” he said, his voice no more friendly. “They can’t seriously be asking me this.”
My lips stopped at his words and I lifted my head to look at him as his hand slid off my ass, leaving it cold. His brows were furrowed, his forehead was creased, and he looked pissed.
“I can’t believe this,” he groaned, rubbing his hand down his face. “This is bullshit, you know this, right?”
I could hear a woman’s voice on the other end of the phone, although she didn’t seem to be as upset as he was.
“The studio can’t just call people in to work on Christmas. It’s a shitty thing to do.” He listened to the woman, Erin, for a moment, then sighed and closed his eyes. “Yeah, I got it. See you then.” He ended the call and then tossed the phone back on his nightstand.
“What’s going on?”
“The studio has decided to do a last-minute change in the episode we finished shooting before break, but in order to get it done in time, they have to shoot it tonight.”
“But it’s Christmas.”
“Apparently, they don’t care.”
“So, you have to go to LA, like, right now?”
His eyes turned to mine and he looked so sad. “Yeah,” he whispered, his hand coming up to frame my face. “I’m sorry. I do.”
I was sad the day had to end that way, but I felt worse for Riot. Working on Christmas was terrible. “It’s okay, baby. I’ll pack up my stuff real quick. I’m sorry you have to ride home with my unshowered self,” I said, reaching up to touch my messy hair.
“No, Kalli, you stay. Don’t let my job ruin your Christmas.”
“You want me to stay?”
“You know I want to be with you, but if you come with me you’ll only spend Christmas night alone in your apartment, and I don’t want that for you. Stay here where Kevin and Rachel are, where Halah and Ma are. I’ll feel better if I know you aren’t sitting alone in your apartment.”
His words were sweet, but the thought of him driving all alone to LA on Christmas made me sad for him.
“I want to be with you, I don’t care if I’m alone tonight or not.”
He leaned up and kissed me. It wasn’t as full of heat as our last kiss had been, but it was much more tender and sweet.
“You might not care,” he said when he pulled away, “but I do. Stay. Please.”
I bit my lip as I considered his words. He was pleading with me to stay, and even though it felt wrong on some level, I didn’t want to make his day more difficult. “Okay,” I relented. He leaned up and kissed me again; this time it was a short, chaste kiss. I rolled off him and watched from the comfort of his childhood bed as he packed his things.
“How will I get home?”
“I’ll have my Dad take me to the airport and I’ll rent a car. You keep the Rover here and drive home like we originally planned.”
“Maybe Kevin can give me a ride? He has to drive through LA to get home anyhow.”
Riot called out to me from the bathroom.
“I don’t want to put anyone else out because of me, Kal. Just take the Rover, it will make me feel better.”
“Okay,” I conceded.
He came back into the bedroom, tossing his bag on the floor by his bed, then climbing on the bed, coming over me, his hands resting on either side of my head.