Dark Hearts (Light in the Dark 3)

I wrap my arms around her, holding her against me as we both come down from our high.

A few minutes pass and we stay wrapped in each other’s arms.

Finally, she says, “Merry Christmas, Jace.”

I kiss her. “Merry Christmas. Come on, let’s see if Santa left us anything,” I joke, disentangling my body from hers.

She flops onto the bed, and I smack her ass.

I pull on a clean pair of boxer-briefs and a pair of sweatpants.

“I don’t wanna move.” She hugs a pillow to her chest.

“There are presents,” I coax.

She rolls over onto her back, and I can’t help but eye her breasts. They’re perky and just the right fullness.

“You know, Christmas just isn’t as exciting as it is when you’re a kid.”

“I don’t know,” I say, bending down to kiss her because she looks just too fucking delectable lying in my bed, which let’s face it, it’s our bed now. “This morning was pretty fucking exciting.”

She sighs, fighting a smile. “That it was. Ugh, okay.” She groans and rolls out of the bed. I watch as she pulls on a tiny pair of gray underwear, a tank top, and loose gray jogging pants. She claps her hands together and says, “Gimme my presents.”

Last year there was no Christmas tree in my apartment, and definitely no presents, but this year the tree is so big it takes up practically a whole corner of the apartment and there are probably too many presents. I don’t normally buy presents for anyone, but this year I went out and got stuff for Nova and our friends too. For the first time since I lost my mom, I felt happy to celebrate the holidays.

“Hang on, we need music,” Nova chimes, jumping off the step from the bedroom into the living space.

She sprints over to the counter in the kitchen and turns on the Bluetooth speaker, fiddling with her phone.

A moment later, Christmas music filters through the air.

She turns around and starts dancing as she comes toward me. She shakes her hips and her tongue sticks out slightly between her lips. With her hair piled messily on her head, I don’t think she can get more perfect.

“One more thing,” she says, and grabs something off the table.

“No.” I shake my head and hold my hands out in front of my body, waving them back and forth to stave her off. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Come on. Don’t spoil the fun.” She catapults herself at my body and tries, and fails, to get the Santa Claus hat on my head. She falls to the ground, and I hold out a hand to help her up. “You’re too tall.” She pouts.

“Will it really make you happy if I wear the stupid hat?”

She grins. “More than you can believe.”

I sigh and take the hat from her, putting it on. The things we do for the people we love.

“You look hot.”

“Old fat guys with white beards is what does it for you?” I ask with a raised brow.

She laughs. “No, you half-naked is what does it for me.”

I grow serious. “Why do you love me?”

She tilts her head to the side, appraising me. “There are a lot of reasons. I love how much you care about people, even if you try to act like you don’t care. I know you’d drop anything to help one of the guys or girls if they needed you. I love that you took me in when you didn’t have to. I love that you play and write music. I love that you work so hard. I love your smile and laugh—and most importantly, I love that you do both so much now. When I first got to know you, you never did either. God, Jace, I love everything about you. Even things I might hate, I love instead. Like how you always leave your toothbrush on the counter, and how you never make the bed. Things like that. I find myself smiling because I love you and every little thing that makes you you.”

“Fuck.” I fight a smile. “You could’ve stopped with the caring about people.”

She laughs, the kind of laugh that comes deep from her belly. “Hey, you asked. Now come on, we have presents to open.”