“Oh god...” A surge of excitement shot through my veins.
“Why don’t we just watch the movie and see what happens?” He took my hand and led me to the couch.
Ian really was perfect. I asked him about flaws, but if he hadn’t told me that he had one, I would have easily believed that he didn’t have any at all. I didn’t think many guys would have been happy if the girl that was throwing herself at them suddenly got cold feet. I didn’t even know for sure that Ian would have taken me up on my offer. He might have been the one that held back. What he said was true—when it was right, we would both know. There was no reason to rush things. Our relationship was still new. We could have fun—we could enjoy our time together—and if things went a little further than they did in the car, I was perfectly fine with that.
One thing hasn’t changed—I still don’t think I’m going to be paying much attention to the movie.
Chapter Fourteen
Ian
I was well past the point of simply being tempted. When I got in the car and tasted the hunger on Elly’s lips, I wasn’t sure if it mattered what movie we put on when we got back to her apartment. I sensed a change in her demeanor when we actually walked through the front door. All of the eagerness in her eyes shifted to a look of uncertainty. She liked it when we played around, and she loved to tease, but there was some hesitation towards what that could lead to when it became a real possibility. In a way, I was glad to see that reaction. It confirmed my initial belief—we didn’t need to rush our relationship to the next level. We were having fun, and possibly even falling in love, and that was beautiful enough without doing something that we weren’t ready for.
Her first time should be perfect, and there shouldn’t be a hint of hesitation in those gorgeous misty gray eyes.
“Do you mind if I log into my Amazon account?” I picked up the remote once we got to the couch. “I already own the movie.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.” Elly nodded.
“If you don’t want to watch Christmas Vacation, I have a lot of other options…” I turned on the television and quickly logged into my account.
“Christmas Vacation is fine.” She shrugged. “At least it’s funny without shoving the holiday in your face the entire time.”
“I really don’t think that’s the intent of any of these movies…” I shook my head and laughed under my breath. “Well okay, maybe a few of the Hallmark movies are a bit much.”
“You seriously watch Hallmark movies?” Elly’s eyebrows shot up in surprise.
“Only when I’m at my sister’s house, and she leaves them on.” I loaded my selection of movies. “I like the classics—and a few others that I’ve discovered over the years.”
“Yeah, I haven’t even heard of some of these…” Elly stared at the screen as I scrolled. “Wait, I recognize the guy from Big Bang Theory.”
“Oh this movie?” I stopped on Uncle Nick. “It’s funny, but the humor is a little crude—the whole season holiday season turns into a train wreck—worse than it does in Christmas Vacation. Do you want to watch it instead?”
“Nah, we’ll stick with our Griswold shenanigans.” Elly smiled.
“Did you know there’s a sequel to Christmas Vacation?” I pointed at the movie next to the holiday classic.
“No.” Elly laughed. “There’s no way they can top the original.”
“Nope, I’ve only watched it once—and I wish I would have just rented it.” I started our movie and put the remote down.
I hoped that Elly would be able to enjoy the movie, even if her attitude towards Christmas was a bit sour. She had a good reason to look at the holidays in a negative light, but I wanted to change that before we exchanged our Secret Santa gifts. The bad experiences from her past didn’t have to ruin what was supposed to be a joyful time of year—she just needed some good experiences to replace them with. I had a few ideas, but I wanted to see if I could at least convince her to keep an open mind first. Christmas Vacation seemed like a good place to start—it had been a while since I watched the movie, but it used to always get me in the mood for the holidays when I was younger.
“When I was a little girl, I used to sit at the top of the stairs and watch this movie.” Elly slid closer to me. “My parents had no idea I was up there…”
“You got away with watching the entire movie?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
“Nah, I usually got tired before it was over. They never started it before my bedtime.” She looked up at me and smiled. “I almost got busted a couple of times when my Dad went for popcorn.”
“So, you’ve never seen the whole thing?” I put my arm around her.
“Nah, by the time I was old enough to stay up that late, they weren’t in the same house…” She sighed.
“Maybe this wasn’t a good movie to start with.” I sighed. “I didn’t realize you had bad memories associated with it.”
“We can make some new ones tonight.” She snuggled against my shoulder.