Steph wipes her hands on a dish towel and leans her hip against the counter. “Keesh and Andi are in the cave playing SingStar. Dom and Travis went to get some ice. So once they get back, we can chow.”
“Wow, that was one hell of a dinner,” Dom says, patting his belly. “Stick a fork in me. I’m done.” He tosses an arm behind Steph’s chair. “You’re an amazing chef, babe.”
“She sure is. Can I borrow her?” Josh says, wagging his brows. Dom ignores his request. “Who’s ready for dessert?”
I peek down at my empty plate, then at his. “Are you kidding? I’ll be lucky if I have enough room for a piece of pie later. I already need to unbutton my jeans.”
“She’s getting ready for you, bro.” He winks at Alex.
“Forget dessert. Who’s ready for presents?” Keesh says, rubbing her hands together like a sneaky little kid.
“Me!” Andi’s hand shoots up.
“Let’s clean up this mess first,” Steph says, always the mother. “Boys, clear the plates. We’ll wash and dry. Josh, you put the stuff away so we don’t have to search your cupboards.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says with a salute.
Chapter 21
After what seems like five hours, we finally finish in the kitchen, washing dishes, wiping down counters, and throwing out trash. My hands resemble raisins and my shirt and hair are damp from the splash fight Travis thought would be fun to start. He and Josh took turns making Santa beards out of the dish soap. I haven’t done that since I was five, yet these two think it’s normal for two seventeen year old boys to giggle non-stop with bubbles on their faces.
“All right, all right,” Josh says. “Let’s head outside and open gifts. I’m still crossing my fingers one of you bought me a Victoria Justice blow-up doll.”
Travis is completely serious when he asks, “Do they really make those?”
Dom smacks him in the back of the head. “No, dumbass.”
“Dude, thanks.” Andi gives her man a look. “You beat me to it.”
“All right. How we gonna do this?” Steph asks as she gets comfortable on the floor. Dom is sitting on the sofa and she parks herself between his legs. Alex is on the other end, and I do the same.
“How about the youngest opens first? That’s how we do it at my house?” Keesh explains.
“Cool. Who’s the baby?” I ask, knowing perfectly well who it is.
Travis stands like he’s just won the Superbowl. With his hands straight up in the air, he shouts, “That would be me. Call me baby, bitches!”
“Aww, shut it.” Josh tosses him a gift, testing Travis’s reflexes. He catches it with one hand.
“Hmm, I wonder what this is,” he says, flipping it around in his hands. You’d have to be blind to not know it’s a CD. Whoever wrapped it didn’t go out of their way to disguise it.
“Open it already,” Keesh demands. She’s already laughing so I have a feeling she picked his name.
“Oh my god.” Travis’s face changes color as he tears the paper. Red blotches blush his cheeks. He reveals a Carly Rae Jepsen CD. Laughter erupts for a bit before we all start singing, Call Me Maybe. Travis has been caught singing the song on several occasions during ASB. “Thank you, Secret Santa. I will treasure this.” He presses the case to his heart.
Keesh smiles. “You’re welcome.”
Steph is next, opening a package from Travis. She models a shirt that says, “I’m with the big guy!” It’s meant to be a joke, but she loves it, putting it on over her red V-neck sweater.
Dom stands, grabs what looks like a large picture frame, and places it in front of Keesha.
“You’re gonna die when you open it,” Steph says.
With widened eyes, she rips the paper down in one big swoop. “Holy fucking shit!” She inspects the picture closer. “Holy fucking shit! Is that an autograph? Is it real?” She looks up at Dom. He nods, a giant grin spread across his face. She leaps to her feet, jumps over Steph, and launches herself at Dom. “I love you. I love you!”
“Hey, I picked it out,” Josh says. “Wanna give papa some lovin’ too?”
She gives him a loud pshh. “You don’t even know who that is.” Then she finally turns the picture my way and I about faint. It’s an autographed poster of only the sexiest man in soccer history. Beckham ain’t got nothing on Carlos Bocanegra. That stud is the king of sexypops. I lean forward on my knees to get a better look, and then return to sit, fanning my face. Dang, it got hot in here.
“You’re up next, Meg,” Alex says, tapping my shoulder. “Or do you need a minute to cool off? He chuckles.
Andi passes me what looks like another picture frame. “Oh my, did I get a hot guy too?”
“Yeah, it’s a picture of me,” Josh blurts out.
“She said hot,” Travis shoots back at him.
“Dude, just open it.” Andi is practically bouncing up and down in her seat.
When I pull the wrapping paper away, I’m in awe. “This is amazing, Andi.” Tears sting my eyes as I admire her work. A portrait of the “Double Threat Crew”, which is actually written across the bottom. The first person that catches my eye is Ben, standing tall in his dress blues. Travis has one arm around Andi, and he’s holding up a piece of her neon pink hair, obviously amused, while she looks up at him mischievously. Dom and Steph are off in the distance riding their quads. She captures them gazing into each other’s eyes with heartfelt smiles. Josh has his arms around Keesh and Jon. In one hand he’s holding a glove, in the other a baseball. Keesh has her foot propped up on a soccer ball, and the three of them have their heads tossed back in laughter. Me? I’m standing off to the side, wearing my Berkeley hoodie. This makes me laugh when I notice the detail. Andi draws me observing my friends with a content smile, like I’m the happiest person in the world. Alex stands next to me, gazing down at me. The intensity in his eyes takes my breath away. Is that how he looks at me when I’m not paying attention? The love. It’s beautiful. This whole picture is beautiful.
I’m not sure when the tears started falling, but I wipe my cheeks with the back of my hands and get up so I can go to my friend and give her a hug. “Thank you so much. This is the best gift I could’ve ever hoped for.”
“I’m glad you like it. You can take it to your dorm room. We’ll always be together.” She offers a sweet smile. I survey the picture once more before passing it off to my friends so they can get a better look.
When everyone has had a turn to gawk at my gift, we get back to opening more. Josh gets a t-shirt from Steph, that he will probably wear every day until it has holes in it or falls apart. It says, “Wanna See My Slider?” What was she thinking? We all bust up laughing as he puts it on. Only Josh would wear something like that.
Andi jumps up and down, and squeals at the same time when she sees that Josh bought her new boxes of hair color. Bright purple, grass green, and fluorescent blue. “Guess who’s going back to school with a new hair color?” She dances, holding up the bottles of dye.
Alex picked Dom’s name. He grunts in approval when he holds up a tee that reads, “WWRD?” Underneath, in smaller letters, it says, “What would Riggins do?”
“This is bad ass, bro. Thank you.” He reaches out his fist to Alex who knocks it with his own.
“Dude, what does that mean?”
We all look at Andi like she’s from Mars. “Hello! Only the best high school drama ever made,” I tell her.
Keesh adds, “With the sexiest man ever.”
Steph sighs. “Oh, Tim Riggins.”
“Babe, you’re watching all five seasons during the rest of break. If I have to watch old black and white movies with you, before we head back to school, you will definitely be a fan of Coach Taylor.”
Josh nods. “We’re gonna quiz you so pay attention.”
“Dude, you guys are crazy. I’ve never heard you talk about this show before.”
“We don’t need to, my dear, Andi. Friday Night Lights is a way of life,” I say, dramatically pounding my fist to my chest.
My friends nod in approval. And then we start laughing again.
“There’s just one more. It’s a big one.” Josh hoists a box over his head and sets it in Alex’s lap. “This is from the Megster.”
His eyes dart to mine. “This is from you? You said you your gift was in your purse. This did not fit in there.”
“Josh picked it up from me earlier. Had to throw you off.” I smile. “Open it.”
He starts cracking up when he sees a box full of a ridiculous amount of Legos. He holds up one of the tiny ones. “I love it.”
“I thought you could use them for practice. I’m sure all the great architects started out building stuff out of toys.”
He bends down, and I sit up to meet him half way for a kiss. “Thank you, baby. I love them.”
And he’s not lying. For the rest of the night, the girls and I watch movies while the guys play with Legos after emptying the contents of the box on Josh’s pool table.
“Can I just call myself an aunt? I feel like an aunt. I wanna be an aunt. I’m an only child so I’ll never get to be one officially, so it only makes sense, right? This is my chance.” My eyes are glued to my phone as I swipe through the pictures Mr. Fuller sent us. Baby Noah is the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen. His cheeks are precious and his little bitty mouth is so sweet. He has a head full of hair and it already looks like the tousled style his very good looking daddy sports.
“Umm. I’m sure Mrs. Gelson, I mean, Fuller would love that,” Alex murmurs with a slight chuckle. He nudges my thigh and continues, “Hey, are you sure you don’t want to go out? It’s New Year’s Eve. We always do something.”
Unable to tear my eyes from the photos, I just shake my head. After spending Christmas with the crew, everyone decided to go their own way for the New Year. Josh and Keesh want to go to this big rave at a warehouse. As much as I love to dance, I’m not feeling it. Steph and Dom went camping for the weekend with their families. And from there, making any plans as a group just fizzled. Keesh has texted me several times already asking if Alex and I have changed our mind, but we haven’t.
He’s chillin’ in some flannel jammie pants and a Berkeley tee. I’m wearing my hoodie and some pink yoga pants. Even though I’ve never done yoga in my life, the clothes are comfy enough.
“I’m thinking when I have kids, I’m gonna let them call Steph and Keesh auntie. Otherwise, they won’t have any aunts either,” I continue to babble.
“Hey,” he says, full on shaking my leg this time. “Hello. How about I give you your Christmas present now?”
My ears perk up. “Present?”
“You didn’t think I’d forgotten, did you?”
“No, I just thought our plans tonight were part of your gift. Like last year.” Although I doubt he could top taking me to see Pitbull. That was amazing. I can still replay that night in my head like it was yesterday.
“Well, it kinda is. I just wanted to wait until it was just me and you. It’s kind of cheesy.”
“Anything from you will be perfect.”
He reaches behind the couch. “Merry Christmas, Megan. Hope you like it. It’s something you’ve wanted for the past couple years.”
Something I’ve wanted? He has me puzzled.
I pull the tissue paper from the bag. Inside, I see a something navy blue. Then I see the gold block letters. Another hoodie?
“Take it out.” He eggs me on, giddiness wiggling his body.
I reach in and pull out the sweatshirt. Hanging it out in front of me, I start cracking up till I’m breathless. My eyes water I’m laughing so hard. Alex joins me, holding his stomach. It’s that funny, but so dang perfect.
“You said they should sell these in the student store. You said you wanted one. What kind of guy would I be if I didn’t get my girl whatever she wants?”
“Alex, you are one perfect man.” I get to my feet, pull my old hoodie over my head and toss it on the chair beside us. Then I grab the other one and pull it on. “What do you think? Is it me or what?”
“Yes! It’s totally you. Only you would wear something that says, ‘My Hot Sexy Stud of a Boyfriend goes to Berkeley’!”
“You know it!” I throw myself in his lap and he catches me with a loud oomph. I press my forehead to his and look into his eyes. “Wanna make out like horny teenagers?”
“You
are
a teenager,” he groans, his hands tightening on my hips.
I drag my tongue across his top lip. “And I’m horny too.”
He groans again, the strength of his grip pulsing through my body. “Oh my god, woman. Our someday is never gonna come if you kill me first.”
Pushing off his chest, I start to back away from him. “Fine then. Let’s just keep it PG. Don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
He grasps my hand and pulls me back to him. “I’ll risk it.”
And then, we have a make-out session that rivals any we’ve ever shared. Well, except for the one last New Year’s Eve when only the flimsy material of my sexy panties came between our parts.
Chapter 22
In the past, I’ve always wanted the school year to pass quickly. I wanted to get back to class after holiday break and let the days fly by until summer.