Reckless

Chapter 14 ; Merry Christmas

Chapter 14 –

LIAM

As I laid in bed beside Sam I couldn’t help but think to myself that this was the best Christmas gift I could have ever asked for. Gently, trying my best not to wake her I twirled a piece of her silky brown hair between my fingers. There was something so comforting and nice about waking up to her tucked safely in my bed. I think back to the weeks she was gone and how I would lay in bed all night wondering if she was safe. The muscles in my throat clenched at the thought of something happening to her; my eyes fell shut as I tried to push all the negative thoughts out of my head. Right now, all I wanted to focus on was this – her warm body pressed against me and the feeling having her near gave me. I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

“Good morning…” A sweet voice whispered, dragging me away from my thoughts. I smiled as I slowly opened my eyes. She was beautiful even when she first woke up.  I leaned closer, kissing softly over the freckles on her cheeks. “Merry Christmas baby.” I whispered, pulling her closer. F***, I didn’t want this moment to ever end. Almost as soon as that thought entered my head it was smashed to pieces as someone began banging on my bedroom door. “For the love of god…” I mumbled, ignoring it as I tugged the blanket over our bodies. Sam giggled softly as she buried her face against my bare chest. “Make them go away.” She whispered, her lips brushing against my skin making my whole body tingle. “Just ignore them.” I grinned, tugging her closer; I tucked my head into the crook of her neck, kissing gently over her warm skin.

Just as I lifted my head to press my lips to hers the banging caused us both to jump. “GO AWAY!” I growled. My hands found their way to the sides of her face – my lips crashes against hers; I needed them, needed her. The way her lips and body reacted made it easy to forget all about the annoyance on the other side of the bedroom door. “GUYS GET UP ITS CHRISTMAS MORNING…LOSERS.” Lacy hissed as she began pounding on the door again, “Get up! We are opening gifts.” I hated to pull away from her warmth but Lacy was right, we needed to get down stairs. Besides if we didn’t get up there was a chance that next time she would just barge in. “Rain check?” I asked softly, as I pecked a few soft kisses to her lips.

“Yea..” she nodded as she sat up, pulling the blanket around her body. “Can I talk to you first… before we go downstairs?” I frowned slightly as I watched her body change to her usual nervous demeanor. “Hey now…” I frowned, tugging her into my lap. “Why do you look so sad baby? It’s Christmas morning.” She fiddled with her hands for a moment, her eyes focusing on her fingers. “I couldn’t afford to get you anything… or anyone anything. I don’t think I should be down there while you all open gifts…” She refused to look at me when she spoke and that broke my heart. “Sam, first of all I took care of your gifts for everyone. I didn’t expect you to buy anyone anything.” I slipped my finger under her chin, lifting her head so that she was looking at me. “This is our Christmas and that mean yours too. I have more money than I know what to do with, the only thing I wanted for Christmas this year was you.” I grinned, realizing how cheesy I sounded. “Baby all I want for Christmasssss is yoooooou!” I belted out as I eased her off my lap and onto the bed and began to dance around the bedroom.  I couldn’t carry a tune to save my life but watching her face light up made the embarrassment worth it.

Sam broke out in a fit of giggles as I continued to dance around the room singing All I Want for Christmas. My horrible singing matched with my even worse dancing had to be quite the show. Right as I turned around to shake my ass the door flew open and Lacy caught a few seconds of my little show. From behind me I heard Sam’s laughter intensify followed by a loud snort. Now both Lacy and Sam were laughing uncontrollably. “Oh…my…god…” Lacy wheezed as she tried to stop from laughing. “Aye, don’t be jealous.” I chuckled to myself as I left the room and headed downstairs.

SAM

“Aye, don’t be jealous.” Liam laughed as he left me and Lacy giggling. “What have you done to that boy?” Lacy asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.  There was a look of pure disbelief etched onto her face. “Sam, really though, Liam is like a whole new person… in a good way. He actually seems happy.” I smiled to myself, Liam did seem happy and for once in my life I was really happy. I don’t know what I did to deserve this chance at happiness, but I really didn’t want to screw it up again. “Come on.” I smiled, holding my hand out to Lacy as I stood up. I took her hand tightly in mine and lead her out of the bedroom.

We made our way back down the stairs to the living room where the guys had all gathered. They all look exhausted and none of them looked like they wanted to be there – all of them except Liam. He was leaning against the doorframe with a cup of coffee in his hands and a smile plastered on his face. His smile sent a warm tingly feeling down my spine all the way to my toes. There was something so sexy about the way he looked – the way his whole body was relaxed and how his smile seemed to light up the whole room. I bit down on my bottom lip as I tried to push all the dirty thoughts out of my head.

I made my way over to the couch and curled up on one of the cushions as I watched everyone start to sort through the gifts. Spending Christmas here with them was the best gift I could ever imagine. One by one, people ripped open their gifts and their eyes would light up each time. The guys gifts were made up of clothing and video games. Liam had even bought a ‘house’ gift of a new playstation and set of games to go with it. Then someone passed me a gift. It was a large box wrapped in glittery red paper – it had to be from Lacy because she looked like she might pee herself as she waited for me to open it. Very carefully I unwrapped the pretty package – inside the box was a mixture of clothing, candles and makeup. “Aw Lacy thank you.” I smiled, leaning over to give her a hug.

Everyone began moving around the room, the guys all piled up in front of the entertainment center setting up their new gaming system. Liam had disappeared from the room, when he reentered the room his coffee cup was gone and was replaced by something else.  I watched as Liam made his way slowly over to the couch holding a small wrapped gift and a red envelope in his hand. He joined me on the couch, pulling me closer with his free hand. “Hello…” He mumbled as he sat the box in my lap, his arm still draped protectively around my shoulders. “What’s this?” I asked, as I inspected the box. The wrapping job wasn’t the best, the paper was bunched around the box and I think he used a whole roll of tape to put it together. I couldn’t help but smile as I pictured him trying to wrap the small box. “It’s your gift. I didn’t know what to get you honestly. You are not like most girls I know. But… I am pretty proud of myself.” He grinned playfully. Carefully, I tore the paper at the corner and unwrapped the gift wrap to reveal a light blue Tiffany’s box. My jaw nearly fell to the floor. “Liam… please tell me you didn’t spend that much money on me…” I whispered as guilt from not getting him much of a gift bubbled in my stomach. “You hush and just open it.” He spoke so softly that my heart seemed to skip a beat. I chewed nervously on my lip as I lifted the top of the box off to reveal a heart shaped pendent on a thin rose gold chain. The dainty heart pendent was lined with small diamonds with a small red stone in the center. “Liam…” I gasped softly as I ran my finger tip over the stunning piece of jewelry. “Do you like it?” He asked, before I could answer he removed the necklace from its box and clasped it gently around my neck. I was in shock; the necklace was beautiful and to be honest I had never received a gift like this before. “It looks perfect on you.” His voice seemed to snap me out of my thoughts. “It’s so beautiful…” I lifted my hand to trace over the delicate jewelry now draped across my chest. Liam didn’t say anything but he look so proud of his gift there was no way I could turn it down. He then handed me the envelope. “Now this isn’t really a gift its more so a necessity.” I lifted my brow as I opened up the envelope and inside was a credit card. I looked up at him with a confused look on my face. “What is it?” He reached over and pulled out the plastic card, I glanced down and saw my name embedded in the plastic. “I had you added to my account. If you are going to be with me I am going to make sure you are taken care of. So, if you need anything you charge it to this account and I will take care of it. Got it?” I knew that he meant well by this gesture, but I couldn’t accept this from him. “Liam, I cant…” I started but he quickly cut me off. “Just keep it, if anything use it only for emergencies. I need to know that you will always have money if you need it.” I nodded slowly, he was right, it would be a nice feeling of security. “Thank you.”