COLTON

I AWOKE TO THE greatest Christmas gift I’d ever received: Allie asleep in my arms. The sun was barely beginning to rise, casting the faintest glow over her naked body. It was a sight that still blew my mind every single day. Her red dress was thrown over the back of the desk chair. My suit in piles on the floor. Alex’s titty tape stuck to the headboard. I chuckled at the memory of the two of us trying to remove those things without ripping her skin off. Allie stirred at the sound of my laughter.

“Hey, Al,” I whispered into her ear, knowing I should have let her sleep after keeping her up most of the night, but it was Christmas, and I was excited to give her, her gift.

Alex moaned low in her throat, swatting my lips from her ear as if they were a gnat.

“Merry Christmas, baby,” I said a little louder, earning her back as she rolled over to her stomach, dismissing me. I knew that I could’ve gotten her up by fooling around a little, but I was afraid she’d be too sore after last night, so I decided to leave Alex in bed and grab a shower. As I was preparing to brush my teeth, I heard a loud banging on the bedroom door. I pushed the bathroom door open just in time to hear Finley tell Alex that her delivery had arrived. I’d never seen that girl pop out of bed as fast as she did in that moment.

“Shit! I’m still naked,” she announced, ambling over to the dresser for some clothes.

“Expecting something important?” I asked, lurking in the doorway with my arms crossed over my chest as she scrambled around the room.

Alexis slipped the “Big Cock” tee over her head. “Yeah,” she answered, all out of breath as she stepped into a pair of my boxers.

“Want me to go get it?”

“No,” Allie said, shaking her head. “You stay put. I’ll be right back.”

It took her more than five minutes to return. I was tempted to go down there and make sure she hadn’t forgotten about me when the door opened and Alex walked in carrying a wiggly ball of wrinkles with a red bow tied around its neck. “Merry Christmas, Colton!”

The only thing I’d put on my Christmas list for three years in a row when we were kids was an English bulldog puppy. After the third year, I gave up. Today I understood that the reason I never got it was because my father was severely allergic to dogs, but back when I was eleven, twelve, and thirteen-years-old, it was the end of the world. I’d been devastated.

“You bought my puppy,” I said, stunned. Getting a dog hadn’t even crossed my mind since I’d moved out here, and honestly, I wasn’t home enough during the season to give one the attention it deserved. But now I had Alex. And she was standing in my bedroom wearing a shirt with a big cock on the front, her hair looking like she’d stuck her finger in an electric outlet, makeup melted down her face, holding a little piece of my childhood. She was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

My chest tightened as I took the puppy from her hands. Only Alex would know to do this. She literally knew everything there was to know about me. “Thank you, Allie. I can’t believe you remembered.”

Her smile was radiant as she watched the dog lap at my face. “I remember everything, Colt.”

“Do you remember his name?” I challenged, quirking my brow.

Her lips puckered as she tried not to laugh. “You’re not still calling him Bacon?”

“What do you think, huh?” I asked, scratching the top of his head. “Is your name Bacon?” His tail wagged at the sound of my voice, and I shrugged, looking back to Allie. “Bacon it is.”

“That’s an awful name.”

“Watch your mouth, woman,” I teased, sitting on the floor and setting him on his feet. “You’re going to hurt his feelings.”

Alex rolled her eyes. “Be right back. I need to grab his things.”

She came back in with a dog crate filled with toys, bowls, and dog food. After setting it on the ground, she dug out a collar with a green nameplate on the front that said, “Bacon.” “Told you I remember everything.” She smiled, fastening it onto the puppy’s neck.

“How’d you get a dog and all this stuff delivered on Christmas day?”

“I had all of his stuff hidden in Blex’s closet, and I got the puppy from Gertie’s son. When I met with her last week, she told me his dog had puppies, and when I found out they were English bulldogs, I mentioned possibly getting one for you for Christmas.”

My stomach knotted when it dawned on me how expensive these dogs were. Alex was living on student loans and whatever money her parents put in her account each month. “Babe, I can’t believe you spent this much on me for Christmas.”

Her head shook. “You shush. I have money. I’ve saved the extras from my grants and scholarships while living with Mom and Dad, and my grandparents give me way too much for every holiday. Plus, Gertie’s son practically gave him to me, and you never let me pay for anything anyway. What else do I have to spend it on?”

It was true that Alex and I had both lucked out in the grandparent department. Our fathers were both their parents’ only children, and Alex and me their only grandchildren. They threw money at us like it grew on trees. “I love you, Allie.”

“I love you too, Colt—” Alex’s head pulled back, and she let out a scream as Bacon played tug of war with a lock of her hair, growling and whipping his head from side to side.

“No, Bacon!” I shouted through a laugh, prying his jaws apart to free Allie’s hair.

Rubbing at her scalp, she rose to her feet. “I’m gonna go grab a quick shower. You should probably take the Baconator out to potty.” Just as the words left her lips, Bacon popped a squat, relieving himself on my bedroom carpet.

“No, Bacon!” Alex and I yelled in unison. Something told me being puppy parents was going to be a lot of work.

“Yeah, so the guy at PetSmart said we should keep him on the tile ’til he’s potty trained.” Her mouth pulled into a frown. “I didn’t think he’d have to go so soon. I took him out before I brought him up here.”

“It’s fine, Allie,” I laughed. “Go get in the shower, and I’ll clean this up.”

“Where’s Bacon?” Alex asked, coming out of the bathroom, followed by a cloud of steam.

“Finn and Blex are playing with him downstairs,” I said, patting the bed next to me for her to sit. “Time for your present.”

Allie’s face lit up as she sat with her hands laced in her lap, bouncing on her knees.

I handed her the small box, watching intently as she ripped the paper off, eager for her reaction.

“Tiffany’s?” she shrieked. “You got me Tiffany’s!”

“Are you going to open it and see what’s inside?” I laughed.

Allie pulled the top off the blue box and lifted the black velvet one from inside. She pried it open slowly, gasping when she found the heart-shaped locket. Her eyes welled up with tears before she’d even seen the best part.

“Take it out and open it, Al,” I urged

Her thumb rolled over the words engraved on the front side, “Our love story.” Then she opened the locket. One side held a picture of two chubby babies and the other a photo my mom had taken of us on Thanksgiving Day.

“It’s perfect,” she rasped with tears dripping down her face as she fingered the photos inside. “I love it so much, Colton. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, taking the necklace from her hands and fastening it around her neck. “All set,” I whispered in her ear. “Two decades down, Al, and we’re just really getting started.”

Alex spun around to face me, her hand clutching the locket to her chest. “Kiss me, Colton.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I answered with a salute before taking her chin with my thumb and forefinger and molding my mouth to hers. My tongue pressed against the seam of her lips and they parted, granting me entry. Alex let out a whimper. Her hands lifted from my chest to cup the sides of my face as she began smoothing her fingers through the day-old scruff. I worshiped her with every thrust of my tongue, pulling her tighter into my arms until I could feel her heart beating with mine. Until my own felt as if it would burst, incapable of containing the overwhelming love I felt for this girl.

“Colton,” she breathed, rocking into me.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

A fist pounded on our bedroom door. “Colton, your present just dropped a deuce on the kitchen floor. I’m not dealing with this shit...Literally. I’m not. I’m gonna puke.”

Alex and I pulled apart, resting our foreheads together as we shared a breathy laugh.

“Are you two doing the nasty?” Finn whined.

Alex burst into a fit of giggles.

“No,” I said, “we’re coming.”

“I didn’t ask all that now,” he grumbled through the door. “Hurry up. The whole house smells like a turd.”