LAUREN

 

Christmas morning dawned and I woke to Tyler propped on his side, elbow pressed into the mattress, his head resting in his hand and staring at me.

“Morning, beautiful.” He pressed his lips to my forehead as I stretched into the air. Cautiously, I turned on my side, wincing a little at the discomfort, but able to maintain the position.

“Merry Christmas.” Tyler brushed my hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear.

“Merry Christmas,” I replied, letting a smile overtake my face as I pressed both hands beneath my cheek. Tyler was naked again. He had made it a habit ever since that night when he rubbed himself against me until we both came. He was a tease though, as he hadn't touched me since. My eyes dropped to his chest. I blamed it on my inactivity, on boredom, how obsessed I had become with him. I couldn’t stop imagining what it would be like when he finally had sex with me again. 

“Hey,” he chided, using his finger to lift my chin. “Eyes up here.”

I laughed and rolled onto my back. “Are you going to change your stance on touching me?”

“Not until you’re one hundred percent healed, no. I'm all or nothing. Restraint around you isn't possible.”

I had attempted to recreate that night many times over the past week but Tyler had turned down every advance, stating that he was too afraid of hurting me.

“I don’t think you understand how I'm feeling, Tyler Thornton,” I teased. “I’ve been cooped up in this apartment for weeks now with nothing to stare at but your naked body and nothing to do but imagine all the things we could be doing. Do you want to hear about them?”

He groaned. “Fuck, Lauren. Now I’m hard. You need to stop it.”

“But what if I don’t want to?”

Tyler looked at me sideways, a frown creasing his beautiful face. “It’s not going to happen. I told you how hard it was for me the other night not to press into you, not to lower myself and drive my—” He let out a low whistle of air, closing his eyes and shaking his head. “No.” He opened his eyes again and gave me a warning glare. “I won’t be tempted. When I do fuck you, and believe me I do intend on doing that, a lot, many times, it will be when we don’t have to hold back. When I can take you and—” Another whistle of air. “Okay, now I’m the one who needs to stop. Subject change.” Twisting over, Tyler reached beneath the bed. “Present time.”

“Is it you?” I asked, attempting to give him my most seductive look. “Because right now that’s all I want.”

“Lauren,” he growled again, and the sound of my name on his lips as a warning had me pressing my legs together. “Just open the damn present.”

It was a thick envelope. White. My name scrawled across the front.

“What is it?” I asked turning it over in my hands. I did it only because I knew it would annoy him, and sure enough, he rolled his eyes.

“Just open it.”

Turning the envelope upside down, I watched as the contents fell to the bed covers. It contained paperwork and a few flyers. And airline tickets to Fiji. My eyes widened and I looked over at Tyler who had a massive grin spread across his face.

“I thought we could do with a holiday,” he said.

“To Fiji?” I studied the itinerary, frowning slightly when I saw the date. “It’s months away.”

Tyler pulled himself up in the bed. “You don’t think I’d be booking a holiday with any chance you’d still be healing, do you? This way there will be no doubt, and I will be able to do all those naughty and dirty things you’ve been insisting that you’ve been thinking about.”

Excitement rippled through me. A holiday with Tyler all to myself. “Thank you! I love it, Tyler.” The package included rental of a beachfront property with its own secluded beach. It was near a resort, giving the option to dine out, but was also completely private. “It does make my present look rather small in comparison.”

“You don’t need to get me a thing. I have everything I need right here.” He kissed me again. A chaste peck.

I let out a frustrated sigh as I pulled his present out of the bedside cabinet. “Merry Christmas,” I said, giving it to him.

Tyler picked at the tape, removing it from the wrapping without causing much damage and slid his fingers along the seam. Immediately my mind went other places and I laughed under my breath at my desperation. Sadie had helped me with his present. I managed to find what I was looking for online but she had to be the one to go pick it up.

“I’ve been searching for this? Where did you find it?” Tyler turned the album over in his hand, his fingers running reverently over the images that graced it. The edges of the cover had been taped back together and there were some minor tears but Tyler didn’t seem to mind. “It’s a first press release too.”

I shrugged and grinned. It had taken hours of scouring the net but I had managed to find a copy just outside the outskirts of the city. The man hadn’t been keen on selling it at first, insisting that he only had listed it as a way to determine its value, but the more I upped my offer the more receptive he became.

“It’s perfect. Thank you.” He pressed another chaste kiss to my cheek. “I’m putting it on now.” Tossing the covers aside, Tyler got out of the bed, his tight arse driving me insane as he walked into the lounge and placed the record on the player. The sultry sounds of jazz drifted through the doorway.

“Did Billie tell you what time she wants us there?” Tyler called out.

“Around one. Dinner’s at two.”

Tyler’s head popped around the corner but the rest of him remained hidden. “Breakfast?”

“What’s on offer?”

“Anything you want.”

“Anything?”

“Lauren.” There was that warning growl again.

“Fine. I’m good with whatever you feel like.”

“Waffles it is then,” he replied, his head disappearing again.

“Waffles?” I yelled out.

“A client sent me a waffle iron. I have no idea why,” he called back. “Figured that now was as good a time as any to try it out.” I could hear him rustling in the kitchen. Cupboards opening and closing. “Savoury or sweet?”

“Definitely sweet.” I lay back in the bed contemplating whether to get up and join him or grab a little more shut-eye. The thought of a naked Tyler covered in nothing but an apron had me rising from the bed. I may not be able to touch, but I could still look.

* * *

“We’re late,” I said, glancing at the red glow of the clock in Tyler’s car.

“Barely,” he replied.

“Billie is going to kill us.”

Tyler grinned. “I’ve already got three missed calls from her.”

I fished around in my bag until I felt the familiar smooth surface of my phone and let out a groan when I turned it on. “I’ve got four.”

I had forgotten that I’d never actually been to the main Thornton house. Any time I’d spent with them was at the holiday home and it was considerably less grandiose than this one. A long driveway led to a circle that wrapped around an immaculate garden in front of the house. Made entirely of red brick, the only other colour apart from the dark roof came in the form of cream pillars that framed the entrance. I let out a low whistle as I craned my head towards the window, attempting to take it all in.

“Impressive,” I said to Tyler.

“Not really,” he replied. “Billie made Dad move into this place after they got married. She said the old house was filled with too many memories of the other women who had lived there. Let’s just say that Diana and Lynda had less garish taste than she does.”

“Garish?”

Tyler grinned as he pulled to a stop outside the huge garaging beside the house. “You’ll see.”

Billie opened the door when we rang the bell. Her eyes were wide and her smile was tight as she greeted us. “You made it. Finally.”

Tyler sighed, arms laden with Christmas presents. “We’re half an hour late, Billie.”

“Not according to Lauren’s mother, you’re not.” She grinned at me through clenched teeth. “She insisted you told her to come at eleven.”

As if raising the devil himself, Mother appeared behind her. “You did, Lauren. You told me eleven.”

I smiled brightly and pushed past Billie, doing my best to ignore the glaring looks she was giving me. “Check your phone. I text the message to you and it said one o’clock.”

“Nonsense,” Mother scoffed. She pulled her phone from the handbag that she clutched to her side like a security blanket and glared at the screen. “I know how to read, Lauren, and it definitely said, oh.” Her voice fell. “Better to be early than late.” She raised her eyebrows in my direction.

“Is it, though?” Billie asked, shooting me another smile of wild desperation.

“Merry Christmas, Tyler,” my mother cooed, reaching up to grab Tyler’s face and press a kiss to his cheek. It was so unlike her. And it still annoyed me.

“Merry Christmas,” he said back, throwing a wink my way. “Maybe some reading glasses should be on the Christmas list this year.”

Mother laughed, actually laughed, and swatted Tyler’s shoulder. If it were anyone else I would swear she was flirting.

“L!” a cry came as my sister entered the room. She hugged me, then held me at arm’s length. “You look gorgeous!”

I let a frown pull my brows together. “Are you alright?”

“What do you mean?” she asked before flashing Tyler a grin and calling out, “Merry Christmas.”

“You’re all happy and peppy and stuff.”

Morgan shook her head as though I was talking nonsense and called out to the next room. “Madi? Madi come say hello to your Aunty.”

There was no reply.

“Don’t bother her,” I said. “We’ll be in there soon. I’ll say hello then. Anything you need help with, Billie?”

Billie now had a glass of wine in her hands and took a large gulp. “Come into the kitchen and see the dessert your mother brought. I had no idea she would bring anything.” Her voice was shrill and tight and I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at the thought of someone else having to deal with my mother. It couldn’t have happened to a better person.

“Oh my god,” Billie said as soon as the kitchen door swung shut. “This is my third glass, Lauren. My third! If I keep going at this pace I’ll be in bed by five o’clock, but she drove me to it. I wouldn’t have survived without it. Hamish went and locked himself in the office, claiming he had some work to do. Your father and that husband of your sister’s have been playing pool in the gaming lounge and that girl has just been sitting there with the gloomiest look on her face, staring at her phone. It’s been horrible. Two and a half hours they have been here, Lauren. Two and a half.” She took another gulp of wine. “I’ve been pretending to be busy in the kitchen since twelve, even though the caterers have done everything. Why didn’t you answer your phone?” she wailed.

I shrugged, amused by Billie’s outburst and reached over the counter to grab a grape off one of the platters. “It was turned off.”

Mother must have walked into the kitchen because suddenly a smile stretched over Billie’s face and she walked towards the fridge. “Come and look at this wonderful trifle your mother brought.” She opened the door and pulled out the dessert. “Stunning, isn’t it?”

There was nothing stunning about the trifle. In fact, compared to the other desserts that were stacked into the fridge it was boring and plain.

Billie’s smile stretched wider. “I love sherry,” she said.

“Oh, it hasn’t got any sherry in it,” Mother corrected her. “I don’t believe in drinking alcohol.”

“Really?” Billie’s voice almost broke with the highness of her pitch. “Well, I hate to break it to you,” Billie chuckled a weirdly deep chuckle, “but drinking alcohol exists whether you believe in it or not.”

“What I meant was—”

Billie chuckled that weird sound again, cutting Mother off. “I know what you meant. I was just teasing you.” She rolled her eyes in my direction and gave me another look that could only be a cry for help.

I merely grinned back at her. “Speaking of alcohol?” I lifted an eyebrow.

“Yes!” Billie clapped her hands together. “Of course, how rude of me not to offer. Right this way.” And she took off out of the kitchen as quickly as her heels would allow.

As soon as we were alone, footsteps clipping across the entranceway, she turned to me. “I have no idea what I’m going to do with that trifle. It simply doesn’t match the rest of the menu at all.”

“You don’t need to do anything other than put it out,” I told her.

“But it’s going to ruin the look of the table.”

It was only as we walked into the main sitting room that I remembered Tyler’s remarks on Billie’s taste. The walls were white, the floor black. The window dressings were striped black and white and everything else was gold. Everything. Gold couches. Gold cushions on the couches. Gold paintings. Gold. Gold. Gold.

“Wow.” I was unsure what else to say. “Everything is very . . . very decadent,” I decided on.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

I just smiled. Tyler’s grandparents, Barrett and Annie were seated on the couch and I walked over to embrace them. I didn’t visit every fortnight like Tyler did, but I still enjoyed going to see them every month or so, though Annie was beginning to lose her memory a little and sometimes struggled to remember who I was. Still, she was always pleased to see me regardless. Tyler had insisted his father get them out of the nursing home for the day. He also wanted them to be here for when his surprise visitor arrived.

“Aunty L!” Madi looked up from her phone. “When did you get here? Oh!” She looked around the room, her eyes lighting on Tyler. “Tyler’s here too.” Getting to her feet, she met me in the middle of the room for a hug.

“I told you that L was here, ages ago,” Morgan huffed.

Madi plucked the wire hanging around her neck. “Headphones, Morgan.”

“Mum,” Morgan corrected.

“Leave the girl alone, Morgan,” Alistair piped up from the corner. I looked up in surprise and a flush of colour crept over Morgan’s cheeks.

“Whatever, Morgan.” Madi rolled her eyes and looped her arm through mine. “Is Gabe coming?”

Tyler met my gaze across the room with amusement. He was standing next to my father, both had a bottle of beer in one hand and their other hands stuffed in their pockets.

“Both Gabe and Jake were told to be here at one. If they don’t arrive soon, we will be eating without them. I won’t have the food getting ruined.”

Mother nodded enthusiastically. “Quite agree, Billie. That is your name, isn’t it? Billie? I seem to remember you having a different name when you were younger. Didn’t she have a different name, Lauren?”

“Yes, it’s Billie,” Billie replied once again, speaking through gritted teeth.

“Well, I quite agree with you, Billie. You’ve gone to all this effort to cook Christmas dinner and it shows ungratefulness if they can’t even turn up on time.”

Billie stretched another smile at my mother. “I must go find Hamish. He’s being rude by working when we’ve got all these guests here. Won’t be long.”

The door slammed and Gabe walked in. “Merry Christmas!” he called out.

“Gabe!” Madi flew over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders in a tight hug. “Merry Christmas!”

He laughed and pushed her away. “Hey, Madi. Long time no see.” He winked and Madi’s eyes flew wide, shaking her head desperately, warning him not to say anything of her night out in front of Morgan.

Gabe walked around the room, giving me a quick embrace, shaking Tyler’s and Dad’s hands and nodding at my mother. “Clementine,” he said with a wicked glint to his eye. “So pleased you could make it. I’ve missed you.”

Mother sort of blinked, unsure what to say, then muttered something about the kitchen and disappeared. When the doorbell rang, Tyler moved to the entrance. “I’ll get it.”

A small flutter started in my stomach. Tyler had talked with Claudia and organised for Dante to spend a few days with us. This was the first time he would be meeting the Thornton Family. And the first the Thornton’s would know of him. I had questioned Tyler’s decision, pondering if surprising them on Christmas Day was the best idea, but Tyler had wanted it that way. He wanted his father to have as much warning as he’d had.

Hamish and Billie walked back into the room at the same time Tyler and Dante did. Tyler’s arm was slung over the boy’s shoulder.

“Lauren!” Dante jerked his head upwards in greeting then walked over to embrace me. “You feeling better now?”

“Almost good as new.” I smiled at Tyler over his shoulder and raised my eyebrows, challenging him.

“She’s a lot better but not fully healed yet,” Tyler corrected.

Hamish had frozen on the other side of the room, his eyes narrowing. There was no mistaking who Dante was. Even the way he walked mimicked Tyler.

“What the fuck?” Gabe had got to his feet and was glancing between Tyler and Dante.

Mother walked back into the room at that exact time and scolded Gabe’s language.

“Everyone,” Tyler’s voice was deep and full of pride. “I’d like to introduce you to Dante, my son.”

Billie squealed a little. Mother blinked. Dad shrugged his shoulders and took another mouthful of beer, earning a scowl from Mother. And Gabe strode over to Dante, arms wide.

“No fucking way!” He gripped Dante’s shoulders, peering into his face then up at Tyler. “I’m an uncle?”

Hamish had gone pale. Billie was prattling beside him, spluttering questions. Sitting down on the couch, hands calmly grasped and hanging between his knees, Tyler told the story.

Hamish didn’t say a word. His eyes locked on Tyler coldly. It was like he couldn’t even bear to look at Dante.

“Well,” my mother started, “I, for one, think this is a wonderful thing, especially considering that you…” she nodded my way, but Tyler glared at her in warning. Mother laughed nervously. “I think it’s wonderful. Congratulations, Tyler.”

“Thank you.”

Hamish cleared his throat and walked over to place a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “A word.” Then he walked out, expecting Tyler to follow.

Somewhere in the room, the baby monitor crackled and Billie jumped a little. “Ollie’s up.” She went to get him while Gabe and Madi peppered Dante with questions and Annie asked, “Has Gable dyed his hair?” in a loud voice and nodded in Dante’s direction.

Barret simply patted her hand and smiled. “Yes.”

I’m not sure what was discussed while Tyler and Hamish were out of the room, but when they walked back in, Hamish walked over to Dante and shook his hand stiffly. “Welcome to the family, son.”

Tyler sat down beside me and leaned in close. “He was worried about the trust. The fucking family trust.” Tyler shook his head.

Billie announced that dinner would be served at two thirty, giving up on Jake’s appearance. But as soon as we sat down at the long table, decorated in black, white and gold, Jake entered and quietly took a seat.

“Pleased you could make it,” Hamish said.

“Yeah,” Jake grinned sheepishly. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Where were you?” Billie asked.

Jake shrugged and reached for some ham. “Nowhere, just lost track of time.”

“I think the right question would have been, who were you with?” Gabe grinned. He had Ollie in his arms, lifting him up and down and blowing raspberries on his belly.

“I smell gossip,” Billie said leaning forward. “Spill.”

“You really shouldn’t be doing that at the table,” my Mother barked at Gabe who poked his tongue out at her before burying his head in Ollie’s squishy tummy again and making him chuckle with glee.

Jake muttered, “There’s nothing to tell.” It was only then that he glanced at the people around the table. A small look of confusion passed over him when his eyes rested on Dante. “Have I missed something?” he asked.

The entire table broke into laughter. Even Hamish. And then Tyler launched into the story once again. I sat back in my chair, food forgotten and looked at my family as they chatted around me, reaching across the table to help themselves to food and drink, Christmas Carols playing in the background.

This was my family. My strange, messed up family, but they were mine. Tyler caught my eye from across the table and smiled. And it was right there in that moment that I knew this was it.

I was his for life.