The Bet

Chapter 75

James's POV

Riley comes out of her house and hops in the truck.

"Well don't you look nice." I say with a smirk before giving her a kiss.

"I can say the same for you." She says, giving me a kiss in return. I was wearing a pair a black dress pants and a red dress shirt, opposed to jeans and a t shirt.

"Jacob was really happy with his gift." I tell Riley as I pull out of her driveway.

"Glad to hear that." She says.

"Did you open your gift from me yet?" I ask.

"Nope, got it right here." She replies, pulling that gift from her coat pocket. "And I hope you never opened the one from me either."

"Nope." I reply.

~~~~~

Riley's POV

James's house was beautifully decorated in Christmas decorations. Every inch was covered in boughs, holly, ribbon and bulbs.

"It looks nice here." I comment.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Mom goes a little Christmas crazy during the holidays." James says. I let out a little giggle.

"My mom used to do the same thing." I reply.

We walk into the living room. The nine foot tree stood proudly in the corner, nearly touching the high ceiling. The tree was adorned by fancy ornaments, and beneath the tree was mountains of already opened gifts.Except for one that I reconized my gift to James.

"Riley!" Jacob squeals, giving me a big hug. "Thanks for the gift!"

"You're welcome, I hope you liked it." I laugh.

"Here Riles, sit down." James says, sitting down and pulling me down with him. He puts his arm around me and pulls me closer to him. Jacob sits on the couch a small distance from us.

"Did you get everything you wanted Jacob?" I ask him.

"Yeah!" He says excitedly and begins listing out what he got. I glanced up at James and we smiles sheepishly at each other.

"What did you get for Christmas Riley?" Jacob asks.

"I got a necklace and a pair of earrings." I tell him. He looks at me oddly.

"That's it? You didn't get anything else?" He asks.

"Jacob, why don't you hand me my gift from Riley so I can open it?" James speaks up. Jacob nods and fetches the gift from the tree.

"Sorry." James whispers in my ear. I give him a reassuring smile and look back at Jacob. He hands James the gift.

"Wait! I want to go get everyone else first!" Jacob says excitedly and races out of the room.

Moments later, Jacob was back with James's parents and sister in tow.

"Hello Riley." Mrs Kennedy says bitterly.

"Hello." I say quietly.

"Well, aren't you going to open your gifts?" Jacob says impatiently. James chuckles and we take our gifts out from each other.

"You go first." I tell James. He rips open the wrapping paper like a little kid.

"If you don't like it, just tell me." I tell him. He opens the little box and pulls out his gift.

It was a dog tag style necklace on a chain. On the tag was an etched picture of the two of us. He stared in awe at it, turning it over in his hand and examining the picture.

"Do you like it?" I ask nervously.

"I love it!" He says, leaning over.

"Thanks baby." He says, giving me a kiss. Like expected, James's mother was scowling at us.

"Good." I giggle.

"Okay, now open your gift!" He says excitedly. I give a small smile as I tug at the wrapping paper. I open up the little gift box pull out a Pandora bracelet, already filled with beautifully crafted charms. I gasp.

"James!" I say. He smiles proudly.

"You like it?" He asks with a smirk. I nod and close my eyes as I feel tears form in my eyes. I hear James chuckle as he pulls me closer and kisses my forehead.

"Aww." Jacob, Jessica and James's father tease.

"Here, I'll put it on." James says softly. I open my eyes and watch him clasp it on my wrist. I smile weakly and wipe away a tear.

"Thank you." I say, giving him a kiss. He smiles back, rubbing his thumb over the top of my hand and than kiss it.

"You're welcome." He says.