'Tis the Season

Chapter 20: Sticky Tape

Chapter Twenty: Sticky Tape

I rushed to shower and get ready, curling my hair messily and applying minimum makeup, but I still didn't end up with enough time to wrap my present for Ryan before we were piling into cars to leave.

I took my shopping bag with his gift in it and some wrapping paper, scissors, and tape so that I could wrap it in the car. Ryan, Emilia, and Eve were driving in Ryan's car with the food that Emilia had promised to bring, and Carson, Connor, and I were travelling in Carson's car behind them.

Connor had enthusiastically insisted he get shotgun, and I relented so that I could have more space to wrap Ryan's gift.

Wrapping a present neatly in the backseat of a moving car is not, actually, as easy as I had thought it to be though. It took me pretty much the entire half-hour drive to get the dang thing wrapped up nicely and I had a shopping bag full of random scraps of wrapping paper and tape by the end of it.

The Sanderses' house was almost as beautiful as the inn. It was painted a clean, sky blue color that stood out amongst the white snow and there was a long wrap-around porch with festive decorations giving off a cozy, happy energy.

I was a little nervous stepping inside because of the state of cleanliness they kept it in. The floors looked as though they got waxed daily, the walls, completely bare aside from a decorative mirror, had immaculate paint jobs, and all the little gold trims of the framed family pictures that lined the shelves were shining against the bright lights on their ceiling.

"Wow," I whispered, quickly tugging my boots off before I could track snow through their foyer. "This is like... I don't even know."

Connor grinned at me mischievously. "Mom always says it's because they only have girls that they're able to keep it like this. She used to make us clean the whole week before we were to have their family over when this tradition first started, but she gave up competing a few years ago."

I chuckle and start to follow the trail of voices coming from deeper in the house, Carson's hand gently resting on my back. We turn into a huge living room with a fluffy, pure white rug that I'm scared to even step on, where everyone else seems to have gathered and begun to place presents under the tree for later.

"Naomi, good to see you again. I'm glad you chose to stay with Carson and his family, they're good people," Mr. Sanders comes over and greets me warmly and I smile up to Carson, whose arm migrates to around my shoulder.

"Yeah, they're the best people I've ever gotten to meet. Thank you for welcoming me into your tradition." He waves off my thanks as Carson announces the "big news".

"Naomi is officially my girlfriend now," he informs Mr. Sanders proudly, squeezing my shoulder lightly and I laugh as Mr. Sanders pats him on the back.

"Thatta boy! We told you you'd find the girl for you soon enough," he remarks and I raise my eyebrows questioningly at the pair of them. "Carson here had a rough go of it after his last relationship ended- he swore women had been ruined for him for good. But now, here we are," he explains and Carson grimaces.

"Okay, enough of that," he pulls me away as Mr. Sanders laughs and turns back to conversing with Ryan.

"Carson, I'll only say it once and then we can drop the matter forever if you'd like," I tell him as we travel over to a navy blue sofa pressed against a far wall. "But I want you to know that I would never cheat on you. It's only you for me, I'm not interested in anyone else. I promise I'll always be loyal."