Christmas Catch: A Holiday Novella Read Online Free Page A

shouldn’t be. At least he’s being honest.
    “You ruined me for other guys too, you know.” I throw a Red Vine at him because I can’t deal with the seriousness.
    “Oh, I’m sorry that I’m so awesome. Wait, no I’m not.” I throw another Red Vine at him. We both smile and I’m in a time warp again.
    “You’re asking for it,” I say, pulling out two Red Vines. They work excellent as whips, by the way. So I arm myself with two of them.
    “Is that how it’s gonna be, Poison?” He raises his eyebrow and that’s all it takes. I’m whipping him with the Red Vines and he’s covering his head and trying to tickle me. He lets me get a few hits in, but then he goes for my middle and ends up pinning me on the couch on my back.
    “I win.”
    We used to wrestle as kids, and whenever he would win, he’d say that. And sometimes I would throw a fit and we’d go again and he would let me win and rub it in his face. We both knew he let me, but it was sweet just the same.
    Sawyer stares down at me and something shifts and then his lips are on my lips, like two magnets being drawn together. Can’t stop it, can’t fight it. Let it happen.
    We’ve kissed before, hundreds of times, but his kiss never ceased to touch me deep down. I’ve never kissed anyone but Sawyer. I never wanted to kiss anyone but Sawyer. He doesn’t know that.
    I open my mouth and his tongue slips over my lips and into my mouth and our tongues reintroduce themselves to each other. There’s no awkwardness. We both know what the other likes, what turns us inside out. He wraps his fingers in my curly hair and pulls, just a little. I moan into his mouth and dig my hands into his back. He’s pressing himself against me, and I know that he wants me. I want him too.
    But this can’t happen. I can’t go there again, because I got out. This was the reason I said good-bye in the first place. I take my hand and push on his chest enough that our mouths part. We’re both breathing heavily, and I’m so turned on that I can barely stand it.
    “I can’t,” I say as he looks down at me, his lips red from our activity. I move his hair out of his eyes. I’m not used to the long hair, but I like it. Gives you something else to hold onto.
    “I’m sorry.” This time he says it.
    “What are you sorry for, Sawyer?” I turn the tables on him.
    “Don’t play that game, Ivy.” He climbs off me and I push myself up on my elbows.
    “Then how do you want to play it? I ended this. We both left. Now we’re back here again. I just . . . I can’t do this.” I put one of my hands through my hair. I know he’s messed it up. He always does.
    “Then you should probably stop kissing me, Ivy. It takes two people to kiss. If that’s how you feel, then don’t kiss me.” He’s mad. He gets up from the couch and takes both our empty wine glasses and starts washing them in the sink. The movie is still playing, but I ignore it.
    “You left. No reason. Everything was fine and I thought that we were going to make it, even though we were going to different colleges. I thought what we had was strong enough to make it. But then you ended it, and I was left with nothing. Now you’re back and you’re screwing with my head again. I can’t fucking DO this, Ivy!” He grips one of the glasses too hard and it shatters. I get up from the couch and rush to help him.
    “Shit,” he says, running his hand under the water as it mixes with blood.
    “Let me see,” I say, taking his hand and looking at it to make sure there isn’t any broken glass in the cut. He lets me and it looks okay. I grab a paper towel and blot it try. The cut isn’t too bad, just on his palm. Then I get a clean paper towel and wrap it around his hand and tell him to squeeze. Without asking, I go to his bathroom and come back with a box of band aids, antiseptic and some antibiotic cream.
    “Sit,” I say and he drops down into a chair. His jaw is tight and he’s glaring at me, but he lets me patch him