Page 117 of Snowed In with Benefits

“For you,” Hunter says. “We thought it was the most appropriate.” He winks at me, grinning.

Laughing, I put the headband on. “What possessed you all to do this?”

I look at each of them, all adorably absurd in their Christmas cheer.

“You did,” Beau says, kissing me on the cheek. “Now, what’s for breakfast?”

Laughing, we all tumble out of bed and head for the kitchen. My kitchen is a lot smaller than theirs. Beau and Emmett look massive sitting at my little breakfast bar, and Hunter and I have to squeeze around each other to cook the way we used to. My pans are smaller than their pans, and it takes a couple of rounds to get the same amount of food onto the table that a single pan would take up at the cabin.

As I’m stirring breakfast in the pan, Hunter sneaks a forkful out. I swat at him with the spatula.

“That’s not done!”

Hunter groans. “Worth it. You have no idea how much I’ve missed your cooking.”

Laughing, I let it go. I keep cooking and Beau smacks the counter.

“You know what we need? Christmas music.”

“Yes!” Grinning, I pull up a Christmas album on my phone and connect to my speaker. Chords of classic Christmas fill the air in moments, and I relax into the feeling. Scents of cinnamon and maple syrup dance into the air alongside it, until everything smells and sounds like Christmas. This is nothing like the Christmas I pictured a few weeks ago, but it’s already the best Christmas I’ve ever had.

The food is ready. Hunter and I plate it up and serve it, since there isn’t enough room in here for Beau to deliver plates in his usual habit. We all pull up to the breakfast bar, plate to plate, elbow to elbow. There’s no space at all here, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“God, this is good,” Hunter groans.

“You always say that,” I say, blushing slightly.

“It’s always true,” he says.

“Don’t argue with him,” Beau tells me with a grin. “You know he’s in love with your food.”

Emmett gets a strange look on his face. His eyes go a little cloudy, his neck gets a touch pink. He opens his mouth like he’s about to say something, then closes it. Whatever it was, he swallows it, and it settles somewhere behind his ribs where I can’t reach it. He catches me watching and winks. The moment passes before I can identify what I almost saw.

“These cinnamon rolls are really good,” Emmett admits.

“You can thank the Doughboy for those,” Beau says, grinning at me.

I laugh. He’s not wrong, those cinnamon rolls are right out of a can.

We eat until there’s nothing left, bumping elbows and stealing bites off each other’s plates. Hunter keeps reaching across me to grab things, pressing his chest against my shoulder every time, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t need to do that. Beau catches my eye and shakes his head slowly, like, can you believe this guy? I grin at him. Emmett eats steadily and quietly, his knee pressed against mine under the counter the entire time.

After breakfast, Beau and I do the dishes, just like we did up at the cabin. He washes, I dry, and we pass things back and forth without having to say a word about it. It’s muscle memory now. Ours.

“So,” Emmett says. “What are we doing today?”

It’s such a normal thing to ask that it just about takes my breath away. It’s like we’ve brought the whole cabin down into the city with us, complete with all the routines and habits. Sighing happily, I dry a dish and wait for the answers. I wait for a long moment, before I realize that they’re all looking at me.

“What do you want to do today?” Beau asks.

“Oh…” I bite my lip. I know what I want to do, I just don’t know if they’re going to be up for it. They’re waiting patiently. Steeling myself, I just blurt it out.

“I always like to go out on Christmas afternoon and photograph the lights and decorations and winter scenes, but I know that might be a lot for three guys who just started celebrating the holiday about an hour ago.”

Emmett and Hunter share a look, then Emmett stands up and comes into the kitchen. He picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder and starts walking toward the door. Squealing, I cling to his shirt.

“If you think it’s worth seeing, so do I.”

Laughing, I reach for my camera and my coat on the way out the door. Emmett carries me all the way down the stairs before setting me carefully down on the ground.