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"Sorry, no steam today."
Not from the water. But oh yeah, Ben and I made plenty of our own steam. Is saying "sorry" all the time a contagious disease? I just said it, but only once.
I survey all the bags my parents have brought home and finally realize an important fact. "You bought an awful lot of presents. Mailing all that stuff to Cameron and his brood will mean we need to buy a bunch of mailing boxes."
"No, we don't," Mom declares, as if I said a stupid thing. "They'll be here tomorrow to spend the holidays with us, here on the mountain."
"What? There's no room. Cam and Amy plus two kids?"
"Relax. We've got a plan."
They've got a plan? Mom and Dad already took the upstairs bedroom, and Ben has the sofa. What idea could my mom have dreamed up that would make more sleeping space magically appear?
I probably don't want to know. But she'll tell me anyway.
"Here's the plan," Mom says. "Your father and I will keep the upstairs room while you and Ben sleep in your bedroom."
"You want me to sleep with Ben?"
Dad chuckles. "Did you think we assumed you're still a virgin? We know our daughter has sex." He rolls his gaze toward Ben. "And we know who she's doing it with."
Oh. Dear. God. I never needed to hear my father say the phrase "doing it" while glancing meaningfully at my… What is Ben to me, anyway? "Friend" seems inadequate. He isn't exactly my boyfriend either. Ben Montague is my, um, companion. No, that doesn't sound at all like a pathetic attempt to downplay the fact we're having incredible sex.
But is that all we're doing?
"I don't think Sam is comfortable with that arrangement," Ben says. "I can sleep on the sofa bed like I've been doing."
"Afraid not, kid," Dad says. "Cam and Amy need the sofa bed. The girls are bringing sleeping bags, and they'll camp out on the floor. You'll just have to suck it up and share a room with Sam."
My father smirks at my, uh…boyfriend? My lover?Ugh. Neither one sounds right.
Ben looks at me, his brows raised.
I think he's asking a silent question.Do you really want to share a bed with me?The answer is yes, yes, yes—but not with my parents and my brother and his family sleeping in the same house with us. Not sure I can control my lust for Ben if we're both sleeping in my bed. Of course, he could sleep on the floor, but that would be so uncomfortable for him. He might get sore.
Sure, I'm worried about his physical well-being. That's why I get flutters in my tummy whenever I think about lying in the same bed with him all night, every night.
"Okay," I tell everyone. "Ben and I will share a bed."
Mom winks at me. "Good for you."
I have no idea what that means. My mother can't be congratulating me on scoring a hot Brit. Can she? A twenty-seven-year-old woman shouldn't get embarrassed when her mother implies she's happy her daughter is sleeping with a man she just met. But I do feel an eensy bit that way.
My brother and his brood will arrive tomorrow. Well, at least Ben's royal family isn't coming. Not sure I could handle meeting Princess Olivia. She sounds like a dragon lady, but Ben clearly loves his mom, so I guess she can't be that bad. Not sure how my family would react to a British invasion. Are his parents British? Ben said he has dual citizenship, but he didn't mention if his mom and dad have that too. Maybe they're only Mithorian or Mithori or whatever people from that island call themselves.
I'll ask Ben about that later. When we're cuddled up in bed together.
The four of us collaborate on dinner. Yes, four adults cram ourselves into the kitchen, which takes a bit of finagling, but we get the logistics worked out pretty quickly. It's fun to cook with my parents and Ben. We all tease each other and tell jokes. My mom reveals a few mildly embarrassing tidbits of info about me that I wish she hadn't told Ben, but he seems to love hearing all our family stories. Still, my sort-of boyfriend didn't need to hear about the time I tried to fix my ice skates with super glue and wound up gluing my hair to the skates instead.
That happened at a skating rink. With lots of people watching.
Ben seems to think the story is cute, and he shares a similarly embarrassing story from his youth too. I like him more every minute.
When it's time to go to sleep, Ben and I decide to start our bed-sharing tonight instead of waiting until tomorrow. Mom and Dad say good night to us and head upstairs. Then I lead Ben into my room—which is now our room, temporarily. The more time I spend with him, though, the more I want this to be our room for good.
Once we're snuggled under the covers, both lying on our sides facing each other, I have to ask the question that's been tormenting me. "Are you sure you want to stay for the Lockhart family invasion? I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to go to Hartmoor and spend the rest of your vacation in your friend's house."
"I don't want to leave. Unless you're having second thoughts about letting me stay."
