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ONE
The soft glowof the Christmas lights were all that lit up my dorm room as I waited for Adam to come back from the bathroom. Sitting up on the bed, I cleared away the half-eaten remains of our charcuterie board and fluffed up my hair. I pulled my extra large sweatshirt off of one shoulder to show a sinful amount of my new black lacy bra. The price of the set had been eye-watering, but Adam had barely kissed me in the past few weeks, let alone rocked my world. Maybe upping my game would help?
Relaxing back on the bed, staging myself so that my sweatshirt would ride high on my thighs, I tried to pull off a sultry minx.
When Adam walked in, he flopped down on the bed without a glance at me and flicked on the television, finding a movie full of space aliens and explosions.
‘Hey, babe,’ I said, running my hand up his arm as he pulled me up against him. ‘You go home tomorrow for the holidays, don’t you want to, you know…’
He didn’t meet my eyes as he let out a sigh. ‘Cara, it’s not that I don’t want to. I’m just tired. You could give me a blow job if you like, but I don’t have the energy for anything else.’
I fought back the prick of tears as I turned toward the screen. It was fine for Adam to not be in the mood for sex, but it had become more and more frequent over the past few months. He always had a reason, whether he was tired or stressed out about his course.
‘Hey,’ he said, pulling my face around to his before capturing my lips in a chaste kiss. ‘It’s not you, my little maple leaf. It’s me. You’re still my girl.’
He pulled back as quickly as he’d made contact, leaving me wanting more. The sex with Adam wasn’t exactly mind blowing, but it was enough to make me come. Usually. Or it had been. I missed the closeness. The first time he’d hit on me at a party, I had fallen for his Scottish accent in a heartbeat. A fling with someone who’d end up leaving Canada was a terrible idea. My reluctance only seemed to spur him to pursue me harder, to pull out all the stops in an effort to win my heart. And he had, eventually. Two years on, and in our final year at university, I couldn’t help but wonder if his attraction was waning.
‘I’m going to miss you,’ I said, busying my hands with the remote control he’d abandoned on the bed.
‘I know, I wish you could come to Scotland for Christmas; you’d love it.’
‘I’ll be able to next year. I can’t wait to live in Edinburgh together in a proper apartment instead of being stuck in the dorms.’
Adam smiled at me and placed a gentle kiss on the side of my temple. ‘It’ll be great, babe.’
TWO
‘Cara, this is insane.’
My dorm-neighbour, Jamie, was busy stuffing clothes into a series of tote bags as she readied herself to head home for the holidays.
With my finger hovering over the buy now button, I grinned at her. ‘Insane, but exciting, right?’
‘No, just insane,’ she said, sitting down on the edge of the bed behind my chair and peering over my shoulder. ‘Jesus, fifteen-hundred dollars for the flights?’
It was going to use up all my savings, but it would be worth it to see the surprised look on Adam’s face when I showed up in Scotland for Christmas. Getting away from university was exactly what we needed for a bit of a relationship revamp. I’d pack a suitcase full of sinfully delicious lingerie and outfits, and knock his socks off. All while schmoozing his family until they fell in love with me.
‘It’s a lot, but it’ll be my gift to him.’
‘Didn’t he get you socks?’ Jamie said, lifting a brow.
‘And a hot water bottle shaped like a hippo...’
‘Those are practically mom gifts. He’s not worth it. You want a man who makes you feel like the most important thing in the world. Not one who would rather watch soccer than dick you down.’
‘Football,’ I pointed out. A picture of Adam pulling me down on the bed while kissing me passionately flashed in my head. Fuck, I missed feeling like his top priority.
‘God, who cares? That man is more focused on balls than on you. Red flag.’
Adam really did love football far more than was probably normal. He’d forced me to watch hours and hours of it over the two years we’d been together.
‘I’m going to do it,’ I said, as my fingers trembled over the enter key.
‘I think you should just go home and see your parents. Have the perfect little Coal’s Lake Christmas your mom always puts on. Think of the cookies! I bet they won’t have the cookies at Adam’s house.’
Christmas was always picture perfect at my parents’ house. If I went to Scotland, it would be my first without them. I ignored the tug in my chest at the thought of it.
‘I can’t spend Christmas with them forever. I have my own life now and I’ll be moving to Scotland next year, anyway. I’m sure they have cookies.’
