Holly Ever After: A Small Town Christmas Rom Com by Laura Ashley Gallagher

Author:Laura Ashley Gallagher [Gallagher, Laura Ashley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-01T16:00:00+00:00

Twenty-One

The beam of light casting through my window stirs me from my sleep. A sleep I could easily fall back into because I’m cocooned in warmth, pulled tightly against a chest.

I peek over my shoulder.

Not just any chest.

Sean Colson is in my bed.

What have I done?

Still, I can’t find it in myself to move. He’s holding me so tight I don’t think I could if I wanted to. I give myself a few minutes to stay this way because once he wakes and realizes what we’ve done, he’s going to be out of here faster than a snowflake melting in July.

His even breaths sweep across the skin of my shoulder, reminding me of how naked I am.

Naughty Santa worked the nightshift.

I stretch, but it only reminds me of how sore I am… everywhere.

I definitely ho-ho-ho’d last night.

And Santa? Santa came more than once this year.

Bad Holly. So, so bad.

The silence is shattered as my phone buzzes, jolting me from my reverie. Then it buzzes again. And again. Each vibration stabs through the stillness, eroding the fragile peace of this illicit morning-after.

I fumble for my phone on the nightstand, squinting against the bright screen. A barrage of texts and local news notifications flood the display. “HEAVY SNOWFALL,” one headline screams. “ALL RESIDENTS ADVISED TO STAY OFF ROADS,” says another.

My heart drops to my stomach.

Snowed in? Now? With him?

In a frantic move, I rip the covers off Sean, wrapping them around myself like a makeshift toga before dashing into the living room. My bare feet hit the cold wooden floor, sending shivers up my spine as I rush to the window.

Pulling aside the curtains, I'm met with blankets of white. It's as though nature itself conspired to lock me in this cottage with Sean, pushing us into a cozy, unwanted hibernation.

I feel the breath leave my lungs, my heart pounding in my chest.

We're snowed in. Completely, utterly snowed in.

There's no escaping this, not the snow, not the cottage, and certainly not the complicated tangle of whatever Sean and I have just become.

I wrap the covers tighter around me, as if they could shield me from the reality crashing down.

“Hey, yeah, got it,” I hear Sean's muffled voice coming from the bedroom. “No, no need. My mom will be fine. Yeah, I'm stuck too. Alright, thanks.”

He appears in the doorway of the living room, phone in hand, eyes catching the blanket I've wrapped around myself like a survivalist's cocoon. For a moment, we lock eyes, the silence filling with every unspoken word, every unsaid regret and hidden desire.

“So,” he starts, clearing his throat awkwardly, “all my jobs are called off. Your parents called. They've offered to take my mom in until all of this settles.”

I nod, still not able to meet his eyes, instead focusing on the window. The impenetrable wall of snow has turned the outside world into a blank canvas, and I'm suddenly aware of how small this cottage feels.

It's like that movie—what's it called? Oh, yeah, The Shining. Except instead of ghosts and an axe-wielding maniac, it's just regret and sexual tension.

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