Warmth in Ice
Page 25

I chuckled but then my laughter changed to moans as our movements became frenzied and rough.
When were sated, laying tangled up in each other, Clay’s hands drifting lazily up and down my naked back, my phone started to ring.
“That can only be my parents or Rachel. No one else has such impeccable timing,” I muttered, reaching over to the nightstand to grab my phone.
I pulled away from Clay so I could answer it. “Merry Christmas!” I said brightly into the phone.
“Merry Christmas, Maggie May!” my mom and dad replied in unison.
“Thanks,” I said, looking over at Clay who was lying on his side, his head cushioned by his arm, watching me with a peaceful smile on his lips. I couldn’t remember the last time he had looked so content and it made my heart stutter in my chest.
“We hope you have a wonderful day. We just wanted to tell you that we love you and miss you,” my mom said.
“I love you too,” I replied.
“Can we speak to Clay for a moment?” my father asked, taking me by surprise.
“Uh…” I started, not sure if this was such a great idea. Even though my parents had come around and were much more supportive of Clay and our relationship than they had been in the beginning, I was never entirely sure how their interactions were going to be.
“We’d just like to wish him a Merry Christmas,” my mother assured me. I handed the phone to Clay, who sat up and looked confused.
“They want to wish you a Merry Christmas,” I said, shrugging.
Clay took the phone and held it to his ear and I had to hold in my laughter. He looked petrified to talk to my parents. It probably had everything to do with the fact that he had to speak to them only moments after our morning sexathon.
I bit my lip and hid my smile.
“Hello Mr. and Mrs. Young.” Clay was silent for a moment and then his eyes slid to mine and he relaxed.
“Thank you so much. Merry Christmas to you too. I know. I’m a very lucky man. I will. I promise.” Clay hung up the phone and handed it back to me.
“You have some pretty great parents,” Clay said, reaching out for me and pulled me close. I snuggled into his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist.
“Come on, let’s open presents and then go out to get some breakfast,” Clay said, getting off the bed and going over to turn on the Christmas tree lights. He witched on the TV and found a station showing an endless loop of a burning Yule log while playing classic Christmas music.
Clay was like…well…a kid on Christmas. He sat cross-legged on the floor and I sank down beside him. I picked up the small gift to Clay from my parents and handed it to him. He read the tag and smiled before opening it.
“Damn,” Clay said pulling out a really nice wristwatch with black, leather straps and a trendy, modern face. I knew that particular brand cost over a hundred dollars. I was more than a little surprised that they had spent that much on him, though honestly, I shouldn’t have been. My parents were generous to a fault.
Clay opened the case and pulled it out, strapping it around his wrist. “This is too much. These things aren’t cheap,” he said, setting the time and admiring it on his arm.
“And you thought they didn’t like you,” I teased. Clay’s smile was shy but pleased. He reached under the tree and picked up the package he had sent to Virginia. He held it out for me to take, looking anxious.
I shook it but it didn’t make a sound. I made a show of weighing it in my hands. “Well, it’s not bigger than a bread box. It’s kind of heavy. What is it?” I asked giddily. Clay ran a hand through his dark hair and started to pick at the strap of his new watch, a sure sign he was feeling nervous.
I ripped off the paper and stared down at a thick cloth bound book. There was an engraving on a small plaque across the front that read, The Story of Us.
I looked up at Clay and he was gnawing on his bottom lip but his nervousness was being replaced by a look I recognized all too well. Total and complete love.
I opened the front page and saw a short dedication:
Our story has just started. This was only the beginning.
I turned the page and saw a beautifully drawn picture of a boy and a girl standing on a sidewalk in front of what I recognized as Jackson High School. There was a cellphone at the girl’s feet and papers scattered everywhere. Both of them looked annoyed but there’s a smile on the boy’s face as he looked at the girl with dark brown hair and irritated scowl.
Of course I knew who they were. This was us. The first time we had met. Clay had written along the bottom: Today I learned to believe in love at first sight.
I flipped through the pages and everything was there. Me standing up to Paul Dewlader in the lunchroom. Us having coffee while I grilled him about his past.
When I opened to the day we had gone to the swimming hole I grinned at the drawing of a girl and boy just starting to fall in love. Clay had written: Today I made you realize that normal just might be perfect. And I remembered him telling me how much he had wanted my kind of normalcy and that is when I knew there was so much more to him than I had thought.
My throat closed up when I saw the dark lines of his drawing depicting himself lying on the floor with me wrapped around him. His words today you saw the side of me I wish you would never know brought tears to my eyes. I wiped them away and looked up at him. Clay’s eyes were wet too.
I continued to look through the book, remembering every detail of our relationship. The beautiful like the Fall Formal. And then the two of us studying at my house while my parents were at work. The graceful lines depicting the very first time we said I love you. Of course there was Lisa’s cabin and Clay giving me my butterfly necklace.