Christmas Break Read Online Free PDF

Present
Aubrey
    I woke to sun streaming in my window,
reflected off the snow outside that sheathed everything in white
and silver. The wind had stopped just before midnight, and we’d
struggled five blocks through the snow up the hill to my little
apartment. After an encore or two of sex, we’d drifted to sleep in
each other’s arms.
    Brax lay sprawled on his back, his long arms
and legs everywhere, his chest rising and falling in an easy
rhythm. He opened one eye and squinted at me like a pirate, and in
a way he was a pirate. He’d completely captured my heart and
stowed it in his treasure chest.
    Rolling onto his side, Brax propped his head
on one hand and watched me. His tousled dark brown hair stood up
every which way and also fell onto his forehead in an unruly, sexy
mess. “Merry Christmas, gorgeous.”
    “Merry Christmas, handsome.” I smiled at
him, feeling all safe and warm and cared for. Even if it was an
illusion, I’d embrace the pleasure while it lasted.
    “You’re beautiful.” He caught a lock of my
hair and wound it around his finger.
    “Tattoos and all?”
    “Especially the tattoos. They’re like those
paintings that every time you look at them you see something new
hidden in the design. I love them.”
    “I’m glad you do.”
    “And you don’t?”
    “Everyone in my family gets them. I had my
first one before I was in school. A former boyfriend was a tattoo
artist. I was in a wild stage where I wanted everything in
extremes. He did this entire landscape on my body.”
    “So you have a constant reminder of him.”
Brax frowned, as if he suddenly didn’t like the tattoos quite as
much.
    “Yeah. You can see why I regret them, not to
mention they could be a job deterrent.”
    “In what way?” I’d clearly piqued his
interest.
    “You’ll laugh.”
    “I won’t. I promise. I’d never laugh at your
ambitions, Aubrey. Never.”
    I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened
them, he hadn’t moved and still stared at me with that intent
expression so uniquely him. “I want to be a female
sportscaster.”
    “Really?” He grinned, as if he really liked
the idea.
    “Yeah, really. ” I rolled to my side
and imitated his pose, watching his expression for signs of
disapproval. There didn’t seem to be any.
    “I think that’s cool. You seem to know a lot
about football. You had me figured out, but I’m working on my bad
habits.”
    “You should be.” I had to smile. “My family
thinks my career choice is the stupidest thing ever.”
    He shook his head. “I know that story.”
    Wait. “You said your family supported
you.”
    “On the surface. Underneath, they think I’m
a big failure.” His smile faded, and he looked over my shoulder at
some distant point on the wall.
    “My family,” I admitted, “if you can call
them that, doesn’t support anything I’m interested in. I pay my way
through college. They think I should quit and go to work in my
dad’s motorcycle shop like everyone else in the family.”
    “Do you ride?”
    “I never had a choice,” I said. “We all
ride. I like it, but I’m more like my mother. I don’t have the
fever they have. I’m not wild about the lifestyle. I wanted away
from it.” And from other things. Horrible, embarrassing things.
Only, they’d followed me here just when I thought it was dead and
buried. But I didn’t want to talk about that.
    “You’ve been on your own since you left for
college?”
    I nodded, taking my own turn at staring past
his shoulder at the wall. “Longer than that, really. My dad wasn’t
one for curfews and rules.”
    “You haven’t had it easy, have you?” He
reached out and rubbed the roses on my shoulder. His deep voice was
soft and his blue eyes shone with concern.
    “No, but I’m a fighter.”
    “I can tell. That’s what I like about you,
and I think you’ll make an awesome sportscaster.”
    “Even with the tats?” I asked.
    “Especially with the tats. I’d watch your
show. I’d be your most