Xavier stretched tall and raised his little hand. "Nathan, can I ask you a question?" he asked boldly.
I let out a heavy sigh, knowing that whatever he was going to say, couldn't be good.
"Stop harassing Nathan, Bubs, and eat your chips like a good boy," I scolded as I pushed his happy meal box closer to him.
It was the next day, and Nathan, the twins, and I were currently at our local shopping centre's McDonalds. I figured going to town with them would be a nice welcome back treat and would hopefully give my dad a couple of hours to relax.
But unfortunately for me, Xavier wasn't so keen on relaxing and seemed far too interested in quizzing the life out of Nathan. So far, he had asked Nathan, 'If he liked cheese' and 'if he knew any superheroes.'
Yeah, I wasn't sure where these questions were coming from either...
"Don't worry, I don't mind another question. Ask away, buddy?" Nathan said as he smiled down at Xavier fondly.
"Why did you sleep on the sofa last night?" Xavier asked slowly, his eyebrows scrunching up in confusion.
Nathan chuckled. "That's because there wasn't a bed for me, so your daddy was kind enough to offer me your sofa instead," he explained softly.
I looked down to the table in embarrassment, feeling guilty that he had to sleep there last night. When I had stayed over at his, he had offered me a bedroom worthy of a palace while I, on the other hand, couldn't offer him something as simple as a bed.
Xavier's face grew even further confused. "Why didn't you sleep in Sophie's bed? Mummy and daddy sleep in the same bed?" he piped up.
Instantly, I felt my cheeks start to burn, and I sunk down into my chair in embarrassment.
Nathan didn't seem nearly as embarrassed as me and instead shot me an amused look before turning back to the boys. "I would have, but Sophie wouldn't let me. She's a bit mean to me," Nathan said with fake sadness as he stuck out his bottom lip.
Calumn gasped loudly and pointed an accusing finger at me. "Sophie, stop being mean to Nathan!" he yelled out with a pout.
"Yeah! You always tell us to share! You're a hyp-er-crote!" Xavier yelled out angrily.
I widened my eyes in shock, not expecting them to suddenly turn on me. I caught Nathan's eye and was pissed to find him biting his lip as though he was containing in the urge to laugh.
The bastard had turned my own brothers against me...
I opened my mouth, then closed it, not really knowing what to say to stand up for myself. Nathan snorted and finally came to my rescue. "Guys, it's alright Sophie wasn't being mean, I was only teasing her," he explained.
Despite Nathan's assurance, I still felt two little pairs of eyes narrowing in on me as I finished eating the rest of my hamburger.
How the hell had he earned their loyalty after one fucking day?
As we quietly got on with eating the rest of our food, Xavier decided to ruin it by raising his hand once more. "Nathan, ooo, ooo, I've got another question?" he asked, looking so eager that I wouldn't be surprised if he wet himself.
"Yes, Xavier?" Nathan chuckled.
"When Sophie was on top of you-" Xavier started.
Oh god...
I quickly leaped to end the conversation. "Hey, I..erm don't think this is a good topic, maybe we should move on to something else and-"
"No, no, Sophie, let the boy talk," Nathan said, looking at me with an evil glint in his eyes.
He cleared his throat and turned back to Xavier. "What were you saying, again? Something about Sophie being on top of me, I do believe," he asked with a smile, his eyes trailing over to me as he said that.
What the fuck was Nathan playing at?
"Yeah, I was wondering-" Xavier sang. "-If it hurt when Sophie was on top of you? Daddy told me that I shouldn't worry and that you probably didn't mind Sophie being there-"
Please fucking kill me...
"-so, is that true?" Xavier asked, blinking up at Nathan cutely.
I turned to Xavier with a sigh. "Xavier, stop asking-"
"Your daddy was right," Nathan interrupted with a smile. "It didn't hurt at all, and I was more than okay with Sophie being up there," he teased, sending a special look my way.
I raised a singular eyebrow. "Well, I hope Nathan knows that I won't be doing that again," I said flatly.
An amused smile played on Nathan's lips. "Challenge accepted," he whispered.
"Sophie, what are you guys talking about. I'm a bit confused?" Xavier called out.
I shook my head. "Shh, never mind that, just eat your food," I said as I put a gentle hand on the back of his head.
"Look, it's Santa Claus!" Calum suddenly yelled as he jumped out of his seat in excitement. I furrowed my brows and then followed his gaze out the window. I smiled as I saw what he was talking about.
In the center of the shopping center, there was a fake little grotto set up where kids were lining up to go speak to Santa.
"Yeah, it is Calumn, good spot. Guess what? If you eat all your food, I'll take you to see him right afterward," I smiled. Both Xavier and Calum's faces lit up like Christmas trees, then like the adorable munchkins they were, they started rapidly scoffing down their food.
------
"Boys, slow down," I yelled out as the boys charged their way over to the fake grotto.
"For fuck's sake..," I muttered lowly under my breath when they completely ignored me and ran on.
I heard Nathan snicker beside me. "You've got child-friendly language, don't you?" Nathan whispered teasingly in my ear as we walked.
"Oh shut up, they can't hear me," I grumbled. "And besides, you can't talk, Mr 'I-like-Sophie-on-top-of-me," I said, imitating in him in an overly deep voice.
"What?" he shrugged innocently. "I've always believed it was bad to lie too much to kids."
"Nathan, we're literally taking them to a fake grotto," I snorted.
He opened his mouth, then paused, clearly realizing I had a point. "Well, whatever, there are exceptions," he mumbled.
As we turned around the corner, I was confused to find Xavier and Calumn running back our way. Once they'd came to a stop in front of us, Xavier rubbed his eyes. "One of the elves told us we ran out of time," he mumbled, looking as though he was on the brink of crying. "We can't go see him, Sophie," Calum said, his lip starting to wobble.
My heart sunk as I realized what had happened, and I looked back at the grotto helplessly, watching as they turned the sign on the gate to closed.
I bent down to their level and gave them my softest smile. "Don't worry guys, Santa is still going to visit you tomorrow night."
"This is ridiculous; they were literally serving people five seconds ago," Nathan snapped from behind me. I looked back at him and was surprised to find him glaring back at the fake grotto place in annoyance.
"Nathan, don't worry about it. It was my fault for not checking what time they closed," I mumbled.
"Well, it's fine, I'll sort it out," Nathan huffed, and with that final word, he turned on his heel and marched boldly up to the grotto house.
I watched as he started up a conversation with one of the female elves who was guarding the door to the little cottage. He made some wild gestures and briefly pointed back to us to help emphasize whatever point he was trying to make.
I don't know what he thought he was doing, but whatever it was, it definitely wasn't going to work. Everybody knows that once things are closed, they are closed. There's no bending the rules and-
Suddenly the elf lady stepped aside and opened the door for Nathan as he walked into the cardboard house. Wait, what the fuck?
I watched in confusion as the elf lady gave us a big warm smile and made a big hand gesture in indication for us to head over to her. Even though I was incredibly suspicious, I grabbed each of the twins' hands and slowly led them over to the gate.
"I thought you were closed?" I asked in disbelief once I reached her.
She shook her head with a chuckle. "Well, luckily for you, Santa has decided to stay slightly longer for you," she said with a smile.
"Yay," the boys cheered while I stared at her blankly.
I was confused because I could quite clearly see the man, who had been playing Santa previously, leaving through the back doors. Did they have multiple backup Santa's waiting in this one tent? That wouldn't make any sense...
"I'll pop inside, and I'll tell you when he's ready for you," the lady smiled before disappearing behind the door.
While the boys chattered eagerly amongst themselves, I wondered what Nathan was doing inside. Then a thought crossed my mind. No, he wouldn't...
Nathan fucking Woods would never do that...
Suddenly, the lady's head popped back around the door. "Santa's all ready for you; come on in," she said with a bright warm smile.
She held the door for us as we entered the little cardboard house, and as we turned around the corner, I saw something that I didn't think I would ever see. It was something both incredibly hilarious and sweet all at the same time.
It was Nathan. He was dressed from head to toe in a big fat Santa suit with everything from the big white fluffy beard to the floppy hat.
My eyebrows shot up as I looked him up and down in disbelief. I couldn't believe he had willingly put on that costume. And the most shocking thing at all was that Nathan didn't even seem remotely embarrassed. He just looked me dead in the eye and winked at me.
Did he think he could seduce me like this or something?
Well, to be fair, he somehow still managed to look hot in it, but that was beside the point. The point was that he looked far too confident.
Finally taking his eyes off me, he turned his attention to the boys. "Ho, ho, ho, who have we got here? Xavier and Calum, I do believe?" Nathan boomed out, making his voice go extra deep for dramatic effect.
"You know my name, Santa?" Xavier gasped, his eyes widening to the size of saucers.
I bit my lip to contain my amusement, finding it hilarious how easily the boys had seemed to buy into the act. You think they would wonder why Santa's skin tone had miraculously changed in the last five minutes and where Nathan had magically disappeared off too, but hey, I guess that's kids for you.
My smile never left my face as I watched each of them in turn, climb onto Nathan's lap. They each had a little conversation with him before requesting what they wanted. Xavier had boldly announced he wanted a block of cheese.
Yeah, I know, don't really get that one either...
And Calum had said he wanted a power ranger suit.
I made a mental note of what each of them wanted, so I knew what to get them when I went Christmas shopping tomorrow. Despite the fact, I had so little money, I still wanted to help my father out in giving them a good Christmas. They were good kids and deserved it after the horrible year we've all had. No five-year-old deserves to hear that their mother has cancer, and what it might entail.
I was pulled out of my daydream by Calum returning to my side and tugging on my hand. "Yeah, honey, what's wrong?" I asked as I looked down at him curiously.
"It's your go now, Sophie. Go and sit on Santa's lap," Calum urged as he pointed a finger over to Nathan in excitement.
I almost choked on my own spit, shocked by the words that had come out of his mouth. Nathan, on the other hand, sat up straighter in his chair with a smile and eyed me with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"No, no, Calum, I can't. Santa only lets kids sit on his lap," I explained gently.
Xavier suddenly came barrelling over to me and pointed an angry finger at me. "That's age-ist!" Xavier suddenly yelled. "Santa isn't age-ist! Are you Santa?" he said, turning back to Nathan.
Nathan looked as though he was on the brink of laughter, but he suppressed it for long enough to nod his head. "Yes, Xavier, you're absolutely right. Santa accepts people of all ages on his lap, so Sophie is more than welcome," he said with an amused chuckle.
I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing he was taking full advantage of the twin's innocence yet again.
Evil hot bastard...
"See, Santa said it was okay," Calum called out.
"Guys, I really don't think this is a good idea..," I explained slowly.
"Please," Calum said, batting his eyelashes all innocently.
Don't look into his eyes. Don't look into his eyes. Don't look into his eyes.
"Okay, fine, only for a little bit," I mumbled with a sigh before slowly making my way over to 'Santa.' As I drew closer to him, Nathan's eyes flashed with excitement, which only further raised my nerves.
With a nervous swallow, I turned around and slowly lowered myself down onto Nathan's lap. Like when I was in the car, the butterflies in my stomach came back in swarms, and the heat of his body seemed to electrify me from my head to my toes. Then to make things worse for me, Nathan grabbed my hips and pulled me further into his lap.
Dear God, help me.
The elf lady who I had completely forgotten was there; suddenly cleared her throat. "Do you boys want some cookies? I've got some outside," she said.
"Yeah!" The twins screamed out in unison. Then as the lady ushered them out, I saw her quite unsubtly wink at us before exiting herself.
What in the actual...
Choosing to ignore it, I instead focused on the fact that the twins were gone, meaning I didn't have to sit on Nathan's lap anymore. I brushed Nathan's arms off me and started to stand up. But I barely got a step away before I squealed in surprise as his hands re-wrapped themselves around my waist and dragged me back down to his lap. "
Nathan? What the hell?" I gasped in shock.
I felt his soft even breaths against the back of my neck before he moved his lips to the base of my ear, causing goosebumps to erupt against the back of my skin.
"Don't you want to tell Santa what you want for Christmas?" he whispered smoothly against my ear. I
stilled at his words. The words themselves were innocent, but the way he was saying them; certainly wasn't.
"I...erm..ugh, don't want anything," I mumbled quickly as I still stared strictly forward. I knew the moment I looked back at him, I was a goner. I was not going to make out with Nathan Woods in the middle of a kid's fake Santa's grotto.
That would be awful and the absolute definition of inappropriate.
"Are you sure? Because I've got so many amazing things I could stuff in your stocking," he whispered.
My mouth dropped open in shock. "Nathan!" I yelled as I swerved around to face him.
He smiled at me with a wicked look in his eyes, not looking ashamed in the slightest. "What? I meant candy! What were you thinking?" he said, his eyes widening all innocently.
I scoffed. "As if you pervert," I laughed as I pushed him back by the chest. "You should be ashamed of yourself for trying to sexualize Santa," I tutted as I shook my head at him in fake disappointment.
Ignoring me, his eyes just twinkled playfully. "Bet you'd love to make your way onto my naughty list, wouldn't you?" he whispered as he looked me up and down.
I blushed at his words, then swallowed as I found his lips mere inches away. I took my eyes off his lips and forced them back to his eyes.
"I told you I'm not going to kiss you again, Nathan," I whispered, trying to keep my voice cool and collected.
"Yeah, and I have a pretty clear memory of saying challenge accepted," he whispered as he moved even closer.
I was seconds away from leaning forward and crashing my lips down to his when the loud pitter-patter of footsteps suddenly echoed behind us.
"Sophie, Sophie, look, I've got so many cookies," Xavier's voice screamed out from behind me.
I immediately ripped my head away from Nathan's and hurriedly tore myself out of his lap. I heard Nathan let out a frustrated sigh from behind me, but I ignored him and made my way over to Xavier.
"Yeah, I can see that" I smiled as I gently took hold of his cookie-free hand.
"Sophie, what were you doing to Santa?" Xavier asked boldly, blinking up at me with big curious eyes.
I coughed awkwardly. "We were talking about what I want for Christmas, that's all," I mumbled as I ushered the two of them to the door.
"And you had to put your face that close to him to do that?" Xavier asked loudly.
"Shh, Xavier, it's impolite to ask too many questions," I chided as I quickly opened the door for him. As I left, I couldn't resist one final look over my shoulder.
Nathan caught my eye almost immediately, and then smirked before quite clearly mouthing, 'this isn't over.'
And the saddest thing of all was that I knew he was probably right...
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Author's note:
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, nothing's more fun than writing inappropriate Santa pick up lines ;)
Next Update: Wednesday (6-8 PM -UK time)