A Very Perry Christmas

A VERY PERRY CHRISTMAS

by Marie Landry

Copyright 2020 Marie Landry

All rights reserved

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual people, places, or events, living or dead, is coincidental.

Cover illustration by Nadezda Vinogradova

Cover designed by Marie Landry

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Also by Marie Landry

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Epilogue

Dear Reader

Acknowledgments

First chapter of A Very Perry Wedding

About the Author

ALSO BY MARIE LANDRY

*Blue Sky Days

*The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

*Waiting for the Storm (Angel Island #1)

*After the Storm (Angel Island #2)

*Take Them by Storm (Angel Island #3)

*Mistletoe Kiss

*Only You

*Maybe You

*Hung Up on You

*A Very Perry Wedding

*Escaping Christmas

DEDICATION

To everyone who still believes in the magic of Christmas, even when life feels anything but magical.

And to Mum. Always.

CHAPTER ONE

Are you sure about this? It’s not too late to change your mind.

My boyfriend, Evan, paces around our bedroom as I stuff my toiletry bag into my suitcase. He pauses just long enough for me to give him a we’ve-been-through-this look.

He resumes his pacing, one hand planted on his hip and the other raking through his hair. Over the last year I’ve learned this is his biggest stress tell. He doesn’t do it often since he’s mostly an easy-going guy. When he gets like this, I always want to freeze him in his tracks and snuggle him.

So that’s exactly what I do. Abandoning my suitcase, I round the bed and insert myself in his path. He comes to an abrupt halt, narrowly avoiding colliding with me. His hand fists in his hair and then releases it, leaving the dark locks standing on end.

I suppress a smile. He’s so freaking adorable. His face softens as I smooth his hair and lean in for a quick kiss.

I mean it, Gwen, he says. It’s not too late. We could unpack and hide out here for the next week. Get ourselves a Christmas tree from that pop-up in the Loyola Plaza, turn off our phones, pretend we’ve adopted the ways of a nudist colony… He bounces his eyebrows in the way that never fails to make me laugh. With his hands on my hips, he pulls me closer for another kiss.

I only let his tongue tangle with mine for a few seconds before gripping his shoulders and putting an arm’s length of distance between us. A-plus for effort, but your usual distraction tactics won’t work, Evan Perry. We’ve been together for almost a year and I haven’t met a single member of your family. It’s time.

Guilt flits across his face. Making him feel bad isn’t my intention, but I’m not entirely sure he’s kidding about ditching our plans in favor of staying in Bellevue for the holidays. I know the fact I haven’t met his family yet isn’t personal; like many people, Evan has a complicated history with his siblings, and their get-togethers are usually limited to big events and Christmas.

But after a whirlwind romance that turned into a serious relationship approaching its first anniversary, I feel like I won’t have the complete picture of the man I love until I meet his family. Spending almost a week with them over Christmas isn’t necessarily ideal, but it’s how they’ve done things since their parents died, and I refuse to be the reason Evan bails this year.

With a drawn-out groan, he drops his head on my shoulder. They’re just…a lot, Gwen. It’s going to be a week of forced family togetherness, awkward conversations, arguing, and general chaos. I don’t want you seeing me differently once you realize what kind of gene pool I come from.

I give him a playful shove until he straightens. Stop. The only thing that’s going to make me see you differently is if you keep whining and stalling.

He lets out an exaggerated gasp, clutching at his chest. "You wound me. I do not whine, Gwendolyn."

My lips twitch. He’s the only person I’ve allowed to call me by my full name since my dad died. He says he loves the way it feels and sounds, and that it’s unique, like me—how could I resist? You’re whining.

He huffs. Fine, fine. You’re right, I’m being a baby. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Oh, he’s warned me all right. When we made the arrangements to spend a week over Christmas with his four siblings and their partners, he went so far as to make me index cards about each of them so I’d be prepared. Actual index cards. I haven’t even met the Perry siblings, but I know their ages, occupations, where they live, and the character traits that make them annoying, at least according to Evan.

I glide my hands over his shoulders and lock them behind his neck. "I may not know what it’s like to be part of a big, noisy, over-the-top family with a mountain of emotional baggage, but I do know I love you more than anyone else in the entire world. Try to focus on that and the fact I’ll be with you every step of the way. If you’re really, truly miserable after a few days, we’ll make some excuse and head back to the city."

Closing his eyes, he rests his forehead briefly against mine. I love you more than anything too, which is why I want our first Christmas together to be perfect. My family may be nutty, but they do the picture-perfect Christmas well, and I know you’ve always wanted to see what that’s like.

Growing up with a single dad and no other family besides a grandmother who lived across the country and couldn’t care less about us, I’ve never experienced the type of Christmases I saw every year on TV. It’s not that I felt I was missing out exactly—my dad always took time off work around the holidays and made sure it was a special time for us—but I’ve always been curious what it would be like to be part of a big family holiday. Traditions, chaos, drama, and all.

If it gets to be too much, we can always skip out on family time and do our own thing, right?

Evan chuckles, ducking his head and shaking it back and forth slowly. "Oh, Gwen. Sweet, innocent Gwen. There is no skipping out on Perry family togetherness. It is all Perry family togetherness."

I slide my arms from his neck to hook them around his hips. "Maybe we’ll just have to get creative. I give his ass a squeeze and laugh when he yelps. After all, you’ve never brought anyone home to meet the family before, right? Different rules should apply for couples."

Evan pulls me forward, closing the minuscule space between us. He bumps his nose gently against mine, one of our many signs of affection. When he pulls back, my gaze drops to his lips, which curve in a knowing smile. We always did make up our own rules. His husky voice sends shivers racing along my skin and a shot of desire straight to my core.

I’m transported back to the moment before our first kiss: his mouth hovering over mine like it is now, anticipation building until I was nearly breathless. I remember hoping that excitement would never go away. A year later, I’m certain I’ll always feel this tingly, electric want-you-need-you-gotta-have-you feeling whenever I’m with Evan.

Our lips meet in a soft, sweet kiss. I angle my head and Evan takes my cue, parting my lips with his tongue. He tastes like minty toothpaste and the strawberry Pop Tart he had for breakfast. I know he wants to take this kiss further—the evidence of his arousal is growing and pressing against my stomach—but we need to get on the road. I keep the kisses light, unable to stop right away, before finally putting a bit of space between us.

Don’t forget you’ll finally get to see Hadley after nearly a year apart, I say, picking up our conversation as if we hadn’t enjoyed a brief, lusty interlude.

Evan groans again. If you wanted to kill the mood, talking about my baby sister is a surefire way to do it.

I bite my lip to hold in my laughter. His gaze drops to my mouth, eyes darkening again, and I quickly press my lips together and back away. No. We need to go. For real this time.

Are you absolutely sure? We could go back to bed right now and leave later today. If you want to talk about a mood killer, just wait ’til Jasper breaks out the schedule or Lina starts talking about the characters in her book as if they’re real people.

I return to the bed and zip my suitcase closed. He’s still standing where I left him, so I beckon him closer, feeling almost bad about the hopeful glint in his eyes. When he reaches me, I grip his sweater and lean in close. We’re leaving. Now.

He kisses me and moves away, saying over his shoulder, Guess I’d better get used to the erection rejection. Being in a house with my siblings will effectively kill the mood for the next week.

I laugh so hard I nearly fall on the bed.

*****

Oh, hey, so… Evan’s voice is high and overly casual, practically shaking with laughter. This is never a good sign.

We’ve just pulled into the driveway of the rental house where we’ll be spending the next several days. I’ve barely had time to take in the rustic two-story house set on a large plot of land before my focus shifts to him to see what he’s up to.

He reaches into the pocket of his jeans and produces several crumpled index cards. He looks way too pleased with himself, the jerk. Look what I found on the bedside table. You must have forgotten them, so I scooped them up for you.

With a gasp, I snatch the cards from him and stuff them in my purse. What if your siblings found these and read them? You’re the worst.

He makes a little hum of disagreement. "I am, in fact, the best. Trust me, you’ll thank me for this later. Forewarned is forearmed, as my dad always used to