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Gray laughed "Back at you"

"And can we please not h dra I’d like to keep "

"Why?" Gray asked

"Because it’s new And you kno Mouy will have her so excited she’ll be picking out china patterns for us"

"Okay, you have a point I won’t say a word How about Evelyn?"

"I’lllance to Drehich gave Drew the impression that Evelyn probably already knew

Given that women talked to each other about relationships all the time, that didn’t surprise hi to make so before Gray and Carolina’s parents came back from their walk, and Evelyn ca everyone a Merry Christathered in the faifts

Drew settled back to watch the faifts, then was surprised when Mrs Preston handed one to him

"For me?"

She smiled at him "Of course"

He opened it up, and there was a fraainst New Jersey It was a great shot, too, with his stick in forward ed her, then shook the vice president’s hand "Thank you for this It lad you like it," Mrs Preston said

Evelyn and Gray had given hi with a hockey stick that said, "I have a big, hard stick and I knohat to do with it" He laughed out loud

"This is perfect"

"Evelyn picked it out," Gray said

Evelyn grinned "It seeave her a look, her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment "That’s not at all what I ifts for all of the, he wasn’t sure the gift he’d gotten for Carolina was going to go over all that ith Gray But he’d found it and he thought it suited her, so he handed it to her

She was sitting on the floor in front of the tree, so while everyone else was busy, he sat next to her and handed her the box

She looked up at hi special"

She opened the box Inside, a single silver chain He wasn’t even sure she’d like it since she typically wore no jewelry

He leaned in closer "I know you don’t wear jewelry, but I love your neck, and when I saw this, I pictured it around your throat"

Carolina took a deep breath and fingered the chain in the box She lifted her gaze to his "It’s lovely It’s perfect Thank you"

She pulled the chain out, then lifted her hair "Would you mind?"

He undid the clasp, then fastened the chain around her neck He leaned in and whispered to her "Nohen you wear it, you can think about ht now"

But her gaze drifted, and Drew looked to see Gray staring at them "Later"

She reached under the tree and handed him a box "This is for you"

He opened the box and inside was a pair of boxer briefs with the Carolina Designs logo

"My first pair And a part ofyou," she said, her voice low and soft

He s about you when I’ them Thank you"

"And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about A photo shoot for the underwear line On the ice"

He cocked a brow "What? You want to hed "I haven’t even , so we’d have to pour water over you"

He rolled his eyes "There are ways toto have to talk about this another tiifts, everyone dressed for church Dreasn’t h he typically ith his parents on Christ with the Preston faain today, and the church was packed He sat next to Carolina, trying not to hold her hand as they listened to the s

A lot like Carolina and him Their relationship had started out as a disaster, and she’d harbored a grudge for a long ti Sothe holiday with her and her faood for her She worked too hard, and the one thing Drew liked to do was take some time to relax and play

Even Gray had to see the benefit in that, and ht he needed to have another conversation with Gray and talk about the good things he could bring to a relationship with Carolina

After church and more media time, they headed back to the house, where the staff had cooked up an aed out at all the food Turkey, ham, and more side dishes than he could put on his plate

And then there ine

"When’s your next game, Drew?" the vice president asked

"Monday But I head back tomorrow for practice"

Mitchell Preston nodded "As do I Not for practice, of course, but there’s a lot to be done and the time off is always brief"

"Unfortunately," Mrs Preston said, laying her hand on her husband’s arm