Friends with Benefits

Twenty Two.

Author's note: Hiii! So, I never thought this story would take off like it has. I'm so happy everyone is enjoying reading this as much as I have been enjoying writing it. Please let me know if you have suggestions, comments and/or questions! Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the support!!! 💚Sarah

I grabbed another ornament from the box to place it onto the tree. The giant Christmas tree lit up Tyler's living room beautifully. I shifted my weight from my legs to my knees so I could stretch my body and place another ornament in another empty spot. The sounds of a camera taking a picture behind me made me turn around.

"Hi baby." Tyler said, smiling uncontrollably. I smiled back admiring his eyes sparkling from the colorful lights around him. He shoved his phone into his sweatshirt's pocket.
"Hey babe. How was golf with Jamie?" He stuck his tongue out at me, kicked off his shoes and dropped the bag onto the floor.
"It was alright. Shoulder tightened up near the end." He picked me up by my armpits and spun me around to face him.
"You shouldn't be picking me up if you're shoulder is hurting you." I scolded him. He grunted and lowered his lips to mine. The sounds of dogs whining and scratching at the back door stopped our kissing.
"Why are my boys outside?"
"They kept knocking over the ornaments." I pouted my bottom lip to the tree. He kissed my pouting lip.

"I gotta cook the steaks anyways. The tree looks great, baby."
"Right?! Thank you!" I turned back to the tree with my arms above my head. He slapped my butt. "Ow." I teased him with sticking my butt out to him. He gathered a chunk of my hair into one hand then slapped my butt again. I laughed at his little jog away from me shaking his hand in the air. "Buns of steel!" We both laughed loudly. The dogs now officially heard Tyler so they went crazy outside.

Tyler and I devoured our dinner of steak, potatoes, green beans sautéed in butter and garlic. I changed into an ugly Christmas sweater themed onesie and so did Tyler.
I cleaned up the kitchen while he cleaned up the grill outside. I caught a glance of him to see he was on the phone. Almost like he felt my eyes on him, he turned around smiling. I smiled back and waved. He walked back inside.

"Love you too, mom. See you tomorrow." He closed the sliding door behind him and hung up the phone. "Were you watching me?"
"More like admiring the view." I winked at him and raised an eyebrow as I dropped my eyes to his lower waist then back up to his eyes. He pierced his lips, mouthing 'oh', reaching out his hand for the glass of red wine I had poured. I poured myself a glass of white wine.
"Elf time!" He declared happily with one hand up. I shook my butt in my onesie with excitement for my favorite Christmas movie. His hand rested on my stomach to stop me from leaving the kitchen. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something. I looked up at him and took a sip of wine.

"I love you." He said, smiling. I smiled back and kissed his freckle under his bottom lip. My favorite spot to kiss him.
"I love you, too." He obnoxiously puckered his lips for a kiss. I let out a giggle and got onto my toes to kiss his lips.
"Go get comfy on the couch. I have to pee."
"Okie dokie." I obliged. He handed me his wine glass. I carefully brought over the wine with the three dogs begging for attention. I successfully made it to the living room. I took my time to place the wine entry onto the table then jumped onto the couch. I was met by kisses from Marshall, who has now become attached to my hip from all the time we spent together whenever Tyler was gone.

"Close your eyes, baby." Tyler's voice said from behind me. I was about to turn around but a loud screeching sound from him made me freeze, close my eyes then turn back toward the front. "Close your eyes!" His voice sounded like he was right next to me now.
"Closed eyes!" I confirmed.
"No peaking?"
"No peaking." I repeated. I felt the couch sink next to me.
"Open." I opened my eyes to see Tyler holding his phone up in one hand with a golden retriever puppy with a big pink bow held in his arm. I dropped my jaw at the surprise. "Merry Christmas Eve Eve, baby." My eyes filled with tears as he handed me the puppy.

"Oh, my god! You got me a puppy?" I whined as the tears fell from my eyes. He stopped recording the video and tossed his phone onto the table next to his wine.
"I got you a puppy." He pulled himself closer to me by my legs. "I figured a golden retriever would be a perfect addition to my labs..and.." He held up the bedazzled pink collar. "...she's a girl."
"Oh, my god! She's a girl!" I hugged the little puppy. Tyler chuckled at my happy and overwhelmed crying. "I love you so much, Tyler. Thank you." The smile on his face gradually grew wider. I handed the puppy to him, got onto my knees and leaned onto his lap. He brought a hand to he side of my face.
"Baby..baby..baby." He said, trying to get my attention as I continued to plant numerous pecks all over his lips and face. I giggled and sat onto my butt with my legs open. The puppy started whimpering so I picked her up and placed her in the small spot between our bodies. "Come to Canada with me for Christmas." My eyes immediately darted up to him. "We will fly there tomorrow morning."

"Seriously?"
"Yeah! Bring the puppy. I'm bringing the boys." I glimpsed at the three boys anxiously waiting for their turn to meet the puppy. "Please?" His brown eyes drooped and he pouted his bottom lip. I sighed, kissed his lip like he had done mine and nodded my head. He let out some sort of excited 'yay' and 'ahh' at the same time. We kissed each other passionately. Gerry whined at us. Tyler snapped his finger into the air startling me and breaking apart our lips. Gerry corrected himself. "They want to say hi." I shifted my eyes from Tyler to the well behaved but anxious boys. I nod my head to release them from their patient spots. The three of them wagged their tails while smelling the little puppy. "Easy, boys." Cash nudged the puppy aggressively with his nose. "Cash!" The black Labrador sat down.

"She needs a name." I whispered. I kissed her little face.
"We can ask the fans." He reaches over to grab his phone. I snuggled into the couch to rest onto his body. I let the puppy explore the couch with the boys still nudged her gently, wanting to play. Gerry was the first to hop onto the couch to get a closer look. I kept my eyes on them while Tyler typed away on his phone. She climbed all over Gerry once he spread himself all over the couch. I heard my voice coming from his phone.
"You recorded me!" I gasped and fought him for his phone. His laughter made me fight him more for the phone.
"Stop! You look adorable!"
"Let me see!"

"Stop fighting me!" He kept the phone away even when I had sat back down onto the couch and crossed my arms. He brought the phone down so I could see the video he had recorded. It started from when he grabbed the puppy from a small playpen in the garage. The caption on the screen read 'Operation Surprise Puppy Begins'. The video stays on him as he walks through the hallway, the kitchen then sneaks up to the living room and tells me to close my eyes. The caption now read 'she has no idea!' on the screen, which made me giggle. The camera turns to show me sitting on the couch. I didn't realize I was bouncing until I saw it on the video. My cheeks blushed bright red. Right as I opened my eyes in the video, he kissed the top of my head. 'All I want for Christmas is her smile' and 'what should we name our new puppy?' appeared on the screen. I lift my head to kiss his smiling lips.