Christmas And Gingerbread Men (11 page)

Pitney made a dash for the restroom where he splashed cold water in his face. He wanted to burn the damn sweater. Maybe his nervousness was partly responsible for his higher temperature, but the woolen monster wasn’t helpful either.

A weird feeling of déjà-vu hit him when the door pushed open and Chris stepped in. Pitney rolled his eyes as he dried his hands on a paper towel.

“What are
you
doing here? This is a private party, and you’re not on the guest list.”

Chris sneered and was suddenly way too close for Pitney’s liking. “I heard that you got yourself a sugar daddy. Some rich dude with a house and a spiffy car. You sure know how to sell your ass.”

“What? I’m not a fucking hooker!” Pitney fisted his hands on his hips and glared at his ex-deflowerer. “And Rafael sure as hell isn’t a sugar daddy. He’s my boyfriend.”

“Yeah, right,” Chris mocked and trapped him against the wall. His bulging arms coming to rest on each side of Pitney’s head and he leaned in until they were only inches apart. “What did you do to snag a man like him, ugly dimwit that you are?”

Pitney froze and didn’t know how to reply. The look on the other man’s face gave him the creeps. “What do you want, Chris?

“I want a parting gift. After all, you’re no longer available, and my cock feels lonely.” Chris’ tone was so cold it turned Pitney’s shivers into heavy trembles.

“What?” Pitney’s nape prickled in that unpleasant way foretelling something terrible, like the time he’d crossed a street with his bike and had seen a truck coming his way. Sweat trickled down his spine. This time it wasn’t the sweater’s fault, though.

Didn’t look like Chris cared all that much for Pitney’s condition, because he had plans that obviously didn’t involve talking. At least, not on Pitney’s side. When his gaze dropped down to where Chris’ hand was busy unbuckling his belt and opening the buttons of his jeans, he came to a quick decision.

“What are you doing? Are you out of your fucking mind?”

The idiot’s next words squished his hopes the open pants were merely a cruel joke. “Stupid question. You suck me off.” Chris grinned while fishing inside his boxers. The time he needed to detect the boxers’ content reminded Pitney of the man’s size. It would’ve been funny hadn’t he been so angry with the bastard. Pitney wasn’t in a laughing mood.

Just as Chris lowered his boxers down his ass, his rage got the better of him. He grabbed Chris shoulders for purchase and lifted his knee, making painful contact with Chris’ family jewels.

The bastard grunted and fell like a tree. It was a spectacular sight, and, honestly, Pitney mentally patted his back for defending himself. He wasn’t a pushover, and he was nobody’s boy toy. Pitney Winters was a grown man with a loving family—he hoped—a wonderful boyfriend, and an apprenticeship contract in his pocket.

While Chris cursed and cupped his privates, rolling about the floor like the piece of trash that he was, Eugene poked his head through the door and frowned.

“Pitney! Did you attack a guest?”

“No, I defended myself. Now I feel a craving for eggnog. See that he leaves the restaurant as soon as he’s able to stand on his own two feet,” Pitney told the stunned looking headwaiter. Then he walked around Eugene and returned to the party.

The sight greeting him in the dining area made him forget all about Chris. Rafael was there, dressed in dress slacks and a red button-down shirt that matched the color of Pitney’s jeans. He’d left the top buttons open and looked drool-worthy the way his wide shoulders and muscular chest stretched the silky fabric. Pitney’s aunts and great-aunts, and Zoe’s annoying friends, would be all over him.

Chance brought it about that Pitney reached Rafael at the same moment his aunt and uncle did. They eyed the new guest with curiosity and, on his aunt’s side, with appreciation.

“Well, hello, young man,” Virgil said and held out his hand. “Welcome to the party. I’d sure remember if you were a relative, so you must be a friend of the family.”

Rafael shot Pitney a quick look before he trained his gaze back on Virgil and shook his hand. “Yes, Sir. I’m a friend of Pitney’s, actually.”

Well, that was it. Pitney took a deep breath, then stepped closer until it was more than obvious that he and Rafael were more than friends. When Rafael wrapped his arm around Pitney’s waist, he met his uncle’s and aunt’s surprised expressions and gulped.

“Aunt Nora, Uncle Virgil. I’d like to introduce you to Rafael Bell. He’s my boyfriend.” When his relatives just stood and looked at them with wide eyes, Pitney added, “Oh, and I’m gay.” He waited, breath held, scared how they’d react. Rafael, the wonderful man, kept stroking his side and pulled him tighter against his body.

Pitney watched as a slow grin spread over his aunt’s face. The woman turned to her husband and beamed up at him, holding out her hand and wriggling her fingers. “You owe me fifty, hon. I knew he’d bring someone to the party.”

Uncle Virgil just grumbled and kissed her cheek. “Okay, you were right. But you owe me fifty, too, because I told you he was gay.”

Pitney’s jaw almost hit the floor. “You what, now? You knew?”

Virgil smiled tenderly and engulfed him in a big bear hug that surprised the hell out of him. So, he hadn’t thought they’d abandon him, but he hadn’t expected that particular reaction either.

“I didn’t know, it was just a feeling,” his uncle said as he pulled back and looked Pitney up and down. “Pitney, we love you like our own son. No matter who you love, we’ll always be your family and you’ll always be welcome in our home. Your aunt and I are happy that you found a boyfriend. We’d started to worry you’d never bring someone home.”

Pitney’s cheeks pinked and he grabbed Rafael’s hand, needing the support. “Uh... I was afraid of your reaction. I know there are parents who aren’t so understanding and sympathetic.”

Aunt Nora cupped his cheek and gave him one of her tender smiles. “I like that, you referring to us as your parents, Pitney.”

“So, you don’t care even a bit?”

“We care that you’re happy, boy,” Virgil said, wrapping one arms around his wife’s shoulders. “Rafael here looks like a decent guy. Say... are you a bodybuilder or something? You’re not on steroids, are you?” Virgil frowned as he let his gaze travel Rafael’s impressive body. At least, Pitney thought it impressive.

Rafael laughed. “No, sir. I like sports, but it’s merely a hobby. No steroids, I promise. I own a business that provides artists and such with fitting agents. It’s quite mundane.”

“Oh, I don’t think anything about you could ever be mundane, young man,” Nora said and fanned herself. Then she winked at Pitney and mouthed
He’s a keeper.

Pitney wrapped his arms around a flushing Rafael’s waist and hoped his aunt was right.

For years he’d been afraid to come out to his family because he’d feared they’d abandon him. And he’d thought he was too ugly, too dumb, and too boring to find a man who would love him for himself. Now, he had the support of his aunt and uncle, would start a new job in the coming year, and he looked forward to getting to know his handsome gentle giant of a boyfriend. A boyfriend who completed him and whom he was already falling for.

Life was great for those who took a risk.

One Year Later, Monday, 25th December

Rafe sat, a sleeping baby in each of his arms, on the sofa in the Winters’ living room. Christmas lights twinkled, soft music played in the background, and here and there Rafe noticed the occasional ball of gift wrap that had slipped Nora’s all-seeing eyes.

He and Pitney had celebrated with Pitney’s family today. Tomorrow, they’d fly to Norway to celebrate New Year’s with Ruben and Aleks. Remy and Corey would tag along, too, and Rafe was looking forward to Remy’s wicked drinking games.

He stared in wonder at the two little bundles sleeping in his arms. Lilly and Adam were one month old now, and already they had him wrapped around their little fingers.

“You’re way better with them than their father,” Zoe whispered as she carefully approached. The twins from hell, as she lovingly called her brats, tended to go ballistic whenever someone tried to separate them from Uncle Rafe. Frankly, he didn’t understand it.

Zoe’s husband, Jonas, whom she’d met at Virgil’s Christmas party last year and fallen in love with almost instantly, sat in an armchair and watched his sleeping devils with an indulgent smile.

“It’s those arms,” Jonas said. “If Pitney feels safe in them, why shouldn’t the kids? He has this calming presence going on.”

Rafe rolled his eyes.

“Have you and Pitney talked about kids?” Zoe asked innocently. Not that he for a minute believed it. That girl was trouble with a capital T.

Anyway, her question left him flustered and he felt his face heating. “Uh...”

“Stop harassing my guy, you pest. We’re not even married yet,” Pitney scolded his cousin and gently lifted Lilly out of Rafe’s arm. He handed her to her mother. Then he did the same with Adam, whom he placed in Nora’s outstretched arms.

As soon as Rafe’s arms were free, Pitney flopped down beside him and grinned, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Rafe didn’t know what to make of it.

“What?” he asked eventually and let his gaze roam from one family member to the next. They all wore matching expressions of bubbly excitement, like they knew a secret nobody had told him yet. “Okay, you’re starting to freak me out, what’s going on?” When Pitney slipped off the couch and lowered to one knee in front of him, Rafe almost swallowed his tongue. “Pitney?”

The little box his boyfriend pulled out of his pocket sealed the deal. This wasn’t a joke. Rafe’s heart hammered like crazy and he tried his best not to faint. Or cry.
Holy shit, keep it together.

“Rafael Bell,” Pitney said, his voice shaking a tiny bit before he visibly pulled himself together and cleared his throat. He cradled the little box to his chest. “I love you more than anybody else in the world. The past year with you was a year full of joy and love, happiness and tears, success and failure. Nonetheless, it was one of the happiest of my life, and I’d love if we had many more years together. Do you want to marry me?”

Pitney let the box snap open, held it out to him and, to hell with it, Rafe started to cry. He looped his arms around Pitney’s kneeling body and hauled him up against his chest, and their lips met in a soft, innocent kiss. When Rafe looked into Pitney’s eyes, the golden orbs swam with unshed tears. And Pitney still thought he wasn’t much to look at.

Rafe cradled Pitney’s face in his hands and brushed their lips together once again. “Yes, my love, I want to marry you.” His fiancé’s answering happy grin was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.

Faintly, Rafe heard Nora’s excited squeal. He heard Virgil’s and Jonas’ honest congratulations and Zoe’s, “Yay! We’re going to celebrate a big gay wedding.”

All he cared for, all that mattered was the man sitting in his lap and holding his hand while he put a silver ring on his finger. Pitney was right. It’d been an exciting year for them, with good days and bad days. He didn’t regret one single hour, though.

“I love you,” he whispered against Pitney’s lips.

Pitney grinned, snatched a gingerbread man from the plate on the coffee table, and offered Rafe a bite. “I love you, too.”

The End

Liza grew up in a tiny village in Germany, the kind where you know everybody and everybody knows you. She migrated to a bigger town to attend college, although her parents often wonder if she really moved out. Now, with a degree in her pocket, she’s perfectly capable of working as a librarian. Never one to do what’s expected of her, Liza currently browses different branches of employment.

She started writing in college when she found herself unable to ignore the guys living in her head any longer, and to distract herself from the stifling, non-fiction stuff taught in class. Liza is really fond of the dudes whispering in her mind—no matter if handsome or flawed, big or small, sulky or easy-going. They all deserve love and their HEAs.

When she’s not writing, you can find her curled up with a good book and a cup of tea, a cat in her lap, or a camera at the ready.

You can contact her at [email protected]

Or visit her blog at https://onelizakay.wordpress.com/