Page 10 of Real Tree / Fake Boyfriend

“Oh. You’re early.” He stepped aside to let Julien in. “Umm, I was just making some hot chocolate. Did you want some?”

Julien came inside and toed off his dirty work boots, leaving them on the rack near the door. “No, it’s fine. I’m not really a hot chocolate fan.”

Tyler filed that one away for later. He didn’t know how someone couldn’t enjoy hot chocolate. “How about a seltzer? I have lemon-lime or orange-vanilla.”

“Orange-vanilla is good, I guess.” Julien looked around his apartment the way he did when he first came.

Tyler finished making his hot chocolate. He swirled the chocolate into the simmering milk and stirred until it was dark brown with a rich scent. He poured it into his favorite Christmas mug, which was bright red and saidcozy seasonon it, along with a dapple of delicate whitesnowflakes.

He left it to cool for a moment while he pulled a can of seltzer out of the fridge and set it down then went to get a glass.

He heard the can open as he turned with the glass in hand and watched Julien’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed the liquid. “Oh, I got you a glass,” he muttered apologetically.

Julien furrowed his brow and pulled the can from his lips. A drop of seltzer made his bottom lip shine from where it clung to the soft-looking skin. And, when Julien’s tongue poked out to swipe it off, Tyler thought he might have to go lay down.

Tyler put the glass into the sink without thinking. Clearly, Julien did not need a glass. He managed not to comment that he had heard about rats and roaches crawling all over cans in warehouses.

“What are you doing?” Julien asked, perplexed.

Tyler shook his head, taken aback by the question. “What?”

“You just put a clean glass into your sink.” Julien gestured to it with the hand holding the can.

Tyler looked at the glass, then back to Julien, then back to the glass. He didn’t even realize he had done that. He had been too distracted gazing at Julien’s mouth. “Oops. But now it’s in the sink, so it has to be washed anyway.” He waved his hand, ignoring the way his cheeks heated.

He wasn’t a complete germaphobe, but his mother had always told him how much bacteria lived in the sink, and it stuck in his mind, even if his sink was completely dry and all but sparkling.

“Anyway.” Julien shook his head. “You wanted me to try on clothes?” He took another long sip of the seltzer and turned the can over in his hands to inspect the name on the label.

“Yeah,” Tyler said, focused on adding too many marshmallows to his hot chocolate. “It’ll be like a fashion show.” He looked Julien up and down. “You totally could be a model.”

Julien snorted, then grinned. Tyler realized this was the first time he’d seen him actually smile. He had these big, stupid dimples on both cheeks, and his dark eyes crinkled at the corners. Tyler couldn’t help but grinin response.

He took a quick sip of his hot chocolate, which was, at this point, too hot to drink, but the melted marshmallow was all he was after anyway. He set it carefully on the coffee table.

“Come on.” Tyler led Julien to his bedroom, flicking the lights on despite the steady sunlight streaming through the open blinds.

Usually, his room was tidy, but it looked like a hoarder’s dream right now. The desk in the corner was piled high with boxes, and his bed had stacks of parcels with clothing inside. His suitcases were stacked on the floor near the walk-in closet, and the ordinarily spacious bedroom felt cramped.

He sat on his bed and opened the boxes from the clothes pile. “We have four pairs of jeans, two khakis, a pair of dress slacks, and a bunch of shirts,” he listed off as he unboxed each one and pulled them out of the bags.

“What about all of that?” Julien asked with a panicked expression as he pointed to the pile of gifts.

“Oh, yeah. I still have to go through and wrap all the presents for my family. I have been procrastinating on that job. I hate wrapping,” Tyler told him. “Any chance you’re a wrapping pro?”

“Just put them in bags,” Julien said, then scanned the room and picked Tyler’s cologne off the floating shelves on the back wall. He removed the lid and smelled it before replacing it. He picked up a small llama sculpture Cece had made years ago and held it up with a questioning look.

Tyler resisted the urge to tell Julien to stop snooping because he wasn’t really doing anything invasive. But a wave of self-consciousness washed over him as he wondered what Julien could be thinking about him. “My sister made it.”

“Is she five?”

That made Tyler laugh. He could imagine what Cece would have to say about that. He could practically hear her whine.You don’t appreciate art.

Finally, Tyler scooped all the clothes in his arms and handed them to Julien. “The bathroom is by the front door, on the other side of the kitchen. You can do a little catwalk in the living room so we can make sure they look nice.”

“This is demeaning,” Julien groaned.

Tyler bit his bottom lip to stop the smile that threatened to appear. “It’s not that bad. You’ll look great inall of it.” It seemed impossible for Julien not to look great. Even dirty, covered in oil, and his curly hair a mess, Tyler felt his mouth go dry at seeing him. In decent clothes, Tyler was confident he would look the part of the perfect boyfriend.

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