Page 30 of Real Tree / Fake Boyfriend

The woman explained what had happened, and the daughter regarded Julien with wide, thankful eyes. “Sir, thank you so much. Is there any way I can repay you?”

Julien stood up and held his hands up. “No. Don’t be ridiculous. I’m sure anyone would have done the same thing.”

“God bless you,” the daughter said. “Thank you.

“Merry Christmas,” Julien said. “Hope the talent show is good.” He winked at the old woman, who smiled at him one last time.

Julien stepped away, and Tyler followed as if he were attached by a tether.

“Sorry. I just saw her fall and had to help her.”

“No, I mean, yeah. That’s really nice of you,” Tyler told him.

Julien raised his eyebrows. “What? Did you think I would let a sick old lady lay there on the cold ground and do nothing?”

No. He hadn’t thought that, but Tyler wasn’t exactly sure if he would have rushed over to help her up and stay with her for ten minutes. He might have just called an ambulance or something, honestly.

“No, you’re a good egg, remember?” Tyler bumped Julien’s chest with a smile. “Did you buy something?” Tyler gestured to Julien’s pocket where he’d seen him stow the bag.

“Not really.” Julien stepped back onto the main street of the festival. “What is that?” he asked, pointing to the frozen hot chocolate.

Tyler beamed and stopped walking. “Well.” He proudly handed the cup over. “You said you don’t like hot drinks, so I got you a cold hot chocolate.”

“That makes no sense.” Julien took the whipped cream-toppedplastic cup.

Tyler laughed. “Does it have to? I can’t let you go the entire Christmas season without at least having one hot chocolate. It’s blasphemy.” He sipped his drink and moaned a little at the flavor. It was creamy chocolatey, with a punchy hit of orange that brought a brightness to cut the sweetness of the rest of the drink.

Julien stared at him with dark eyes, but he brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. “It’s pretty good,” he decided, taking another sip and getting some whipped cream on his nose. “It’s like a milkshake.”

“Hold on, you have cream on your nose.” Tyler stood on his toes to reach up and wipe it off with his thumb. He recalled what had happened at breakfast and blushed, stepping away. “Sorry.” There was no one to perform for right now.

Julien grabbed his hand before he could wipe it off on one of the napkins and brought Tyler’s thumb to his lips.

The warm heat of Julien’s mouth surrounded his fingertip, and he shivered. Julien’s tongue ran over the pad of his thumb, and Tyler bit down on his lip as he felt the gentle scrape of teeth on his skin.

As soon as it started, Julien dropped his finger from his mouth and returned to sipping his drink as if nothing happened.

Tyler swallowed, opening his mouth to think of a response, but words didn’t come.What was that about? And can Julien please do it again? Maybe to other parts of my anatomy?Tyler thought with a slight grin.

“There you are,” Cece said, coming up behind Tyler, causing him to jump and wipe the grin off his face. “We have to get out of here. Kelsey is having a fit. I think she needs a nap. We’re going back to the house. Hailey and Walter are already in the car.”

Oh.Oh.Julien must have seen Cece and did that for her benefit.Tyler ignored the twist of disappointment in his gut, which seemed to be stubbornly stuck, even as they walked back to the car.

Chapter 13

Tyler

By the time they got home, Cece and Brad had already put Kelsey down for a nap, and Owen sat in the living room with Tyler’s mother, playing with his trucks and describing them to her.

Brad helped his father unload the tree from their car, and they called Julien over to help. Walter followed Julien like the lost puppy he was, and Hailey grabbed Tyler’s arm.

“I have a surprise,” she said and pulled him over to their mom’s office, which had become a dumping ground for all the presents people were too lazy to take to their rooms. She went to a brown box and pulled out four baubles of mistletoe.

“Dad will kill you if you put holes in his ceiling,” Tyler pointed out.

“Then we’ll use tape, Dumbass. Come on. We have to put it in the best spots to catch people under it. Imagine if Bradhas to kiss Walter. I would fucking die.” Hailey laughed like an evil villain.

Tyler trailed behind her. He had to do his best not to think about Julien sucking on his finger, but he could still feel the heat of Julien’s mouth on his thumb.

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