Page 59 of Real Tree / Fake Boyfriend

“If you don’t want to…” Tyler paused with a bundle of clothes in his hand. His mouth gave a slight pout, although it seemed unconscious.

Julien’s breath caught a little at the sight of that cute pouty bottom lip, and his cock twitched. He nodded. “I want to,” he told him. “Go shower, I think we have a date to prepare for, Baby.”

Tyler shook his head but disappeared into the bathroom. While he did that, Julien pulled on some clothes and asked Wally if he could borrow his car, which Wally was happy to agree to without a singlequestion asked.

When Tyler came downstairs, Julien returned to get ready while Hailey finished breakfast and made coffee. Julien hadn’t been on a date in a long time, and he wanted it to go well, even if he told himself that it was silly to let himself get all wrapped up in these feelings.

No matter how much he told himself it was one date, it didn’t mean any of this would be real after Christmas. Julien hoped that maybe there was a chance that this could develop into more. Maybe Tyler would want him as much as he wanted to be with Tyler.

In fact, he had a good feeling about it all. For the first time in his life, Julien felt as though things looked up.

Chapter 23

Julien

Tyler didn’t tell him where they were going until they were on the street the ice-skating rink was on. They had stopped for some supplies and laughed way too much about buying condoms that Julien felt as if he were in high school again. Then Tyler directed him through a few other streets and told him to pull into a parking lot.

It was crowded, but he found a good spot and hopped out of the car. It was probably for the best Julien didn’t know about Tyler’s plan because he would have tried to convince Tyler to change his mind.

The rink was in the middle of the small town, across from a movie theater, a quaint-looking restaurant, and several shops.

Julien would have preferred to do literally anything else. But Tyler looked so eager that he had no heart to tell himthat.

“I haven’t been ice skating since I was eight,” Julien admitted. “Maybe we could just do a movie instead?”

Tyler smiled. He reached over to take his hand so automatically it made Julien’s heart thud in his chest. “I’ll make sure you don’t fall, alright? I promise it will be a lot of fun.”

Julien grimaced but followed Tyler through the gate to the rink. Tyler paid for both of them, and they were given skates by a pimple-faced kid who told them some rules and looked about as excited to be there as Julien felt.

“It’s not too busy yet,” Tyler noticed as he sat on a bench and pulled his shoes off, revealing bright blue socks covered in a snowflake pattern before shoving them into the well-worn skates. “We won’t have to worry about being bumped or anything.”

“I wasn’t worried about that before,” Jules said. “But I am now.”

Julien kicked his boots off and put the skates on. They fit really weird, stiff, and definitely precarious. But they only had a few steps from the bench to the ice. He stood up, wobbly as a newborn giraffe, and took a shaky step before he nearly fell.

“Hold my hand.” Tyler laughed as he grabbed Julien by the waist and slipped his hand back into Julien’s, slowly leading him to the ice.

For some reason, Julien thought it would be easier once they got onto the ice. Still, he had to immediately grasp the wall to prevent himself from falling into splits.

“Right, I don’t think I was any good at skating when I was eight,” Jules confessed. He remembered his mom had held both of his hands the entire time anda lotof icy falls.

Tyler laughed. “It’s okay. You’ll get the hang of it,” he assured Julien, holding his hand tightly as he tried to move Julien away from the wall. “Just slide with it, lean into it.”

Julien tried, his knees bent, and his free hand held out to catch himself because he knew he would fall. “This is stupid. Why do people even do this?” he grumbled.

“It’s fun,” Tyler stated.

Julien glared at him, but Tyler’s smile was so wide it was hard to keep the glare up. “If I fall, it’s your fault, and I’m taking you down with me,” he said. Then addedin a low tone, “Or taking you down on top of me.” Julien’s eyebrow twitched, and he wore a naughty grin.

Tyler blushed crimson, smirked, and rolled his eyes but pulled Julien along. Tyler offered him instructions as they moved, like stand up more, keep a wide stand, try not to walk, andrelax, above all else. None of which Julien was any good at.

They had made it around the rink once, with very few incidents besides a few slips and near falls, but the crowd was starting to pile in now, and it seemed that the number of people in the rink had at least doubled.

Rowdy children zoomed past them. The couples held hands and had to let go to get around Julien and Tyler. Families showed off for each other or yelled at their rowdy children to slow down. People slipped and twirled, and Julien clung to Tyler for dear life.

“Why are there so many people here? Don’t they have families? It’s Christmas Eve,” Julien growled as he leaned almost all his weight on Tyler, who was the only thing to keep him upright.

A group of pre-teen boys whooshed by at top speed and knocked Julien’s shoulder. Jules spun around dangerously before his feet slipped out from underneath. He slipped between Tyler’s legs, hit his foot and sent him sprawling out on top of him. “Told you I’d take you down on top of me.”

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