Page 46 of Find Me Again

His grandfather raised his eyebrows. "Well, we wouldn't be able to talk about you if we did, would we?"

"So you're not denying it exists."

"I'll neither confirm, nor deny."

"But you want me to confirm or deny?"

"Too many people have seen the two of you to deny anything, so don't bother."

Not knowing what to say to that, Ryan took a sip of his tea. It wasn't like he and Neil were doing anything in public that could be suspicious, but he figured with Neil's fame and their history of a sudden falling out nobody ever understood, everything they did could be interesting to some.

"I'm glad you reconnected," his grandfather said after a minute.

Ryan nodded. This, he could admit to. "Me, too."

"When you're young, certain things can feel like the end of the world, but as you get older, you realize that's actually never true. The life goes on, always." His grandfather paused. "And yet, it's good to get a do-over once in a while."

It was tempting to protest, to say that it wasn't a do-over, because they could never get back everything they'd lost. Then again, they weren't the same people anymore, and Ryan wouldn't want to return to being that naïve boy who had sometimes been too passive for his own good.

What he missed the most wasn't even about that, though. It was the certainty of having his person, his best friend and his love, right there with him through thick and thin.

For years now, he'd been hoping that he would find that feeling again, and yet, he wasn't sure if that was even possible.

If he could get a do-over withthat…

Well, it would probably be one Christmas miracle toomany, wouldn't it?

* * *

Neil pressed him against the door as soon as the door closed behind him, and Ryan sank into the kiss, slipping his arms under Neil's jacket right away.

It had been barely twenty-four hours since they'd seen each other last, so this level of hunger should be ridiculous. They weren't teenagers anymore, after all.

"I want to ride you," Neil murmured when they parted for breath. "Want to drive you crazy with how slow I can go."

Damn. "Yeah, okay." Ryan started to push the jacket off of him. "Come on, then. Get to it."

Neil tilted his head to look at him, and Ryan could see his smile, soft and yet with a hint of a challenge there.

The deadly combination, as far as Ryan's heart was concerned.

"Impatient already?" Neil teased, even though he did tug his jacket off. "Perfect."

"You're the one who kissed me the moment you walked in."

"Oh, I know I'm impatient. But I thought you wouldn't be so easy."

You have no idea how easy I am for—

Ryan stopped himself right in time, pulling Neil into another kiss as he started to walk him backwards towards his bedroom.

"You want to tease me, huh?" he whispered. "Seems like you may be the one who won't stand going slow."

Neil's hands clenched on Ryan's sides. "Challenge accepted. Let's get naked."

Ryan didn't often laugh during sex, but with Neil, it was the most natural thing, especially during foreplay—the teasing andthe back and forth came so naturally to them that there was no thought involved, no plans.

Then came a switch, sometimes subtle and sometimes not, and the mood shifted right into that intense, narrow focus that took Ryan's breath away.

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