Page 31 of A Man for the Holidays

Having decided to ease up on the alcohol hours ago, I take a sip of my soda, and as I bring the glass to my lips, I find my eyes trailing the length of Quinn’s body. He’s decked out from head to toe in a designer label suit, which judging by the way it fits on him, would certainly cost a lot more than the Hugo Boss number I’m currently wearing.

Well, this is certainly awkward, and not exactly the way I wanted to spend this evening. Quinn, this delicious and magnificent creation, who I’ve been obsessing over, is standing only a few inches beside me, and I can’t even think of a decent conversation to have with the guy. All I want is to feel the spark of passion and lust that we shared only a few nights ago. My body is screaming out, starving for his kind, soft touch.

The music in the room changes to the soft, slow medley of ‘Unchained Melody’ by the Righteous Brothers and when my eyes move from Quinn to the dancefloor, I notice a large amount of people disburse, while others get close with their partners. I turn my focus back on the man standing beside me and bring the glass to my lips as I finish the last of my drink. I place the glass down on the bar, staring into Quinn’s eyes; I ask, “Would you like to dance?”

“I’d love to.” he replies.

He places his glass on the bar beside mine, I then hold my hand out for him to take, and when his fingers touch mine, they feel a little odd. Slowly, the two of us walk out onto the dancefloor and I spin Quinn around so that we’re facing one another. I take a hold of his hands, then place them around my neck as I inch toward him and wrap my arms around his trim waist. We dance slow and close as the music continues to play around us, and I feel several sets of eyes point in our direction. As we continue dancing, my entire body relaxes at his touch, and I lean forward then press our foreheads together. This right here is what feels right, having this man rub his body up against mine as we dance and nothing else in the world matters right now.

As the song comes to a close, I remove my forehead from his, look into Quinn’s eyes and raise my head and press my mouth to his in a soft, sweet and passionate kiss. The kiss sends bolts of electricity through my entire body, and every emotion that I’ve been trying to suppress, jumps to the surface. I continue to kiss the man with all the passion I have in me, fully aware of our surrounds, but right now, I really don’t give a shit. Our lips finally part, and the two of us stare at each other for several long seconds, not saying a word as I notice the rest of the crowd disappear off the dancefloor around us.

“Why don’t you and I get the hell out of here,” I say.

He says nothing, but nods, as we make our way back over to our table, I grab my jacket, then escape out the back door without being seen.

Once outside, the two of us immediately make our way to where my motorcycle is parked. I hand Quinn his helmet, then I climb onto the motorcycle, and he climbs on after me. Once he is secure on the seat behind me, he wraps his hands around my waist, and I start the bike. I take us out of the parking lot and cruise along the main road as I feel Quinn tighten his grip around my waist.

“I’m certainly going to miss this,” he says.

I try to swallow the lump in my throat and focus on the road ahead, anything to distract myself from thinking about the fact that in two days, Quinn; is going to go back to that clothing store and return to being a mannequin in Olivia’s window display. I place my palm on his hand, while keeping one hand on the handlebars and slide the other down to his wrist. It feels hard and a little smoother than usual, perhaps the cool night air has made him numb. I continue our steady cruise along the road as Quinn slides himself forward until I feel his groin press against my ass, then he rests his chin on my shoulder and I hear him say, “You know what I’dreallylike to see before I change back?”

“What?” I ask, desperately holding back the threatening tears.

“The beach.”

“The beach?” I ask, curiously.

“Yeah. All that water and sand underneath a beautiful moonlight. I think it could be rather romantic.”

“Romantic? Under six inches of snow?” I tell him.

“Please, Spencer. Just for a little while,” he begs.

I brush my thumb across his wrist, then smile as I say, “Okay.”

I change the gear on my motorcycle, then take the next right to head toward Coney Island. We slowly make our way through the streets; at the end I stop after I pass through the last intersection. Shift the bike out of gear, and rest both legs on the ground, then stare out at the peaceful Atlantic Ocean in front of us.

“There’s your beach,” I say. “Want to take a closer look?”

He nods, so I shift the gear again, and accelerate, then ride straight ahead, until we reach the parking lot. I stop the bike, take it out of gear and lower the stand, before switching off the engine. I unclip my helmet and hang it on the handlebars, then turn around to see that Quinn is already headed for the beach. I jog up to him, sliding my hand against his thigh until our hands connect, then try and intertwine our fingers, but they feel firm and hard.

“Quinn, are you okay? Your fingers feel hard.”

“I feel wonderful,” he says with a beaming smile, but doesn’t turn to look at me.

He continues to walk ahead, pulling me along with him, and when we get onto the sand it’s covered in a thick layer of snow, I stop and remove my shoes. Quinn does the same but doesn’t seem to be the least bit concerned that the sand is freezing, he unclips his helmet and drops it to the sand with his shoes. He then runs through the sand until I see him splash into the water, totally drenching that priceless suit. I gasp, and make my way over to him, and as I reach the edge of the water, I bend over and roll my pants up over my knees, before I step into the water.

“This is wonderful,” he says, stretching out his arms and spinning around in the water.

“No, it’s fucking freezing,” I say. “Quinn, get out of there before you catch hypothermia.”

He ignores me, and kicks his feet in the water, then reaches down to splash the water with his hands. I stare and watch the man in front of me, he’s so incredibly adorable, like a little boy experiencing this for the first time. And that’s just it, for Quinn,everythingis a first time, he’s never experienced anything like this before. It’s hard to believe that in less than two weeks, I’ve found myself ridiculously head-over-heels in love with this guy and that scares the absolute fuck out of me.

Love?

Is that what this is?

I didn’t think I knew how to love.

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