Page 26 of Love Around the Corner

Between them, he and Alfie lugged the books back to the store before they got too wet, and then headed back to help take down the rest of the stalls. Dee had keys to the church hall and they dragged everything in there to dry overnight, promising to come back in the morning and help pack up properly.

By the time they were done, the snow was falling fast and starting to settle. Big, fat, joyous flakes caught the rainbow light from the Christmas tree as they swirled around in the sharp wind. Alfie grinned as they walked home together, snow dusting his hat and the shoulders of his coat. Leo was frozen to the bone, his arms and back aching from hauling around books and tables, and he’d never felt happier. For the first time in a long while, he was light as air, carefree as the falling snow.

They drew to a stop outside Leo’s store, pausing in the light of his little Christmas tree that was still glowing merrily in the window. Alfie turned to face him, hands in his pockets, head lowered against the weather. Neither made a move to leave, tension coiling up and wrapping around them, drawing them closer. Leo felt it in the clench of his stomach, in the pulse fluttering high in his throat.

“This was fun,” Alfie said at last, toeing the accumulating snow with his boot. “I had fun. I’m glad you came.”

“Me too.” Snowflakes caught on Alfie’s eyelashes, melting against the scruff on his jaw. He looked unbearably handsome and Leo’s heart leaped toward him like a caged bird. “Thanks for inviting me.”

Alfie nodded, pulled his hands out of his pocket, his dark eyes lifting to meet Leo’s. He swallowed, throat working, tongue wetting his bottom lip as he reached out and took hold of Leo’s arm just above his elbow. “First time I ever saw you,” he said, “you were unloading your truck right here.” Leo couldn’t breathe, let alone speak; he could only stare, could only feel the firm press of Alfie’s fingers against his arm and want more. “I thought you were gorgeous.”

Leo cringed at the memory. “You offered to help me unload, if I recall. I was an ass.”

“Yeah.” Alfie smiled. “I wish I’d gotten to know you better.”

“I wish I’d let you.” He took a deep breath. Now was the moment, now he had to tell the truth and face the consequences. “Alfie, I—”

Warm lips touched his, Alfie’s hand gentle at the nape of his neck, and Leo was falling, swept away. Dreamlike, his hands came to rest on Alfie’s shoulders, slid behind his neck as Alfie drew him in with a strong arm about his waist, and they fell into each other’s arms. The soft caress of Alfie’s tongue against his lips set Leo alight and he sighed softly as he opened for him, deepening the kiss in a tender tangle of tongues. And then it was all hard, urgent breathing and the struggle to get closer despite a dozen layers of clothing between them, the snow whipping cold against their faces.

Leo’s glasses were knocked askew and a blast of cold air sent him stumbling a step sideways. Alfie laughed as they pulled apart, eyes brilliant and face flushed in the glow of the Christmas lights. “I think,” he said breathlessly, “I’ve wanted to do that for about a year.”

Leo had no answer, his confession still frozen on his lips.

Reaching out, Alfie straightened his glasses for him, his gloved hand coming to rest against Leo’s cheek. “I don’t know if this is a good idea, I’m kind of a mess, but… Do you want to come back to my place for a while? Before we turn into snowmen out here.”

Leo felt like he was standing on fragile ice, that if he said anything to disturb it they’d both fall into the icy depths below. And why risk it? Why risk the truth when they could both have this beautiful moment instead?

“Yes,” he said softly. “Yes, take me home, Alfie Carter.”

Chapter Eight

Leo was shivering when Alfie led him by the hand into the living room, and Alfie didn’t think it was just from the cold. He felt the same nervous tension because, whatever this might look like on the outside, it didn’t feel like a casual hookup. It felt significant in ways he couldn’t begin to explain.

The only lights were those on the Christmas tree, a warm ivory glow that bathed the room in gentle shadows. He turned and Leo walked into his arms, looking up at him through foggy glasses.

“Huh,” Leo said in a nervy, laughing voice, “I’m steaming up.”

“It’s because I’m so hot,” Alfie said, smiling.

Leo laughed as he pulled his glasses off to clean them, tugging out the hem of a t-shirt from among his layers. And Alfie’s breath caught. It changed him, losing those heavy dark frames from his face, turned him elfin. The pale green of his eyes shone darker in the half-light, his mobile mouth hovering between a smile and something else, and all Alfie wanted to do was kiss him. Taking the glasses from his hands, Alfie set them aside and tipped Leo’s chin up to capture his mouth once more. Leo softened under his touch, relaxing against him, compliant in his arms.

The feel of him, tensile under his heavy sweater, wiry arms looping around Alfie’s neck as they kissed deeper, sent what blood was left in Alfie’s head pounding down below his belt. He stiffened in his jeans, and might have felt embarrassed by the speed of his reaction had Leo not started a slow, circular grind of his hips, groaning into their kiss as his own hard cock nudged against Alfie’s.

Fuck, it felt good. They were igniting, going up in flames. Everything happened so fast between them, and so fucking fantastically. It felt like fate. Alfie fought his way beneath Leo’s layers, seeking out hot bare skin, and sighed as his hand finally found it, slipping along the smooth curve of Leo’s lower back. “What do you like?” he murmured. “What do you want?”

Leo’s lips caressed his jaw, working down his neck. “Anything. Whatever you want.” He groaned, grinding his hips against Alfie’s as Alfie dipped his fingers beneath the waistband of his jeans and over his ass. “Fuck, Alfie. It’s been… God, it’s been forever.”

“Me too,” Alfie whispered. Everything had been about LLB for months. “Fuck, I really want you, Leo.”

In his arms, Leo stilled.

Alfie pulled back cautiously. “Okay?”

His eyes were impossibly wide, oddly pleading. In an uneven voice he said, “Doyou, though? Do you really want this? Withme?”

Alfie laughed, although he felt a pulse of uncertainty. “Uh, yeah… Doyou?”

“Yes, I—” A frown flashed across Leo’s face. “Oh, God, but you don’t really know me, do you?”

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