Page 24 of The Amazing Alpha Tau Fratmas Experience
“Why are you stealing my hoodies?” I asked. “Wait. Is this meant to be one of those boyfriend things, like when Briar steals Casey’s shirts?”
Trey gave me a look. “Not for me. Foryou.”
What? “I’m already packed,” I said.
“You’re packed for DC. This is for when you come home with me for Christmas.”
I saw my small weekender bag sitting open on the bed, partially packed. My stomach clenched. “Trey, we already?—”
“Scout,” he said firmly. “I love you, and you love me, and what sort of asshole would I be if I let my boyfriend stay here alone for Christmas? So either you get in the car with me and come home to my parents and my sister—who all think the sun shines out of your ass, by the way—or I guess we’re both staying here.” He folded his arms over his chest, my hoodies still dangling from his hands. “Your choice, baby.”
“I don’t want to be an imposition.”
“Did you hear the part where I said I love you? You’re not an imposition, Scout. You’re my boyfriend and spending time with you makes me happy, just so we’re clear.”
“But your family isn’t expecting me.” I was clutching at straws and we both knew it.
“Yeah, they are. I already spoke to them. So tell me, are you going to be the one who calls my mom and tells her you’re refusing to come to Christmas with my family? Because that willnotbe a fun call to make.”
“Trey…”
He closed the space between us, dropping my hoodies. He caught my hands. “Scout, I know this formal etiquette bullshit is hardwired in you, and let me tell you, that’s gonna come in real useful in the future, with your career and mine too. But this isn’t about that. This is aboutnow. This is aboutChristmas. And I want you to come, and my family wants you to come, and I think that deep down you want to come too, so why the hell wouldn’t you?”
Trey Montgomery was going to be a hell of a lawyer one day, because suddenly I couldn’t think of a single reasonable counterargument. And I didn’t want to. All my stupid resistance collapsed like a house of cards, and I let it happen. Ididn’twant to spend Christmas alone, and Ididneed Trey, and I didn’t care if he knew it. Because he’d always fucking known it anyway, hadn’t he?
“The blue one,” I said, nodding over his shoulder at the hoodies.
Trey’s smile was a little smug, but mostly relieved. “Yeah, that one looks good on you.”
I shrugged. “Everything looks good on me, Trey.”
“That’s good to know,” Trey said, grinning. “Because my mom has matching Christmas sweaters waiting for us at the house.”
“Oh, absolutely not,” I said, pulling my hands away. “There arelimits.”
“But, Scout, how will you be in the annual Montgomery family photos if you’re not wearing your ugly Christmas sweater?” He leaned in and kissed me, which took away a little of the sting of knowing there was a hideous fashion crime in my near future. When he pulled back, his eyes were sparkling. “Merry Christmas, Scout.”
And I knew what the answer should have been, but there was plenty of time to say it back to him in the coming days, and besides, I’d discovered something new that I needed to say. So I said that instead, just to hear the sound of it out in the world. “I love you.”
And it sounded perfect, even before he echoed it back to me.
EPILOGUE
MARTY
Christmas at Grandpa and Billy’s was fuckinglit. Like, I knew that it would be, because it always was, but having Dalton with me made it even better. Grandpa and I got the old sled out and figured out halfway down the hill that we should have checked its structural integrity first, but Dalton was super good at first aid, so it all worked out. Then Billy banned outdoor activities for the rest of the day, even though we could have gotten the ATVs out, so we sat around inside, the fire burning in the fireplace, and got fucked up on whiskey from Grandpa’s still.
And it wasn’t even Christmas yet. We still had a few days to go!
“Is anyone else comin’ for Christmas?” I asked, even though the ragged blue tarp was still pinned over the cabin’s perfectly sound roof. Grandpa used it as a deterrent. It helped give my family the impression he’d gone full hillbilly in his retirement, and it meant most of them tended to avoid coming to visit. It was their loss. Grandpa said his tarp was an asshole filter, and it worked a treat.
“Your dad sent gifts,” Grandpa said. “Haven’t seen hide nor hair of your aunt, ’cept when she slows down to drive past every month. Bad news for her is that I haven’t fallen off the perch yet.Worse news is, when I do, she’s not gettin’ a dime!” He cackled and threw back another shot. “They contacted you?”
“Oh yeah,” I said. “But I said I was coming here for Christmas with Dalton.”
Like it had ever been a serious choice. Grandpa and Billy were awesome, and my parents were still having trouble with the Dalton thing. Not Dalton specifically, because he was awesome—hello! A future doctor!—but because he had a dick. Which again, they didn’t hold against him specifically. It was just the fact that he sometimes put it in me and vice versa. Which was a pretty weird fucking thing to get all bent out of shape about, when you thought about it.
Anyway, we didn’t need them to have fun. We were having plenty of it already, and we hadn’t even unpacked yet.
