Page 41 of Daddy's Christmas Elf
Eli slumped back in his seat as though his confession had knocked the wind from him. His brow creased, as though he were working out a problem that had always been foggy and out of focus, but was now turning sharper and clearer.
The clamour of the café rushed back in, as the waitress returned bearing a tray with their orders. Neither said anything as they gave their attention to the food in front of them, but Grey cast Eli surreptitious glances. He could fulfil all those barely acknowledged needs for Eli, the need and desire to be cared for as much as he had the need and desire to care.
“Good?” Grey nodded to Eli’s breakfast.
“It’s great. Salmon and scrambled eggs is officially my favourite. I wonder if they’d work on jacket potatoes?” Eli laughed before he bit down on a piece of crunchy sourdough toast, butter smearing his lips.
The tip of his tongue glided along his lower lip, sweeping up the melted butter. Grey’s cock once more pushed against its confinement. He itched to flee the café and get Eli home, to slam the door on the world so he could take care of Eli in all the ways he never knew he needed. He drew in a deep breath as, instead, he applied himself to his breakfast, catching the bubbly waitress for two more Bucks Fizz.
“Why, Mr. Gillespie, are you trying to get me drunk?” Eli said, with a laugh, as the waitress rushed off with the order. “You really are a wicked, wicked man.”
“Oh, you have no idea how wicked I can be, little elf.”
Eli’s lips formed a smallO,and his eyes widened, two inky pools, their divergent colours no more than thin outer rims around their irises.
“You could never be—”
“Your drink, guys, and a little sweet treat on the house.”
The waitress set down the drinks, alongside two mini mince pies, bestowing a bright and increasingly frantic smile before she bustled away.
Grey pushed his mince pie towards Eli, who smiled in delight.
“You really know the way to a boy’s heart.” Eli bit into the tiny pie, and sighed.
Easy, companionable silence settled around them, a small island of calm in the hectic, noisy café that seemed to be growing busier by the second.
“Penny for them? You seem miles away.”
Across the table, Eli was looking at him, his head tilted to the side. Most of his drink was gone, whereas Grey had barely touched his. Taking a steadying breath, Grey leaned forward, ready to lay out the idea that had formed earlier, now a fully considered, picked over proposal.
“This friend you mentioned, the one who’ll be able to put you up in a couple of months—”
“Rufus. What about him?”
“How much do you want to rent a room from him?”
Eli wrinkled his nose. “Not very much, to be honest. I like him, he’s a decent guy, but it’ll be a pig getting into work from his place. But I don’t have a lot of options. I’ll just have to sit tight at Benny’s and carry on fouling his little love nest until I’ve got myself sorted with Rufus.”
“You don’t have to do any of that.”
“What do you mean?” Eli’s brow furrowed in question.
“I—”
“Your bill, guys.”
The waitress appeared, armed with a card machine. She was still smiling, but it was starting to look like a grimace. Grey glanced around, and he couldn’t blame her. A queue had formed outside, and was snaking along the road. The place was heaving, and what Grey wanted to say to Eli needed to be said privately.
He settled the bill, left the waitress a large tip, and moments later he and Eli were outside on the snowy street.
“What were you going to say, before we got turfed out?”
“Let’s wait until we get home.”
Home was only a few streets away. They slipped and slid on the compacted snow, Eli holding him and stopping him from falling just as much as Grey did the same for Eli.
“We haven’t seen the last of the bad weather, have we?” Eli tilted his face to the sky, and Grey followed the direction of his gaze.
