Page 24 of Daddy's Christmas Elf
“And guest?” Eli blurted out.
“I’m sorry?”
Eli nodded to the invite.
“It saysand guest. You can’t go on your own. In fact if you insist on going you should make a real splash. Be a bit… flamboyant.”
Grey snorted. “I don’t really do flamboyant.”
“But if you do go—”
“There’s noif. I’m going—”
“At least when you turn up, don’t turn up on your own. Show Peter.” Eli coughed. Why did the guy’s name insist on getting stuck in his throat? “Show him you’ve moved on, that you’ve got somebody else in your life.”Me. I’d go with you. I could do enoughflamboyantfor the both of us.
Grey stared at him, that same unreadable, blank eyed stare that was nonetheless sharp and piercing, and impossible to look away from. Eli swallowed… Oh shit, he’d said too much, he’d criticised the ex-husband if only obliquely when it really, really, absolutely really wasn’t what he should be doing, because maybe Grey still loved him, so who was he to—
“Maybe you’re right, about not going alone.” Grey frowned, before he gulped back a mouthful of lager.
“You absolutely should take somebody. Somebody he doesn’t know, so that you kind of make him wonder? The sweeter the arm candy, the more bitter the taste in his mouth.”
Grey tilted his head as he looked at Eli, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I’m not interested in making him jealous, if that’s what you mean. We didn’t split up because there was somebody else — on either side. There were other issues.” Grey’s jaw tightened; he looked away and gazed into the fire.
Issues? What issues? Eli was aching to know, but he bit down on the questions he wanted to throw at Grey. It wasn’t his business, he didn’t know Grey well enough to ask aboutissues, and he didn’t know Peter at all. Eli had never met the man, and likely never would, but he hated him anyway.
“Still reckon you should take somebody. There’s nothing wrong with having a bit of moral support. And if it makes him at least a little bit curious, what’s so bad about that?”
Grey’s mouth opened, then closed, as though he thought better of what he’d been about to say.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
Grey thrust his fingers through his hair, through the heavy hank Eli had seen him push out of his eyes so many times, and Eli had to clench his fists hard to stop himself from easing Grey’s hand aside, to push back that thick, wavy hair himself.
“Well, it’s what I’d do. And I’d make sure I shoved Mr. Candy in his face at every available opportunity. But then I’m not enough of an adult tonotdo something like that.”
Grey smiled, but didn’t reply, and they let the subject of weddings and ex-husbands drop.
“Let’s see what’s on the TV,” Grey said, after a couple of minutes silence. With nothing but soap opera Christmas Specials, they decided to stream a film.
“Something feel-good and sappy, that wraps itself around you like a big fuzzy blanket. Pure escapism, because there’s too much crap in real life.” Eli settled back as Grey pulled up a list of films.
“Elf. Fancy seeing that?”
“Don’t think so.” Eli side eyed Grey, who was having a hard time from keeping the smile from his face.
They picked a film at random. Containing every cheesy Christmas theme and more, including cute kids and a lovely fluff ball of a puppy, it was the balm that soothed every part of Eli.
As its sugary warmth washed over him, Eli’s eyes drifted closed, and he sighed as he relaxed into an enveloping warmth that was both tender and strong as it wrapped itself around him. Its pull was irresistible and undeniable, as the heavy weight that seemed to have sat on his shoulders and dragged him down for so long slipped away and disappeared. Eli snuggled deeper into sleep’s protective arms, breathing in deep, breathing in the comforting aroma of warm spice and a dash of sharp winter orange. He sighed again, and slipped deeper and deeper into the all-enveloping darkness.
“Hey, time to wake up so you can go back to sleep.”
A far off voice, warm, rich and enticing, like hot chocolate in front of a crackling fire, pulled Eli into a fuzzy wakefulness. He peeled his eyes open. Grey’s face hovered above him, his lips lifted in a lopsided smile. Eli blinked to try to clear the fog from his sleep numbed brain. Why was Grey bent over him? He should have been sitting up, not—
“Oh.” Eli struggled to pull himself upright, to lift his head from Grey’s lap that he really didn’t want to lift out of at all but his body, like his brain, had gone to sleep, and was even slower to wake up. Clumsy and uncoordinated, Eli tumbled to the floor.
“Oh, indeed. You fell asleep almost as soon as the film started, and flopped into my lap. At least now I can get my circulation going again.”
Eli was pulled to his feet, staggering a little as the blood rushed to his head.
