Page 15 of Meeting Mr. Christmas
Jed continued sifting through the photos. Dozens and dozens of him and Noel, so often with him with his arm slung around Noel’s shoulders and grinning into the camera, full of confidence, as Noel, so much shyer and less sure of himself, smiled nervously. The two of them with groups of friends, atparties, at local gigs, at town parades, but the two of them always together. He picked up another photo, more recent than the others. His stomach bit down on itself. They were maybe about eighteen, laughing hard with their faces squashed together, both of them wearing ugly Christmas sweaters as they stood in front of the Christmas tree in the town square. He slipped the photo into the pocket of his jeans.
Picking up another, he stared hard at it. Him and Noel, sure, but it wasn’t him Noel was holding onto.
Noel’s first proper boyfriend, the first in a long line of deadbeats who didn’t deserve him. Jed pressed his lips together hard, unconsciously mirroring his expression in the photo. He hadn’t liked the guy as much as he hadn’t liked all the others.
None had lasted long. He let the photo fall from his fingers, and pushed himself up to standing, refusing to ask himself why.
CHAPTER TEN
“Have you missed me, baby? I’ve missed yousoooomuch. You are such a sweet, sweet boy — ouch! You furry little shit!” Noel’s arms shot out, holding Peter as far away from his throbbing nose as it was possible to get.
“You know, maybe I should let Mrs. Diaz keep you for good. How’d you like that, eh? Was that squeak ayes, please? Don’t think I won’t do it. You won’t be able to keep up your sweet as pie pretense for long. And you know what she’ll do when she realizes you’re a psychopath? She’ll have you stuffed and mounted, right next to that moth-eaten moose head she’s got on her wall. It’s exactly what you deserve.” Noel put Peter down, who waddled to his cushion to chew on a rubber bone.
Noel rubbed his eyes and yawned. It was late and the time away was catching up with him. He’d only been gone two days, but as it always did when he went to company HQ in San Diego, it felt like a hell of a lot longer. He put some milk on to heat, to make hot chocolate. God, he was glad to be home; even a short separation was a sharp reminder of how much he loved his little mountain town. But the Creek hadn’t been all he’d missed.
You might think you’re friends, but I think Jed has other ideas…He couldn’t shake off Kent’s comment, which hadcrawled under his skin. Kent didn’t know Jed, but he sure as hell did. Then why couldn’t he get the words out of his mind? Because if Jed did, maybe, perhaps, potentially think they could be more…?
“Jesus, get a grip.” Noel shook his head hard. What was he thinking? That Jed was suddenly thinking about him in a whole new way? Noel pushed away from the counter, all thoughts of hot chocolate forgotten. There was only one reason the idea had taken hold of him, and one reason only.
He needed to meet somebody, and fast.
Noel barked out a laugh. Meet somebody? Why not say it like it was? He needed to get laid.Properlylaid. He puffed out a long breath. He’d got as far as a fumble with Kent, but that was all. Guilt gave a little twist in his stomach. Maybe Kent had picked up that he hadn’t really, deep down, been interested in even that, let alone anything more. He bit down on his lip. Perhaps it hadn’t only been Jed who’d been a dick.
Noel slapped his palms on the counter. Okay, so things hadn’t worked out with Kent, and there was no way on this earth that anything was going to work out with Jed, no matter how hard he dreamed. Him and Jed? It was as likely as eating a grilled cheese on the moon. But this was Wyoming. This was cowboy country. And what happened if you fell off your horse? You just climbed right back on and went for another ride.
Throwing himself onto the couch, he opened up his cell where Love Heartz was ready and waiting.
“How was San Diego?” Jed grinned when Noel groaned down the phone.
“Let’s just say it was two days I’ll never get back. We started the day at 6:00am offering ourselves up to the sun’s energy, followed by a chanting session led by some guy called Starburst, with hair all the way down to his ass, before being subjected to a breakfast of raw vegetables and seeds. All to purify us for the day ahead. Jesus, we’re a software development company. It was, like, normal when HQ was based in Chicago.”
“Maybe being purified for the day contributes to the bottom line.”
On the other end of the line, Noel harrumphed. “Contributed to my indigestion. I was shitting out seeds for the two days I was there. Still am. I’m officially a finch.”
“But now you’re back.” Jed’s grin morphed into a soft smile. “Wanna have that movie night later? We’ve not had one for some time.”And I’ve missed it.Jed cleared his throat. “I’ll endure whatever sappy rom-com you want and I’ll bring pizza and?—”
“No. Not tonight. Sorry.”
Silence stretched out. Jed’s gaze fell to the collage of photographs hanging on the wall of his bedroom. A couple of him and his brother, one with favorite cousins. Every other one him and Noel, faces pressed together, arms around each other…
“Jed? You still there?”
“Not tonight. Sure. Okay. Why, have you got plans?” Jed winced. He hadn’t meant for it to sound like an interrogation. Or not so much.
The hesitation was small, but Jed didn’t miss it.
“I’ve got a date. Through the app. I mean, just because things didn’t work out with Kent…”
Jed moved his jaw from side to side, trying to ease out the sudden stiffness.
“… made the decision that if I want to meet the man of my dreams, I’ve gotta be a little more proactive, because he’s not just gonna tap me on the shoulder and say ‘hi, I’ve been here allalong’. Or perhaps he is here, down the street or only a block away and just needs a little push in the right direction. Hey, listen to me. I’m sounding like one of my rom coms. I know life’s not like that.”
“Maybe he is here, and he’s just waiting for you to notice him.”
Noel laughed, but there was something wistful, almost sad, about it. Jed stared at the photographs, charting his and Noel’s journey. Always together, holding tight to each other, holding each other up in their own, but different, ways.
“If he were, I think we’d have found each other by now. Anyway, whoever my ideal man turns out to be, he’ll have to fulfill my exacting set of requirements, which I’ve been honing over the years.”
