Page 18 of Melting His Grumpy Heart
“It’s beautiful and perfect, but how does life survive in such harsh conditions?”
Jake huffed. “Nature’s resilient. Doesn’t matter how much it’s smacked to the ground, it just carries on.”
Ru threw him a glance. There was an edge to Jake’s voice, and Ru knew without any doubt he wasn’t only talking about the holly. Before he could think about it further, Jake was already moving on.
“How much do you want?” Jake produced pruning shears from his pocket.
“Just enough for a couple of arrangements,” Ru said, suddenly conscious of asking too much from this man who had already given him shelter and warmth, and now was indulging what must have seemed like a frivolous whim. “A few sprigs would be plenty.”
Jake stared down at him, his eyes narrowed. “If we’re doing this, we’re doing it properly. Not just ‘a few sprigs’.”
He began cutting generous sections of holly, handing them carefully to Ru to avoid the sharp leaves. Their gloved fingers brushed with each exchange, and despite the layers between them, each contact sent a spasm of awareness through Ru’s body. Jake stood close, his body shielding Ru from the worst of the wind. The protective gesture, performed seemingly without thought, made something in Ru’s chest constrict.
“There’s pine a bit further in.” Jake’s voice was low and close to Ru’s ear as he nodded towards the shadows of the wood. “And yew and oak, too. Traditional, ancient greenery, hijacked by Christmas.”
Ru’s brow wrinkled for a second or two before clearing. “You mean the ever increasing commercialisation of Christmas? Yes, I get what you mean.”
Jake threw him a look that suggested Ru didn’t get it one little bit. Ru’s heart fell. Jake didn’t celebrate in any shape or form, yet he’d dragged the man out in the worst weather the country had seen in years to indulge his whim for a custom Jake had no time for.
“Honestly, I think the holly will be enough.”
“I’m not mucking around with half measures. Whether or not you’d have suggested it, I was always going to come out to gather greenery.”
Before Ru could ask, if Jake didn’t much bother with Christmas why he was keen to collect more, Jake was already on the move.
They gathered small pine boughs and cones, sprigs of yew, and even some ivy that wound its way around the trees, filling the large hessian bag Jake had thought to bring.
“We need some mistletoe as well.”
A shiver danced along Ru’s spine that had nothing to do with the sub-zero temperatures.
The snow fall was not so heavy in the woods, and Jake strode over to a gnarly, ancient looking oak.
“Mistletoe’s actually pretty rare on oak trees, but this old fella always has plenty and is happy to give some up.” Jake pressed a gloved hand to the tree’s rough bark and let it linger briefly before he began to snip at the mistletoe.
“I got my first proper kiss under some mistletoe,” Ru blurted out.Oh, god, why did I say that?He could feel his cheeks burning, the deep, deep red of deeper embarrassment. “But it was plastic, as I don’t think I’ve ever seen real mistletoe before,” he muttered. Ru cringed. Did that make it even worse?
Jake gazed down at him. His eyes, Ru swore, were darker and more intense than ever.
“That’s apt, I suppose,” he said steadily, “because the white berries in the older, Celtic, pre-Christian religion represented semen.” His eyes lingered on Ru’s before his gaze dropped briefly to Ru’s mouth before he turned to resume his snipping.
A heavy weight pressed on Ru’s chest at the same time his dick fattened and twitched deep beneath the layers of clothing. He really, really didn’t want to start thinking about semen and?—
“Jizzberries. Would make a change from cranberries at this time of year.” Where the fuck had that come from? It was enough to deflate his dick, which was something.
Jake laughed, rich and loud, cutting through the layers of Ru’s embarrassment. “I wonder if it’d feature in the central aisle in Aldi.”
Ru grinned. “Oh no, I think it’s more Waitrose.”
A couple of minutes later, Jake stepped back from the tree and pocketed the shears. “Reckon we’ve got enough for now. The fog’s getting worse, and it’s growing colder. You okay?” Jake peered down at him.
“Starting to feel the cold a bit,” Ru admitted. Despite the layers of clothing, his fingers and toes were growing numb.
“Then it’s time to get back.” Jake stepped in closer, taking up all the air between them, his gaze roving over Ru’s face. “You’re looking a bit too pale. Or paler than normal. We need to get home.”
Home. The word, as it dropped from Jake’s lips, felt warm, intimate, and right, twisting something deep in Ru’s chest.
“You’re shivering,” Jake said, misinterpreting Ru’s reaction. “You need to be inside asap.”
