Page 69 of Christmas Crisis
He grunted and pressed himself closer, shoving a knee between my thighs.
I froze as my butt made contact with an unmistakable object. An unmistakablehardobject.
What the hell?
Leo’s cock was pushing against my ass. I felt it clear as day, even through our pajamas. In all the times we’d shared a bed, he’d often held me close, but as far as I could recall, he’d never gotten an erection.
It had to be biological, right? Surely, even asexual guys sprouted wood sometimes. Maybe it was friction from the sheets. Yeah, that had to be it. The friction.
I stayed still, not wanting to wake him.
He rubbed it against me again.
Jesus, Leo, give a girl a break.
I could also tell it was…big. Not shocking since so was he. I wasn’t a size queen or anything, so I didn’t care, but for the first time, I imagined what Leo might look like fully naked. I’d caught him coming out of the shower enough times to have an idea, but I’d never seen the whole, um, package.
Pushing those wayward thoughts aside, I relaxed. It was fine to let my imagination take a ride, but I never got too far without remembering Leo was ace. I’d long since resigned myself to the fact that the attraction I felt to him was entirely one-sided. My old friend limerence.
I exhaled. Sometimes a hard dick was just a hard dick. It had nothing to do with the way Leo and I felt about one another.
Unbidden, a small voice in the back of my mind asked,but what if it does?
Chapter twenty
Leo
NOW
Miranda and I prepared pasta, salad, and garlic bread together. She seemed more relaxed after the massage but not particularly talkative, so I put on records in the living room. Marley had an impressive collection of old Christmas albums.
Oscar and Bambi lay in front of the tree, snoring softly. They finally stirred when Miranda and I sat down at the table to eat, watching us with pleading eyes that would have given Oliver Twist a run for his money. I relented and grabbed Kongs fromthe freezer. I could have sworn Bambi bowed at me before taking his treat to the rug by the fireplace.
“The first thing I’m going to do when I buy a house is get a dog,” I said, watching as Oscar rolled onto his back, wriggling like a worm with the bright red Kong sticking out of his mouth.
“You’re close?” Miranda asked, and I realized it was the first time she’d spoken since we sat down.
“It depends. I could probably find something in South King County, but I’m not sure that’s what I want. If I saved up to afford a place in Seattle, I could be closer to my parents, but sometimes I think I'd prefer something farther out, with more land.”
“I could see that.”
She brought a bite of pasta to her lips and chewed slowly before taking a sip of water. I hummed along to Sammy Davis Jr. on the vinyl player.
Miranda’s phone rattled on the table, causing her to jump in her chair. She flipped it over and frowned. I caught Stone’s name before she declined his FaceTime request. As before, I wanted to ask about it, but the storm on her face kept me quiet. Seconds later, a string of texts came through. She didn’t even check them, calmly putting the device in the pocket of her leggings.
When the muffleddingsof more messages sounded from underneath the table, I raised an eyebrow.
“It’s nothing,” she said, her tone clipped.
“You sure?”
Her fork clanked against her plate as it slipped through her fingers. “Actually…don’t worry about the texts. But there is something else I want to talk about.”
“Yeah. I can tell something’s up. Did I massage you too hard? You can tell me if I suck at—”
“Stop.” She put up her hand. “The massage was great. Very informative, in fact.”
Informative? That was a strange word to—
