Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26006 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 87(@300wpm)
I had to chuckle when Noah and Hudson moved on from “Last Christmas” to “I’m Your Man” and added some Wham-worthy choreography to their routine. Neither of them could be described as graceful, but they earned bonus points for enthusiasm. It got even funnier when Hudson began narrating the steps, “Shimmy, shimmy, shimmy, spin. One, two, three, clap,” as they moved left and right.
Then Noah hurried over, grabbed my hand, and pulled me into their chorus line. We jumped and spun and shimmied in unison, and we belted out our version of the lyrics by proudly proclaiming, “We’re your men.”
7
Hudson
I woke with a start the next morning. Kel and Noah were already up, and the smell of coffee and something baking filled the air, mingling with the fresh pine scent of our Christmas tree. I tried to focus on that, instead of on the remnants of the bad dream I’d been having.
After a stop in the bathroom, I joined my boyfriends in the kitchen. Maybe it was premature to think of Noah as my boyfriend…or maybe not, given the deep feelings that had led us to this point. I found I really couldn’t think of him any other way.
He was dressed in one of my T-shirts and a pair of my plaid pajama pants, out of necessity since his clothes all needed to be washed. Meanwhile, Kel had put on one of my sweaters over his pajamas—just because he wanted to. It was huge on him, and he looked adorable. Seeing them wearing my clothes felt good, for reasons I couldn’t explain.
I kissed them both in turn, and Kel handed me a cup of coffee and said, “I hope you’re hungry, because we made way too much food. There are two dozen freshly baked cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing, and about ten pounds of something Noah calls fancy taters. They’re something like potatoes O’Brien, but they involve cheese and grilled peppers, mushrooms, and onions, and they look delicious. All that’s left is to scramble some eggs and whip up Noah’s famous guacamole. It turns out that and sour cream are the finishing touches on the potatoes, and possibly the thing that makes them fancy.”
I leaned against the counter and murmured, “That all sounds delicious.”
Noah glanced over, then immediately stopped what he was doing and crossed the kitchen to me. After he set aside my coffee cup, he drew me into an embrace and asked, “Are you alright, baby?”
“I like that,” I mumbled, as I buried my face in his shoulder. “You calling me baby, I mean. And I’m fine. I just had a bad dream, and it’s taking me a minute to shake it off.”
Kel joined the embrace and asked, “Do you want to talk about it, Sonny?”
“It’s depressing,” I muttered.
“That’s okay,” Noah said, as he nuzzled my hair. “What did you dream about?”
“That people were throwing rocks at me in an old-fashioned town square, while my dad stood by and did nothing. Talk about being way too on the nose. My subconscious isn’t even remotely subtle. The only surprising part was that my dad wasn’t throwing stones with everyone else.”
“You don’t have to come out,” Kel blurted. “That’s what it signified, right? The backlash you’re afraid will happen if you go public. But if you’re not ready—”
I interrupted with, “Let’s not talk about this now. Please? It’s a beautiful day, and we’re together in an amazing place. Can we just enjoy it? That would mean a lot to me.”
“Of course.” Kel’s smile didn’t quite chase the worry out of his eyes.
Eventually, the dream faded, and the rest of the morning went exactly as I’d hoped. After a delicious breakfast, we built up the fire and lounged around in our pajamas, alternately talking, reading, and just relaxing. Then around noon, we got ready to go for a walk.
I spent a little extra time in the bathroom and used the douching kit I’d brought along—just in case. Then I got dressed in sweats and sneakers, threw a few things in a backpack, and joined my boyfriends in the living room.
“I was going to ask if we should bring anything,” Kel said. “What did you pack?”
“Just the essentials. Three bottles of water, some protein bars, a gallon of lube.”
I flashed him a smile, and he chuckled and said, “Excellent. Sounds like we’re all set.” Then we headed out the door.
The cabin was at the top of a mountain overlooking a deep valley of lush green pines, and we followed a faint trail along the ridge line. It was still on the cold side, but we walked at a brisk pace, which warmed us right up.
After about twenty minutes, Kel took a seat on a boulder and announced, “I have a confession, which I’m sure will come as a big shock to both of you—I’m just not this outdoorsy. Also, my legs are shorter than yours, which pretty much means I’m taking a bunch more steps than either of you. Please tell me we’re not shooting for like, ten miles each way or something.”