The Spirit Of Giving

Published by Phaze Books This is an explicit and erotic novel intended for the enjoyment of adult readers. Please keep...

Author: Kane Cat

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Published by Phaze Books

This is an explicit and erotic novel intended for the enjoyment of adult readers. Please keep out of the hands of children.

www.Phaze.com

The Spirit of Giving a Phaze Frost HeatSheet by

CAT KANE

The Spirit of Giving copyright 2007 by Cat Kane All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental. A Phaze Production

Phaze Books 6470A Glenway Avenue, #109 Cincinnati, OH 45211-5222 Phaze is an imprint of Mundania Press, LLC. To order additional copies of this book, contact: [email protected] www.Phaze.com Cover art © 2007,Debi Lewis Edited by Stacia Seaman eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-59426-793-2 eBook ISBN-10: 1-59426-793-6 First Edition – November, 2007 Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

The local radio station said the temperature was in the thirties, but

inside the beat-up old Ford it must have been somewhere in the single digits. Each breath sent a cloud of mist into the air, ephemeral heat, there and gone, and not for the first time he wished he still smoked. Wished he could still afford to smoke. They'd be looking for the car soon, but Jase couldn't quite bring himself to leave. There was the small matter of having nowhere else to go, but even more than that, he didn't want to stop watching the scene in front of him. If the glow of the store lights, beacon bright in the frosty dark, could have warmed him up, he'd have shuffled closer. But even though the sign above the door proclaimed a sparkling tinsel-edged welcome, he didn't feel it. This was someone else's world. It didn't belong to him. The Salvation Army collector huddled in the entrance, her shivers making the bell ringing a little erratic. She offered smiles and wishes of Merry Christmas even to those who didn't reach into their pockets. The optimism baffled him. Who would choose to stand in the bitter cold out of the goodness of their hearts, just to be snubbed and shunned? He'd been parked in this same spot for the best part of an hour, and he'd seen about a dozen people part with money. In that time, the parking spaces flanking his had been occupied by vehicles that cost more money than he'd ever dream of seeing in his lifetime. Jase didn't even have enough for the cigarettes he craved now, hard enough to turn his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel. Goodwill to all men, my ass... It wasn't as though it was the fault of the Christmas season, but he still felt it all the more keenly this time of year. That dividing line between the haves and the have-nots. It wasn't goodwill or festive cheer that he saw on the countless faces trooping in and out of the store, carts laden with their newly acquired junk. At worst it was a blank sort of avarice, and at best it was a resigned panic. There'd been one or two he wouldn't have bet would make it back to their cars before keeling over from the stress etched into their faces. He wondered if the inside was the same as he'd always seen on TV

THE SPIRIT OF GIVING

shows and read about in books, last minute shoppers fighting over the last of this year's must have toys, carts clashing and a distinct lack of merry all around. He'd never seen it himself, never had the opportunity. Christmas in his house had consisted of whatever his dad had managed to buy at the gas station or the convenience store on the way home from the bar on Christmas Eve. For several years the staple gift had been a coloring book and a bag of Doritos. It didn't exactly make a kid believe in Santa. Jase tried telling himself he wasn't missing much, but the conviction fell a little flat. He didn't want to go inside, despite his curiosity. It would ruin the fantasy. But when he caught sight of the sheriff's car prowling the fringes of the parking lot, there was nowhere else to go. For all he knew, the cops left their shopping till the last minute too, but he couldn't afford to take that chance. The cold bit through his worn jacket as he got out of the car, huddling as much as he could. Hands stuffed into empty pockets, he hurried toward the store entrance. The Salvation Army lady smiled at him and wished him a Merry Christmas, but he could barely meet her eyes. Inside, the store looked like someone had let all the freaks out early for the holidays. He'd imagined crazy, but nothing on this scale. Most of the displays were empty and messy, their trimmings and labels falling off the shelves and being trampled underfoot in the frenzy. Lines at the checkouts stretched deep into the aisles. He could quite easily get lost in the crowd, but there was the mild fear that if he waded into all this, he'd never get back out. Besides, wandering around with no cart and no money would draw too much suspicion, even from these people with nothing but their purchases on their minds. The noise barely let him think, the static of the store's announcement system mingling with tinny carols and the dull roar of voices, none of them distinguishable from the other. He'd started a little way into the war zone before the sickly synthetic scents of candy cane and eggnog forced him back. It had been better as a fantasy, he decided grimly, fighting his way back toward the exit and wondering if he could hide in the bathrooms for a while, or at the very least leave a different way to which he came in, in case he was really being watched.

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But then they said the best place to hide was in plain sight. It wasn't as though he'd planned it, but one more black mark against his character wasn't going to make that much of a difference now. And the abandoned cart seemed like his own personal gift-wrapped present from the Universe, sitting there by the toy-grabbing machines, cooing at him to take it home. He'd be doing the poor thing a favor. And if he strolled out of here looking just like every other anonymous schmuck, he'd slip through any net that might be closing around him. There didn't seem to be anyone nearby ready to lay claim to the cart, and if anyone was dumb enough to walk off and leave all their stuff, that was hardly Jase's problem. His conscience prickled a little at that. He placated it by promising to ditch the cart, its contents intact, as soon as he could so the dumbass who really owned this stuff might actually be able to retrieve it. If he hesitated now, someone would surely notice and raise the alarm. So he grabbed the cart handle as though he'd owned it all along, and walked out of the store. * *** The gum-chewing girl at the hair salon had about six colors in her hair and took about six hours just to make an appointment for Aunt Bree's hairdo. Personally, Riley thought it was a weird thing to want for Christmas, but he supposed it made more sense than getting a bunch of crap she didn't need. Even if the bunch of crap would've worked out cheaper. She kept looking at his hair while she flicked through the appointment book, as though he wanted to come in for a perm and highlights for himself. He was that close to feeling incredibly uncomfortable under such scrutiny when she cocked her head and drawled, "You get that done here?" "Get what done?" He managed to resist the urge to reach up and touch his hair, in case it had turned green. "The color. That's not real, right?" He did reach up then, fingers combing awkwardly through messy strands the color of polished mahogany. While he loved his mom dearly for the color, he despised her for the fact he'd inherited just a touch of her curls, enough to make it tuft and kink in unruly choppy waves if he grew it anywhere past his ears. All in all, the love and hate balanced out

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into the usual non-emotion he reserved for her. Aunt Bree had promised this year that if his mom came to the door, she wasn't going to let her in. He'd thought that was a bit harsh, seeing as it was Christmas and all. But the last time his mom showed up, it had been with the entire family of some rat bastard she was seeing. They'd stayed for three weeks, only leaving when said rat bastard apparently heard of some sure-thing job opportunity three states away. Bree had asked if it bothered him, and Riley had shrugged and said it was her house. What he hadn't added, for fear of embarrassing them both, was that she'd been more a mom to him than anyone else, and whatever she wanted to do with her Christmas was fine by him. He figured the hair salon girl didn't need to know any of that, and just smiled a little shyly, tugging self-consciously on his hair again. "Yeah, it's real." She snapped her gum. "Oh." Finally getting Bree's appointment scheduled for five thirty Christmas Eve--she hadn't said it in so many words, but if she could show off a new hairdo to the ladies at Christmas Eve mass, it'd be a bonus--he edged back out through the throng of little old ladies who were evidently planning their own hairdo contests. He hadn't even been able to bring his damn cart into the salon through the narrow little entryway, he'd reluctantly had to leave it in the entranceway if he wanted any chance of getting through to the desk before the damn store closed for the holidays. It didn't register for the longest moment that the cart wasn't where he’d left it. It took less time, though, to realize the cart wasn't anywhere. He stood there for a moment, feeling a chill of panic that had nothing to do with the cold air blasting in each time the automatic doors swished open, trying to school his hands to stay at his sides instead of reaching out stupidly for the missing cart. He must have looked as dumb and bewildered as he felt. The door greeter frowned at him for a moment before finally asking, "You all right, hon?" "I..." He shook his head, asking the most unintelligent thing that came to mind. "Did you see my cart?" "You've lost your cart?" The door greeter asked, and even in his state, Riley wondered how it was possible to come up with a dumber

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response than his initial question. "No, I...it was right here, I just went into the hair salon for a couple of minutes, but it was right here." He punctuated "right" and "here" with generous, desperate arm-waving, blocking off a space of empty air where the cart had once stood, as though that was helpful. The greeter just stared at him, an icy glint forming in her eyes as though he'd just started drooling and crying. "You just left it here? You didn't have somebody watching it?" "Well, no, but--" "You walked off and just left it there?" The possibility that he'd inhaled some weird fumes in the hair salon, and as a result was both imagining a missing cart and hearing things twice, seemed more likely by the second. He took a breath, forcing himself to regain a little calm, a little patience. "I was only gone a couple of minutes, and it was right here. I mean, you were standing right there, I didn't think it was that big a risk." She sniffed, bristling. "Are you telling me how to do my job, young man?" "No," well, yeah, kinda "I just thought it'd be safe with you standing right there." "Well now, that was pretty irresponsible of you, wasn't it?" Sighing, she reached for her radio, bells jingling cheerily on her name badge, as though the very act of helping out such a dumbass as him weighed heavily on her. "Do you have any idea how many carts come through here? Did it have your name on it? How exactly are we supposed to know it was yours?" He wasn't up for a fight. He wanted his possessions back and he wanted to go home. "I'm sorry, ma'am. Is there anything you can do to help me find my stuff?" She eyed him sceptically, speaking to someone on the other end of the radio. "Can I get security to door two, please?" A reply came through a couple of seconds later, crackly gibberish that Riley didn't understand, but a language in which the door greeter seemed to be fluent. "Someone'll be along shortly, but there's really not a lot we can do. You could check around the door if you like, see if you can spot anything that's yours." Like my mind? 'Cause I think I've just lost that too. "Thank you, ma'am." He offered as much of a smile as he could

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muster before trudging off toward the door, hoping fervently that it was just kids playing a prank, or even the very early onset of senility and he'd find the cart outside. It'd even be worth another lecture from the door greeter. There was nothing outside but cars and people and cold. He wrapped his arms tightly around himself as he futilely scanned the nearest edge of the parking lot, hoping someone might have taken his cart by mistake and just dumped it, or even just taken the cart because there weren't any left for new shoppers. He didn't care why, he just didn't want to go back to Bree with the news that he'd managed to lose all the kids' presents. He'd known it was a mistake for her to give him the money and tell him to take care of buying her gifts too, but she'd been working extra shifts and wouldn't have time, so he hadn't argued. Now, staring out hollowly at the brimming parking lot, he wished he had. **** Out of sight between an Explorer, a pick-up and the back fence of the parking lot, Jase kept an eye out for anyone following him as he poked at the contents of the cart. He still didn't plan on taking anything, but the brightly colored boxes and packages that peeked out from the bags made him curious. So what if living someone else's Christmas was probably the most pathetic thing he'd ever done, it wasn't as though anyone would find out. One bag was almost full of gaudily colored Christmas picks, their wire stems and plastic pinecones jabbing his fingers, the pain sharpened beyond tolerable by the cold. The shiny little parcels had begun dropping off a couple of them, and enough glitter was collecting at the bottom of the bag to cover a small third-world country. Who the hell wanted a whole bag of this trash? Even the most tasteful of the little decorations, with vaguely realistic holly leaves and little plastic trumpets and drums, wasn't something he'd have let past his front door. If he had one. If the tacky decor just heightened the intrigue, the next bag stirred up a little more unease. He'd never really known what toys were even when he'd been a kid. He sure as hell had no idea what kids were succumbing to peer pressure and crappy commercials for these days, but the stuff in the bag was probably a good cross section. A little robot in a beat-up box. Some kind of Barbie in a poofy dress and enough pink to make him go blind. Two

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board games, neither of which was Candy Land, the only game he knew, by dint of it being the only game they'd had in the house when he was a kid. He'd always been able to gauge the state of his parents' relationship by it: if his mother was drunk, out came Candy Land; if his dad had just hit him and his mother felt guilty, out came Candy Land; if Jase was home from school because his dad had spent the money his mother had set aside for some field trip, out came Candy Land. He was pretty relieved for the recipients of these gifts that they wouldn't have to make that association. Another bag held three different stuffed animals--two bears and something that might have been a monkey, one little pretend make-up kit with eye shadow the shade of blue he'd only seen on middle-aged women in trailer parks and two sets of plastic pirate swords--one of which already had a bend in the blade. Several bags of candy were tempered by the more sensible offering of three pairs of socks--one with little pink bears, and two with some kind of dinosaur, and three pairs of gloves. Incongruously enough, the last bag held a coloring book and a long-ass set of colored pencils almost as wide as the cart, a foot massager gift set, and a packet of cigarettes. Well...okay. Maybe he'd take the cigarettes. But really he was doing the owner a favor; they shouldn't be smoking around those kids anyway. He almost tossed out the coloring book too, but reasoned that there weren't any Doritos and this wasn't some surreal flashback brought on by the cold and lack of nicotine. He had the packet open, one cigarette between his lips, cursing the fact that he had nothing to light the damn thing with, when the owner of the pick-up returned. "Hey, what're you doing?" Well, shit. Pasting on a cocky grin around the cigarette, Jase shrugged. "Ah, nothing, was just wondering where I'd lost my lighter is all." "You ain't gonna dump your cart right here, are you?" The driver looked at him suspiciously, as though a plastic cart could do more damage to the front of the truck than several signposts and years of rust already had. "There's a place for carts right over there." "Yeah, I was heading over there." Jase nodded, picking up the bags. He could hardly just leave them there, not now he'd been careless enough to let someone catch him with them. Still, he paused

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contemplatively as he passed the driver. "Hey, you got a light?" The driver still watched him warily, but reached into the pocket of a flannel coat for a shiny metal lighter. The flame flared on the third click, crackling delicately in the cold air, and Jase's eyes fluttered closed as he leaned in, lighting the cigarette and sucking down a lung full of the drug he'd been craving so badly all night. "Thanks, man." He cracked another grin, the rush of nicotine helping the smile along nicely. "Merry Christmas." He felt the driver's suspicious gaze on him all the way over to the cart stand. He supposed it stood to reason; he was engaging in suspicious activity now, albeit not entirely of his own free will. The cigarettes, yeah. The rest of some poor sap's screwy Christmas shopping? Not so much. When he looked around for somewhere else to dump the shopping, somewhere it wouldn't get taken by a real--and better--thief, his gaze landed on the store entrance. There was nothing about the guy standing there that should have given him pause, except maybe that he had a girl's hair color. But the stance, the nervous glances, the fidgeting, the way the guy looked one fret away from wringing his hands and whimpering, convinced him he was looking at the poor sap who owned the bags of junk he carried. He'd have put it down to guilt, to anxiety, if the guy hadn't been joined by a couple of security staff. Jase couldn't hear them from this distance, but the looks and gestures were enough. The guy ran his hands through that oddly colored hair and Jase couldn't help notice the way it caught and reflected the twinkling lights around the doors. The security guys shrugged noncommittally, and even from his vantage point, Jase could see the guy's shoulders slump. Shit... Seeing the little stuffed animals and games had been one thing, but seeing this guy torn up over a few bags of tacky trash Jase wouldn't even have donated to the Salvation Army lady was a new low entirely. The security guys roused themselves from apathy long enough to ask the guy a few questions, all of which were met with a negative shake of the head. One of them spoke at length, and even without the added bonus of being able to hear him, he looked as though his droning was putting the poor guy to sleep. Eventually they gave the guy a sheet of paper and asked a few more questions, this time writing down the

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answers as they were given. That was all they were going to do? Ask questions and give out a pamphlet? Well, damn; had Jase known that, he might have stolen a cart sooner. He snorted a laugh as he realized he was only half kidding. For the longest moment, the guy stood rooted to the sidewalk in front of the store, as though he believed that if he stayed there long enough, the stuff would magically reappear. Jase decided he was lucky that the guy eventually moved off, threading dejectedly through the parking lot toward the bus stop on the highway. One more minute and Jase would have run toward him, bags offered out like some deranged elf, anything to wipe away the sadness. Funny, he never set out to make people sad, but it was always the way it turned out. He followed the guy, hiding as best he could in between trucks and cars. At least, he thought, if he could see which bus the guy caught, figured out where he was going, he'd have a better chance of returning the gifts. The highway was packed nose to tail with traffic. He couldn't see any cops, but if he'd tried getting through this in the stolen car, he'd be a sitting target. From the lines of taillights snaking away into the distance and further into town, he might have been sitting there till February. It was quicker on foot, even if it meant freezing his ass off. The sparse grass along the verge by the highway glittered like stars with the frost and crunched beneath his boots as he walked. He couldn't quite believe he was going to follow this guy home like some forlorn puppy. But the bags felt like a dead weight in his hands, and the guilt weighed even heavier. Doing the right thing just sucked, he decided. Sucked big time. The guy got onto a bus heading for Heath Street, and for the first time since this mess began, Jase felt his luck turn. Heath Street was just across the railway tracks and on the far side of a large, disused park. With the traffic as heavy as it was, he'd probably beat the bus there. Taking a seat on the bus, the guy leaned his head against the window, staring out blankly at the bustling traffic. If Jase hadn't already decided to follow, that look would have convinced him faster than he could blink. He was already past the tracks and ducking down a side street before the bus even joined the rush-hour traffic. It made very little

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progress, and he could keep an eye on it as it sat at the lights for an eternity while he cut across the park toward the neighborhood of small, unremarkable houses. He watched the guy disappear into a neat but shabby little house, with Christmas lights in every window and a decrepit light-up reindeer standing precariously on what passed for a front yard. The door closed, and Jase sighed. The guy hadn't looked old enough to have kids who'd fit the presents, but hell, who knew? He was probably in there right now groveling to a battle-axe wife or girlfriend, explaining what happened and being bitched out 'cause damn it, she wanted that footcare gift set! For a moment, Jase paused, half expecting to hear shrieking or china breaking. There was nothing, just the sound of the wind and traffic and the soft whir of the reindeer raising and lowering its head, pretending to chew on the sparse grassy patch by the front porch. He should take the stuff back, right now. After all, he was right here. Hell, he could just ring the doorbell, leave the stuff on the porch, and run. The reindeer lifted its head as he passed, and Jase gave it a halfhearted glare. Yeah, it was all going to work out, nice and easy. **** The house was quiet when Riley stepped inside, shrugging out of his jacket. He found room for it on the coat rack by the door, between Bree's monstrous fake-fur leopard-print coat and myriad small parkas. He'd half hoped to be accosted as soon as he walked in the door. Delaying the inevitable wasn't an appealing prospect. But there was no stampede of little feet, no Bree hovering at the door to run interference while he hid the presents in the closet. Instead, he found his aunt in the kitchen, entertaining a coffee, a cigarette and some sleazy tabloid magazine that recounted the latest escapades of would-be celebrities that Riley had never heard of. The cigarette, held between deep red painted nails, bobbed almost in time with the echoes of Jim Reeves singing "Silver Bells" that purred from the radio on the windowsill. She looked up and smiled when she saw him, immediately stubbing out the cigarette in deference of Riley's dislike of the habit. "You got done quick."

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"Where are the kids?" "Ah, Leona took them to some Santa grotto, winter wonderland something or other at the mall." "Oh." "Did you get everything?" Bree looked at him, eyes smiling and as excited as the absent kids:truth and good intention fell flat into a sacrificial holly bush. "Yeah." Of course it wasn't technically a lie; he had gotten everything. He just didn't have it anymore. "Awesome!" She beamed, then paused. "Where is it all, I want to see!" This was exactly why he hated lying and steered clear of it whenever possible. For one, he sucked at it, and for two, no-one ever just took his word for it; they insisted on asking more questions. "I left them at a buddy's house." Bree stared. "A buddy's house," she repeated. "Yeah. 'Cause I'd forgotten the wrapping paper." It was scary, really, how the lie took on a life of its own, adding layers and embellishments. "And you know what they're like, squirreling out presents if they aren't hidden and wrapped. So he said I could leave them at his place till I can pick up paper tomorrow." She was suspicious, he could tell by the way her lips pursed, tugging at the fine crow's feet around the corner of her mouth. Yeah, he was probably lucky that his mom was the younger, prettier sister. But even so, her kids were the cutest little things he'd seen. Looks were deceiving. The thought of disappointing them was like a kick to the gut. He'd have to replace the gifts somehow. The store security guys had told him in no uncertain terms that the store would not claim any responsibility for the loss of goods that he'd paid for. They were his goods now, not theirs, and as such, his problem, not theirs. They'd also told him in less certain terms that he was a fricking dumbass for leaving the cart unattended in a store lobby the week before Christmas. They'd said they would get back to him once the head of security had taken a look at the surveillance tapes. At least there might be enough caught on tape that he could take the matter to the cops. But he doubted the cops

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would be any more sympathetic to a dumb kid losing his cart full of Christmas toys than the security guys had been. And as often as they'd repeated it, it'd take days before they'd get around to his case, he doubted anything would get done any time soon. The gifts were a lost cause. The only option he had left was to find the money to replace them. Considering how hard it had been to gather together the money in the first place, the only option wasn't necessarily going to be the easiest option. "Is he a reliable sort, this buddy?" "Oh, totally. He goes to school with me." And wasn't it school, wasn't it him, that meant money was tight in the first place? Even if Bree wouldn't have it any other way, and was adamant he was going to be the first one in this sorry family to make his way through college, it still left Riley feeling furiously guilty. "Oh," Bree said. "Well, as long as you get them back by tomorrow." "'Course. Not a problem." "Okay." Bree stood, closing the magazine, and finishing off the coffee. "I gotta go get ready. You gonna be home for a while? You can watch the cookies for me. There's two trays in there right now and another six need baking." Riley laughed despite himself. "Cookies? You're baking?" "Yeah, figured why not screw up the habit of a lifetime." Bree rolled her eyes. "Got roped into doing shit for some bake sale at Carly's school tomorrow." He tried to keep a straight face. It was more than his ass was worth if he laughed at her any more than he already had. Domestic goddess, Bree was most certainly not. "Yeah, but...cookies?" "Snowman shaped." Bree's glare was warning enough not to utter another word. "Don't ask." "Wasn't gonna." Riley mock-saluted, chuckling as she flipped him off before stalking off toward her room. Then the brief moment of respite was gone, and alone with cookies and guilt, he still had to figure out a way to pay for a new set of gifts. He was cataloguing all the things he could try selling when the noise startled him. Usually, the sound of something crashing heavily into the front yard wasn't a cause for celebration, but distracting him from his thoughts as it did, he almost believed it was Santa. And it was, sort of. Well, it was a reindeer. Their reindeer. The

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dollar-store plastic thing with rope lights glued on, that creaked every time the neck moved and whose light-bulbs were already obsolete. Only it wasn't grazing in the yard as it should have been. When Riley opened the front door, it was a tangle of lights and cables, wrapped around the ankles of a strange man sprawled on their porch. Riley blinked. If it was Santa, then he was younger and cuter than any Christmas card ever portrayed. **** "Goddamnit...!" Jase had been so busy staring at that damn reindeer and the plethora of lights that made the little house look like Vegas or some kind of radiation accident, he'd missed the winding power cable that lit the stupid reindeer. By the time he'd realized, he was already inches from truly wishing he had his two front teeth for Christmas, barely missing smacking his face into the porch step. Jase got run over by a reindeer... "Fuck, fuck..." "Are you okay?" The small voice from the front door froze him harder than the cold. There went being Anonymous Claus. "Ah, yeah. I just, uh...tripped." He offered up a smile, standing and straightening, dusting himself off as if to show no harm done. Freezing took a whole new meaning when he got a look at the cart's owner close up. It wasn't just the hair that looked as though it belonged on a girl. Long doe-like lashes framed eyes the color of the ocean--not the kind Jase used to drive to when he'd actually had his own car, but the kind he'd only seen in travel brochures, a deep blue-green. That hair made those eyes look even bigger and more startled, though he supposed the whole falling onto the porch thing was enough to startle anyone, especially since this guy wasn't having a good day to begin with. Wonderful. I gotta go rob the hot guy... "Yeah, we need to fix that cable there." The guy ran a hand through that exotic hair, laughing nervously. "I'm really sorry." A pause. "Uh...can I help you with something?" Oh, baby, fuck yeah. With plenty of things. Jase shook off the thought, wryly wishing he'd landed front-first in snow. It'd do instead of a cold shower. Evidently the knowledge that he was only here to surreptitiously ditch the things he'd stolen from this guy

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like some superstore Grinch wasn't enough. "Ah, I uh..." Think, Jase. With the head on your shoulders. "I was, uh...at the store a little while ago, and…" he offered out the bags, watching those eyes light up brighter than any Christmas decoration, "and I saw some kids messing around with a cart..." "Oh, thank you!" The guy's smile was warm and sweet enough that for a moment it blotted out the cold, the dark. Damn, if he was going to cry... "When I took them to the guys at the door," Jase went on, just in case weeping was imminent, "they pointed you out, but you'd already gotten on the bus, or I'd have gotten them to you sooner." "Oh, you didn't have to bring them all the way out here!" "Ah, it was just a couple of blocks." "Even so." The guy smiled at him like he was some kind of savior. "You don't know how happy I am right--" "Riley?" A scary looking woman poked her head around the door, and Jase almost fell off the porch a second time. No. Oh, no, this gorgeous boy wasn't shacking up with that? She eyed him suspiciously. Smart lady. "Who's this?" "Well..." She caught sight of the bags, and smiled suddenly. "Oh, so this is your buddy?" Buddy? Huh. Jase didn't think he'd hit his head when he fell... The guy, Riley, then looked at him with a desperate glint in his eyes and forced a smile through gritted teeth. If there was anything Jase recognized, it was a lie in progress. Shit, he was a lie in progress. Still, he was more comfortable with his own harmless little deception than other people's weird scams. "Yeah. He, uh...couldn't keep the stuff at his place after all." "Hmmph." The woman folded her arms across an ample chest. "I thought you said he was reliable?" "It's not his fault." "Well, they're safer here anyway." She spoke to the kid, but her gaze remained locked on him. "So. You go to school with Riley, huh?" Wow. Such a big web of lies for such an innocent looking kid. It was a good thing Jase was here now, he could keep Riley from digging an even bigger hole. "Yes, ma'am." He smiled, his most charming grin, all but feeling the

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relieved sigh emanating from the kid. "I'm Jase. Sorry about the whole present thing," more than you know, "but y'know how it is, stuff came up, it being Christmas and all." "Well, can't be helped, I suppose." She shrugged, her entire pose softening at the smile. Sometimes he was so good he scared himself. Instead, she turned the vague annoyance at the kid. "Riley, don't leave your friend standing out there in the cold after he brought the stuff over!" "Well, I...I..." Not waiting for Riley to finish off his stammered response, she herded them indoors. "Coffee, Jase?" "Uh, sure. Thanks." "Sure, it's--" She stared past him as, bewildered as fuck and grateful as all get-out, Jase followed the equally baffled Riley into the little Christmas grotto house. "Lordy! What happened to the reindeer?" **** Last he'd checked it was December, not April, but as foolish as he felt, it might as well have been. The lie was snowballing, huge and out of control. He was just lucky that this stranger had not only been kind enough to return the gifts, but had gone along with the lie and hadn't blown his story. He should have been relieved the stuff was back--and he was--but right now all Riley could think about was the explanations he'd have to make as soon as Bree left. She didn't seem in too much of a hurry, having served up another cup of coffee for herself as well as for the two of them, and was busily interrogating a stranger as to his close friendship with her nephew. "So, how come we haven't heard about you before, Jase?" she asked, shooting Riley a pointed look. To his credit, Jase--if that was really his name--hadn't flinched at the onslaught of questions. Riley figured he owed this guy in a big way. "Ah, we only just met recently." Jase smiled, shrugging. "It never came up before." He glanced at Riley, winked, and smiled back at Bree. "He told me a lot about you, though, all of it good." Bree laughed out loud, a twinkle in her eyes that said she was utterly charmed, even if she wasn't utterly convinced. "Oh he did, huh?" "Absolutely." Jase smiled, sipping his coffee. Riley marvelled at the

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confidence, the ease with which he was speaking to a total stranger as if he knew every last thing about her. And, well, it wasn't all that he marvelled at. Truth be told, Bree wasn't the only one charmed. He half wished this guy really did go to the same school, if only for the chance to see such an attractive view more often. "Well boys, I gotta get going." Bree stood eventually, and it took all Riley's willpower not to sigh in relief. "Don't be a stranger, okay, Jase? It was good meeting you. I'm glad Riley's hanging out with a polite young man like you." Riley fought a blush while Jase smiled, self-assured and selfeffacing all at once. "Yeah, well, I hope I'll get to know you all better." Bree was still smiling like a schoolgirl as she left for work. Riley waited till the choking, wheezing sounds of her old Ford faded into the distance before turning to Jase, trying to figure out how best to form an apology. "I...I'm sorry, about all that." "Ah, don't worry about it." Dark eyes danced mischievously. "She didn't know your stuff'd gone missing, huh?" Riley did blush then, at Jase's smile and the uncannily close guess. "No, she didn't." Jase watched him for a moment, head canted curiously. "What were you gonna do, then? If you don't mind me asking. I mean..." He trailed off, frowning slightly. "You thought the cops'd find your stuff or something?" "No." Riley shook his head. "I kinda got the brush-off by the guys at the store, so I doubt anyone's gonna follow up on anything. 'Sides, it was just kids screwing around, and I don't wanna get them in trouble right before Christmas. And I got everything back, thanks to you." He smiled. "I don't know what I'd have done. Sold stuff to raise the money and tried to buy it all over again, I guess. I'm kinda glad I don't have to, though." "It's nothing, really." Jase looked decidedly uncomfortable with the gratitude. "No, it's something." Riley persisted. "Most people would have just dumped it, or sold it off themselves." "Yeah, well..." Jase chuckled softly, the sound not quite amusement. "I'm not most people."

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Riley smiled. "But you are Jase, right?" "Yeah." The laugh was lighter this time, more sincere. "And you're Riley." "Yeah. And sorry about Bree, she's just kinda...protective." "So who is she to you? In case she accosts me again sometime. I mean, she's not your mom, right?" "She's my aunt." "Ah." Jase grinned. "Can't really see the family resemblance." "That's just as well." Riley laughed softly. "So who are you really? Except for being a good Samaritan and not going to my college?" "Ah..." There was that evasiveness again. For someone who seemed quite adept at charming the pants off strangers within moments of meeting them, the guy seemed reluctant to talk about himself. "Y'know, the usual. Trying to get by, hanging out in store parking lots in case people's carts go missing." "You didn't go out of your way to bring this stuff back, did you? 'Cause I'd give you a ride home, but Bree's taken the car now, and--" "Nah, it's fine. I'm staying at a friend's place over on Fourth Street while he's out of town over the holidays. Other than that I'm kinda...in between things." Jase paused, a strange look crossing his face. "And...am I still concussed from the reindeer thing, or can I smell something burning?" Riley blinked, sniffed. "Oh shit, the cookies!" Despite the panic, he made a note of the fact that Jase followed him as he bolted toward the kitchen. It seemed like an important detail to remember for future reference, somehow. It felt...nice. The cookies hadn't fared so well. They lay curled into charcoalblack piles that resembled little turds more than little snowmen. Acrid smoke billowed from the tray as he turned to douse them in the sink. "Lemme get that." Jase leaned past him to open the window when Riley couldn't reach without dropping the tray, lava hot even through Bree's frog-shaped oven mitt. He glanced at the cookies and bit back a chuckle. "Funny, you don't look like the baking type." "They're not mine," Riley protested. "They're Bree's. Besides, what does the baking type look like, anyway?"

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Jase did laugh then. "Not like you." Riley tipped the ruined cookies into the trash before depositing a new unbaked sheet of fresh cookies into the over, praying they didn't smell of smoke at school tomorrow. Bree'd be pissed. She'd only entrusted two simple things to him, and he'd almost screwed up both. He would have, if it wasn't for Jase. "Thank you. Again." "Well, can't have the Christmas cookies ruined." There was an indefinable edge to the words, even through the ever-present charming smile. If Riley didn't know better, and he didn't really, he'd have called it bitterness. "You guys really go all out for the holidays, huh?" "Bree does. Mostly to keep her kids entertained." "You don't like it?" "I don't like the stress of it." Riley's smile was wry. "Bree takes it so seriously, and I can't even do stuff like shopping and cookie-baking properly." "You look like you're doing a damn fine job to me." Jase shook his head. "But in that case, we should go do something that's non-stressful for you." Riley looked up, stared. "We should?" "Sure!" Jase grinned. "My treat. 'Cause I get the feeling you deserve it, and no-one should feel on edge over the holidays." "Oh, I couldn't, I mean—" "Sure you could." The same persuasive charm that had left Bree so smitten was back in full force. "C'mon. Trust me, hanging out with you guys today has been the best time I've had over the holidays in a very long time. Even considering you tried to kill me with a plastic reindeer and nuked cookies." The self-effacing grin was back too, and Riley wasn't faring well under the onslaught. "It'd be fun, right?" He didn't doubt it would be. And he was almost certain Jase was flirting with him. Granted, he didn't have a whole lot of experience to draw on. If he was ever on the receiving end of flirting, it was usually the girls who made a beeline for him, not the guys he wished would. He put it down to most of them wanting to ask about his hair. "Well...okay, I guess." "Good." Jase grinned, evidently satisfied with himself. "What're you doing tomorrow?" The smile curled Riley's lips all of its own accord.

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"Something with you, apparently." "Well, wanna go for lunch? Then we can figure out what else to do that'll work off your stress." Oh, the images that careened through Riley's mind at that suggestion. Jase better be flirting. It'd be pretty damn embarrassing if Riley jumped him, otherwise. "Okay." Jase smiled. "Then it's a date." **** All the way home, in between shivering and cursing the winter in general, Jase wondered what the hell he'd been thinking, asking the kid out. Maybe it was the smile. Maybe it was those eyes. Maybe it was the unguarded happiness on Riley's face when he realized his gifts had been returned. Maybe it was the adorable defensiveness when Jase had ribbed him about the cookies. It didn't matter. Fact was, he'd started this whole thing off with a lie, and he knew it. Though Lord knew he hadn't lied to Riley about anything else, right down to telling the kid where he really lived. Lived being a subjective term. He hadn't even bothered turning on the lights when he got home. He didn't want to see the drab peeling walls, or the unidentifiable stains the previous occupants had left on the carpet. Instead he pretended the glow from the gas station across the street were the sparkles from the Christmas lights in Riley's window, and shivered himself to sleep. If he dreamed, he didn't recall. Just woke to the grey light of morning, and his breath misting in front of his face. He hardly planned on bringing Riley back to this hole, but found himself picking up the place anyway. A raid on the pockets of his pants as he folded them away found a stack of quarters for the old heating meter, because if nothing else, he was certain Riley wouldn't like it here if it was this cold. The quarter stash meant he had to entertain Riley for a day on the grand total of seven twenty-six, but hell, there had to be good shit to do around this damn city for free. If not, well... He endured a cold shower, for the benefit of making the quarter stash last as long as it could. It helped that the cold quelled the odd little flares of eagerness that trailed along with every single thought of having

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Riley here with him. It was crazy. He didn't even know if... The thought trailed off like the last of the cold water down the stained shower drain, replaced by an image of Riley's smile. Fuck it. If the kid was straight, he didn't seem all that certain about it. And if Jase had any inherent skill, it was the ability to persuade an Eskimo that he really needed that extra ice-cube, the one that was better and more special than all the ice-cubes he already had. He was feeling pretty damn confident as he strolled over to Riley's, steps memorized from the night before. It was just as cold now as it had been then, but the thought that he was going to that warm, weird little house instead of leaving it for that dingy little room kept him warm. The reindeer had been righted and was back grazing the yellowing grass in front of the house. Jase sent it a rueful grin, taking a careful step over the cable that, in daylight, lay rather obviously across the path. Riley opened the door before he even had a chance to knock, and judging by the blush and the smile, Jase decided he'd been waiting and watching for him. The kid really needed to quit being so cute or the damn reindeer was going to get more of an eyeful than Jase intended. "Hey." "Hey yourself." Riley smiled, running a hand through his hair in a sweet gesture that Jase was rapidly finding addictive. He pretended to scan the yard, a mock-frown creasing his brow. "What, no surprise presents? No demolishing our front yard? Not like you, Jase." "Ah, it's too early in the day for both." Jase shoved his hands in his pockets, rocked back on his heels slightly. Damned if he didn't feel as though he was going courting. If schmaltzy Christmas songs began playing from the ether, he was going to have to strangle himself with the reindeer cable. "Oh, yeah, about that..." Riley began, looking sheepish. "You haven't changed your mind, have you?" "No, no it's nothing like that." Any minute now, Riley was going to start squirming, and then Jase would be completely lost. It was like dating a cute little thing meant for the front of a Hallmark card. Dating. Hallmark cards. What the hell was wrong with him? "I just kinda promised Bree I'd go over to this little bake sale at the kids' school. I mean, you don't have to tag along if you don’t want to, we could just meet up later or something if—"

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"Are the infamous cookies gonna be at this bake sale?" Riley laughed. "Yeah." "Then I'd love to go." Jase grinned, then paused thoughtfully. "Think I can cadge a free cookie since I helped save them from being nuked?" "Probably." Riley smiled, turning to lock the front door. "Just don't tell Bree. She doesn't know I almost burned down the house, and the smell had mostly gone by the time she got home." Jase followed him off the porch, past the reindeer, and out toward the street. Riley had to stop every few steps to rewrap the long, loose ends of a home-knit scarf around his neck, and every time Jase watched him, he had to fight the urge to do the wrapping himself, just to make sure the kid was warm enough. "Won't say a word. Scout's honor." Riley gave him a yeah, right look over his shoulder. "Were you really a scout?" "Of course!" There he went again, telling the truth. It was unsettling. "For about two weeks. Then I put my knot-tying badge to use tying a little fat kid called Bobby Rodriguez to a signpost while the neighborhood kids were playing cowboys and indians." "They kicked you out for that?" Riley scrunched up his nose, puzzled. "No, they kicked me out 'cause they had to call the fire department to cut him free. And that was after the local stray dog'd taken a deep and meaningful liking to Bobby's leg." Riley stared, then burst out laughing. "Wow. You sounded like a devious little kid. Am I gonna be safe out with you?" Yielding to that temptation, Jase reached out, tugging at the ends of Riley's scarf before tucking them snugly around his collar. "Yeah. I think you are." That adorable blush graced Riley's cheeks as he smiled. Even if the blush clashed horribly with his hair and the multi-colored mohair of the scarf, it was still one of the prettiest things Jase had seen. "Good. 'Cause you know, if you don't behave yourself, I have a reindeer and I know how to use it." The children's elementary school was only a few blocks away from the house. The late morning was brisk with shoppers and traffic, but Jase didn't mind the meandering stroll; it was unexpectedly pleasant, just

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walking together in comfortable silence. Part of him wished they could just keep doing that forever. Jase hadn't been inside a school since he'd left his own high school six years before, but it was like being thrown into a particularly unpleasant time warp. There was a pervasive smell of paint and bleach, and everything sounded so much louder than it should as it echoed through the halls. The walls were lined with paintings of things he wouldn't dare attempt to identify for fear of upsetting some poor kid who'd drawn a dinosaur that Jase thought was a spaceship. He didn't like children much. He'd never liked them when he was one, and he'd barely liked himself then either. He almost wished he'd taken up Riley's offer and waited this out. But Riley seemed so happy and enthusiastic to be here, Jase was just glad he was there to see it. "So how many kids does your aunt have?" "Two boys and one girl." Riley smiled, the affection and pride in his voice wrapping around Jase like a warm blanket. "They all go to the same school, so that makes it easier." Jase considered attending three different bake sales and suppressed a grimace. They rounded a corner, and the chatter of high-pitched little voices hit him like a nose dive into a brick wall. "You can still leave, you know." Riley glanced at him. "And miss the cookies when I'm this close?" Jase grinned, mentally steeling himself. "Never." They'd barely made it through the doors of the large classroom that served as bake sale central, before Riley was ambushed by a three-foottall, blonde-haired little whirlwind. "Riley, Riley! I've sold seven of Mom's cookies already!" Some of the other parents milling around the festively decorated tables looked over at the proclamation, glancing at Riley and evidently coming to the same mistaken conclusion as Jase--that Riley was possibly the youngest dad in the place. While Jase hadn't seen the resemblance between Bree and Riley, the little girl tugging at Riley's sleeve and dragging him off through the crowd was a tiny blonde version of him, right down to the huge ocean colored eyes. Thinking wryly that even genes were smart enough to skip Bree's generation, Jase heeded that playful pleading look in Riley's eyes,

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following them toward one of the tables. The little girl was still talking a mile a minute when Riley held up a hand. "Carly, hold on a second, I want you to meet a friend of mine." Finally noticing Riley wasn't there alone, the little girl peered up at Jase with all her mother's scepticism distilled into a wide-eyed stare. "Who're you?" "Hey." He tried to hide his nervousness, because kids were like dogs in that respect; they had a well-honed radar for fear. "I'm Jase." She blinked, nonplussed. "I'm Carly. How do you know Riley?" "From school." Riley shot Jase a look. Jase was hardly going to argue. He hadn't been coming up with much in answer to that question. Carly giggled, curly blonde pigtails bouncing. "You're too old to go to school!" It was Jase's turn to shoot Riley a half-hearted glare at the other man's badly stifled laugh. He doubted the instinctive Hey, I'm only twenty three! response would have much effect on Carly, so he faked a put-upon sigh. "Oh I am, huh? I think you're too little to be in school." "Am not!" She tried bristling through another giggle. "I'm six!" "Six is little." "Is not!" Carly paused, little head canted. "You're funny." Jase made a face, all the while feeling as though he'd just passed some secret test he hadn't realized he was taking. "Really?" While Carly dissolved into giggles again, Jase snuck a glance at Riley, almost blushing himself at the soft smile. He wanted to protest, to say he wasn't doing anything, the kid was just a cute little thing. Hell, she was probably the first tolerable kid he'd ever met. Carly's giggles ended in an abrupt squeal as she caught sight of someone behind them. Bracing himself for another round of questions, Jase followed the direction of her frantic waving and Riley's easygoing smile. The taller of the two boys approaching was an older, surlier version of Carly. He scowled at Jase like he'd just made some inappropriate territorial threat. Hell, maybe he had, they all seemed remarkably close to Riley. Jase's experience of family was something altogether different. The younger boy hung back, shoulders drooping, shy gaze darting around as though he'd like to find something other than his brother to hide behind. Jase dreaded another series of introductions, but it turned out he didn't have to say a word.

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"This is Jase, Riley's new friend!" Carly announced. The older boy just looked surlier, the younger boy even more anxious. At least these were reactions Jase understood, even if animosity from two kids under ten wasn't the nicest feeling in the world. "This is Dennis, and this is Craig." Riley gestured to the older and younger boy in turn, sending them both a grin. He didn't say be nice but Jase could hear it in the tone. It didn't help much with the trepidation in facing these three miniature judges. "Where's Mom?" Dennis did a great job of ignoring him altogether. "She'll be here later. We just stopped by now 'cause we're heading off to lunch." Little eyes shot daggers at Jase, and he couldn't help imagine the kid could see right through him, see through all the lies. Craig just watched in anxious silence, all big eyes and hair a shade darker than his siblings'. It hit him then, that he could have royally screwed Christmas for these kids. And immature as it made him to wish he had ditched Dennis's gifts just for being a brat, seeing Carly and Craig upset would have made him the biggest bastard in the universe. It was moot, anyway. The stuff was back, no-one was any the wiser. Christmas could go on as planned, even for surly little Dennis. Everything was fine. He still felt the uneasy weight of judgement though, under the curious, angry, and anxious stares. It was enough to break a man, it really was. These kids could wring a confession from a saint. Getting out of here, away from this odd pressure, would be a very good idea. "So..." He smiled at no-one in particular, needing a distraction from his thoughts. "I heard there were some cookies around here someplace." Carly yelped in delight at the prospect of scalping another sale, scampering off to the cookie table. Her brothers followed, both evidently glad to be escaping this conversation too. Riley was smiling at him again, that sweet, soft, bone-melting expression that made Jase want to drop to his knees and spill out the whole stupid story. Anything to be able to accept that look with a clear conscience. But it was too late for that now, and anyway, what difference would it make? His fingers brushed against Riley's as he moved to follow the kids, the deliberately light touch sending a jolt of sensation up his arm, like

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static. "That was too scary. You owe me. You owe me in a big way." Riley breathed a chuckle. "Yeah. I think I do..." * *** Riley didn't know what to expect from a date with Jase. He wasn't entirely used to second-guessing dates with anyone, least of all someone that unpredictable. His last boyfriend thought going to the movies and holding hands in the dark was daring and progressive. Either way, he vowed to enjoy whatever Jase had planned, if only to make up for dragging him around the school first. Still, it had been worth it, if only to see Jase deal with someone who was even more adept at charm than he was. He hadn't expected the boys to take to Jase. There were days when Riley wondered if they still resented his presence. But if it wasn't Riley's fault their father had been a deadbeat, it certainly wasn't Jase's, and he'd been far more patient with them than Riley had been in his time. If he had his way, they'd have a lot more time to get to know Jase. "So, where are we going?" Jase's smile was the same secretive one that greeted each attempt at coaxing out information. "You'll see." That had been the token answer each time Riley asked, too. He'd lost count of how many times he'd uttered the same question, but it was often enough to make him feel like a five-year-old on a mystery road trip. "Not even a clue?" Riley pasted on his most winsome expression-you learnt something from living with three kids, after all. "I'm good with clues." "I bet you are." Jase laughed. "Okay, fine. If you fall on your ass, don't count on me to pick you up." Riley almost faltered in his step, hurrying to catch up with Jase as he strode along the frosty sidewalk. From the school, they'd been progressing toward the older centre of town, where houses were big and ornate, each decked out like a Christmas card. The only things down here, as far as Riley knew, were expensive boutique stores, old hotels and sprawling parks that, every few months, featured in some expansive city-regeneration plan. "I thought you said I was safe with you!" "You are." Jase turned to face him, the grin less secretive now, and more downright wicked. "But I make no guarantees about your safety

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when you're off your feet." There wasn't much Riley could say to that, except a quiet little whimper that he prayed Jase didn't hear. It was one thing to hope, but to have it as a real, tangible thing was a whole different matter. Things he never gave much thought to suddenly became incredibly important, like his hair or this ridiculous scarf that was probably bright enough to be seen from space. He'd throw it away into someone's bushes, but they'd probably throw it back with a brick attached. Fortunately, he only had a few more minutes to wallow in the rush of anxiety. When they turned a corner, laughter and music cut through the chilly air, the scene before them one of movement, music and warmth. The center of one of the old parks had been turned into an ice skating rink, and by the looks of things, most of the neighborhood had decided to show up. It was perfect, and for a moment all Riley could do was stare at the happy, teetering skaters as they swirled and glided past like a carousel. Jase must have taken the silence for disappointment, watching him warily. "I know it's not much, but they do this every year, and it always looked like fun, so..." "No, it's..." Riley shook his head vehemently. "It's great. Really! I didn't even know they did things like this in town." Jase smiled. "Yeah. I think they meant it to foster community spirit or something. Either way," the confident charm was back in place "like I said, you better not fall on your ass. It might ruin our plans for the rest of the day." Riley couldn't hide the squeak this time if his life depended on it. If anything, Jase's grin just widened. "C'mon, let's go stake out our square inch of ice, huh?" They traded their shoes for slightly odd-sized ice skates and ventured out onto the ice, a task that felt a little like running out onto a freeway at rush hour. There was barely room to move once they got there, but even the jostling was good-natured, and for once, people were polite enough to apologize for bumping into him. You'd think it was Christmas or something... He'd gone skating once, in high school, and ended up spending most of the day clinging to the rail at the side of the rink and trying not to fall over. Out here, though, there was no rail to grab on to, there was only

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Jase. Every time he grabbed on tight to Jase's coat sleeves, threatening to lose his footing, he succumbed to a blush. Jase smiled at him, an expression he probably reserved for puppies or kittens when they did something unbearably cute, and Riley wondered if this whole holding on thing had been the plan all along. But Jase was warm and solid, and held on as though Riley could trust him to never let go. He didn't think he could argue with a plan like that. The crowd could have faded away, as he found a modicum of balance, progressing to only needing the touch of Jase's hand to keep from falling. The lights on the makeshift picket fence around the rink, and on the old gazebo that usually dominated the park, sparkled and glowed as the afternoon drew on. The cold barely registered; the breathless laughter and regular blushing keeping him warm. Eventually, reluctantly, they made it back over to the entrance gate, handing back the skates. "I don't know... I think you were about to fall a couple of times out there." "Hey! Only 'cause you were distracting me!" "Please, I pulled on your scarf! That doesn't count!" Riley stuck his tongue out at Jase as he tied his laces. It took a moment to relearn standing and walking in something other than the skates, his legs feeling a little as though he'd been at sea for days. He wasn't entirely steady on his feet, but Jase was just as adept at keeping him standing on solid ground as he was on ice. It had nothing to do with enjoying the sensation of leaning into Jase, really. Not at all. He'd never really understood the term comfortable silence before, but standing there, breathing in Jase's presence without a sound, without a word, he thought this might be it. Speaking would have ruined things, especially speaking anything predictably dumb Riley might come up with. Looking at Jase with a moony expression he could feel was completely dorky wasn't much better, but Jase didn't seem to mind. Jase was doing that adorable puppy-smile thing again, and Riley wasn't certain, but he decided to take that as a compliment. It was probably another compliment that Jase still kept their hands entwined even when Riley could stand on his own two feet. More or

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less. The crowd had thinned, but the rink would stay open well into the evening. Riley found himself reluctant to leave. It had been like a wonderland hidden away in a forgotten city park. Jase was showing him a side of town that Riley had never known existed. Twenty-four hours ago, he was terrified of telling Bree about the shopping. Now he had the gifts back, a gorgeous sweet guy holding his hand, and a better Christmas in prospect than he'd ever imagined. Maybe there really was a Santa Claus. Jase sent Riley a quizzical look at his chuckle, but seemed to accept the shake of the head Riley gave as a non-answer. He held Riley's gaze anyway, smiling softly. It wasn't just the blush that gave off the flare of heat this time. In the half-light of the evening, and the diffused glow of Christmas lights, Jase was all shadows and light: dark hair, dark unfathomable eyes, and pale skin. Belatedly, Riley wondered how cold Jase was; the ratty denim jacket didn't look particularly warm, and he had no gloves orscarf. At least Riley could do something about the latter, however much Jase might not appreciate the monstrosity wrapped around him. Jase's eyes widened when Riley unwrapped the scarf, looping it around Jase's neck instead. It looked more like surprise than horror, so Riley took it as a good sign. Besides, it looked so much better on Jase than it ever had on him. He'd let his hands linger far too long, smoothing away imaginary creases in the hopeless scarf. When he tried pulling his hands away, Jase caught his wrists. Riley sucked in a breath. What had he been thinking? It was a horrible scarf, a hideous scarf, no-one in their right mind would be grateful for it, even if they were freezing, and...and... He hadn't really expected the kiss, but it was probably better that way. If he'd been anticipating it, he'd have been far too anxious to truly enjoy the delicious shock of Jase's lips against his, warm and inquisitive. Riley's finger curled back into the softness of the scarf while Jase let go of his wrists, arms winding loosely around Riley's waist instead. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Riley knew they were still in the park, and that if any of the kids they'd seen milling around earlier were anything like Carly, Dennis or Craig, they'd soon be pointing and asking "Moooommy, why are those men kissing?" His last boyfriend hadn't really appreciated three protective pairs of little eyes peeking from

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behind the living room curtains every time he kissed Riley good-bye. But Riley couldn't have let go, even if he'd just incurred the wrath of the entire park. It only occurred to him in the midst of experiencing the kiss that he'd been wondering all day what it would be like. Either he didn't have a great imagination, or Jase was just that much better than anything Riley could summon as a fantasy. The kisses were soft, but demanding, like something wild and breathtaking was straining at its tethers, begging to be set free. Riley was all too willing to accommodate. But the skating rink probably wasn't the best place to indulge. Jase drew back in a series of reluctant little nibbles at his lips, and Riley felt an irrational surge of delight that Jase's smile looked as dazed as he felt. "My place isn't far, I mean...if you wanted...?" "Yeah...I wanted." Riley shook his head as though that might help clear the sudden haze that wound its sinuous way around his thoughts like crisp winter mist. "I mean, I want." "Good." They spent the walk not speaking, not touching, just sneaking glances and feeding off the electricity that crackled in the air between them. Riley tried to think about something else, because pouncing on Jase in the street wasn't going to be helpful. Finally he settled on how much more of the city he was seeing with all this walking. He and Bree shared her rickety old car, and watching the world go by wasn't easy when all his attention had to be on the rebellious gearbox and the intermittent wiper blades. Of course, walking with Jase came with its own distractions. At least he was never tempted to throw himself at the car. He doubted the car kissed as well as Jase. Heath Street was dark, except for the lights of the gas station, and the ratty little tree they had in the window. Jase's building was foreboding and drab; only a couple of windows were lit, and none with any Christmas lights. Yeah, he really had to do something about that. Later. Jase tugged him close as soon as the lobby door closed. Riley didn't see much of the lobby, except that it seemed to be nothing more than a grey-walled stairwell with ancient mailboxes along one side. He

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wondered fleetingly what sort of friend Jase was house-sitting for, to be stuck in a place like this. Their poky little house was hardly a palace, but at least it was a home. The kisses drove any coherent thought from his head as he became nothing but a creature of instinct, body magnetized to every brush of Jase's hands, drinking in the touches like a starving man. He couldn't remember navigating the stairs, which was just as well; if they'd tripped on the narrow concrete steps, it'd put a damper on things. The hallways upstairs were probably as bleak as the rest of the building, if Riley had been paying attention. But the world around him had taken a backseat, every sense focused on Jase. Riley's hands tugged at his coat, lips straying from Jase's mouth in short little meanders to his jaw, his throat, and back again, drowning in those deep sweet kisses that made his head spin. It was the seeping cold that eventually cut through the daze, as they stumbled through Jase's apartment door. Riley tried not to shiver, and hoped that if he did, Jase would assume it was because of the kisses, not the chill. It was only a half lie. Anything that made Jase stop what he was doing now would be a worse fate than the cold. When his teeth chattered hard enough to accidentally nip Jase's lower lip a little harder than he intended, Jase pulled back with a rueful smile. "Sorry...it's probably warmer outside than it is in here." He let go, stepping away, and it certainly wasn't just the lack of body heat that almost had Riley whimpering. "No, it's fine, I..." Jase laughed at the frustration in Riley's voice. "Easy, tiger. Lemme just make things a bit more comfortable, 'kay?" Riley blushed, mumbling a shy little "'kay," and watched Jase cut a few quarters from a small stack of coins next to a device on the wall that looked like a parking meter. He got his heat for this bleak room from a meter? Why the hell did a place like this need house-sitting, anyway? The thought of leaving Jase here alone over Christmas almost made him shiver from worse than the cold. "Okay." Jase turned back to Riley with a smile as the pipes began to creak their protest. "That's--" "Come spend Christmas with us!" Riley hadn't planned to blurt it out quite like that, but it seemed as good a time as any.

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Jase stared at him, train of thought utterly derailed, and Riley wondered if there would ever have been a good time to be quite as presumptuous an idiot as he'd been. **** "Spend Christmas with you guys?" Jase repeated after a moment. He wasn't entirely sure he'd heard that right. He didn't know which would be worse, having imagined it, or for the invite to be real. He'd have given anything for an invitation like that. Anything. And the thought of spending the day in that warm, tiny little house with Riley, and Bree, and even with the kids, had him embarrassingly close to flustered. It would have been perfect, if not for the fact he'd have to look at those gifts and those tacky decorations, and he'd know what he was keeping from Riley. "Riley, I..." "It's okay." Riley shook his head, smiling a shaky little smile badly disguised as bravado. "You don't have to, I just thought, maybe—" Riley made a muffled little sound as Jase pulled him close, kissing him desperately. If they didn't have to talk about all that, he thought frantically, then maybe it'd be okay. Maybe he could get through it. "I'd love to," he murmured between kisses. "Thank you." The sound Riley made this time was soft and pleased, and it warmed Jase to the core, brushing deeper than the slow, wispy heat that was being cranked out ever could. The openness, the sweetness humbled him. He didn't deserve someone like this, but damned if he wasn't going to hang on to it with both hands. Right now, both hands were skimming under Riley's coat, trying to burrow under his sweater, hungry for contact with skin. Riley hissed softly against the kiss at the first touch of Jase's fingers against the small of his back, cold caresses on warm skin, and Jase murmured apologies as he feathered kisses along Riley's jaw. He'd never known anyone quite so responsive before, but he couldn't brush the lightest of touches without some kind of reaction from Riley, some kind of whimper, some kind of shudder. It was addictive, and the biggest ego boost Jase had ever experienced; he couldn't help but know he was doing right by Riley. Patience had never been one of Jase's few virtues, but he tried his damnedest, making sure Riley was as warm as he was ever going to get

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in this room. He should have put all the damn quarters he had into the meter, he should have made certain the room stayed warm for days. But the machine had a habit of jamming on the coins, and besides, he hoped they'd soon be generating their own heat. The thin sheets of the messily made bed warmed up quickly enough when he tumbled Riley back against them. He'd gotten rid of their jackets and Riley's sweater, even though that infernal scarf remained steadfastly wound around him, wrapped as tightly as Riley. Jase knew which one he preferred. He tugged the quilts over them even though they were mostly dressed, burrowing them into a cocoon of blankets. It made removing the rest of their clothes a little more difficult, but at least it kept Riley warm. There'd been no-one whose happiness mattered this much. It was dangerous thinking, if he'd been thinking at all. But having Riley beneath him, all whimpery moans and soft warm skin wasn't exactly conducive to coherence. Jase took his time learning and mapping that expanse of skin with lips, tongue and hands, tracing collarbones, nipples and a place just under Riley's rib cage that made him laugh and squirm. It still wasn't quite enough; he wanted to know everything there was to know about this man. It was funny, he'd half expected Riley to be a passive creature, but the sweetness was proving to be a cunning disguise. Riley's hands were in his hair, directing the ministrations, and it dawned on Jase that those sounds were as much a barometer of where and how Riley wanted to be touched than anything involuntary. He grinned, nipping Riley's shoulder as he slid up against him for another kiss. He should have known better than to presume anything about this guy. Riley felt warm enough to Jase, as he fought off his own shirt, sucking in a breath at the first touch of skin on skin, his heartbeat racing against the reassuring rhythm of Riley's. Pants would be an issue without getting out of the nest of blankets. Riley really wasn't helping him out any with all the squirming, either, but it was so adorable, Jase figured he'd probably forgive both the indiscretion and the fact it made his life more difficult. It was a nice sort of hardship, all told. So was the arousal nudging against him, demanding attention the moment he worked the rest of Riley's clothes to his thighs. Riley turned his head, lower lip caught between his teeth, and Jase decided to take

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pity on the sudden reticence, giving him what he evidently couldn't ask for with words. That was okay. Sometimes words just got in the way. The cocoon limited his angle and his movements a little, but that just meant he could give the matter in hand more thought than usual. It meant he could start off with a lazy pattern of licks that ran along the juncture of Riley's thigh, one hand wrapping around his erection, the other sliding up his chest, stroking, tickling, teasing till Riley's squirming was making the bed creak. At the first lick, the tip of Jase's tongue barely dragging along the side of Riley's cock, the squirming stopped, Riley's body going as still and tautly coiled as a guitar string. Just as well that Jase had a fair idea of how to make him sing. And hell, this was Riley; Jase wouldn't have been surprised if that turned out to be a literal kind of singing. Smiling wasn't helpful as he tilted his head, lips parting around the head of Riley's erection, tongue swirling as he took in the satin-soft hardness. But it wasn't easy not smiling around Riley; he'd challenge even the most miserable bastard to stay grumpy after a while in this man's company. His lips slid down as his fingers stroked upwards, both twisting against the rhythm of the other, trying to increase the sensation. Hands on Riley's thighs, he could feel the tension rising in the tightening of the muscles beneath his touch, gauging when to pick up the pace, and more importantly, when to slow down. Riley made a sound of pure frustration when Jase drew back, trying to push him back, hips arching. "Eager little minx." Jase grinned, licking a teasing path along Riley's stomach, moving no lower despite the whining. "Shut up! Just--" "Shh..." He dipped his tongue into the shallow hollow of Riley's navel in parody of what his body yearned for restlessly. "This'll be better." He hadn't exactly planned any of this very well, and bringing someone home hadn't been on his list of things to do over the holidays. He had condoms, somewhere in the war zone that was the nightstand drawer, but the closest thing he had to lube was a bottle of cheap hand lotion. He didn't even keep that for vanity, just that up until the end of November, he'd been working in a restaurant kitchen, and the transition

37


from dish-washing in steaming hot water to the icy air outside had wreaked havoc. Then the restaurant shut down, and that was all she wrote. He should have felt worse for his employers, losing a business just before Christmas, but hell, they hadn't paid any of their staff enough to warrant the concern. There was concern for Riley, though, as Jase burrowed back into the blankets with the retrieved items. He had no idea if hand lotion would do the necessary job, but he did remember it had taken hours to work into his hands, and it had been impossible to get a decent grip on anything because of it. Worst case scenario, Riley's ass would be more velvety soft than it already was. "What's so—oh!" Riley's demand for an explanation as to why Jase couldn't quit chuckling was cut off with an equally amused squeal at the contact of cold lotion against heated skin. "Sorry." Jase mumbled, fingers sliding slickly, seeking out that ring of muscle and gently, patiently--or as patiently as he could go without it killing him--working the makeshift lube into it. "Shoulda warmed it first..." "S'okay." Riley arched beneath him, not being patient in the least, and laughed breathlessly. "Just tickled." His hands gripped Jase's shoulders as two fingers slipped past the tight entrance. "How much'd you use, anyway?" Too much, probably. He wasn't greasing a turkey. But the thought of inadvertently hurting Riley had convinced him to use so much they'd probably end up sliding down the stairs out into the street. "Enough." Riley laughed again, but stopped asking questions in favor of rewarding the slow thrust of Jase's fingers with more of those whimpery, pleading noises. Those noises would be the death of him, Jase told himself, struggling to roll on the condom one-handed and trying not to think about how long it'd been since he'd had to. Or if not the death of him, it'd render all the preparation useless. So it was with more urgency than he'd have liked that he positioned himself, stroking some of the ample leftover lotion along his length, and torturously slow, pressed inside. For a second, Riley went utterly silent, and Jase was already pulling back and planning his profuse apologies when Riley damn near growled

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at him, legs wrapping over Jase's hips, keeping him there. He'd had a hunch it'd be good, but he'd never imagined it'd feel so right. Stupid thought. Dangerous thought, but it was there in the back of his mind nonetheless. As noisy as he was, Riley still sought out his lips, as happy with the moans muffled against hungry, erratic kisses as he was with crying out loud. His arms were around Jase's shoulders, fingers in Jase's hair, and Jase had never felt so much like drowning in someone else as he did with Riley. Everything else faded to the periphery; it was probably still cold outside the nest of sheets, and the heating meter was probably going to run out any second. The lights of the garage were probably still the only thing illuminating the room, because Jase hadn't turned any lights on when they came in. But his world had condensed to this, to Riley's body wrapped sweet and feverish around his, breathless kisses and an almost unbearable pleasure sparking from the point where their bodies locked together. It might have been a while for him, but he doubted anyone could last all that long while wrapped up in Riley, buried in heat and tightness, enveloped in sweetness and those damned noises. He supposed it was okay, as long as Riley deigned to give him a few more chances to prove his stamina. A few million would be a nice start. He broke the kiss as he came, breathing Riley's name through gritted teeth, awareness dissolving momentarily to white haze and a floating warmth. Somewhere, distant as space and as close as his heartbeat, Riley arched beneath him, wet heat pooling against his stomach. In that moment, Jase could barely recall his own name, but he was damn well certain that he owned the whole damned universe. After a few moments spent just relearning how to breathe, he drew back just enough to let Riley curl against him, head tucked under Jase's chin. Athletic positions were one thing, but there was something to be said about just being able to wrap his arms around Riley and hold him close. "You didn't use all that hand lotion, right?" Riley mumbled sleepily against his shoulder. Jase laughed, voice a little hoarse. "Not quite." "Good." Riley murmured, ocean colored eyes drifting closed, a smile on his lips. "'Cause if there wasn't enough for the next round, I'd

39


have to send you out in the cold to the store, and that'd be bad." Smiling against Riley's hair, Jase shook his head. "Nah, it'd probably be worth it." **** He'd only just stepped through the door when the phone rang. Habitually, Riley reached up to unwind the scarf, smiling stupidly when he remembered why it wasn't there. He was still smiling when he reached for the receiver. "Hello?" "Mr. Miller?" the unfamiliar voice asked. "Joe Barton, I'm the head of security you spoke to the other day, concerning some goods that were stolen at our store." "Oh." Riley nodded as realisation dawned. "Actually I got my things back. Someone outside the store had seen some kids messing with the cart, and brought everything back, so--" "Kids?" Barton asked, a strange inflection in his tone. "Is that what you were told?" "Well, yeah." Riley paused, a strange cold sensation fluttering in his chest. "Why? I mean, I have everything back, not one thing was actually stolen..." "I still suggest you come take a look at the security feed from that evening, Mr. Miller," Barton said after a moment. "Then you can decide whether or not to take any action." Truth be told, part of him was curious. Of course he wasn't going to pursue anything, he wasn't going to make trouble for some kids on Christmas Eve. Thanks to Jase, he hadn't lost anything, except maybe an hour or two to complete panic. If anything, the whole incident had given him far more than he'd expected. He smiled at the thought, but agreed to drop by the store anyway. "Bree, I'm borrowing the car real quick, okay?" Bree stuck her head around the kitchen door. "What's so important all of a sudden?" "Just some school stuff I need to take care of." That was going to be the last damn lie he'd tell about this mess, he swore it was. "Didn't you just get home?" Bree asked, eyes twinkling. "Is he as good as he looks?" "Bree!" Riley blushed beacon-bright, fishing for his keys in an attempt to avoid her eyes and keep from melting through the floor. "I'll

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be right back, okay?" "Tch, fine!" Bree yelled after him, still grinning widely as Riley turned away. "Just get it back before my hair appointment!" He spent the short drive sitting in crawling traffic and alternating between utter mortification and complete delight. Considering he hadn't expected much from this Christmas, he'd received far more than he ever dreamed. It was worth the teasing, a million times over. The store was perpetually busy. He paused to drop a few quarters in the Salvation Army collector's bucket before asking the first staff member he saw for Joe Barton. At least three crackly Christmas carols had played on the store's PA system by the time the man showed up, looking as gruff and dour as his voice suggested. With little preamble or chit-chat, he escorted Riley to a boxy little office at the back of the store. Gesturing for Riley to sit in one of the peeling vinyl desk chairs, he crossed the tiny room to a bank of screens and monitors that lined one wall. "I won't keep you, Mr. Miller." He began pressing buttons, grainy pictures speeding by on the screens. "If you say all your goods were returned, you'll have a hard time making any charges stick in this case. And we don't appreciate having our time wasted, especially time concerning the security and reputation of the store." He paused, glancing at Riley, a strange look on his face. "Is it possible a friend was playing a prank on you, Mr. Miller?" "A prank?" Riley frowned, shaking his head. "No. I didn't even know the person who returned my stuff." "I see." Barton pressed another button, and the screen flared to life. Riley watched a grainy black-and-white picture of himself, two days ago, setting his cart over by the toy-grabbing machine and wandering into the hair salon. He watched people passing by, oblivious, making no moves to take his cart. He hadn't known what he expected to see. A bunch of kids, giggling and egging each other on as they made off with his cart. Anything. Something. Something else. But that wasn't what the screen showed. It wasn't kids, it wasn't a prank. Instead, he watched as Jase walked up to his cart, glanced around and strolled it right out of the store. **** Jase had dressed up as best he could: clean jeans and a plain white

41


shirt that was years old, but had been kept in pristine condition by dint of being the only formal shirt he owned. And the scarf, of course, in all its ugly fuzzy glory. He kept it wrapped around his neck and lower face as he walked briskly toward Riley's, thoughts filled with sensory memories every time he inhaled the scent. He couldn't remember the last time he'd woken up on Christmas morning with any flicker of hope, with the idea that maybe, just maybe, things were going right for him for once. He knew he'd never had a family Christmas before, and he wasn't entirely sure what to expect--he had the distinct feeling that Bree and the kids went all out for the big day. He should have bought gifts, even though he reasoned Riley had only asked him to attend last night. He was hardly going to walk away from the best sex he'd had in forever just to buy some Power Rangers or My Little Ponies or whatever the hell kids today went for. The thought of that brought a smile to his face. Who'd have thought something this amazing could have come from something that began so badly? He'd never have dreamed, while sitting in that stolen Ford, that just days later he'd be here. But he'd been desperate then, he'd been someone who had no hope, nothing to strive for, no reason to look forward. Now he had Riley. He even spared the damn reindeer a grin as he turned into the uneven, cracked driveway. His stride toward the porch was halted, though, when the front door opened and Riley stepped out. Riley didn't have to say a word. The truth was as clear as ice, etched in the disillusionment on his face, ocean eyes cold with hurt. He knew. Jase didn't know how, and supposed it didn't really matter. Everything he thought he'd found was crumbling like a snowman in the spring. The house with its warmth and lights was only twenty feet away, but it might as well have been twenty thousand miles away--he wasn't allowed into that world anymore. "Riley..." "You know," Riley began softly, "I wouldn't have minded that much if you'd told me. Not really. I'd have still been glad you brought my stuff back. 'Cause, I mean, you did bring them back. You didn't know me, didn't know us, but it would have counted for something in my book that

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you brought them back anyway. That you felt bad." Feeling bad didn't quite cover it. "I'm sorry." "Are you? Sorry for not telling me the truth, or sorry that I found out?" Lying now seemed like adding insult to the injury that blazed so brightly in Riley's eyes, Jase could barely look at him. "Both...mostly I'm sorry for lying to you. For causing you to be disappointed in me." "Jase...I'm not even sure I know you enough anymore to be disappointed." Riley stared at him. "Did you tell me the truth about anything?" "Of course I did. Yesterday. Yesterday was the truth, I swear." Riley laughed, a soft humorless sound. "Jase..." "No. I'm not...I'm not a good person, Riley. I've done so many things wrong in my life, and not telling you the truth from the start was just one of them." Without thinking, Jase had curled his fingers into the ends of the scarf, clinging on to the last thing he had left of Riley. "The why doesn't matter, and I don't blame you for wanting me out of your life because of it. But I want you to know that you're the one thing I've ever done right. How I met you doesn't matter to me, you made my life better just by being in it. I wish it could've been for longer, but I fucked up and it can't be." That dream of a schmaltzy Hallmark family Christmas drifted further out of view, until it disappeared from his grasp entirely. He'd been stupid for ever thinking any of this could be his. "Oh, and hey..." He unwound the scarf, stepping closer to Riley just long enough to deposit the scarf in his hands before backing away just as quickly. "I was gonna give it back to you today anyway, so..." Riley was still watching him, but Jase could only return the look from peripheral vision. He didn't want to look too closely, didn't want to see the extent of the disappointment. He turned back toward the street, the sidewalk ahead of him empty and hollow. "Thanks for everything, 'kay, Riley?" He forced a smile. "Oh, and tell everyone Happy Christmas." **** Finding Jase's apartment--his, Riley decided, not a friend's, even if he wasn't sure why Jase would lie about something like that—would have been easier with a guide. The streets in this part of town all looked

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alike, and it took several backtracks to eventually find himself in front of Jase's door. No mean feat with the amount of stuff he was carrying with him. He didn't know how welcome he'd be, but he'd already spent most of the day sitting at home, miserable and guilty, wishing he could replay that scene. Well, he couldn't replay it, but he could try for another take. And if he stayed at home moping for a moment longer, Bree would have kicked his ass. As it was, she'd laden him with half the things he'd carried with him. It took so long for Jase to answer the door, Riley had begun wondering if he was home at all. Those dark eyes were wary as they watched him through a narrow gap, as though Jase didn't want to open the door too widely, didn't want to invite in any more of Riley's judgement. "You said the why didn't matter," Riley began, not wanting to give Jase the opportunity to tell him to go to hell. "But it does to me." Jase shook his head, scoffed a sceptical little sound, and for a moment Riley didn't think he was going to answer at all. "'Cause I liked you too much. If you knew the truth, knew what kind of a shit I really was, then--" So that probably explained the room, as well as the shopping. He fought the urge to reach out and shake Jase, yell at him that Riley was no-one who mattered that much. "I wouldn't have." "Why not?" Jase glanced at him. "Everyone else does." Everyone else hadn't felt the way Jase held him when Riley was flailing on the ice. Everyone else hadn't seen the way he smiled when Riley gave him the scarf. Everyone else hadn't seen the way he'd made Carly laugh, or the way he'd charmed Bree. Everyone else hadn't been wrapped up in his arms all night, feeling as though it was the safest place in the world. "Everyone else is an idiot." "Maybe..." Riley raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying everyone else is smarter than me? Are you saying everyone else has better judgement than me?" "No, of course not, I..." Jase paused, expression deadpan. "Are you messing with me?" "Only a little bit." Riley fought the small smile that tugged at his

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lips. "But you deserve it." "Yeah, I do." "You didn't deserve the way I treated you this morning, though. I'm sorry." "You had every right--" "No." Riley shook his head. "I didn't. I thought you'd lied about everything, when I should have known better." There was a silence, more awkward than painful, until Jase opened the door a little wider. "Wanna come in?" "Is it warm?" Riley sent him a nose-wrinkling grin, pretending to pat down his pockets as best he could, transferring his belongings from hand to hand. "'Cause I have some quarters someplace..." Jase laughed. "Yeah, it's warm." He paused, finally noticing Riley had brought half his house with him. "What the hell's that?" "Well..." Riley rooted around in one of the bags, producing a miniature Christmas tree, ratty but mostly intact, and a string of lights tangled around its base. "I figured if I messed up you coming over for Christmas, I could bring Christmas to you. There's some food, and some other stuff...oh, more cookies too..." "Why are you doing this, Riley?" "'Cause I kinda want you in my life longer than a few days. Oh--" He reached into the bag again, pulling out a familiar length of multicolored fuzz. He stepped hesitantly up to Jase, setting the bags down so that he could reach up and wrap the scarf around Jase's neck, not letting go once he was done. "It always looked better on you. And I kinda figured you might want it back." Jase pulled him close, holding on tight, face buried in the crook of Riley's neck. "I prefer having you back." Riley smiled, eyes fluttering shut. "I'm not going anywhere." Arms winding around Jase's shoulders, he snuck a glance at his wristwatch. "Especially not for the next few hours. I promised you Christmas, right?" "Yeah." Jase kissed him softly. "But I still haven't gotten you a gift." Riley met the kiss, grinned. "Yeah, you did." His laugh was a vibration against Jase's lips. "You're the gift that keeps on giving!" "Demanding brat." Jase mock-growled. "Lemme see the food you brought first. And that tree better not blow the power in this place." "It won't." Riley paused, looking thoughtful. "At least, I don't think

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so. This place is kinda old..." "Oh, I see how it is, demanding and insulting my place." "I'm allowed, I brought cookies!" Jase kissed him again, then tugged him into the room. "The cookies can wait." "Yeah, they'll keep. They're not that badly burnt." Riley laughed, watching the door swing slowly shut. "Merry Christmas, Jase." The door clicked closed, shutting the cold outside. "Merry Christmas, Riley."

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CAT KANE

About the Author Cat Kane is a BA honor graduate in Creative Writing, currently pursuing her Masters in the same field, and has been writing for as long as she can remember. One of her earliest memories is typing up a story at the dinner table about a little plastic cow, but that’s another story...

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Collect All Ten Frost SHEETS! Paths chosen – kally jo surbeck The color of love – brenna lyons The spirit of giving – cat kane Enwrappture – marty rayne Ice crystal – becca dale Suni's gift – anne rainey Stocking stuffers – Jamie hill The perfect gift – jade falconer Baby it's cold outside – ellen addie Potent spirits - Aurora black

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CAT KANE

The hottest romance, the most memorable heroines, and the most gorgeous heroes… Welcome to the next PHAZE in erotic romance! Join us online for author chats, writing workshops, and big prize contests with our FREE newsletter!

www.phaze.com groups.yahoo.com/group/PhazeChatters phazebooks.ning.com (new forum!) eBooks available at Fictionwise.com, CyberRead.com, and AllRomanceeBooks.com, Print titles available at Amazon.com, BN.com, and BooksAMillion.com!

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