Winters’ Wonderland was one of those festive things that happened every year, so Koby didn’t always think to visit. In fact, he probably hadn’t been here in a good five years, at least. But when he’d thought about hanging out with Vince, he felt like doing something completely innocuous. What was more innocent than stepping into a magical Christmas extravaganza?

The store itself was used for various other purposes throughout the year. But once the holiday season rolled around, the Winters family took it over and stuffed it to the rafters with the most delightful decorations. There was just enough room to walk around the twisting aisles, but the rest of the space was filled with tinsel, lights, holly wreaths, shiny wrapping paper and ribbon, tree ornaments and boxes of nativity scenes. Seasonal crockery sets painted with robins, Christmas sweaters for pets, boxes of chocolate and candy canes in all sizes. There were glowing Santas and reindeer for your yard and so much glitter everywhere Koby knew he’d be finding it in his hair for another week just from stepping inside the store. A model train whistled and chugged as it traveled around a track above their heads. The scent of cinnamon hung in the air as did bushels of mistletoe from the ceiling. The store was full of customers and excitable children ran around their legs.

Vince had been away for so long Koby guessed he probably hadn’t been into the store in a while either. But from the look of awe on his face, Koby wondered if he’d ever come here before.

Vince shook his head when Koby asked, grinning as he poked a fat, sparkly snowman bauble, making it swing gently. “My family has had the same Christmas decorations for generations. They smell musty when they come out of the attic and my mom hangs everything in the same place every single year. I think I’ve heard people talk about this place before, but it’s so cool.”

Koby beamed at him, enjoying his enjoyment.

Most of the time, Koby lived in the moment, especially when it came to sex and relationships. He wasn’t one to wring his hands over what the future might hold. But much like a certain beloved Dickens novel, Vince made him think about past, present and future.

It was tempting to worry that all the years they’d know each other, living completely different lives, meant they had so little in common it didn’t make sense for them to feel this attraction. And the circumstances of their lives now meant there was no chance it could develop into anything serious in the future. Even if Koby kept imagining what that might look like if they could.

So he figured the best option was to live in the present. Revel in the here and now of a Friday night spent doing something frivolous together, simply for the joy of it. Vince had a pureness about him. For a big jock in a lumberjack shirt that could break everything in sight with a swing of his arms, he was gaping at everything with a childlike awe.

“Hi, can I help you with anything?”

Koby turned from Vince to the store clerk, a guy in his twenties with shaggy dark hair and hazel eyes. Koby had a feeling he was part of the Winters family. The guy glanced at Vince with a slightly knowing look, but Koby didn’t sense anything malicious in the expression.

“We’re just browsing, thanks,” Koby said.

“Sure thing. Have fun,” the clerk said with a wink.

In the end, Koby bought a couple of things for Ginger’s tree and a sweet set of penguin ornaments his mom could put up high away from gnawing puppy teeth. That made him wonder why Pac-Man hadn’t found a forever home yet. Koby hoped he’d find a good one, even if it made him kind of sad to think he wouldn’t see the little fella again.

Vince didn’t get anything, adamant that his nonna would more than likely throw anything new away out of superstition. But it seemed like he’d gotten a kick out of visiting the store anyway.

“You feel like getting dinner?” Koby asked as they walked back out to the car. He tried to make it sound like an easygoing offer, but he was aware of the implications. Dinner was definitely moving into date territory.

“Yeah,” Vince said with enthusiasm. “I’d kind of forgotten how awesome that Rocket place was. We could go back there and try their steaks – oh, wait, not for you.”

Koby chuckled as they got back in the car. “I don’t mind if you have steak,” he said genuinely. “They do an incredible veggie burger there actually. They even serve it with vegan cheese now.”

Vince appeared to finally see the problem that Koby had anticipated. “Oh…” He became crestfallen. “If people see us…?”

Koby gave him a sympathetic look. “We could say it’s a brainstorming meeting for the art project?”

“Oh, yeah, that’s clever,” Vince said, momentarily pleased. Then he frowned. “Sorry, that seems shitty. You shouldn’t have to lie.”

Koby squeezed his knee. “I understand. Don’t overthink it. Just have that in mind if anyone asks. They probably won’t. We can just grab a bite like it’s no big deal. But if you prefer, we could get takeout?”

Vince looked like he thought that over and then grinned. “No, screw it. I don’t care what people say. We’ve got a good excuse if anyone gets curious, but…well, I wanted to ask you out for dinner after…y’know. I want this.”

Koby’s heart warmed in his chest. He had? “Dinner it is, then.”

For someone who mostly wore monochrome, Koby knew his love of the colorful kitsch fifties diner was a little at odds with his alternative lifestyle. But Rocket always felt welcoming and accepting. Like a home away from home. He and Vince took a table with no one raising an eyebrow. They got plenty of looks, of course, but that was what happened when you went for dinner with the town’s NFL legend. No one seemed to mind they were two men having dinner together.

Koby smiled when a couple of young brothers ran up to get an autograph. But aside from that, they were left to eat their meal in relative peace. Vince asked about other big works that Koby had done in the past and Koby asked about life in the NFL. His portion sizes were staggering to witness. He must have eaten three times what Koby did. It also sounded like his nonna was even more adamant about feeding him than Koby’s mom was with him.

They talked about things that had been going on around town in the last few years. Koby was touched at how sympathetic Vince was when Koby told him about the local gay bar’s arson attack and how Koby’s friend Kris almost hadn’t made it out alive. “He’s dating the fireman that rescued him, now,” Koby added, looking at Vince through his eyelashes.

Vince’s slow smile made Koby’s insides tingle. “Is that so?” Vince drawled. “How romantic.”

Koby licked his lips, tasting the salt from his fries. This was the part he’d been in two minds about. He didn’t know if he was being fair with Vince. But now they were here, in the moment, Koby had to ask.

“So.” He ran a finger and thumb down his smoothie straw. “We could get dessert back at my place. If you wanted?”

Vince’s eyes went wide. He glanced around the diner, but no one was paying any attention to them. He swallowed, then gave Koby a coy smile.

“Yeah,” he breathed, nodding. “That sounds good.”

They got the check.

Vince’s leg was bouncing as Koby drove them back to his apartment. Koby took his left hand off the wheel and placed it on the jumping leg. “If you’re nervous, we don’t have to do anything. Or we can just take it slow.”

Vince laughed and shook his head. He stopped his leg from twitching. “Is it bad if I say it’s not nerves? Not really. I’m, um, excited.”

Koby grinned, biting his lip as he rubbed Vince’s thigh, then took the wheel again. “That’s not bad in the slightest,” he murmured. His cock was already starting to harden in his jeans. The way Vince shifted in his seat suggested he was in a similar situation.

Koby was amazed he was able to keep his hands to himself as they jogged up the stairs to his apartment. There was no one on the landing as Koby got his keys out. He felt Vince standing just behind him and heard him inhaling deeply, drinking Koby in. Knowing he was making this gorgeous man turned on when no other man had before was pretty intoxicating for Koby. He’d be a fool not to feel honored.

He shut the door behind them and locked it, flicking on the lamp on the small table where he dropped his keys. Koby wished he’d had time to tidy up his place a little that afternoon, but he’d raced to get the birdhouse ornament made in time instead. He briefly glanced at the bare apartment, even emptier without Vince’s sculpture taking up most of his living room. The walls were lacking in anything personal and there were odd cardboard boxes lying around. It didn’t exactly look loved.

Luckily, Vince seemed far more interested in Koby than the apartment. For a second, the two of them just looked at each other.

Then it was like the spell broke and they lunged for each other.

Having studiously avoided larger men for his whole life, Koby was surprised how much he fucking loved Vince’s big hands as they grabbed the back of his head and ran over Koby’s body while they kissed with a fervor bordering on desperation. It was amazing what a difference trusting someone could make, he supposed.

Within seconds, their jackets were both pushed off and discarded on the floor as Koby stumbled backward, Vince’s shirt balled in his fists. Some part of Koby’s brain registered that Vince had eaten half a dozen after-dinner mints from the restaurant. Koby now realized that was probably so he didn’t taste of meat, and Koby’s heart melted a little bit.

“You’re so fucking hot,” he mumbled as they crashed into the arm of the couch. Vince’s phenomenal muscles moved under Koby’s hands and his lips were scorching on Koby’s mouth and along his jaw. They tumbled down onto the sofa.

He had a feeling they weren’t going to make it to the bedroom.

“You’re beautiful,” Vince said with surprising sincerity. He pulled back from Koby, his brown eyes searching as he braced himself above Koby’s body on the couch. “I know that should be weird, but it’s not. Like you said. Things don’t have to be for one gender or another. You’re really beautiful and…I feel so lucky to have this chance to be here with you.”

Koby blinked, surprised by the sudden tender moment. He reached up and cupped the side of Vince’s strong jaw.

“Sorry,” Vince mumbled bashfully, looking away. “That’s probably dumb.”

“Stop calling yourself dumb.” Koby hadn’t meant for the words to carry such vehemence, but they did. He really didn’t like Vince putting himself down like that. “You’re smart and insightful and I feel lucky as well to have this chance right now.” Vince’s eyes went wide. Koby searched for something to break the slight tension that had formed between them. “Being pan might mean I like all kinds of people,” he said gently, brushing Vince’s cheek with his thumb. “But I’m actually really picky who I sleep with. I’m not interested in some dumb jock. I like you because I think there’s so much more to you than your muscles, Vince.” Koby grinned and looked Vince’s body up and down as much as he could while he was lying on him. “Although…I don’t hate the god-like body, I must admit.”

Vince snorted. “Pan was a Greek god, wasn’t he?” He brushed Koby’s hair back.

Koby smiled, not sure where the non sequitur had come from, but pleased Vince had literally just proved his point. Dumb people didn’t know Greek gods off the top of their heads.

“He was,” Koby confirmed. “God of the wild. Hung around with nymphs.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Associated with the arts as well as fertility and sex.”

Vince laughed, a light and easy sound as he nuzzled his cheek against Koby’s palm. “Do you think he’s where the word pansexual comes from?”

Koby shrugged. He hadn’t expected to get into a discussion about etymology or classics while being pinned down on his sofa, but he had to say he was enjoying it thoroughly. “Maybe, I’m not sure.”

“It’s just, you’re pan, and Pan kind of sounds like you. So…we can both be gods.”

Koby had never been compared to a god, certainly not by someone who could easily play the role of Hercules. He was kind of taken aback by the sweetness of it. How did Vince manage to make him feel so equal and worthy when they were worlds apart?

“I’m happy to be a god with you.” He knew he was grinning but was apparently unable to stop himself. “But if I remember my studies correctly, those guys were generally pretty naked in the statues.”

“Oh, really?” Vince ground his hips against Koby’s. “I reckon you might be onto something there.”

Koby leaned up, capturing Vince’s lips with his own as he attacked the buttons on the lumberjack shirt. As much as he’d enjoyed their tryst in the art room, he was quite eager to get all their clothes off this time.

“What do you want to do, gorgeous?” Koby asked as they managed to get the shirt off and then tackled Koby’s clothes. It was all a bit clumsy and they had to keep stopping because Vince kept kissing him every time he went to speak again. But eventually they got down to their underwear.

Vince’s big cock was straining in his briefs. Although Koby had avoided big-bodied guys, he had been with men who were well endowed plenty of times. Still, Vince’s member made a mouthwatering prospect.

“I don’t mind what we do,” Vince said eventually. Their bodies were pressed together. So much hot skin. Their cocks were rubbing through their underwear.

“We could just frot,” Koby suggested. That meant they didn’t have to move and fetch supplies, and he also thought it would be a good next step for a baby gay. Anal was a lot, even if he was to ask Vince to top. In Koby’s experience, even that was quite a leap when you were used to doing and seeing vaginal sex between a man and a woman.

Although, he had to admit he was dying to take a ride on that rock-hard beast of a cock.

Vince suddenly looked apprehensive. “Uh – what does frot mean?”

Koby kissed his lips and stroked the frown from Vince’s brow. “Frottage is,”- he rolled his groin against Vince’s, making him moan in the most delicious way -“like this, but less clothes.” He trailed his fingertips across Vince’s pecs. “You can jerk us both off if you like?” He picked up one of Vince’s hands from by his shoulder and sucked on the index finger. Vince made a strangled noise.

“Me?” he squeaked. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Koby swirled his tongue over the fingertip. True, he normally liked to be the one taking both cocks in hand. He liked being in charge period. But he also really liked the feeling of trust he and Vince had going on between them. Vince trusted Koby to guide him, and Koby trusted Vince not to hurt him.

Besides, Vince’s hands were almost twice the size of Koby’s. Koby had a feeling he could make them both feel amazing.

“I’ll tell you what to do,” Koby said, letting Vince’s finger go. “You’ll be great. Let’s start by getting rid of these.” He snapped the elastic of Vince’s briefs against his hip.

Vince jumped just a little, then grinned. “Okay.” He made Koby feel like he was having the time of his life. It didn’t matter they were kind of clumsy getting their underwear off or that it took a while to line themselves up again and find a rhythm. Vince’s enthusiasm was sexy as hell.

“Holy fuck,” Vince practically choked out as they rubbed their cocks together in the tunnel of his hand. “Sweet Jesus, Koby, that feels good. Is it okay? Am I doing it right?”

“You could be kissing me more,” Koby teased, thrusting against Vince’s hot, weeping dick. He realized how much he was enjoying the feeling of being under Vince’s weight, something he would have previously assumed would have bothered him.

Vince obliged, kissing Koby’s lips until they tingled. They rutted like animals humping and Koby clung to Vince’s back, letting himself be carried away, lost in sensation.

“I’m close,” he gasped.

“Me too,” Vince said.

They stopped kissing, their mouths hovering millimeters apart as they panted and jerked into Vince’s hand, lost in each other’s eyes. Koby’s climax hit him like a tidal wave, suddenly overwhelming him as he spurted hot and fast between their bodies. Vince followed not long after, pulling the most gorgeous face as he orgasmed. Koby kissed him deeply as they gradually came down from the high.

“I like frotting,” Vince concluded sleepily, making Koby chuckle.

Koby considered what he was going to say for a minute. Then he decided nothing ventured, nothing gained. “Do you want to stay over?”

That woke Vince up.

He blinked down at Koby, their mess cooling between them.

“Damn,” Vince said softly. “I’d really like to, I swear. But I think that’d raise too many questions.”

“No problem at all.” Koby smiled, even though his disappointment was stronger than he’d thought it would be. It was nice to share a bed with someone, but if he was honest, he slept better alone, so he didn’t normally encourage his partners to stay. He understood why Vince couldn’t – not while he was living with his family. There were too many people in that house. Someone would definitely notice if Vince didn’t come home. But Koby had kind of hoped he’d say yes.

He refused to let it show on his face and make Vince feel bad. So he smiled and kissed his lover’s lips. “That was amazing by the way, I told you you’d be fine. You wanna come clean off with me?”

“In the shower?” Vince asked.

Koby nodded. “Yeah, it’s just through there-!”

He shrieked as Vince suddenly picked him up. Koby was not a small man. Yet Vince had him up with his legs around his waist like he weighed nothing. Koby wrapped his arms around Vince’s neck and peppered little kisses on his lips.

“That’s seriously hot when you do that.” He laughed.

“Noted.” Vince looked pleased with himself.

There was a lot of fumbling and kissing as they awkwardly squeezed themselves into Koby’s dinky shower. Once Koby started washing Vince – paying particular attention to his soft, sensitive cock – Vince copied him. There was a lot of laughing and swatting of asses as they rinsed off their mess, but somehow, they ended up hugging under the hot stream of water, kissing gently.

“I don’t want to go,” Vince said, an edge of melancholy slipping into their happy bubble.

“It’s okay.” Koby used all his restraint not to agree and beg Vince to stay. He knew it was for the best. “We can see each other again soon.”

“Tomorrow?” Vince suggested, making Koby chuckle softly.

“Maybe. I do have more work to do. You could come help me with that.”

“Anytime,” Vince told him.

Koby wanted to drive Vince home, but Vince wouldn’t hear of it, insisting on getting an Uber so as not to put Koby out. Koby kissed him goodbye at the door, watching him fondly as he jogged down the stairs and out of sight.

Koby did his best not to let the doubts creep in, but as soon as he was alone again in his drafty apartment, it was difficult not to worry.

This couldn’t be a thing. It had an expiration date. Koby shouldn’t be encouraging Vince when if anyone found out, it could decimate his career. But for now, he couldn’t seem to stop himself. He grinned when Vince texted to say he’d gotten home and was being force-fed lasagna despite trying to tell his nonna that he’d had dinner.

Perhaps when Vince moved away, he and Koby could remain friends. Koby was still friends with half the people he’d had sex with in this town, after all. But he didn’t find the thought that comforting.

“Live in the moment,” he said out loud to himself as he locked up and turned off all the lights. There was no sense in fretting about what might be if it was going to spoil the present. He and Vince should have fun while they could.

Koby could worry about the future when it happened, not before.