Desperate... (Last Christmas Book 1) by Heather Mar-Gerrison (1)

Desperate...

(Last Christmas #1)

 

 

Kindle Edition

Heather Mar-Gerrison Copyright 2017

 

 

Beautiful front cover design courtesy of Shutterstock designs

 

 

 

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work.

 

 

 

 

 

Prologue

 

George

 

“What do you mean you want me to come with you?” I asked my best friend, Eleanor, in near horror, “It’s a time to be with family.” I knew the moment those words left my mouth that I’d pretty much lost the argument and would be going with her to wherever it was that her parents lived and would be spending the holidays doing whatever it was that they did – and do you know why? Well, I’ll tell you – it was because my family didn’t really give a shit about spending any time with each other. Hell, it was an effort to put the obligatory twenty quid in a card and getting it posted early enough for it to be delivered in time for the big day, never mind actually having to see each other. Still, I tried my best to put her off. “It’s not a time to be dragging your best friend halfway across the world to piss off all of your homophobic relatives that hate my guts.”

Eleanor snorted, “Don’t be ridiculous.” She scoffed, “It’s not my family you need to worry about. Okay – so they’re not wholeheartedly on board with my best friend being a raving queer,” she eyed me mischievously and I pulled a face at the remark, making her grin, “But it’s your family that wouldn’t know you were dead until your body had rotted sufficiently for the smell to have seeped out into the street – and for people to start noticing the unusual activity of flies. Hell, the authorities would have to have been alerted before they even bothered to check if it was you – so don’t give me that crap and besides – you went on holiday last Christmas. They weren’t in the slightest bit bothered then – so what’s the big deal with coming on holiday with me this year?”

Well, that was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it? She was sufficiently hurt and indignant, though, so I was going to have to give her a decent enough answer to get her off my back...

In the meantime, I’ll tell you what the big deal was – even if I wasn’t about to tell Eleanor... it was all because of Eli.

I’d met Eli on holiday last year when, on a whim, I went on a last minute skiing holiday to the French Alps with a bunch of my mates from university – completely and utterly pissing off Mum and Dad for not going home but I was just relieved that I didn’t have to pretend to be straight ‘for the sake of your granddad’ for a fortnight and I wasn’t about to apologise for it.

Eli and I had instantly hit it off and we’d had an amazing two weeks, having amazing sexual experiences together even if we didn’t actually ‘do it’ and for me, at least, falling in love – or at least that was what I thought was happening at the time.

I’d even bought him a Christmas present that I thought was utterly perfect for him and had carefully wrapped it, with a little note, stupidly telling him that I thought I loved him. It was utterly pathetic, looking back – but I’d been a virgin when I met him and he’d completely swept me off my feet and taught me all sorts of new experiences and I’d fallen hard.

I thought it was the real thing. I really thought he was the one.

And then the holiday ended... and that was that.

He stopped texting after the first three days of me arriving back home and it finally dawned on me that I’d been stupid – that I’d been used. He didn’t love me at all and he never had. I’d just been a holiday fling...

My problem now, therefore, was this – did I spend Christmas at home, avoiding granddad like the plague in order that I didn’t inadvertently tell him I had boyfriends instead of girlfriends, or did I up sticks and run off with Eleanor to the exact same resort that I’d met and almost lost my virginity last Christmas to Eli, who was a local...?

What if we ran into each other? What if he’d got himself a new guy, now? I’d kind of gotten on with my life over the past year and had actually done the deed with someone else who really knew what he was doing and I was grateful that I was no longer waiting to lose my virginity – but I couldn’t deny that I still carried a bit of a torch for Eli... I honestly couldn’t help it. I knew I’d been a total fool over him but if he gave me a sign – any sign at all – I knew I’d be back in his bed to sample his goods like a shot...

I took a deep breath. Here goes nothing... “Well, remember me telling you about Eli?”

She nodded, “Yes.” She said, “The guy you met in Tenerife last year?”

I nodded. Hell. It was nightmarish to have to tell the truth when you’d done such a convincing job of lying. “I may have been a little bit economical with the truth.” I said. At her wide eyes, I winced, “It was only a white lie,” I wheedled, pinching my fingers together and fluttering my eyelashes a little to gain her approval, “as in – I didn’t actually meet him in Tenerife. I may have met him, uh, somewhere else...”

She looked at me in total surprise, “Where?” she asked, looking completely bewildered at my duplicity.

It took me a moment to gather the courage to start talking again, “Um, it was i-in F-France – the French Alps actually – in the uh, the exact s-same resort that your f-family come from. He, uh, he lived and worked there t-too...”

Eleanor stared at me, “Holy hell,” she murmured, “I probably know him – what was his surname? Tell me you actually did get this guy’s surname before you let him shag you senseless.”

He’d never shagged me senseless. He’d sucked my cock and I’d sucked his and there were other things we’d done but shagging had never occurred between us, more’s the pity... I cleared my throat. “Yes. Actually – I did...” and I’d even practiced my married signature a couple of times in my more fanciful moments, which I agree is a little pathetic – forgive me, I was young and impressionable... I didn’t need to share that with her, though... “It was, um, Eli Galbraith.”

She stared at me, her face showing her growing horror as she realised who I was talking about, “Eli?” she repeated, “Oh, holy fucking hell, not as in short for Elliot?”

I stared back at her, suddenly as utterly horror-struck as she was. She’d often talked about her cock-slut of a cousin, Elliot. The man-whore who had cheated on so many of his partners that she described him as not being able to lie straight in bed... She’d never said his surname before though and I hadn’t made the connection... Well, how many Eli’s do you know that are actually Elliot? “I guess so.” I murmured.

“Oh, my God. You were a notch on Elliot’s bedpost.” She stood up, actually pacing my bedroom floor, “That’s disgusting!” she raged, “I’m going to kill him.”

I took hold of her arm, “No.” I said, “Don’t do that.” Just take me to him and I’m sure he’ll realise that I’m the one. He’ll fall right back in love with me...

 He had to... I was desperate!

 

 

Chapter 1 – Elliot’s idea of dating...

 

Kane

 

“Oh, fuck off Elliot.”

The door banged shut as I got to the top of the stairs and some random guy stormed past me while still managing to give me a death glare, as I watched the drama unfold in a bit of a daze. This was nothing new, by the way. I was quite used to seeing guys leaving in a hurry from my best friend’s flat – just not usually with such rich language. He’d clearly pissed this one off, big time...

Once I was confident that the guy had actually gone and wasn’t going to come storming back up to bitch-slap Elliot – or me, imagining that I was somehow another love of Elliot’s, I rang the bell.

Elliot’s voice rang out from the other side of the door, “I’ve had enough drama for one day, thanks, Jaime – go and cool off.”

I shook my head, suppressing a grin at his total lack of romance and bucket load of sass, “It’s Kane.” I shouted through the door, “The poor bastard’s gone. Let me in bro’.”

The chain was off and the door was flung open in an instant. I had to adopt my poker face quickly so he had no idea of my true feelings for him. It wasn’t all that difficult – I’d been hiding them from him, like, forever...

As far as Elliot knew, I was his more or less straight best friend – and in all fairness, that was exactly what I appeared to be. I’d been on a couple of low-key dates with guys but I’d never openly admitted to being bisexual. I always dated girls – I even liked them quite a lot – beautiful curvaceous creatures that they were. And Elliot was a total dog. A man-whore who broke hearts everywhere he went. Guys just seemed to fall under his spell. I know I had when we first met at twelve years old. I’d realised that he wasn’t just my best friend when I was around fifteen when he fell in love for the first time with Alex Knight and called him his ‘knight in shining armour’ for the whole of the two months they dated. It couldn’t last and the dickhead that was Alex ended up being proven to be a total shit instead – the skanky bastard had been two-timing him with some guy from our rival school. Unforgivable.

Well. Elliot was heartbroken and that was when he changed from the sweet, loving guy that I secretly hoped would one day be mine... That was when he started to treat guys the way Alex had treated him... It was a sad day for humanity and the angels had wept since... well, maybe not, but a little piece of my heart had withered and died that day.

I tried to tell him that he didn’t need to do that. I tried to tell him that he was adorable and lovable just the way he was, but he didn’t realise that I was speaking from the heart and shook his head, “You don’t get it. The gay community don’t do love, babe – they just do sex and thanks to Alex, I can do that as well as – if not a whole lot better than – the next gay guy now.”

My heart sank. I didn’t care if I was gay, straight or bi. I wasn’t into casual sex and I didn’t think I ever would be – no matter how badly someone broke my heart. I wanted someone to love. I wanted that someone to love and respect me in the way I wanted to love them in return. Maybe I was naïve. Maybe I was idealistic... but that was what I wanted and if I was totally honest with myself, which wasn’t often since it was too painful knowing I could never have it, I wanted that with Elliot.

Unfortunately for me, Elliot had a lot of growing up to do first and I wasn’t sure he’d ever want me that way even when he was all grown up. He might be gay and therefore found guys attractive but I can honestly say that he’d never looked at me that way. I could always tell when he was going to go after a guy. He got this particular look in his eye from the second he started to talk to them. Sadly, he’d never got that glint in his eye over me...

“So, what’s been going on in here, then?” I asked as I walked past him in the doorway and was treated to a friendly punch in the shoulder, which was always his greeting.

He shrugged, “Oh, you know...” he went a little pink.

I grimaced slightly, “I’m guessing it was a quick fuck and then you told him to get lost?”

He grinned at me sheepishly, “Well, it wasn’t exactly a quick fuck,” He said, “but essentially, yeah – we fucked and then he started to get all clingy. I just told him that I wasn’t the type of guy that cuddled after sex and that I didn’t do second dates.”

I shook my head. Harsh... “You could be that guy if you’d just let yourself try.” I pointed out.

He raised an eyebrow, “Well, yeah – maybe one day I’ll give it a go but he’d have to be something pretty special – anyway, what difference does it make to you?” he gave me a bit of a funny look.

It was my turn to look sheepish. I could hardly tell him that I was hankering after my very own happy-ever-after with him, could I? “I just want to see you happy, man.” I replied lamely, “I don’t want you to be alone.”

His jaw dropped, “Where’s all this coming from?” he asked in horror, “Oh, my God. Have you met someone?”

I shook my head, “No, of course I haven’t met someone.” I let out a snort of laughter at the thought. I never met anyone because I never looked for anyone, hence the numerous dates with pretty girls that didn’t exactly float my boat – I was far too hung up on my BFF to go out and find my one true love...

Elliot let out a massive sigh of relief. “Well thank God for that,” he said with his beautiful grin back in place, “I need you to be my wingman on Christmas Eve.”

I rolled my eyes, “Oh, for chrissakes.” I muttered. It was a bit of a tradition that we all went to the nightclub in town on Christmas Eve – and Elliot rarely made it home for Christmas dinner. He always managed to find a guy to go home with.

He looked at me, slightly offended, “What?” he asked. “Don’t you want to help out your best friend?”

I shook my head, “I hardly think my presence will make all that much difference, dude.” I said, “You do just fine on your own.” He’d have at least six guys desperate to warm his bed for a few hours – and I’d guess that at least one of them would be ‘gay for one night only’... It was amazing how many allegedly ‘straight’ guys he’d slept with. I’d guess they were definitely bi-curious and he was gorgeous, so why not?

He shrugged, a little smile playing on his lips, “Yeah.” He agreed, “Last Christmas was fantastic. That guy, George...” he sighed, “Now he was gorgeous...”

I rolled my eyes but I couldn’t deny that it was true. George had been gorgeous and I could have totally gone for him if he hadn’t have been so utterly bewitched by Elliot, “Do you mean the guy you swore you’d keep in touch with because he was the first one you’d really fallen for since Alex?” You total twat. He was totally into you. It could have been something really beautiful...

He scowled at me, “Well, yeah. He had a certain something.” He said with a shrug, “You’d have seen what I meant if you’d actually agreed to come out with us instead of holing yourself up all holiday with that girl... what the fuck was her name again?”

I smiled, “Isabel.” I said as I recalled her. She really had been a very lovely girl and I’d had to do something to keep myself away from George...

He snorted, “Yeah, Isabel.” He said, “Stuck up bitch.”

I gave him a look, “She just didn’t like you.” I pointed out, “She was perfectly nice.”

“‘Nice’ doesn’t suck your dick until you’re coming.” He said bitchily.

I begged to differ. Isabel had been up for a lot of things, including sucking my dick until I came but I wasn’t about to tell him that – some things were best kept private.

“And I suppose the Christmas guy did that for you, huh?” I asked, more out of curiosity than any real interest in what he’d gotten up to with the beautiful George. The one that got away...

He shook his head, “Actually, yeah,” he said, “And he was really good at it. We didn’t do anal – but with that tongue, I didn’t miss it at all,” he admitted, “he was more like you – he wasn’t into casual flings. He wanted a relationship with me. We sucked each other off but other than that we’d only got as far as kissing and hand jobs before we’d established that he was far more into me than I was him – so that was where I felt I should keep it. I couldn’t give him what he was looking for – so it wasn’t fair to do any more with him.”

I rolled my eyes, “Oh, boohoo for you.” I drawled sarcastically but on the inside I was kind of glad. George had been far too beautiful to be shagged senseless by the horn-dog, Elliot, and then cast aside. It was nice to know that Elliot did have some standards buried about his person somewhere. No doubt the poor guy’s admission that he’d felt something deeper for Elliot had terrified him sufficiently for his dick to go limp and he’d have spent the rest of the Christmas break avoiding him like the plague. Time to test that theory out, “Admit it – he just wasn’t that into you.” I had absolutely no idea why I was being so mean to him. It just annoyed me to see the way he treated all of his guys – like they somehow earned his approval but only for the night. It was well sickening.

He shook his head, looking genuinely perplexed, “Actually it really wasn’t like that. I really liked the guy and if you remember we spent the whole holiday together. I just didn’t have a clue how to make it work once he’d gone home – and I’ll bet you’ve never attempted a long distance relationship, so fuck off, Kane.” He frowned at me, “You don’t know everything about me. I can see now that George was something special and I was a total dick about it – but I can only take so much shit about the way I am – even from you.”

I chuckled, “Aw, babes.” I teased, “It’s because you love me, right?” I asked.

He nodded, finally serious, “Yes.” He said, “Aside from falling head-over-heels in love and lust and whatever else I felt for Alex – you and Kurt are actually the only people in the world that I do love. George came a close second to you two, mind... It was well scary.”

Well, it was nice to hear him admit that he did have a heart beating in there, after all – and it was nice to know he loved me in his own way – if only he desired me too – then life would be absolutely perfect...

 

 

Chapter 2 – Back to the Alps...

 

George

 

I couldn’t believe I was actually going through with this ridiculous idea of Eleanor’s to go to her parents’ holiday home in the French Alps – well, to be fair she was going home. I was staying in the annex chalet – giving me a little privacy and I was kind of hoping I was going to need it. I was kind of hoping Elliot would see me again, realise that I was the man of his dreams – and with my fairly recent and newly found non-virgin status, I could show him what I could do...

It was all a very vague daydream – and half the time, the guy in the daydream didn’t even have Elliot’s face... But really, what did I honestly think was going to happen when I was reunited with Eli, or rather, the man-whore that was Elliot Galbraith? Did I really expect him to immediately fall in love with me? And knowing what he was like, now that I’d been enlightened by Eleanor that he was one and the same as her dog of a cousin I’d heard so many stories about, I wondered which one of the many stories that I’d heard third-hand from Eleanor, was actually his version of events about me...

I tried once more to back out of it, but Eleanor was a force to be reckoned with and she immediately gave me the evil eye... “Don’t even think about going home this Christmas,” she warned me in her ‘don’t mess with me, boy’ voice, “My parents are going to absolutely love you – and so are my friends – and you know that my cousin Elliot’s going to be absolutely amazed.”

I swallowed, “Horrified is probably closer to the truth.” I said, “I was so full-on, it’s quite embarrassing to even think about it, now.”

Eleanor’s lips twitched, “Really?” she drawled, “Do tell.”

I shook my head, “No.” I said as primly as I could muster, “A gentleman never kisses and tells.”

She snorted, “Let me tell you something, sweetheart,” she drawled, “He ain’t no gentleman and he’ll have told as many people as would listen to what you two got up to.”

But that was just it. We’d only had the one sexual encounter and that had only been a blowjob – which had been fantastic, there was no denying it. After that, though, all we’d done was kiss and fondle each other. I must have been so ‘first time with a guy’ that it would have been laughable to him – and frankly a little embarrassing to admit to...

‘Well, I am.” I said, “And I’m not going to tell you what we did.”

She shrugged, “Okay – to be honest I don’t really want to know anyway. It always makes it awkward knowing stuff about people I know really well. It’s like I know for a fact that his best friend has a real thing for him but he’s completely oblivious to it and the poor guy is just so smitten.” She let out a heartfelt sigh, “He tries dating other girls and he’s gone on a couple of dates with guys. I think he must be bisexual,” I nodded. He must be bisexual if he dated girls and guys... “but his heart isn’t in it and that’s because it belongs to Elliot.”

I sighed. It seemed to me that I wasn’t the only one that had been bitten by the ‘smitten with Elliot’ bug. “Poor guy – what’s his name?”

She smiled, “Kane,” she said, “Kane Swain.”

I chuckled, “You’re kidding me, right?” I said.

She shook her head with a giggle, “Hell, no – sounds like a rock star, doesn’t he?”

I nodded, “Or an actor or something...”

She smiled, “He looks like one, too – he’s gorgeous. As is his twin brother. They’re both around six feet tall, dark brown hair, bright blue eyes and chiselled jaw lines.”

My dick twitched a little in my pants. I’d always had a sick sort of fantasy about being part of a threesome with hot, hunky twins. Yeah – I know. I could never have been straight. I was all about the cock...

 

*

 

Mum and Dad were really not happy in the slightest about me abandoning them for Christmas for the second year in a row, to be with Eleanor and her family – but I was done with the whole, ‘Are you sure it’s not a passing phase’ about being gay. They really needed to get with the program and to just accept me for who I was.

Some people were just born that way. I was who I was. I was never going to fancy girls. I fancied guys. It was just too bad if that didn’t meet with their approval...

“But I already bought the turkey and everything.” Mum’s voice came through the receiver, sounding really disgruntled about the whole thing.

I shot a worried look at Eleanor and bit my lip. I was just about to cave when she snatched the phone from my hand, “Hey, Mrs Birchwood,” she said brightly, “I’m really sorry to be whisking your gorgeous son away for the Christmas holidays but Mum reckons the snow has never been better and you know how much they love him.”

My jaw dropped. They’d never even met me! I have no idea what Mum said to her but she stuck two thumbs up at me and winked before passing the phone back to me.

I was juggling the phone to my ear and almost missed what Mum said but I managed to tune in, “Will you be able to come back for New Year’s Eve?” she asked.

Heaving a sigh, I promised that I would definitely be back for New Year’s Eve, since our flights were booked for the twenty-eighth. Hopefully Granddad would have gone home by then...

 

 

Chapter 3 – Visitors...

 

Kane

 

Kurt was grinning at me like a Cheshire cat. “What?” I asked, instantly suspicious that he’d done something to my room.

His grin, if possible, got even wider, “I’ve just been reliably informed that we’ve got visitors this Christmas.”

I blinked. Well, thank God I wasn’t going to find a dead frog in my bed or something equally as disgusting but this was certainly news... “We have?”

He nodded again, “Oh, yeah – remember our BFF’s hot cousin, Eleanor?”

I nodded. I wouldn’t go as far as calling her hot but she’d been a nice girl, “Sure I remember her – she was really cool – and funny.”

“Well, she’s coming to stay and she’s bringing a friend.” He raised his eyebrows and nudged my arm, “We could be in luck, bro’.” He said.

I hated to break it to him that unless her friend was a hot guy with a big heart and an averaged sized dick that didn’t make mine look small, then I wasn’t all that bothered. I knew it was past time that I came out properly to the fam but seriously, what was the big deal these days? Surely it shouldn’t matter anymore? Maybe it was just me who was finding it hard to come to terms with... “Yeah, maybe we will.” I said with a wink to cover my disinterest, “Maybe we will.”

I went through to the kitchen where Mum was making the most amazing smelling baked goods, “What are you making?” I asked, resting my chin on her shoulder and breathing in deeply. Man, she couldn’t half cook.

She chuckled at my bristly chin scratching her face, “You need to get a shave, my boy.” She said, “You’ll be giving all the girls a chafed face!”

I laughed, “Sure, sure.” I hedged.

She gave me a sidelong glance, “Or the boys,” she added quietly, “Don’t let it be said that I’m not all for you making your own choices in life.”

I swallowed. Had she noticed my all-consuming crush on my best friend? “I’m uh, undecided.” I finally admitted, “I haven’t found that special someone just yet.”

Mum smiled up at me – she was only a wee little thing of four feet eleven, so Dad, Kurt and I looked like giants against her – all of us being six-footers. “You’ll know the right person when he or she comes along, Kane. I’m not so sure it’s Elliot,” Fuck. She knew, she knew! “Don’t worry about it so much – your Prince Charming will come along when you’re not looking for him, believe me.”

I nodded, “Thanks Mum.” I murmured.

She smiled at me lovingly, “I hear from Sheila that Eleanor’s coming home this weekend – with a young man in tow.”

Sheila was Eleanor’s mum. She was also Mum’s best friend and Elliot’s aunt. “A young man?” I asked, “Oh, dear... Kurt’s gonna be heartbroken.” My brother, Kurt had gotten his wires crossed – he wasn’t about to get lucky then, if she was bringing a guy...

“His name’s George.” Mum supplied helpfully.

George? I blinked. Holy hell. It couldn’t be the same George that Elliot hooked up with last year could it? Nah – that would be far too much of a coincidence. Lightning never struck in the same place twice... did it?

I had to tell Kurt that his chances of getting all romantic with Eleanor were slim if she was bringing a guy with her... unless cupid was lurking around somewhere ready to pounce on some unsuspecting poor soul and the guy she was bringing really was Elliot’s fling from last Christmas.

Eleanor hadn’t come home for Christmas last year. She’d been away with a load of her university friends on some fabulous escapade in New York. I remembered Elliot telling me all mournfully that she wasn’t coming home. He’d being really disappointed. Elliot adored his cousin. Actually, when I really thought about it, I remembered Kurt getting a bit grumpy when I told him, too. Ahh, guess he’d been nursing a bit of a crush all this time too. Who knew?

I didn’t have to wait long to break his fragile heart, “Kurt?”

He’d just coming bursting into the kitchen – his sense of smell was clearly not as acute as mine for cookies and pies... “What?” he asked, reaching through the gap between me and Mum to get the biggest cookie. The sneaky bastard...

“Eleanor’s got a boyfriend. She’s bringing him with her.”

His face fell, “What?” he fairly yelled in my face, “Since when? Who?”

Mum chuckled, “No one said he was her boyfriend, Kane – stop stirring up a hornets nest over the whole thing.” She turned to Kurt with an apologetic look on her face, “George is apparently her best friend – and we all know what that’s more likely to mean.”

Kurt nodded, “Yeah, it means Kane here’ll have a long face for a fortnight and Elliot’s in for a good time.” He quipped, shooting me an evil grin.

I frowned. I hated the idea that Elliot was going to get back together with his lover from last year. It was time he gave someone else a shot at romance...

 

 

Chapter 4 – Butterflies...

 

George

 

I just couldn’t keep the butterflies in my stomach from taking off every five minutes. I’d been to the bathroom more times than I could count and I felt like I’d been rogered by a dozen big-dicked men. Chance would be a fine thing, I know...

Eleanor looked at me in amusement as I gingerly lowered myself back into my seat and buckled myself in. “Honey,” she said, shaking her head at my theatrics, “Elliot is just a guy.”

I nodded, “I do know that.” I said, a tad waspishly if I’m gonna be completely honest. And I did know that when I was being reasonable. Objectively I could acknowledge that he wasn’t a god and that he really was just a regular guy. A regular guy, that she loved to remind me, picked his nose and wiped it down his trousers when he was a little kid. Everyone had been a gross little kid at some time in their life – even J-Lo...

And yes. I adored J-Lo.

Eleanor snorted. Something she was incredibly accomplished at doing. “So get over yourself.” She grumbled. Grinning at me, she added, “Wait until you meet Kane and Kurt – phew!” she pretended to fan herself, “Now there’s a couple of guys that have got ‘Sleep with me, I’m great in bed’ written all over their faces...” she let out a sigh of longing. Wow. She’d never mentioned Kane and Kurt before she’d asked me to come home with her for the holidays and now she couldn’t seem to stop herself from mentioning them. It was beginning to make me wonder who these magical beings were...

I blinked, “Sounds like you’ve got a bit of a thing for a group session with these twins.” I said with a laugh.

She smacked me in the chest with the back of her hand. “No I haven’t.” she giggled, “And they’re not identical twins so you can get that look off your face, too – Kurt’s straight, I’m damned sure of it.”

I looked at her, “but you said Kane dated girls and guys?” I asked.

She shrugged, “Yeah. I’m not sure about that one.” She said, “He definitely has a quality – I think he must be bisexual...”

I blinked again, “A quality?” I repeated, confused.

She nodded, her grin turning really rather mischievous, “Yeah – he’s like you. Beautiful... and ambiguous.”

Wow. Ambiguous? That was a pretty cool word to describe a person. I had no idea I was so interesting – or so complicated...

 

 

Chapter 5 – Trip to the airport...

 

Kane

 

The day had started off rather well. I’d got up early, helped Mum out with the empty cabins, getting them beautifully spruced – not quite to Kurt’s impeccable standards but not far off – I really didn’t have his flair for colour or his eye for detail. I sometimes thought he should have been the gay one instead...

My mobile phone rang and I frowned as I looked at the screen. Elliot was awake already? He usually partied the night away with the holidaymakers and was generally still fast asleep – in one of their beds – at this time of the morning.

“Elliot?” I asked, sure it had to be a pocket-dial.

“Mate.” He sounded so relieved to hear my voice, “I really need your help.”

I blinked, “What?” I asked as I tore open a brand new mattress protector, “What’s the matter?”

“I have to pick Eleanor and her mate up from the airport. I can’t go on my own – she brings so much baggage with her...”

Damned right she did – she was bringing a guy with her. Kurt had done nothing but moan for the past week since he’d found that out. “When are you going?”

“Like, round about now?” I could hear the wince in his voice as he asked.

I sighed, “Can you give me fifteen minutes?” I asked, “I still have this chalet to finish.”

“Call it ten?” he said and hung up.

“Bastard.” I muttered under my breath as I grabbed the cleaning products for the bathroom.

Ten minutes later the bathroom was sparkling, the beds were made, the floors were vacuumed and the place was spotless.

I smiled as I closed the door behind me and headed down the hill to where Elliot was waiting for me nervously.

“She just called to say they’d landed.” He said as he flicked his indicator on and merged with the traffic, “Did I tell you that she’d got a mate with her?”

I nodded, “Yeah, his name’s George, isn’t it?” I asked.

He nodded, turning to me with a look of glee. His eyes were bright with excitement, “Yeah.” He said, “It’s him – it’s actually him! That was why I needed you with me.”

I gazed at him in dismay as my heart started to sink. It was beautiful George? The one I would have totally liked to kiss under the mistletoe last year only Elliot had gotten there first... And Elliot had that look about him. He was going to snaffle him from right under my nose again, the sneaky bastard. “What did you need me for?” I asked, sounding ever so slightly bitchy.

He shrugged, “You bring out the best in me.” he said airily, “I always come across as a better human being when I’m with you.”

I couldn’t help it. I had to laugh. “Get lost.” I punched his shoulder.

He smiled at me, “You do.” He insisted.

We parked up and headed for the arrivals. There were obviously a few planes all arriving at the same time and the arrivals lounge was heaving with people.

My attention was taken with a group of cabin crew walking through the airport; all of them were dressed the same and looking really smart. They were all dragging exactly the same little case behind them – clearly it was issued by their airline. One of them stood out. I blinked and did a double take. “Hey, Elliot,” I tapped his arm, “Isn’t that that kid who used to hang around with us – Cristian Llardi?”

His head almost came off his shoulders as he turned to follow my eye-line and sucked in a sharp breath, “Oh, my God.” He breathed, instantly completely besotted, “It is – what the fuck is he doing back here?”

I shrugged. I had no clue and I didn’t much care either. We hardly knew him anymore. He’d been four years behind us in school – although he’d always trailed after Elliot, but then, let’s face it – who didn’t? He was like the fucking pied piper... “Dunno.” I said, “Come on, let’s get a drink or something while we wait.”

Elliot agreed vaguely, “Sure, sure.” He said, “I’m uh, I’m just gonna go and say hello...”

He shot off without a backwards glance. I shook my head and wandered over to the cafeteria. The boy was insatiable. All he had to see was a pretty face and he was all over the guy like a fucking rash. “Two coffees please.” I smiled at the girl behind the counter.

She nodded and set about getting the coffees for me.

I turned away from the counter to see Elliot and Cristian deep in conversation, looking extremely cosy and laughing at something Cristian had just said. I was quite surprised. I had no idea that they were still so friendly with each other.

Catching my eye, Elliot grinned and pulled Cristian over to me, “Hey, Kane,” he said with a beaming smile, “Say hi to Cristian – he’s back here for the Christmas break.”

I raised my eyebrows, “I thought you’d moved to Spain with your family.” I said. I was absolutely sure that was where they’d all gone.

He nodded, shrugging his shoulders, “Well, not quite – my family moved to Turin, Italy.” He said, the slightest lisp that had been really prominent when he was younger, still apparent when he spoke, “But I’ve got my own apartment in Les Arcs now.”

I raised my eyebrows, “Seriously?” I asked. Wow. That was actually pretty cool – not to say, kinda pricey...

He nodded, “Grandma Llardi died,” he said, looking suddenly mournful, “Dad was devastated – well, we all were – she left me and my brother, Allesandro quite a decent amount of money each, we’ve both been able to buy ourselves decent homes...”

Well, that made perfect sense. “I’ll bet that’s a nice pad in Les Arcs.” I commented.

He smiled, “Yeah,” he agreed, “It’s pretty decent.”

Elliot was beaming at him, “I’ll have to come and see it.” He said enthusiastically.

Cristian nodded, “Absolutely.” He said, putting his hand on Elliot’s arm possessively, “What about Sunday?”

He nodded, his eyes sparkling with undisguised excitement. Jesus, I hadn’t seen him this besotted since Alex Knight had first noticed him. “Sounds great.” He said.

Cristian’s grin just about split his face in half – he clearly felt exactly the same way, “Brilliant.” He said, “I’ll text you the address.”

They spent the next couple of minutes exchanging numbers and then with a flirty little hug and kiss, Cristian had disappeared off into the crowds and Elliot had been left with a hopeful little smile on his face.

I raised my eyebrows at Elliot, “Don’t go breaking that little guy’s heart.” I warned, “He’s adorable and he’s always loved you.”

He blinked, “Has he?” he asked, looking stunned.

I shook my head. Elliot was a lot of things but perceptive wasn’t really one of them.

The next moment, Eleanor came through the gate, followed closely by her friend, George. My heart started to thump a little harder in my chest. Fuck. It really was the same George from last year... I hadn’t really allowed myself to believe it until I saw him – and he was even better looking this year than he’d been last year.

Eleanor smiled and waved. She turned to George, who looked a little shell-shocked and then he looked our way and I swear that when his eyes locked onto mine first, I felt something pass between us. Maybe this year really would be my turn...

Elliot shouted Eleanor’s name and went striding across to them both. I trailed after him, wishing it could have been me looking all assertive and manly. Fuck. George was going to think I was just Elliot’s sidekick – the Robin to his Batman...

“Oh, wow! Elliot, look at you!” Eleanor cooed, “How’ve you all been?” She leaned in and kissed my cheek too before turning and introducing George.

I grinned at him and leaning forward, I shook his hand before Elliot could monopolise him. “Hi, there – it’s really nice to meet you, I’m Kane.” I said. There – you see. I could be assertive and manly too...

“Kane’s one of the twins I was telling you about.” Eleanor gushed.

Hello! Someone had been talking about me? I grinned and nodded, “Yeah, but I’m the good-looking one.” I said with a laugh, even though I meant it. Kurt was handsome, there was no getting away from it – but he was kind of grungy, whereas I was always turned out well. I styled my hair. I cleansed my skin. I had my intimate area waxed and I was peachy soft and silky all over...

Elliot stood at the side of me, not saying a word. I glanced at him but he seemed to be in a world of his own, “And, uh, this is Elliot,” I smacked him in the chest perhaps a little harder than was really necessary, “but I guess you already knew that?”

George blushed bright red, “Uh, yeah.” He said, “Hi Elliot. Good to see you.”

Elliot seemed to snap out of his daydreaming as he rubbed his chest, “Yeah, nice to see you again, too, George.” He said vaguely, “Are we ready then?”

He turned on his heel and started marching towards the exit, pulling Eleanor’s case behind him and hardly acknowledging George’s existence at all. Well, that was fucking rude. What the fuck just happened?

 

 

Chapter 6 – The other guy...

 

George

 

I had no clue what I was getting so stressed about. The moment the doors opened and we were able to go through to the arrivals lounge, my eyes found Elliot who had come to pick us up. He wasn’t alone though. He’d definitely rocked up with another guy.

Their body language would suggest that they were only friends, but what did I know? I wasn’t exactly your relationship guru kind of guy... The funny thing was, it was the other guy that I couldn’t stop looking at now. Wow. He was absolutely fucking gorgeous...

Eleanor whispered to me as we walked over, “That’s Kane – Elliot’s best mate and the bisexual one of the twins I was telling you about.”

I remembered the conversation. Kane Swain... Well, no wonder she was getting all hot and bothered about them – if his brother looked anything like him, I too would like to be in that twin sandwich...

“You never told me he was that gorgeous.” I hissed back at her.

She chuckled, “I know,” she said, “But I couldn’t do him justice by trying to explain – you just have to experience the view.”

I nodded. She was absolutely right. He was wearing black skinny jeans with Timberland boots and as if that wasn’t sexy enough, he had his thick, winter coat undone since it was warm inside the airport. He was showing off a bright blue sweater underneath. He had a scarf draped casually around his neck and had what looked like a matching hat and gloves set in his hand. I’d be willing to bet he looked stunning outside dressed all in his gear.

His hair was a little mussed up – that would be from his hat. Mm-mm. I’d never been more attracted to anyone in my life – including Elliot who I’d wasted far too many hours mooning over for the last year. It was fair to say that seeing him again had made me realise something – and that was that he wasn’t quite as wonderful as I’d remembered him. Kane though... Well, he was a whole different ballgame...

And the way he smiled at me... He actually looked interested in me and happy to meet me. Elliot? I chanced another quick glance to find him staring off into space... hmm, not so much.

I guess it was a bit weird to meet up again. Holiday romances weren’t really meant to be re-visited. Something I had tried to get Eleanor to understand but she was adamant – and now I was rather pleased that she had been. If I’d stubbornly stayed at home I might never have met the very beautiful and very interesting, Kane Swain...

 

 

Kane

 

Elliot might have been present but he still seemed to be in a world of his own. There was definitely something bothering him. God, I hope he didn’t have a dose of something nasty – but what with his penchant for sleeping with pretty much anything (male) that breathed, it was a distinct possibility. Not that I minded him being distant – it meant that I had George pretty much all to myself to talk to, and he was really chatty once he lost his shyness.

And oh, my God – he was absolutely adorable.

We got onto the subject of movies and to my surprise and delight he loved all the same stuff that I did! Something even my twin brother didn’t fully appreciate. “You love Ironman? Oh, man!” I held my hand up for a high five and he grinned and slapped my hand so naturally it made my heart jump in my chest. Fuck. I was seriously in danger of falling for this one...

George chattered all the way home about Ironman, Captain America and his all time favourite, which I have to admit was secretly mine too, overtaking Ironman, I’m not gonna lie, just because it was Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool. “He’s just so damned sexy in that suit.” He said and I had to agree with him wholeheartedly.

We seemed to arrive back home in double-quick time. Elliot shut off the engine and jumped out to get the bags. As he heaved them up to the reception area, Eleanor trailed a little way behind him, meeting Kurt on the steps into the house.

They exchanged shy grins and then he said something to her and she followed him inside.

I followed in behind them with George at my side. As we walked in, I sniffed the air and grinned. Good old Mum – she’d been baking again. On the worktop was an array of baked goods. “Can we eat these?” I shouted.

A muffled reply came back, telling us to help ourselves.

I grabbed plates and handed them around, smiling as I handed George his. His cheeks went pink as he smiled back at me. “Thanks.” He whispered.

“You’re welcome,” I whispered back teasingly – just to see him blush again. He looked so damned adorable with colour in his cheeks.

He grinned, rolling his eyes at my antics. I just found myself grinning back at him like a total dork. I couldn’t help it, though. He made me want to smile at him goofily. For once I was totally smitten with someone other than Elliot...

I glanced at my brother, who was sitting chatting with Eleanor. I really wanted him to find someone that he wanted to spend time with on a more permanent basis than he currently did. He seemed to go through girls in pretty much the same way as Elliot got through guys – although he wasn’t nearly so obvious about it – and he definitely let them down more gently than Elliot ever did.

I just wasn’t like that. I wanted to find the one. And I thought I might have finally struck gold... The only trouble with that was Elliot. I couldn’t snaffle the guy from under his nose – that wasn’t what good mates did to each other and he might be a lot of things – but he’d never once stolen a girlfriend off me. Not that he was ever likely to, since he’d been gay for as long as I could remember.

I couldn’t wait to talk to Kurt about it. I really needed to talk about the way I felt with someone. Only trouble was that the one I usually went to with my romantic problems was the problem on this occasion.

Maybe I should have gone straight to him to tell him how I felt about George but I really didn’t want to damage our friendship over a guy. Particularly over one that was going home in a week – that really wasn’t cool...

 

*

 

Finally, everyone had gone home and it was just Kurt and I.

I was now in a total funk over the whole thing and he noticed pretty much instantly. “What’s up with you?” he asked, looking amused, “You look like you lost a fiver and found a pound.”

I shrugged, “It’s Elliot.” I grumbled, “He’s being his usual arrogant twat self and he’s not looking after George.”

Kurt frowned, “So what?” he asked, “He’s not his guest – he’s here with Eleanor. Anyway – why do you care?”

I went red, “It’s just not right.” I muttered, feeling my face getting hotter and hotter, “He’s a really nice guy.”

Kurt raised his eyebrows at me, “Do I detect a little crush?” he asked.

I shrugged. If I couldn’t be honest with my twin brother, really, I might as well give up, “Maybe.” I agreed with a sigh, “He’s into everything I’m into. He’s gorgeous – and he’s really funny and intelligent and...”

Kurt sighed, “And everything you’ve been looking for.” He finished off my sentence for me.

I nodded, “Absolutely everything,” I admitted, “but he’s here for Elliot, not me.”

Kurt grinned, his eyes taking on an evil glint, “All’s fair in love and war, bro’,” he said patting my shoulder, “And Elliot’s as smitten as a kitten with young Cristian, who he was telling me, has turned up out of the blue again. If you fancy this George guy – just go for it – life’s too short not to grab every opportunity for happiness.”

I swallowed, “I’m not sure that I’d go as far as saying I fancy the guy...” What was I talking about? We’d only just this minute established that he was everything I’d been looking for.

Kurt shook his head, a little smile on his face, “You don’t have to hide your sexuality from me, mate.” He said, “I don’t care if you like girls or boys – you’re my brother and I love you no matter what.”

I smiled, my heart lifting. “Seriously?” I asked, “You’re really not bothered?”

He shook his head, “Absolutely not bothered.” He said decisively.

I nodded, “I still think that Elliot’s being a shit, though,” I mused, scratching my chin and making a mental note to go and buy a new razor. I really hated being bristly...

Kurt gave me a funny look, “But it gives you loads of time with George – what’s the problem?”

I grimaced, “There is no problem, really – apart from the fact that he’ll turn up everywhere. You know he will – it’s what he does. It’s as if he’s always trying to keep his options open and that pisses me off where George is concerned – but also for Cristian. He’s a nice guy and he deserves to be treated better than Elliot treats guys.”

Kurt nodded, “Yeah, I hope he doesn’t hurt him. Cristian was always a lovely kid – can you remember the way he used to follow Elliot around. It was like he thought he was capable of hanging the moon or something.”

I nodded, smiling, “Yeah,” I said, “He’s been in love with him forever.”

Kurt smiled at me, “Well, let’s hope the planets have aligned or something and that Cristian’s the one for Elliot this time.”

I nodded, “How did it go with Eleanor?” I asked. I’d been completely absorbed in George and I really had no idea what had gone on between them.

Kurt looked at me with a bit of a hunted look in his eyes, “Fine.” He said with an edge to his voice, “Why?”

I shrugged, “You just didn’t seem to really connect with her.” I said. It was true. She was looking at him all starry eyed and it was like she didn’t even register at all with him. To be fair it wasn’t really surprising; he was generally in a world of his own these days.

I knew he wasn’t exactly at his happiest at the moment. He really wanted to go to uni in the UK but he’d missed out again this year, not getting his arse in gear early enough. “We got on fine – as mates.”

I nodded, “Well, I’m sure your soul mate is out there somewhere.” I said, “You just have to find him.”

“Her.” Kurt ground out, “You’re the gay one – not me.”

I grinned, “Oh, shit,” I said, “Slip of the tongue.”

He looked like his feathers had been well and truly ruffled but his humour was obviously still in tact. “You wish,” he shot back at me, “Anyway – its totally irrelevant anyway because she’s still in love with her ex.”

I frowned, “How so?”

He shrugged, “it was obvious from what she said.”

I blinked. Really? George hadn’t said anything about his best friend still being in love with her ex. I decided to leave it. He was probably just trying to get me to shut up. Kurt really wasn’t one to talk about his feelings. He was totally different to me – he was totally the suffer-it-in-silence type.

 

 

Chapter 7 – Looking after George...

 

Kane

 

“Kane! Kane! Buddy!”

I turned and sighed as I saw Elliot hurtling towards me as fast as was humanly possible. He wanted something – sadly not me – but he needed me or at least my help; that, at least, was obvious.

“Elliot, buddy.” I forced a grin. The bastard had been hanging around with Cristian Llardi for the entire Christmas break so far – and I was damned sure he was sleeping with him too. You know how you can sometimes just tell? You get a vibe...? Well, I had a vibe and I was getting so damned angry about it that I was in danger of developing an ulcer...

He slung an arm around my shoulder, and squeezed. I grimaced. A month ago and I would have revelled in his touch and his attention. Now I was just getting razzed off. “I really need a favour.” He said.

“What’s in it for me?” I asked.

He cocked an eyebrow. Had that come out as bitchily as it sounded in my head? Uh, yeah – probably had... “I dunno.” He said with a shrug, “A day out with a hot guy?”

I blinked and then narrowed my eyes, “What hot guy?”

He rolled his eyes as if it was obvious, “George.” He said, “You’ve got to admit he’s ten different kinds of hot.”

I shrugged, “Yeah, he’s okay.” I acknowledged. If I thought about it long enough I could totally appreciate how sexy he was but that was hardly the point. The point was that Elliot was supposed to be entertaining George instead of Cristian but so far, he’d been doing an appalling job of it.

“And what are you doing that’s so important?” I asked.

He went bright red, “Uh, Cristian’s showing me his apartment.”

I narrowed my eyes, “What, again?” I could have sworn he went there with him on Sunday – and it was now Wednesday...

He looked like a rabbit caught in headlights, “Uh...”

I rolled my eyes, “Look,” I said, “I have no idea what’s going on between you and Cristian – and I don’t really want to know. Just don’t upset the little guy. He’s nice – and far too good for someone like you, who just chews guys up and spits them back out.”

His jaw dropped, “I do not...” he protested, his voice going up an octave in indignation.

“You fucking do.” I said, “But you can’t do that to Cristian.” He was far too sweet to be heartbroken by Elliot.

He looked stunned that I thought he would, “I would never...”

I blinked. Holy hell. Something about Elliot had changed. He liked him. A lot. That much was obvious. I just hoped he knew what he was doing. Cristian had worshipped him since he was a kid. He might be all grown up now but he still didn’t strike me as the type to be able to sleep with the man of his dreams and walk away unscathed. Cristian wouldn’t be able to do that without his heart getting involved. “Make sure you don’t.” I warned, “He’s lovely.”

He nodded, “I know he is,” he said softly. “I wouldn’t ever hurt him.”

Well, that remained to be seen. Elliot was a great mate – but a faithful, committed lover? Well, as much as I’d idly fantasised about us one day being together, in reality I wouldn’t really want to chance it – even though I had had a major crush on the guy since forever...

“What have I got to do?” I asked.

He smiled, “Can you take George out and show him the slopes and everything. Eleanor asked me if I would while she caught up with a few girlfriends, but I can’t be in two places at once and honestly, I’d prefer to be with Cris.”

I nodded, my heart lifting to think that I’d have George all to myself – and with the knowledge that Elliot wasn’t all that interested made it even more appealing. If Elliot wasn’t interested in him, my chances of getting a snog or two were increased... bring it on.

 

 

Chapter 8 – Unexpected pleasure...

 

George

 

I was bored. I should have stayed at home. At least there I could have gone around to my mate, Steven’s house and sat watching porn while we both wanked ourselves silly without feeling any embarrassment with each other – what can I say? We’d been doing it since we were thirteen and we’d never fancied each other – it was always about the guys on screen...

Here, I could hardly get my rocks off while I was in the company of strangers and I’d totally accepted that Elliot was more interested in the very beautiful, very tiny Italian guy, Cristian, than he was ever going to be in me – not that I was particularly bothered since I’d met Kane. Now there was a guy worth pursuing but so far I’d hardly seen him and I’d been here three days already...

I sighed; the chances of anything happening with that guy were very slim – he seemed to be just as enamoured with Elliot as I’d been last year.

I’d got to say, seeing Elliot a year on had been slightly disappointing. I’d remembered him differently – more fun, handsomer and larger than life in his personality.

Meeting him again had brought home to me how ordinary he was – and how extraordinary his friend, Kane, was who had accompanied him to the airport to pick us up – that guy was fucking beautiful. I’d been instantly attracted.

The doorbell rang as I was musing over how lovely he was.

I jumped. I wasn’t expecting anyone. Eleanor had gone out for the day with a couple of girlfriends. I’d thought she was interested in Kurt, but she’d confided in me that he just hadn’t shown any real interest. I wasn’t exactly surprised when she told me that. I’d pegged him for gay – he’d sure as hell pinged my gaydar, but that might have been more to do with his likeness to his rather better looking brother than anything else.

I opened the door and did my best not to drool, as Kane stood there, looking slightly embarrassed, scratching his neck nervously, but grinning at me ear-to-ear. “Hi,” he said, “How do you fancy a day on the slopes with me as your personal guide?”

Was he actually serious? “Is that a trick question?’ I asked, smiling shyly at him.

His grin widened, which didn’t actually seem possible, but there it was, “Nope,” he said, sounding the ‘p’ loudly, “So, go and get your salopettes on and a few thin layers under your coat – oh and don’t forget to put on your gloves and a hat.”

I nodded, “Okay,” I agreed, “But I was just having a coffee – would you like one?”

He blinked, looking slightly shocked at my offer, “Oh... sure.” He said, “I don’t think I’ve actually had a drink this morning, yet.”

I was surprised. “You haven’t?”

He shrugged, “It’s busy over at our place.” He said, “With it being a B&B there’s always guests to feed and water in the mornings. Thankfully it’s the only meal of the day that we are responsible for.” He was grinning again and my heart melted a little. God, he was lovely.

“Well, come on in – I’ll make you a coffee – want some toast?”

His eyes lit up “Seriously?” he said, “You don’t mind? I thought you were supposed to be the guest.”

I shrugged, “I’m not your guest, though,” I said, “So I don’t think it counts.”

He chuckled and pulled out one of the breakfast bar stools to sit on while I got us a couple of slices of bread each and popped them into the toaster.

I snapped the kettle on at the same time and started to rummage in the cupboard for another. The chalet-annex was well equipped and Mum had insisted that I take a small jar of coffee with me, telling me that I might not be able to get my favourite brand over in France – like I really cared, but whatever...

I was kind of glad she’d made me take the coffee now – because it gave me a chance to drool over Kane Swain... and I was going to spend the rest of the day with him too! Amazing...

 

*

 

“So what do you want to do?” he asked as he drained his cup and placed it down in the breakfast bar counter.

I shrugged, “I’m crap at skiing,” I admitted, “Even though Elliot gave me lessons last year I was never any good at it and I haven’t skied since – but even though I only did it once, the day before I was leaving, actually – I really loved the tubing.”

Kane’s eyes lit up, “I love tubing, too.” He said, “So we can definitely do that – and we can have a go at tobogganing as well – that’s excellent fun – I’m sure you’ll love it.”

I liked that he sounded confident that I would enjoy myself in his company. I was pretty damned sure that I would enjoy anything he got me to do... “That sounds like something I could try.” I agreed, “I’ll go and get my gear on.”

Kane grinned and headed for the door, “I’ll go and get mine on too – and I’ll meet you back out front in what – five minutes?”

I nodded, suddenly really nervous, “Sure.” I squeaked.

He disappeared out of the door. I watched him go, slightly shell-shocked that he was willing to spend the whole day with me. Hell, he was about a million times sexier than I’d ever thought Elliot was. I’d fallen for Elliot when I’d been at a low ebb and his flirty nature had appealed to me – but a year was a long time and I’d grown up a lot in that time – and I’d realised almost the moment I’d seen him again that Elliot really wasn’t all that.

Kane on the other hand... mm-mm.

I shot to my bedroom and got ready in double-quick time.

Five minutes later, I was outside and pleased to see that Kane was sauntering over, dressed in almost the same get-up as me.

“Ready?” he called.

I nodded. I was, without a doubt, ready for absolutely anything...

 

 

Chapter 9 – Falling for George...

 

Kane

 

The day couldn’t have gone better. We went tubing, we went tobogganing and had a ride to the top of the mountain – not to ski back down – just to go to the après ski bar at the top for a burger, fries and a large beer each.

We sat in the bar, both with pink cheeks and big grins as we tucked into our meals.

“That was fantastic!” George’s eyes sparkled with joy as he raved about the morning’s activities.

I grinned back at him. God, he was beautiful, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” I said with genuine warmth. It was wonderful to have been the one to put that smile on his face. I wanted to put that smile on his face for the rest of our natural lives but felt saying it out loud, this early on, might have him running for the nearest exit.

I pushed my plate away with a happy sigh, “That was really good.” I said.

George nodded, “It really was delicious.” He agreed, “What are we going to do this afternoon?”

I looked at him, “What about one more go at tubing – and then you can come home with me and we can see what baked delights my mother has left out just waiting to be devoured?” There was something else I’d prefer to devour, but the time wasn’t right for that... yet.

He smiled. He really had enjoyed the tubing – I couldn’t blame him; it was a whole lot of fun sliding down the hill, kind of quickly but still in a lazy river kind of way. I loved all of the snow sports – but then I had lived here half of my life... Mum and Dad had moved us here when we were just twelve. “That would be great.” He agreed, reaching across the table and squeezing my hand.

I’m not gonna lie; his touch made my hair feel like it was standing on end. He really had the most incredible effect on me and, oh my God, I liked it – I liked it a lot.

I think he felt it too, because he looked at his hand on mine and his mouth fell open a little before he recovered himself and looked me in the eye and smiled.

I smiled back, trying my best to hold it all together, “Let’s go, then.”

He nodded and slid out of his side of the booth to come and stand with me.

We paid our bill, with a generous tip and then we left for the tube runs again.

There were two and we’d only been on the gentle slope the first time. This time George was feeling a whole lot braver and he chose the slightly steeper run.

“Are you sure?” I asked, knowing that it was a whole lot hairier than the other one.

He nodded, “Sure.” He said, “It’ll be cool!”

I chuckled, “Okay.” I grabbed his hand in mine and pulled him towards the higher run.

It started off reasonably tamely but the further down the hill we got, the faster the ride got until we got to the bottom. George toppled out of his tube and I bumped straight into the back of him, toppling myself out of the tube and basically landing right on top of him.

He looked up at me as I looked down at him in surprise, “Sorry.” I gasped.

He smiled, a lazy, sexy smile that made my dick start to take an interest. “No problem,” he said softly, his eyes flickering to my mouth and then back up to my eyes. Holy hell, did he want to kiss me?

I scrambled off him and held my hand out to give him a hand up.

 

 

George

 

Oh, my God. I swear I hadn’t imagined that moment between us. But it was over so quickly that I wasn’t sure.

And why would he be interested in me that way? Okay, so Eleanor had said that he was ‘ambiguous’ but until that moment it hadn’t been particularly obvious to me that he might be interested in me as more than an acquaintance of his best friend.

But now...? He was holding my hand. He hadn’t let go. My heart started to beat a little faster.

Seconds later, I was thrown into further confusion as Elliot and Cristian appeared. I felt at once, jealous that Cristian seemed to have something going on with Elliot that was as effortless as breathing – and yet at the same time, irritated that he was encroaching on my time with Kane. And Kane seemed to be feeling exactly the same way as I was. Unfortunately for me, it looked as if Eleanor had been right about him because he definitely appeared to have the hots for his best friend.

Maybe we were just gravitating towards each other because neither of us could have the guy we both really wanted. What a fucking mess...

“Hey, guys.” Elliot’s eyes flickered to our joined hands. Well, there was no way I was going to let go like I was doing something wrong – I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Elliot had no claim on me – or on Kane as far as I could tell. Besides, he was stood there, hand-in-hand with the beautiful Cristian...

Kane grinned, “Hey, Elliot,” he said “Hey, Cristian – nice to see you again.”

Cristian beamed back at Kane, sending a thrill of jealousy through me that he was looking at Kane with such interested. Back off, buddy – you’ve already got Elliot... “And it’s really nice to see you, too.” He said, with such a prominent lisp I was surprised. I thought that most people grew out of lisping as the got older. It was actually kind of endearing, “I’ll see you guys later tonight too – Elliot has invited me to come along to your Christmas party and I’ve got a cabin booked to stay for the whole of the Christmas break.”

Elliot grinned at him, looking at him as if he was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen in his life, “Yeah, and we can have dinner together on Christmas Day in the restaurant – I pulled a few strings and got us a table booked.”

My jaw dropped. Hell fire! Was Elliot Galbraith finally falling in love? He had to be – because it was as plain as the nose on his face that he’d finally chased enough men for one to turn around and finally catch him. Well, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy than Cristian – I just hoped Elliot was capable of remaining faithful to this one...

 

 

Chapter 10 – The truth or dare game...

 

Kane

 

Just as expected, Cristian turned up to the Christmas party with Elliot. It wasn’t a particularly flamboyant affair – it was just for the guests and the residents of the immediate resort but it was always pretty well attended and the DJ played some decent music and everyone enjoyed the buffet and then most folks drifted back to their cabins and chalets by around midnight.

I couldn’t keep my eyes from flickering across the room to watch the way Elliot and Cristian interacted with each other. It all seemed quite innocent, but I couldn’t help noticing that Elliot’s hand lingered on the small of his back and he leaned in very closely to speak to him. They were definitely getting it on together. They had to be.

I thought I’d feel more jealous about it – but in all honesty, I was actually more concerned about the arrival – or lack of – Eleanor and George. Where the hell were they? It was eight o’clock already! Finally they arrived. George had little flecks of snow in his hair. My heart actually skipped a beat when he arrived.

He looked absolutely stunning in a mustard coloured shirt that somehow managed to make his eyes look even darker. My God, he was handsome... He’d teamed the shirt up with a pair of black skinny jeans and a pair of Dr Marten boots – a good choice in this weather. Fuck. He looked good enough to eat – and there were various parts of that body I really wouldn’t mind having a taste of...

He ambled across the room, looking a little shy but determined to come and talk to me.

I grinned as he approached, “Hi, George.”

He grinned back at me, “Hi, have you been here long?”

I shook my head, “We’ve only been here about ten minutes.” Well, okay – so it was an outrageous lie and I’d been waiting for him with baited breath for at least forty minutes...

He nodded, looking relieved. “Eleanor couldn’t decide which top to wear,” he rolled his eyes, “Like it’s so damned difficult.”

I grinned and nodded. To be fair I’d had a bit of a dilemma myself. I couldn’t decide between the navy blue shirt or the red one. I’d decided on the navy blue in the end – I figured it went better with my eyes, which weren’t as dark a blue as George’s, but they weren’t an icy-blue either. And yes, I was out to impress. I just didn’t know who I wanted to impress more, Elliot or George – but I strongly suspected it was the latter...

The drinks flowed and the tunes were all bangers and everyone was having a great time.

As time went on, people were drifting off to go to their beds before they’d be up again for another day on the slopes. I stood up and stretched, “Who’s coming back to ours for a nightcap?”

Everyone was up for it and we all trouped back. I noticed that Elliot and Cristian sat together on the sofa. Cristian whispered something in Elliot’s ear and Elliot nodded.

“Okay,” Cristian grinned around with a totally cheeky glint in his eye, “Truth or Dare!”

I groaned. I hated this game. I could lie. Of course I could – but it really wasn’t me. So I always chose a dare instead of telling an embarrassing truth – and with this game – it was always an embarrassing question...

Cristian’s eyes sparkled as the spinner pointed at me. “First crush?” he asked.

Well, that was quite obviously the guy sat right opposite me, who was currently making eyes at the beautiful Cristian and not taking the blindest bit of notice of anyone else...

I hardly thought it was appropriate to say that Elliot was my first crush, what with him being almost wrapped around Cristian anyway – and with George and I getting friendlier. I wasn’t about to ruin my chances with him... “Uh, I’d rather not say – so I’ll take the dare instead.” I said valiantly.

Cristian’s eyes lit up with absolute glee, “Brilliant!” he breathed. Clearly he’d thought up all of the forfeits. He picked a card from the forfeit pile and read it, the corners of his mouth turning up in an evil grin, “You have to kiss another member of our little crew here for one minute. And I have a timer...” he waved his phone around.

Ohhh, shit. This wasn’t boding well for a decent outcome. I had a choice of Cristian, which wouldn’t be so bad – he wasn’t gonna make me do anything embarrassing. I glanced around the group of assembled people. Eleanor. Sure she was cute and all but I didn’t fancy her one bit. George, however... Wow. I’d been instantly attracted to him and that attraction had only grown over the last few days of us spending so much time together. I really couldn’t understand how Elliot hadn’t been falling all over himself to try to woo him back. But Elliot just seemed utterly taken with Cristian.

My brother Kurt was looking at me with a mixture of amusement and something close to terror. He was clearly thinking my meltdown was due to having only one girl in the group to kiss – and I knew for a fact that he totally had the hots for her...

I took a deep breath, “Right, pass the hat. I’ll pick a name – but I’m not kissing my brother.”

Cristian nodded, “Sure, sure.” He agreed, “Because that would just be weird – horny for us lot who’ve always fantasised about twins – or maybe that’s just me,” he let out a giggle, and glanced towards Elliot who looked back at him with a slight frown. Clearly he had never fantasised about twins. “It would be weird all the same.” He finished, looking slightly embarrassed.

Well, I couldn’t blame him for looking embarrassed; it was the weirdest thing anyone had ever said about me and Kurt... I shot him a shaky smile and reached for the hat. I didn’t really think about whom I wouldn’t mind kissing until I looked around and my eyes met with George.

He looked utterly terrified. I faltered as I reached for a piece of paper. What the hell was he looking so scared about? Was I that bad?

I’d always thought I had quite a nice look about me. I wasn’t overly butch but by the same means I didn’t think anyone would ever guess I was anything other than straight... So what was his fear all about?

I smiled at him, trying to reassure him that I wouldn’t be trying to play tonsil tennis with him even if we did get partnered. I was quite happy to simply press my lips against his rather luscious looking lips that I couldn’t stop imagining around rather more intimate parts of my body... did I just say that? Heaven help me...

He smiled back at me. My dick instantly sprang to attention. Holy shit...

I put my hand in the hat and drew it back out. Holding my breath I opened the piece of paper and looked back across at my blue-eyed beauty... he was staring at me with a guarded look on his face.

“Elliot” was scrawled across the piece of paper. Oh fuck. No way was I going to kiss him. No fucking way. I glanced back at George and made my mind up there and then, “George.” I said, glad that I’d managed to say his name without my voice wobbling because I was lying through my teeth...

He nodded and stood up. Everyone else clapped. There were a couple of ‘woo-hoos’.

I stepped into him and put my hands on his waist. That was a nice safe area...

George sighed. He really didn’t want to do this – and I thought I knew why. My best friend – his lover from a year ago – was still making eyes at Cristian... He must have been crushed by that. My heart went out to him and I didn’t even think about it. I grabbed him and pressed my lips against his...

George seemed to come alive as soon as our mouths found each other. His lips parted and a little breathy sigh escaped him. It was almost as if everyone and everything else around us faded into oblivion. It was just me and George and our kiss... It wasn’t that I wasn’t aware of everyone else around us. I’d simply forgotten to care...

 

 

George

 

I couldn’t deny it. I’d definitely come on holiday with Eleanor in the vain hope of rekindling something with Eli. It had never in a million years occurred to me that I might meet someone else. Someone handsome and interesting and a whole lot nicer...

But Kane was all of those things. He was intelligent, kind, and not to mention utterly gorgeous. He sounded perfect didn’t he? So what was the problem? He was Eli’s best friend...

I sat there utterly terrified that my name was going to be pulled from the hat when Kane refused to say whom his first crush was. I had a damned good idea that it was probably the same as mine... the guy that had found a shiny new toy to moon all over for the next week and a half until some other shiny new toy came along... Elliot...

I’d been trying to work out who I wouldn’t mind kissing if it was me. Eleanor – yeah, that would be okay. I had no weird feelings about her... But if it were Elliot, well, that would be a total disaster. Everyone would know that I’d been harbouring feelings for him ever since last year. I had to make a sharp exit. I went to get up, “I need to get another drink...” I muttered.

Eleanor grabbed my hand and shook her head, “No,” she said firmly, “You might be pulled out of the hat.”

Fuck. I’d been so damned focused on my own truth-or-dare challenge, I hadn’t been paying proper attention. Now it occurred to me that the very beautiful and very sexy Kane had pulled a name from the hat... and that name was mine. Shit. He was far too good-looking for this...

He smiled at me. I smiled back. Why wouldn’t I? He was gorgeous...

My eyes flickered towards Elliot who was gazing at Cristian with a bit of a love-struck expression on his beautiful face. I sighed. There was no way he was ever going to be interested in me. If I was honest, I wasn’t really bothered; I was just suffering from a little hurt pride. I’d spent money on him last Christmas – the least he could have done was to give me the gift back and tell me he wasn’t interested.

Kane’s eyes followed mine to look at his friend. They narrowed slightly as he took in what I’d just seen. Elliot was clearly setting his sights on Cristian. Kane took me slightly by surprise when seconds later, he was grabbing hold of my waist and lunging at me...

As his lips bumped a little clumsily against mine I had my epiphany. I closed my eyes and parted my lips. I was instantly in heaven. It was almost as if I’d been put on this earth just to meet Kane. I honestly felt that I’d been waiting my whole life to kiss the perfect man and he’d just been delivered in the sexiest packaging imaginable. Oh, my God! Talk about your ultimate Christmas miracle!

I allowed myself to just drown in his kiss. Everything else faded into oblivion as his mouth moved against mine and I found myself falling in love... for the first time ever...

Eventually, I guess, common sense took a hold of Kane and he pulled away – I’d like to think it was reluctantly. He smiled sheepishly at me, “Wow.” He murmured, “Thanks – that was great.”

I blinked, “Yeah,” I agreed, feeling a little bewildered, “Likewise.”

Cristian broke the spell by clapping his hands and crowing loudly that the next question was going to be Eleanor’s and the game continued around me. I wasn’t actually really aware of anything once he’d kissed me. I just kept reliving it.

I sat back down. I darted a couple of glances towards Kane, but he didn’t look at me at all. He was sat with a little frown on his face. Confusion? Regret? Fuck! What was he feeling? It was going to be an anxious night...

It didn’t seem to be an anxious night for Elliot, however. He and the very cute flight attendant were getting on like a house on fire and disappeared off together for drinks, alone. As far as I was aware, they never returned – they’d probably gone back to Cristian’s cabin and good luck to the pair of them. I had no proof that that was where they’d gone – but that could have been because the only person in the room that I was very aware of, was Kane and I actually didn’t give two shits what Elliot and Cristian – or anyone else for that matter – were doing together...

 

 

Chapter 11 – Frustration...

 

Kane

 

I woke up after sleeping fitfully all night. I really couldn’t get the kiss from the night before out of my mind – even though I had been a total tit for the rest of the night and hadn’t uttered a word to him. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to him – I just had no idea what to say to him. I got up and headed for the shower. Today was a new day and I was determined to go and find George and to ask him out for the day again.

Surely he would want to come out with me? We’d spent all day yesterday together – and we’d had that amazing kiss last night too. I was sure it wasn’t my imagination. I was sure he was as into it as I was...

I got myself showered and dressed in minutes and then brushed my teeth at the speed of light.

Running down the stairs, I met Kurt at the bottom.

He looked at me in mild amusement, “Going somewhere?” he asked.

I nodded, “I’m going to find George.” I said.

He raised his eyebrows at me, “Oh, yeah?”

I nodded again, feeling my face heating up, “Yeah – someone’s gotta look after him. Elliot sure as hell isn’t going to do it – in case you hadn’t noticed, he’s all about young Cristian since he’s come back home.”

Kurt smiled, “I had noticed, actually.” He said, “It’s kind of hard not to notice when Elliot’s got a shiny new toy.”

I grimaced, “Yeah...”

Kurt patted my shoulder, “Well, you go and have a good time – take him tubing again or something – that’s always great fun.”

I smiled, “I will.” I said, “See you later, bro’.”

 

*

 

I had no idea how George was going to receive me. It totally felt like the morning after the night before even though it had only been a kiss – and a dare at that... So why did it feel so much more than that?

I raised my hand and knocked on his door. My heart was in my mouth. What if he told me to get lost?

But why would he? Hell, he’d surely been as into that kiss as I had... Ohhh, shit. My head was all over the place and my heart was thumping away like a good ‘un and my hands were actually shaking.

The door opened and I had to suppress a yelp of surprise. Had he been looking for me through the window or something? My shaky hand hadn’t even connected with the door yet.

“Hi.” He said with shy smile, “I just saw you walking up the path – I’m sorry if I made you jump.”

I smiled back at him, all of my nerves dissipating now that I was looking into his beautiful face again, “It’s fine,” I said, “I just wasn’t expecting the door to open as I was about to knock...” I stuffed my hands in my pockets, all of a sudden very aware of them just hanging there at my sides. Did I look as nerdy as I suddenly felt?

“Would you, uh, like to come in and watch a bit of TV with me or...?”

I blinked, “I was wondering if you wanted to come and explore the woods or something with me, actually.” What? Where the fuck had that come from? The woods? I hated the woods! All those creepy crawlies and the noises of the small animals scurrying through the undergrowth – in my mind it was anything from mountain lions to bears... ‘Or something’ was far more like it but I’d already mentioned the damned woods now... Ah, heck to it – the chances of anything happening between us were fading fast. It was Christmas Eve tomorrow; Christmas Day was always spent with family and then he’d be on his way home again in time for New Years... I really had no idea what I thought I was doing, pursuing him at all. But I just didn’t seem able to stop myself now that we’d actually kissed.

“I would love to.” He said, beaming at me and making my insides turn all gooey. God, he was so damn cute.

“Brilliant!” I beamed back at him, “I thought we might go for a drink up at the après ski bar again...?

He nodded, “That sounds amazing.” He agreed, “Can we have burgers again – and those really lovely French fries?”

I nodded eagerly, “Can we?” I asked, “Hell, yeah! Of course we can!”

He was ready in a flash and a couple of minutes later we were walking down to the tourist area, which had maps of the walks through the woods. The woods in the resort were home to a few deer and possibly a few wild boars, but the bears and the wolves that had once inhabited the land around here had long moved away once the humans moved in – thank goodness – but I couldn’t help still getting a little freaked out...

It was something that George was kind of pleased about, on the one hand when I told him – and on the other hand, thought was a total travesty.

“It’s a disgrace really, isn’t it?” he said earnestly, “Everywhere man goes, he seems to make a right mess.”

I nodded, “I know.” I agreed, “But at least we’ll be safe – I wouldn’t really want to see you eaten alive by a bear.”

He blinked and his lips twitched. Was he thinking up double-entendres in his head like I was? Hmm. George had a naughty streak – interesting...

We set off. I’d packed a bit of a picnic – nothing special, just a flask of coffee and a few sandwiches, cookies and flapjacks – courtesy of my lovely mother...

We couldn’t have gone more than a hundred or so yards when I heard someone calling our names, “George! Kane!”

I turned and stifled a groan as Elliot, closely followed by Cristian, came hurtling towards us. Pasting on a bright smile, I waved, “Hi, guys,” I said with forced joviality, “What are you doing today?”

Elliot grinned, “I was taking Cristian up to the old cabin that we used to play in when we were younger – can you remember it? We used to say it was our fort.”

I nodded. Of course I remembered it. Kurt and I were the guards and Elliot was always the King... “Sure.” I said, “D’you think it’ll still be standing?”

His face fell a little, “Christ,” he said, “I hope so – I used to love that place.”

I smiled, “Well, don’t let us hold you up.”

He blinked, “Why, where are you two going?” His eyes flickered between the two of us, “Don’t you want to join us?”

Cristian looked as if he wanted to throttle Elliot and I knew exactly how he felt, because I felt exactly the same. “Nah,” I said, “We’re only following this path down to where we can branch back out onto the toboggan runs – we got quite good yesterday and fancied another go.”

He nodded, “Oh, okay,” he said, sounding a little disappointed.

I glanced at Cristian, who smiled back at me and winked.

I smirked back at him. We were totally on the same page... “We’ll see you later at the après ski bar, maybe – we were going to go there for dinner later.”

He nodded, brightening, “That would be great – see you guys then.”

 

*

 

 

Oh, my God. Why the fuck was Elliot out to ruin my life today?

Okay, slight exaggeration there, but still. He’d got his new toy in Cristian – he couldn’t have George as well. That wasn’t fair and I wasn’t having it. I only had myself to blame – me and my big mouth asking them to join us for dinner at the après ski bar...

 “What the fuck’s his problem anyway?” I asked no one in particular, slinging my gloves down in annoyance.

Kurt, who had been lurking in the corner of the lounge, looked up at me and raised an eyebrow, “What’s up?”

I jumped slightly. I’d walked George back to his chalet and then I’d headed home, with a plan to get changed and then he was coming around to decorate the tree with me – and yes, it really was last minute this year. I’d honestly thought I was alone, “Elliot.” I ground out, going a bit red to have been caught having a tantrum and talking to myself.

He frowned at me, “I’m not with you – what’s happened?”

I sighed and flopped down on the sofa next to him. Turning my head to look at him, I let out another long sigh that was more like a groan, “I really like George – like, really like him – you know – the way you like girls.”

Kurt grimaced slightly, “Yeah, I kind of got that from the kiss last night.”

I nodded, the memory of that perfect kiss washing over me, “Yeah, well,” I felt my face heating up, “I’d like to kiss him again before he goes home but every time I get anywhere near plucking up the courage to ask – Elliot appears. It’s like he’s got this fucking sixth sense or something – and he doesn’t want him anyway – he’s all over Cristian like a fucking rash – and yet he somehow still manages to sound like he’s chatting George up.” I was well pissed off with him for that. It had totally ruined the meal with Elliot chatting shit all the way through it and ignoring Cristian.

Cristian hadn’t actually seemed to mind too much, but I was seething. It was as if there was only Elliot and George at the table. His focus was entirely on him. I honestly felt slightly violent towards him at one point. Thankfully at that point, Cristian put his hand on Elliot’s thigh and whispered something in his ear that completely took his attention off George and back onto himself. I really needed to learn that little trick...

Kurt nodded thoughtfully, “But you know what Elliot’s like.” He mused, “He wants what everyone else has got. He’s not exactly what you could call the faithful type, is he?”

I shook my head, “No.” I said,” And George deserves to be treated better than that.”

Kurt grinned, “And if anyone was the guy for him – that would be you.”

I nodded, “Definitely.” I agreed. “I’ve finally found the one I’ve been looking for.” It sounded terribly dramatic and something the romantic hero of a slushy novel would say – but in my case, it was true.

“Well, fuck Elliot,” he said with a snort, “He missed his chance last year didn’t he?”

True. But how did I get George to see that? Was he still hoping to rekindle things? Was I just a temporary distraction?

 

 

Chapter 12 – Not about the tree...

 

George

 

I was beginning to get a little irritated with Elliot.

It seemed that he didn’t want me for himself, and yet he appeared to be jealous of my budding relationship with Kane.

I realised that Kane had been nursing a bit of crush on Elliot prior to my arrival – for how long that had been a thing, I had no idea – but he seemed to be coming out of it the more he saw of me and I had definitely gotten over any feelings I’d been mistakenly harbouring towards Elliot the minute I saw him again at the airport. I couldn’t deny that I’d been in love with the idea of him – and I’d blown the feelings I’d had for him last year out of all proportion. It had been a holiday fling – nothing more and nothing less. It had been a bit of a fumble and a blowjob.

Spending time with Kane however – well, I actually didn’t want the days to end. He was funny, attentive, kind and interesting. He genuinely seemed to be interested in me – and not just in my dick either, which was all Elliot had ever been about. Hell, all we’d done was have that truth or dare kiss – the rest of the time we’d spent together had just been as friends – but I knew we could definitely be more than that.

We’d just finished decorating the tree in Kane’s family’s home. It was a bit last-minute job, since it was Christmas Eve tomorrow, but we’d made a fantastic job of it and were admiring it, when Elliot’s rather lovely face poked around the door. “Hey, guys.” He said, beaming all over his face, “Fancy coming over to the clubhouse for a pint?”

Kane looked at me with raised eyebrows. I wasn’t all that sure if he wanted to go or not – but Elliot was his best friend and I couldn’t exactly wrinkle my nose and say I’d had enough of him for one day, could I?

I forced a grin and nodded, “Sure.” I said, “Sounds like fun.”

Kane’s smile seemed to fade a little at my words. Was he still labouring under the misapprehension that I had feelings for Elliot? Hell, how the hell was I supposed to tell him that I really didn’t, without it looking like I was throwing myself at him, instead?

Jesus, this falling in love stuff really was a minefield...

Elliot came into the room, “Did you two decorate this tree?” he asked, “’cause it looks brilliant.”

Kane grinned at me, “Yeah,” he said, “George did most of it – he’s got more of a talent for this sort of stuff than I have.”

Elliot nodded, “Yeah,” he agreed with a chuckle and sending another wave of jealousy over me that he knew Kane better than I did, “You’ve never really been good at the whole matching things up stuff.”

Kane chuckled, “I’m not really bothered,” he said, “it wasn’t really about decorating the tree – it was more about spending time with each other and getting to know each other better.”

Elliot gave him a bit of a surprised look. I couldn’t stop the smile from breaking out on my face. I wasn’t sure if he’d meant to say that – but I kind of took it that he was staking a claim on me – and I couldn’t have been more delighted.

I touched Kane’s arm, and trying to ignore the tingling feelings going up my arm just from touching him, I smiled, “Don’t forget that you also needed to do that bit of shopping for your mum.” Please let us escape Elliot for a while...

He nodded, “Oh, God, yeah – thanks, George – I almost forgot about that.”

I smiled and shrugged, “You’re welcome.” I mumbled.

Elliot narrowed his eyes slightly. I think he could see what I was doing – staking my own claim on Kane – and damned right I was. As soon as I’d laid eyes on him I’d known he was more the guy for me than Elliot had ever been...

 

 

Chapter 13 – Epiphany...

 

Kane

 

I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about George all night since spending the previous afternoon with him, decorating the tree and the rest of the lounge. I realised that I actually really liked the guy – and that I had to do something to make things happen between us on a more romantic level if I was ever going to have a chance. If I didn’t make some sort of a move and quick, I’d lose him forever to the enigmatic and frankly drop-dead gorgeous Elliot Galbraith.

And even if he wasn’t as into me as I was him, I couldn’t stand by and allow him to be hurt by Elliot again. George was so damned nice. He’d been so adorable when he’d helped me with putting the decorations up and collecting the food from the supermarket...

 

*

 

“Are you sure you don’t have something better to do that you come shopping with me?” I bit my lip, worried that I was taking up George’s precious holiday time with boring tasks.

He smiled at me and shook his head, “I’m absolutely delighted to come with you.” He said, “I don’t know what I’d have done this week if you hadn’t totally looked after me. Eleanor’s spent most of her time catching up with her friends – which is absolutely fine by the way – I’m not complaining.”

I nodded, feeling relieved that he was happy to be with me, “Well, it’s been really nice getting to know you.” I said softly. More than nice, it had been miraculous. “And thanks so much for helping me with the tree – Mum asks Kurt and I every year to do it and it gets later and later each year – sooner or later we’re not going to get it up in time.”

George laughed, “Well, we can’t have that happen – I’ll have to come again next year and help you decorate earlier – Christmas starts early at our house. Mum and I usually decorate as soon as I get home from uni...”

He trailed off. I wondered what had kept him from going home for Christmas for the last two years on the trot. It couldn’t have been about Elliot the first time. Maybe I should ask him... Not now though, I didn’t want to bring him down if it was something bad. I chuckled, “You’re on.” I said.

Later, after George had gone back to his chalet and I’d put all of the shopping away for mum, my thoughts drifted back to the afternoon. It had been absolutely lovely spending time with him and I wondered what the hell was wrong with my best friend for not wanting to spend every waking moment in his presence. Hell, if I’d met him last year – I would never have let him go... But Elliot had had his head turned by the hot flight attendant.

I sighed. Neither of them deserved to be treated badly by him, but I was particularly bothered for George since I really liked him. He seriously didn’t need to be confused by Elliot again, and I was damned sure that Elliot was screwing Cristian – which wasn’t much better – I didn’t want that poor guy’s heart broken either. It pissed me off when Elliot started fucking around with guys that were also friends of ours – it always ended in tears – not for Elliot, he was completely oblivious to the guys’ feelings – but the rest of us had to suffer the poor broken-hearted guys.

Although, to be fair to Elliot, this time he actually did appear to be totally into Cristian – he hadn’t mentioned going out tonight at all and I had an idea that he was planning on spending it with Cristian – not that I minded – if I couldn’t see them getting all hot and heavy on the dance floor together, at least I wouldn’t be getting jealous – and you know, maybe this time, it was meant to be – maybe Cristian was actually Elliot’s true love – and if that was the case, he had no right to pursue anything with George.

George had totally kissed me. It hadn’t been my imagination. I was sure of that. He’d felt it too. I just didn’t know how to ask him about it. I was painfully shy at the best of times – asking a guy if he was into me was way beyond my comfort zone... Fuck – I’d only ever dated girls before...

I needed to talk to someone – but whom?

“Hey, Kane, Merry Christmas.”

I turned and grinned. Cupid had just appeared in the guise of a beautiful girl... “Merry Christmas to you too, Eleanor.” I grinned, “And you’re just the person I need right now...”

 

*

 

“Oh, yeah?” Eleanor asked with a smile, “Why, what’s up?”

I smiled, “I uh, could I have a word?”

She shrugged and nodded. “Fine.” She said. She sounded kind of pissed off.

I frowned, “Something up?” I asked.

She shook her head, “Nah, not really...”

Now I really was confused, “No, come on – spill. What’s the matter?” I asked. Eleanor was usually upbeat and cheery. I guess she couldn’t be all of the time but I’d never witnessed her in a funk.

She sighed, “I’m aware that you’re not exactly straight – but your brother is straight, right?” She said.

I blinked. Fuck. I thought he was – apart from his weird penchant for interior décor... “He is.” I said with as much conviction as I could muster.

She shook her head again, letting out another massive sigh, “I knew you were going to say that – he’s obviously just not into me, then. Story of my life...”

I frowned. Wow, seriously? I thought he’d been totally into her. Jeez, I really wasn’t paying enough attention recently. “Why? What’s happened?” I asked, genuinely confused.

She looked at me, “Nothing! That’s the whole problem.” She grimaced, going a little red.

I raised my eyebrows, and she blushed even more. Rolling her eyes, she started to tell me, “Right. Well, in my experience when a girl offers herself on a plate to a horny guy – a horny guy who is unattached and straight – he doesn’t usually turn her down.”

My jaw dropped. No fucking way. Was the boy crazy? “He turned you down?” I asked, completely bewildered. What the fuck was wrong with him? Eleanor was a very hot girl.

She sniffed and nodded, “He was really nice about it – but essentially that was exactly what he did – he said something about being in a strange place in his life. Said he wanted to travel and go to uni and that he wasn’t really looking for a relationship – that was fine by me – I wasn’t really after that either but he was clearly not up for anything remotely casual with me either. I guess I should be grateful that he didn’t want to use me...”

She looked so perplexed that I wanted to laugh. “Kurt has been stressed recently.” I said, feeling that I really had to defend my brother. “He’s applied to three universities in the UK and he’s desperate to get away from here.”

She nodded, “Fine.” She said, “I get it. He’s not into me. I can live with that.” She smiled at me and raised her eyebrows, “But you seriously need to get in there with George. I’ve never seen him so smitten with anyone.”

My jaw dropped for the second time in as many minutes, “really?” I squeaked, “He really likes me?”

She nodded, “Definitely.” She said.

Fuck. Brilliant! That was the best news I’d heard all day.

“Would you like me to have a word with Kurt?” I asked, feeling that I really should return the favour.

She shook her head, “If he’s not into me, he’s not into me – it doesn’t matter – I don’t want to be foisting myself on him against his will.”

I nodded. It was a fair point. I wouldn’t want that either, which was why I’d never told Elliot the way I felt about him. I didn’t want to ruin our friendship because it was obvious that he’d never had feelings for me, and if I’d told him the way I felt, he may have felt obliged to give things a go – and now that I fancied someone else, I could see that it would have been a total disaster...

I got up. Eleanor looked up at me and smiled, “Well, thanks for listening to me,” she said.

I nodded, “You’re welcome, and uh, thanks for the heads up about George. I’ll see what I can do about that...” I bit my lip. I had no idea what to do about it.

Eleanor smiled at me, “I’m sure everything will work itself out.” She said with a mysterious little smile. Was she going to tell George that I fancied him? God, I hoped so. It would be so much easier to have her smooth the way for me.

I smiled back at her, “Well, I guess I’ll see you later.”

She nodded, “Sure.” She said, “Good luck with George.”

Unfortunately, I didn’t see a whole lot of George for the rest of the day, since Eleanor had whisked him off on a shopping trip for the afternoon – I couldn’t complain. He was supposed to be on holiday with her – not me – and they really were great mates.

I hung around the house with Kurt. The pair of us both in a funk for one reason or another and Mum was really beginning to get pissed off with us.

“Oh, for God’s sake, boys – go to the gym or the pub or something – you’re making me feel down and it’s Christmas Day tomorrow! You should be out in the fresh air having fun with your friends! Or at least planning to hit the town to have a wild night.”

I looked at Kurt and raised my eyebrows, “Fancy a pint?” I asked, “Not sure what the plan is for tonight.”

He shrugged and nodded, “Can do.” He agreed.

We got our jackets on and headed for the door.

 

 

Chapter 14 – Christmas Eve...

 

George

 

We’d been wandering around the shops in town for a couple of hours and my feet were beginning to hurt. Eleanor seemed to be in a world of her own and was hardly saying a word, which was really unusual. We usually chattered about everything and anything all day long. “What’s up?” I finally asked, after I’d cajoled her into a cocktail bar for a little rest.

Eleanor sighed as she stirred her cocktail with the straw, “Do you think Kurt bats for your team?” She murmured.

I blinked, “Kane’s brother?” I asked incredulously. It wasn’t like the question was so outlandish – like I’ve already mentioned, he’d definitely pinged my gaydar when I’d first seen him – and Kane was bisexual – but I wasn’t about to burst her bubble with that little nugget of my wisdom. I knew she’d got the hots for him, “Are you serious?”

She smiled, “Well, yeah.” She said, nodding her head “He has all the trademarks – and I’m not just saying it because he doesn’t fancy me.”

I cocked my head to one side, “And these trademarks are?” I asked a little sarcastically.

She shrugged, “He’s a really nice guy but he’s definitely not interested in women.”

I frowned, “But Kane reckons he’s had loads of girlfriends – he must be interested in women.” I reasoned.

She shook her head, “No.” she argued, “He’s dated lots of women – so he’s definitely looking for something – but I don’t think he’s going to find it in the arms of a girl.”

She sounded so damned sure of herself. “Are you sure?” I asked her a little dubiously. Plenty of guys had pinged my gaydar over the years; not all of them had turned out to be gay – more’s the pity...

She shrugged again, “I’m not a mind-reader.” She said, “But if he’s had as many girlfriends as Kane says he’s had, what’s missing?”

I grinned, “Cock?”

She winked, “Cock.” She agreed, “Well, I guess we’ll see – he might just find me really unattractive.” She pulled a face, looking totally put out.

“Rubbish!” I blustered, “You’re beautiful! And funny and intelligent – any straight guy would be lucky to be going out with you!”

“Well, thank you.” She demurred, “And Kane’s lucky to have you, too.”

I blushed, “Thanks.” I felt like I’d be lucky to have him but I had absolutely no idea how to go about actually getting him – and wasn’t it all just going to end up the same way as things had ended with Elliot?

I wasn’t sure I was really up for another battering. It had taken a while to get over Elliot – the last thing I needed was another broken heart – it would seem that cupid had other ideas, though...

Waiting outside my door when Eleanor and I got back from our shopping trip, was none other than Elliot. He grinned at us, “Are you two coming out tonight?”

I shrugged and looked at Eleanor.

“Who’s coming?” She asked.

He grinned, “Me and Cristian, Kurt and Kane – and you two if you’re both up for it?”

My heart leapt. A night out with Kane sounded like heaven...

Eleanor glanced at me and then nodded, “Sure,” she agreed, “I think we can come for a couple of hours – but my parents will be really pissed off if we turn back up home after midnight – they’re a bit old-fashioned when it comes to spending time together over Christmas.

Elliot gave her a bit of a funny look but he let it go, “Great – we’ll all meet in the bar and then we’ll head out from there – okay?”

“Sure,” I agreed, my mind immediately on what I was going to wear to look good for Kane...

 

 

Kane

 

“Okay,” I said to myself in my bedroom mirror, “Don’t fuck it up this time – just make sure you get George on his own – and kiss him.”

Kurt walked in at that moment to borrow some hair gel, “Go for it,” he said with a grin, making me blush to the roots of my hair.

“Yeah, like it’ll ever happen...” I grumbled as he walked back out to his own room.

I looked decent enough but it didn’t mean that George was going to fall in love with me. My hair had gone well and my eyes looked good with my green shirt. I had the sort of eyes that seemed to reflect what I was wearing – well, when I was wearing green, they looked greeny-blue and when I wore blue, they looked really blue – problem was, I’d worn the blue shirt the other night so it was this or red – and I wasn’t having anyone say I was dressing for Christmas...

Finally, both Kurt and I were ready. Mum beamed to see us going out with a bunch of friends, “Not too late, boys.” She reminded us, “I want both of you able to eat dinner as a family tomorrow.”

We promised not to get drunk and headed off to meet the others. My heart was in my mouth to see what George was wearing.

I wasn’t disappointed. He looked fucking gorgeous. He had his mustard coloured shirt on again – and again it contrasted beautifully with his dark wavy hair. His beautiful dark eyes actually made my knees feel weak when they swept me up and down before he smiled shyly at me.

I smiled back. It was going to be a good night...

 

*

 

It was a good night – but not as good as I’d wanted it to be. I’d totally fantasised about kissing George under the mistletoe and us heading off into the sunset together (Metaphorically speaking, obviously – since it was throwing it down with snow...)

The only good thing about the night was the little chat I had with Elliot at the bar...

“You and George seem to be getting on well.”

I nodded, picking up my pint off the bar, “Yeah,” I said, “We are.”

Elliot nodded, “I don’t think he’s got any interest in me anymore – and I uh, wanted you to know that I’m not interested in him either – so if you uh, wanted to make a move... you know, feel free – I don’t want you feeling like you can’t because of me and him last year...”

He looked really uncomfortable by the time he’d finished his sentence.

I grinned, “Things going well with Cristian, are they?” I couldn’t help noticing that they’d been pretty much joined at the hip all night – as in grinding their hips together on the dance floor all night.

He smiled, “We’re having a lot of fun, yes.” He said.

I was about to say something about Cristian being his new wingman but decided to leave it. I didn’t want to put him off Cristian if he’d finally fallen for someone that was actually a good guy. Good luck to the pair of them; I really hoped it worked out. And even though he didn’t have any claim on George this year – it was nice to know that I wasn’t going to upset him if I did ever pluck up the courage to make a move... If being the operative word. I really hadn’t got the first idea how to go about asking him out. I was worse than awkward – I was useless.

 

 

Chapter 15 – The note...

 

George

 

I went to bed that night feeling a little jaded. It had been a very long day.

Kane had been sweet and attentive all morning and then when we’d gone out in the evening, with the rest of the group, he’d been exactly the same – but we’d parted company for the second day running without kissing and I was losing hope of ever feeling those amazing lips against mine ever again.

I got undressed and put my pyjamas on. Flicking the TV on, I sat down on the sofa and found to my delight that ‘Love Actually’ was playing. I’d grown up with this film being played almost every Christmas Eve and I’d always completely adored it.

I smiled. Plumping the cushions, I lay my head down and put my feet up on the armrest. If I wasn’t going to get any romance of my own, I’d indulge myself in my favourite Christmas movie instead...

I thought I heard a noise coming from the chalet door and sat up, looking over the back of the sofa, I noticed that there was a piece of paper lying on the floor.

I frowned. That hadn’t been there when I got in, I was sure... What was it? I wasn’t due to leave for another three days – my flight was the day after Boxing Day... Surely I wasn’t being asked to fill in a satisfaction survey already?

My curiosity totally piqued, I got up and padded across to the door. It was a folded piece of paper. I opened it up. My jaw dropped and my heart started to thump.

The note read, “Meet me in the games room – don’t say a word, just come over to the snooker table and kiss me... That way, we’ll know if we’re meant to be or not...”

 Someone wanted to meet me in private. The question was, who? Elliot or Kane? God, I hoped it was Kane...

 

*

 

It only took me a few minutes to get showered and dressed – okay, the shower probably wasn’t completely necessary but I was hopeful of at least something happening between us and I might have been the campiest boy scout ever in my youth – but you could never accuse me of not being prepared...

On slightly wobbly legs I made my way to the snooker room. My mind was full of questions. What if it was Elliot? Surely he didn’t want to be with me after spending all night glued to Cristian? Did I really want to kiss him and find out if we should be together? Of course we shouldn’t be together – and what about my growing feelings for Kane? I’d much prefer to kiss him...

Fuck, this was such a bad idea if it was Elliot... Well, I’d just have to come clean and tell him that I couldn’t be with him – that my feelings for someone else had gotten the better of me and that I was flattered but that was it...

Cupid moved in mysterious ways and I might have fancied myself in love with Elliot for the last year – but almost the minute I’d set eyes on another guy those feelings had evaporated into space as if Elliot and I had never been a thing – and my heart had started thumping to the beat of a whole other tune... Kane Swain... Kane Swoon more like...

If only it was Kane that had asked me to come here tonight – my Christmas would be absolutely perfect...

 

 

Chapter 16 – Elliot’s message...

 

Kane

 

“Meet me in the games room – don’t say a word, just come over to the snooker table and kiss me... That way, we’ll know if we’re meant to be or not... Elliot.”

 

I stared at the note, my heart sinking that it would seem that I’d finally got what I’d always wanted – only now it was all too late. I didn’t feel that way about him anymore – and what the hell was he doing sending me notes like this anyway? He’d been wrapped around Cristian all fucking night. Hell, he’d been spending pretty much all of his time with Cristian for the entire Christmas holiday for fuck’s sake... What had happened? Had Cristian gone home or something?

The other thing that was bugging me was that he’d never once shown me that he had feelings like that for me before – and we’d had that conversation at the bar – he’d been all for me getting it on with George...

I bit my lip. What should I do? The feelings I’d been harbouring for Elliot all these years were nowhere near as intense and powerful when compared to what I was beginning to feel for George. George had become everything I wanted in life these last few days. He was so damned beautiful with his beautiful, big, unusually dark blue eyes, framed by those glorious long black lashes and his gentle voice and soft, loving nature. And then of course there was his perfectly kissable mouth, which I already knew was absolute bliss to have moving against mine from that night when we’d played truth or dare. God, how I’d fantasised about what else he could do with those lips on various parts of my body. No wonder Elliot had been smitten with him...

My footsteps faltered. He had been smitten with George... and yet now he seemed to be totally smitten with Cristian, whom I didn’t know all that well but well enough to know that he’d always carried a torch for Elliot. Cristian had gone to school with us and although he was a fair few years younger than we were, he still seemed to know everyone – I guess that was because his brother, Allesandro, was our age. Back when we were young, I’d always found him damned annoying if I was honest – but that was because I’d always carried a torch for Elliot myself... I must have missed an episode somewhere along the way – like the five years when he’d grown from a skinny, irritating little kid who had followed Elliot around like a shadow, into this rather gorgeous-looking man. I frowned. A gorgeous-looking man that was quite clearly still as interested in Elliot as he always had been.

That was quite disturbing, since Elliot had apparently sent me this note and yet he’d seemed to be every bit as smitten with Cristian as Cristian was with him...

It just didn’t make any sense. Why the hell was Elliot asking me to meet him in the snooker room? Well, it was too late to ponder that question now. I’d already gotten to the door. It was too damned late to turn around now. I’d been crushing on Elliot for far too long to pass up the opportunity to check if kissing him would be as good as kissing George. I suspected not and a big part of me (No, don’t be rude – not that part... well, maybe...) wanted to just go and find George...

Maybe I’d better just come clean and tell him Elliot that I was in love with someone else.

In love with someone else? I froze. Fuck. I really was in love with someone else... I was in love with George. I reached for the door handle. It was time to tell the truth.

 

*

 

“Elliot?” I called out.

There was a pause and then someone said my name, but it wasn’t Elliot’s voice... “Kane?”

My jaw dropped in perfect synchronisation with my dick perking upwards, “George?”

I snapped the light on and found myself staring into the rather surprised eyes of George. “What are you doing here?”

He blinked rapidly behind some really quite sexy horn-rimmed spectacles. That was a pleasant surprise – I had no idea he wore glasses and I’m not gonna lie – it was a total turn on to see this chic-geek side of him. His beautiful mouth dropped slightly open, “Uh...”

Suddenly an idea popped into my head. It might have been coincidence that he was here, but I didn’t think so, “Did you, by any chance, get a note from Elliot asking you to be here?”

He nodded, realisation beginning to show on his face, “Well, it didn’t specify his name and I, uh, I kind of hoped it was y...” He cleared his throat and changed what he was about to say, “Did you?” he asked as the corners of his mouth began to curve up in the sexiest little grin.

I nodded too, “I did.” I said, “But I don’t think it was Elliot that sent it at all. I was talking to Eleanor earlier on and I uh, I think I might know who cupid might be...”

We looked at each other and laughed, “Eleanor.” We said together.

“Bless her heart.” George said with a happy little sigh, “She knows me so well.”

I walked over to him, “So, Mr Birchwood,” I said, “I believe we’ve failed to follow the instructions on the note.”

He frowned and nodded, trying to look serious but with the massive grin on his face, failing miserably, “I think you might be right, Mr Swain.”

I grinned, “I don’t really feel the need to switch off the lights to kiss you.”

He smiled up at me, “Me either.” He said as he leaned into me, “I don’t even need any mistletoe – but I can’t deny – it is a nice touch.” He pulled a sprig from behind his back. “I pinched this from someone’s door on the way over here.”

I chuckled, “It is a nice touch, isn’t it?” I agreed, “but I think touching you would be far more interesting.” I took the mistletoe off him and tossed it onto the snooker table behind him.

His eyes widened at my obvious innuendo, making me laugh even more.

“Get over here and kiss me.” He said.

 

 

Chapter 17 – For the first time...

 

George

 

“Shall we go back to your chalet?” Kane murmured after we’d kissed and kissed until both of our mouths looking red and slightly bruised.

I nodded, “That sounds like a plan.” I agreed.

He took my hand and we made our way to the door. Snapping off the lights, Kane pulled the door shut and we made our way back down the hill to where my chalet was situated. Well, I say chalet, but actually it was an extension to the side of Eleanor’s family’s home.

No one was up – well, it was Christmas Eve...

I fumbled for my key and then finally, opened the door as silently as possible – I really didn’t want Eleanor appearing to see if her little plan had worked – although I would be thanking her in the morning... “Come on in.” I whispered, “Would you like a drink or anything?” Please just kiss me again...

Kane shook his head and shutting the door behind me, he gave me the sexiest look before he closed the distance between us and took me in his arms. “George.” He murmured, gazing into my eyes as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing, “I’ve gotta be honest with you. I just want to get you naked.”

I chuckled and headed for the kitchen – not for anything other than to discard my shoes.

Kane followed me and pulled out a stool from under the breakfast bar, “So, you know,” he started, “I get it that you came back here looking for Elliot...”

I blushed. Oh, hell – he wasn’t backtracking already, was he? “Uh, yeah... to begin with...”

He nodded, “But why did you really want to leave your family behind at one of the most important family times of the year?”

I sighed. Ah, so he’d noticed... “Uh, well you see, my grandparents...”

He raised an eyebrow, “What? Are they prejudiced against you or something?”

I nodded, “They’re fucking awful.” I admitted, “They totally believe that being gay is a choice – that I’m just a kid and going through a phase – that I want to be different and that one day I’ll marry a lovely girl and have a gaggle of kids.”

He shook his head, “Oh, God.” He muttered.

I rolled my eyes and nodded, “Yeah,” I agreed, “I know.”

“Are they stupid?” he asked, looking slightly annoyed and completely incredulous.

I nodded, a little grin spreading across my face at his bluntness, “Yes. Totally stupid.” I agreed.

He chuckled, “There’s not a lot of love lost between you, is there?”

I shook my head, “I’ve never been the golden child – that crown is held by my perfect older brother, Diarmuid.”

“Diarmuid?” His eyes widened. “Are your family Irish by any chance?”

I nodded, “Mum’s Irish.” I clarified, “He’s straight – married with two kids already – both of them boys and neither of them showing any signs of being a poofter like their uncle. He’s a shining example of manhood for the family. I on the other hand, as you can no doubt imagine, have been as gay as gay gets since...” I shrugged, “well, since forever.”

Kane frowned, clearly feeling for me, “And will they still be there when you go home?”

I nodded, “Oh, God, most definitely,” I rolled my eyes and nodded, cringing inside at the thought, “Diarmuid and his wife will be over for New Year and I’ve been summoned home to see them all, too.”

“I’ll come with you,” He said stoutly, “I’ll happily stand at your side. I’ll very proudly tell them all I’m your boyfriend and that we’re in love with each other.”

I beamed at him, “You’d do that?” I asked incredulously. Hell, we’d not even established our relationship status yet...

He nodded, “Well, of course – it’s true.” He said, “They’re not the violent type, are they? I will be safe?” He bit his lip, looking suddenly a little scared.

I chuckled, “Yes.” I said, “But you can forget sharing a room with me. They’ll be absolutely against that – hell, Granddad will be convinced that the house is going to be struck by lightning just because I’ve brought you back. They’ll probably want us in separate rooms even when we’ve been married for ten years...” Shit. Didn’t mean to say that out loud...

He smiled, “Well, I’m not sure I’ll put up with that,” he said, “We’ll just have to stay in a hotel.”

I blushed. I really hadn’t meant to mention the future and my certainty that we were meant to be – but I really couldn’t help it. I was, absolutely certain, that we were meant to be together forever.

Kane smiled at me, “Shall we, uh, go and sit down, or...”

My dick, which had been sporting a semi since we’d kissed in the games room, sprang back to attention. “Or we could stop beating around the bush and just go to bed.” I said.

He nodded, grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door, “My thoughts exactly,” he said, “Let’s go and get naked.”

 

 

Chapter 18 – Getting naked...

 

Kane

 

“How do you feel about sex?” George asked.

I raised an eyebrow, “Is that a trick question?” I asked, unable to stop the silly grin from spreading across my face.

He grinned, “I meant – are you into full, penetrative sex or are you more a blowjobs-only kind of guy?”

I blinked. Getting him naked was one thing – and that had been embarrassing enough. Actually performing sexual acts on him was something entirely different and I was kind of worried now that he’d find me kind of disappointing. Best to come clean... “Honestly, I have no idea.” I admitted, “I’m kind of new to this... I’ve uh, never actually been with a guy before – it’s only ever been girls. I’ve always been attracted to guys but you’re the first one that I’ve actually acted on those feeling about.”

His jaw dropped, “You’re kidding me?”

I shook my head, “No – I had a terrible crush on Elliot for, well, years,” I rolled my eyes, “but he basically nails anything that moves and I’m so not like that.”

George shook his head, wrinkling his nose, “Me either,” he said, “And I had no idea that Elliot was that kind of a guy either. I guess I should have at least suspected it – what with him being really handsome and personable – but I didn’t. I just fell for him really badly and got swept away on the whole romance of the thing. God, I was so stupid.”

I smiled, “There’s nothing wrong with being a romantic. I’m really quite partial to a whole lot of romance – and I will definitely call you – two or three times an hour probably – you’ll get totally sick of me.”

He shook his head, “I won’t.” he said, “I’m in my final year. I can get back here to see you at Easter – you’re always welcome to come and stay with me too – there’s no reason why we can’t make this work, Kane... well, you know – if you want it to, of course.” He trailed off, looking a little embarrassed at his enthusiastic outburst.

I smiled and took his hand in mine, “That sounds perfect.” I said, “The mountain biking season really doesn’t get going until May, so I’m sure Mum and Dad can cope if I come at the end of February to see you – and then we could come back together in April...” I winced slightly. Would he pick up that I was basically inviting myself to stay with him for the best part of two months?

He blinked, “You’ll stay with me at uni?” he asked, “You really want to do that?”

I nodded, biting my lip, “If that’s okay.” I said.

He flung his arms around my neck and kissed me, “Oh, my God. I’m so damned glad I came out here looking for Elliot again.”

I laughed, “Yeah, you came looking for Romeo and ended up with me.”

“And I couldn’t have picked a better guy.” He murmured, nuzzling my cheek with his nose, “You’re absolutely perfect.”

Well, I wouldn’t go as far as to say I was perfect but it was nice of him to say so. “Thanks,” I said.

George leaned away from me, “Are you, uh, familiar with gay sex?” he asked.

I nodded, “Elliot’s my best friend – there’s not a whole lot that he hasn’t described in fascinating detail.” I assured him, “Or shown me on Tumblr.”

George nodded, “And uh, what do you think?”

My hard-on was raging, “I think it sounds and looks fucking awesome.” I said, “I’d love to do it with you.”

He nodded, going a little pink, “I’ve uh, only ever bottomed – are you good with being a top?”

I blinked. Fuck. So Elliot had gotten there before me, then. “Did you bottom with Elliot?” I asked, my erection beginning to wilt at the idea of trying to compete with Mr Sex himself.

George surprised me by shaking his head, “No,” he said firmly, “Elliot and I never actually did it.”

My jaw dropped, “What?” I asked, “You didn’t have sex with him?”

George shook his head, “Not full sex.” He clarified, “We gave each other head and a couple of hand jobs – and we kissed and stuff but that was it – I should thank him for being a gentleman about it, really.”

I nodded, slightly dumbfounded. He’d been screwing Cristian all week – why the hell hadn’t he tried nailing George?

Well, it didn’t much matter – it was all the better for me, being a total novice, “What do I do?” I asked, “Is it pretty much the same as having sex with a girl?”

George smiled and shook his head, “Not exactly.” He said, “Turn over and let me show you something...”

 

*

 

My first reaction was to yelp in surprise when he pressed his face into my crack and I felt his tongue swipe across my hole, making him chuckle at my outburst. His laugh sent little vibrations of pleasure straight through me, making my semi-hard cock go immediately rigid. It made me laugh too. It was a bit of relief to be able to laugh – getting naked with him had been good – but nerve-wracking. What if he hadn’t liked the fact that I preferred to have a ‘back, sack and crack’ wax? Or that I preferred to have my legs waxed too, rather than being a hairy beast like my brother. It felt weird to be laughing about having sex – most girls that I’d had sex with hadn’t been so willing to laugh about it – in fact they’d taken the whole thing rather too seriously and I’d found the whole experience to be really daunting.

I’d never really felt that I’d done a particularly good job of it and had shied away from full sex for quite a while, now.

With George, everything just seemed to be better. He was the best company, the best kisser – and now it appeared, he was the best at rimming. I was pretty sure that was the term... Fuck. Whatever the term was, I was absolutely rock hard beneath his expert tongue-work, even if I couldn’t for the life of me begin to understand why he wanted to kiss me there...

I’m not gonna lie, I was a little scared about the whole thing. How the hell would I know what to do when it was my turn? What the hell was he doing back there, anyway? I’m sure there were more pleasant ways of getting our rocks off without getting a face full of arse... Did I smell okay? And what the fuck did I taste like? Holy shit! I was very particular about keeping clean and I’d had a shower and everything before I’d come out to see him tonight, but you know – there was no getting away from the fact that it had only ever been an exit only area up to now.

I knew that gay guys did this sort of thing all of the time and thought nothing of it but I’d never really thought about it long enough to actually work out the logistics of the whole thing and right now, I’ve got to admit, I was really fucking freaking out.

He pulled away a little, making me feel an immediate loss of the best sensation ever... “Oh, my God,” he murmured, stroking his hands down my legs and over my butt cheeks, “You’re so beautiful – all smooth and silky. You wax?”

I lifted my face out of the pillow, “Uh, huh.” I managed, “I uh, prefer to be smooth.”

“Well, it totally works for me,” he assured me, “Now, just relax, babe.” He murmured, stroking my back and making me shiver, “You’re a little too tense. I can’t get in.”

I swivelled my head around to look at him and nodded, “Sure, sure.” I said, “And uh, you’re sure you want to be doing that?”

He smiled, “Of course I’m sure. You feel amazing.” He said, “and I’d like you to do it to me too – but only if you want to. I understand that it’s not for everyone.”

I nodded. It was kind of overwhelming being thrust (no pun intended) straight into a pretty full-on session of gay sex when I’d never even kissed a guy before I’d kissed George – and only a few days ago, too. But it had been his kiss that had kind of awakened me. I knew as soon as I kissed George that I’d been missing out on something really quite fundamental for a long time. I was, quite clearly, a guy that wanted to have sex with another guy, whether he was as hairless as I was or not. I really wasn’t all that bothered. And it wasn’t wrong to want him – it was just different to what most other guys wanted...

George smiled and bent his head back down to carry on with his most amazing rimming job.

“Oh, my God.” I groaned into the pillow. My whole body felt boneless and tingling with passion. My cock was as hard as a rock; pre-come oozing out of me like someone had turned on a tap. George was working me with one hand with practiced eased, as his tongue lapped around my hole, teasing me open and sliding his tongue inside me as I learned to relax enough to let him in, while his other hand gripped my hip to stop me from squirming away from him – and I’m not gonna lie – I was being very squirmy while I was revelling in the sensations of his tongue probing my hole and licking all around it. Every stroke was making me want more – but also, making me feel more relaxed than I had in a long, long time. I pushed myself up on my knees to give him greater access and after a couple more minutes of his tongue licking and teasing me, I felt his finger joining in the fun. That was a new sensation and I tensed up again a little. “Relax,” he murmured again, teasing my entrance with his tongue again as he pushed his finger further inside.

“Oh, sweet mother of all that’s holy, that feel good.” I breathed, making him laugh again.

He withdrew his finger and slapped my backside playfully, “Fancy swapping places?”

Suddenly, the idea of pleasuring him in the way he’d just been pleasuring me was overwhelming, “Fuck, yeah.” I said, “And then we’ll get the condoms and lube out and you can show me how you want me to make love to you – properly.”

He grinned, “Oh, my God,” he said with the cutest giggle imaginable, “this is the best Christmas ever.”

“Hell, yeah it is,” I agreed, “Come on, beautiful, let me at you – I can’t wait to get my mouth on you.”

George smiled, “Would you mind if I kissed you first?” he asked.

I shook my head and leaned into him. There was no getting away from the fact that he’d just had his tongue in my arse and now it was in my mouth, tangling with mine, but I was having difficulty in caring about that, while our lips were fused together and our breath was mingling. He smelled musky and a little bit spicy, but surprisingly, I found it to be more of a turn on than anything else.

He explored every inch of the inside of my mouth and I did exactly the same to him. I was so turned on I wanted to crawl right inside his skin and become one with him. I’d never felt this way about anyone else in my whole life before. I was completely and utterly desperate for him.

 

 

Christmas Day

 

George

 

I woke up feeling pretty damned exhausted, not to mention desperate for a pee.

I stumbled in the direction of my bathroom and relieved myself.

It occurred to me once I’d woken up a bit that my arse was feeling a little tender and it took me a moment to realise why.

Oh, fuck! The events of the night before came back to me all in a flash. The note... the kissing... the running back to my place... and then the best lovemaking of my entire existence...

Fuck! Was Kane still here? I hadn’t heard him get up and leave but neither had I noticed if he was in my bed when I woke up. Facing towards the door, it hadn’t even occurred to me to check behind me...

I skulked to the door with my heart in my mouth and peeped around the door, just hoping...

Kane was lying with his arms behind his head and a big sappy grin on his face. I sighed with delight to see him there.

“I feel like I should have a big certificate delivered to me this morning from Santa.” He said with a chuckle.

I frowned. What the hell was he on about? “Uh?” I asked stupidly. I really hadn’t had a whole lot of sleep – we’d done it at least four times before we finally collapsed in a tangle of sweaty limbs... heaven...

He nodded, his glorious blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Yeah, like an “I lost my gay cherry last night” sort of thing, you know?”

I had to laugh, “I don’t think Santa would really be the right person to hand those things out.”

“But they should be a thing,” He insisted, sitting forward and patting the bed for me to join him, “I feel reborn.”

I smiled and slipped back under the duvet, snuggling up to his gloriously warm nakedness, “Yeah,” I agreed, “I know what you mean – I feel the same way.”

He raised an eyebrow, “But you’d done it before.”

I nodded, “I know that – but this was completely different – this time I was in love, not just trying to get some experience under my belt...” Fuck. He was going to know why I wanted experience...

His face fell, “You wanted experience? For Elliot?” He said, his sparkle from only seconds before completely disappearing.

I swallowed, “Well, yes that was the reason to begin with but things changed when I saw you.”

He bit his lip and nodded, “I know the moment it happened for me,” he whispered.

I smiled, “Me too.” I agreed, “Arrivals lounge.” I added, in unison with him.

 

 

Kane

 

“Arrivals lounge.” I said at exactly the same time as George. My heart leapt. He really did feel the same way about me – well of course he did. No one did what we’d done with each other – all night – without having feelings for each other, surely?

Elliot sprang to mind. Well, some guys obviously did... Not me, though. I was officially in love – and officially knackered.

And I needed to get home before Mum sent out a search party for me too. Not that she’d be particularly worried – but I didn’t need the third-degree from the whole family about my whereabouts the night before either. Kurt would be unbearable as it was – because he would know immediately what had gone down...

I felt my face heating up as I recalled going down on George the night before. It had been quite spectacular. Who knew I would want him to come in my mouth – or that I would like it? It had been a night of revelation after revelation. The only thing I still hadn’t done was to take George inside me. I know he’d said he was a bottom but I was sure I could talk him into giving it a try at least...

Being inside him had been absolutely mind-blowing. I blushed anew. I hadn’t lasted long but George had assured me that that was normal for the first time, “I’ve only ever had sex with a guy, so I really wouldn’t be able to compare – but it’s supposed to be completely different than having sex with a woman.” He said.

I thought about the way it had felt as I’d finally managed to breach his entrance and felt his tight heat all around me. Such overwhelming pleasure had been something I’d never experienced before in my life. Not that I’d been with loads of girls either, but since meeting George, it was safe to say I was gay, not bisexual. Whether it was because of his overwhelmingly hot, tight channel or if it was just because my feelings for him were so strong I didn’t know – but it was the most amazing feeling I’d ever experienced. And right now, with his body snuggled up close to me, and his cock pressing against my leg, all I could think of was doing it again.

I turned over to face him and he started to slide his cock against mine, “I feel like doing it all over again.” He cooed, “Fancy it?”

I groaned, “Oh, God.” I murmured, “I want you so much I could crawl right inside your skin – and you were right about it not being the same – sex with you is nothing like sex with a woman...” I assured him. “It’s so much better.”

He chuckled, “Well, that’s very good to know,” he said, blushing a charming shade of pink.

After another couple of hours of incredible sex I really had to start thinking about making my way home. Everyone would be up and waiting for me and I knew I’d have to explain where I’d been. The easiest way would be to take George with me, “Coming to ours for the day?” I asked, “Mum always buys far too much food for just the four of us.”

George blinked, “Are you sure?” He asked, biting his lip worriedly, “What will your parents say – about us I mean?”

I smiled, “They’ll be fine.” I said, “Mum’ll be delighted and Dad’ll just be happy that I’ve finally come out – it’s uh, been on the cards a while.”

We got showered and dressed and then headed over.

As predicted, Mum was beside herself with joy that I’d got myself such a beautiful boyfriend. Kurt was slightly jealous that I’d managed to find love while he hadn’t and Dad was just slightly bemused by the whole thing until he found that George was a massive fan of the same football team he supported and then he bonded with him as only a dad can with his son’s new boyfriend...

“He’s very handsome,” Mum said when she got me alone in the kitchen before dinner.

I nodded and grinned, “He is, isn’t he?” I agreed, “And he’s so sweet and he’s really intelligent...” I sighed with pleasure.

Mum smiled and nudged my arm, “He’s a keeper.” She said with a wink.

I nodded, “I’m going back home with him for New Year.” I blurted out. It had been bothering me since I’d arranged it with George – I hadn’t really considered how my parents would take it if I wasn’t there for the New Year celebrations.

Her jaw dropped, “You’re not staying for the celebrations?” She sounded so disappointed.

I winced and shook my head. “George has to see his parents over the holidays at some point before he goes back to uni. This isn’t just some holiday fling for us – it’s as real as it gets and I don’t want things to fizzle out just because we can’t be together...”

She nodded, “I can understand that.” She said softly, “But I’ll miss you.”

I gave her a massive hug, “I’ll miss you too – we can FaceTime though.”

She chuckled, “Yes, make sure you do.” She said, “Now take a hold of this and take it in for me.” She handed me a massive tray with the biggest turkey known to man sitting on it surrounded by pigs in blankets and stuffing balls.

My mouth watered, “Oh, my God – this looks so good, Mum.”

 

*

 

Eleanor had invited George around to hers in the afternoon. I stayed at home with Kurt and my parents for a little family time and between lots of kisses by the door as he was leaving, I promised George that I would meet him in the evening back at his chalet.

At seven o’clock I set off. Just ahead of me, trudging through the thick snow and heading for the chalets that my family ran was a lone figure with his head down. I squinted in the moonlight that was reflecting off the snow and lighting up the night and was surprised to see that it was Elliot. I almost shouted out to him but then I remembered that I was sloping off to see the guy that he’d hoped to get back together with and clamped my mouth shut again. I know he’d told me to go for it but I still felt a little awkward. I knew that I was going to have to come clean at some point and tell him that George and I were now a thing – but not right now...

As I passed the chalets, I couldn’t help noticing that the door to one of them was open and Elliot was just going inside. The chalet had been hired by none other than Cristian Llardi. Hell, if those two weren’t in some sort of relationship with each other, my name wasn’t Kane Swain! It was quite a relief to see, really – at least if he was banging Cristian on a more or less permanent basis, he couldn’t very well have a hissy fit about me nicking George from under his nose. I smiled. I hadn’t seen Elliot acting like this around a guy since Alex Knight...

I really hoped it was more than just another flash in the pan but really, it was none of my business what they were doing with each other – and I wasn’t particularly bothered either. I was more concerned with getting cosy with George – my beautiful new boyfriend.

 

 

Chapter 19 – Boxing Day

 

Kane

 

“Oh, my God,” I groaned, running my fingers through George’s dark, silky locks and kissing his perfect mouth. “You are perfect.”

I’d only just got inside the door of his chalet but my mouth had found his immediately. I kissed him like my life depended on it. I was completely addicted to him.

Still, I wasn’t the only one. As soon as I came up for air, George pushed me against his door, dropped to his knees, freed my cock and started to suck me – and he did it absolutely perfectly.

His tongue felt incredible as he ran it along the underside of my cock, while his hand gripped the base. He sucked and fondled me right there in the lounge, on his knees, as I was stood up leaning against the door, until I came. I watched him in fascination as he swallowed everything I had. My legs were a little shaky and I was still feeling deliciously boneless, when he stood up and started kissing me again.

I pulled away from him slightly to look into his glorious dark blue eyes, “I don’t want us to go to yours tomorrow.” I murmured, feeling almost drunk on his kisses, “I just want to stay here – with you – forever.”

George chuckled. “Enjoying yourself?” he asked, smiling at me.

I gazed back at him in wonder. He’d just given me the best blowjob ever. “I’ve never been happier.” I said honestly. And I really hadn’t. George was everything I didn’t know I’d been looking for but now that I’d found him I didn’t want to ever let him go. This guy really was it for me.

He planted another little kiss on my lips, “I forgot to ask.” He said, “Is it okay for me to kiss you – you know, straight after...?”

I nodded, “yeah, definitely.” I whispered. I could taste myself on his lips, but it was such a turn-on, “Let me do the same for you – you must be in pain.”

He chuckled, “Things are getting a little tight,” he admitted.

“Shall we take this to the bedroom?” I asked.

He nodded. Hand in hand we went through to his bedroom. I helped him get his jeans off – what can I say – things progressed from kissing pretty quickly and I spent a few seconds admiring him in his bright red boxer shorts before pulling them down his toned thighs to free his beautiful, hard cock. “Oh, my God.” I murmured, “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

He sighed as I leaned in and took him in my mouth. His fingers laced through my hair and he held me where I was, thrusting slightly in his enthusiasm at me sucking his delicious cock.

It didn’t take long for his cock to swell and harden enough for me to know that he was about to shoot his load. “Coming,” he warned.

I nodded slightly, saliva dribbling down my chin and down his balls. I really couldn’t suck cock tidily – not that it was really about being tidy. It was all about enjoying it – and we did...

“Ungghhh! Fuck, Kane! That’s fantastic.” George groaned as he came. I did my best to swallow but I wasn’t very good at that either – what can I say? It was a learning curve...

I wiped my mouth and chin, “Good?” I grinned at him.

He nodded, “Awesome.” He murmured, “But we should get dressed.”

I leaned back against the pillows and reached down. Taking my cock in my hand I started to stroke myself, “Something needs taking care of again first.” I said with a smile.

He nodded, “I think I can help you with that.”

I raised my eyebrows, “What did you have in mind?”

His smile turned dirty, “I thought I could ride you.”

Fuck. He got sexier with every passing second. I nodded, “You totally can – but how would you feel about me riding you?” I asked with my heart in my mouth.

His jaw dropped, “Seriously?”

I nodded, “Why not?” I asked, “Have you got anything against fucking me?”

He shook his head, “N-no.” he said, “I-I’d love to. It’s just...”

I stroked his face, “What baby?” I asked, “What scares you?”

He blushed, “What if I’m crap at it?”

I blinked, “You think I don’t feel like that?” I asked, “I just about shit myself the first time I got inside you.”

He chuckled, “But you were brilliant.” He murmured, looking at me with a sappy grin on his face.

I nodded, “And you will be too, baby.” I assured him.

He nodded, “Okay...”

 

 

Epilogue

 

George

 

It was nerve-wracking introducing Kane to my family – but it actually went far better than I’d anticipated.

Granddad was never going to approve but that was no great surprise – the old bastard was set in his ways and had no time for anything that wasn’t what he considered to be normal. I guess he’d grown up in a different time... whatever.

Mum and Dad on the other hand were just as delighted to see me happy with my new boyfriend as they were to see Diarmuid with his wife. Maybe they weren’t so bad, after all...

“So where do you come from, Kane?” Mum asked, “Are you French?”

Kane had resisted the urge to roll his eyes really well, I thought, and had been really polite when he answered her, “Ah, no – my family moved to France when I was twelve – so around ten years ago.”

Mum had blinked that my boyfriend was a couple of years older than me, “You’re twenty two?”

He nodded, “I am.” He agreed, “I thought it was time I looked at settling down – and then George came along.” He looked at me adoringly and squeezed my hand, “It was like fate...”

Dad snorted and grabbed another beer out of the fridge. I thought it was a good time to tell Dad that Kane supported the same rugby team as he did. Well, it had worked with Kane’s dad over the football...

Diarmuid and his wife, Sally were very welcoming – not quite so welcoming as their two kids, Sean and Seamus, who adored playing with Uncle George but who were absolutely smitten with their new friend, Kane. He was totally monopolised for a good couple of hours before I insisted on rescuing him and taking him to my room for some peace and quiet, which roughly translated as a couple of mutual blowjobs, since it was hardly appropriate for us to engage in our usual activities of taking it in turns to be top and bottom – something I’m pleased to report I turned out to be quite good at...

All in all, it was a successful visit.

 

*

 

That was seven months ago, now though, and I’d just graduated with a first.

The whole clan descended on us for my graduation, and even Kane’s parents made it over for the day, leaving the business in the capable hands of Kurt and Elliot for the day. Bless them.

It was fabulous graduating – I’d worked really hard for my degree and the feeling of elation to graduate with a first was something else. The day was amazing for that alone but Kane had a little surprise up his sleeve that he kept right until the end of the day – just before his parents were leaving to go back to France.

We were in the airport, where all the drama seemed to happen when he stopped me, “Uh, George,” he caught my hand in his, “Can I have a quick word?”

I blinked, “Of course.”

He looked around, looking slightly embarrassed and then just about floored me when he got down on one knee, “I love you,” he said, “And I want to spend the rest of my life with you – wherever that may be. So, would you do me the honour of becoming my husband?”

I blinked, “Me?”

He raised an eyebrow, a little smile on his beautiful face, “Well, who else?” he asked.

I grinned, “Oh, my God! I will! I so will!”

He stood up and pulled a box out of his top pocket. “Will you wear this ring?” He opened the box and sat there, on the beautiful purple velvet, a beautiful white gold ring sat, with a single diamond embedded in a D-shaped band. “I will.” I said, “Where’s yours?”

He grinned, “Well, I’ve ordered an exact replica – I just didn’t want to get two... just in case... you know.”

I smiled, “You really thought I’d say no?”

He shrugged, “I don’t like to be presumptuous.”

Oh, God. He was so damned adorable. “Do your parents know what you’re doing?”

He shook his head, “No,” he said, “Shall we go and tell them the good news?”

I nodded, “Oh, my God! Yes!”

 

*

 

His mother was beside herself with glee. “Oh, boys!” he gushed, “I knew this was going to happen! I could just tell!”

I doubted that really but I wasn’t about to call her on it. It had surprised me – we’d only been together for seven months but it was as real as real got and I knew I never wanted anyone else.

Kane smiled, “We won’t get back until Christmas again, Mum.” He said, “So you’ll have to wait until then to throw us a party.”

She promised that she would and then we had the tearful goodbyes before it was just Kane and I again.

“Phew.” He said, “I’m glad that’s over – it’s so much nicer when it’s just the two of us.”

I nodded and smiled. “An engagement party at Christmas huh?” I said. Kane grinned and nodded, “Bring it on.”

 

 

The end

 

Thank you for reading Desperate. If you enjoyed this book, I would be grateful if you could help others enjoy it too. Please help other readers find it by recommending it to your friends and/or discussion groups. Please tell other readers why you liked it by reviewing it. Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

 

Coming Soon

 

Oblivious

 

 

Prologue

 

You’d think that living in the French Alps would be all fine and dandy and that every day was some kind of exotic adventure.

It wasn’t.

Let me tell you that most of the time I was bored out of my skull and waiting for my life to start.

Okay, so I’m exaggerating because I was pissed off that everyone else’s life was getting off to a flying start and I was stuck in first gear.... It would be fair to say that I was in a permanent bad temper these days and I guess I was just being churlish.

We lived in possibly the prettiest place on the face of the earth and I had the best parents and the best brother a guy could ever wish for. I probably had the best job in the world too but I wanted more. I wanted to go to uni.

Kane, my twin brother, didn’t have any such desires. He was totally into the family-run business and was perfectly happy to take it over and run it when Mum and Dad finally retired – which, between you and me, I couldn’t see them doing for a long time. Still, Kane wasn’t bothered. He’d got a great boyfriend in George, who had graduated uni this year and was in the process of moving out to live with us.

I wanted to experience what George and his best friend, Eleanor, who was also cousins with my best friend, Elliot, had. Freedom to do as I liked without having to run by a late night with the olds. It was such a ball-ache. And my parents were pretty liberal but I totally got the feeling that Mum judged me for not wanting to settle down. She totally had me in the same pigeonhole as my best mate, Elliot. But I wasn’t like Elliot at all. Elliot loved to play the field and was in serious danger of never settling down with his one and only but I was seriously looking for the one – I just couldn’t find her... I’d thought it was Eleanor when she and George came home last Christmas, but we soon realised that we didn’t really have the spark that was so necessary in The One...

Maybe I was too picky, or maybe my idea of romance was too much like the movies – but I was such a sucker for the perfect happy-ever-after ending, when epic love didn’t immediately happen, rightly or wrongly, I just lost interest.

So anyway – my disastrous love life aside, I’d decided that studying international business as my degree would be a prudent move (I guess at the back of my mind I really did think I’d eventually have more to do with the business side of things with Kane, after all) and I’d applied and had been accepted at the University of Liverpool – and I was going in September...

 

*

 

Mum being Mum, insisted that I look for accommodation to share with someone else. “I don’t like the idea of you being all on your own in a room – your not a naturally solitary soul and you’ll just sink inside yourself and play on that damned X-Box thingy all of the time. You need company, Kurt – you’re a twin!”

I rolled my eyes and bitched about it for a bit, but in the end I had to agree with her – I really wasn’t a solitary type of guy. I did love company. Hell, it was a terrible wrench being apart from Kane – but Kane had George now and it was time, at twenty-three, that I grew a pair, took stock and got on with my life...

Anyway. I applied for an apartment to share and was lucky enough to get one. I had no idea who I was sharing with. All I knew was that I’d been put with another guy, which was totally cool. It really would be too much to hope that I’d be put with a hot woman. I guessed that I’d meet him soon enough and I was confident that I could get along with just about anyone...

 

 

Chapter I – Panicking...

 

Sebastian

 

“What if he’s a total homophobe?” I wailed to my mother, chewing on my bottom lip nervously to the point of being able to taste my own blood. Gross. “What will I do?”

She rolled her eyes at my obvious meltdown, “Honey, he’ll love you – everyone does.”

Not everyone. Steve Morley had absolutely fucking hated me as school. That one kid had made the last two years of my school life absolutely fucking unbearable. Thankfully, college had been a totally different ball game and I’d made some really great friends – boys and girls – who had adored me in the same way as I had adored all of them. “Yeah, right.” I bitched, “tell that to the homophobic arsehole, Steven Morley...”

Mum gave me one of her looks, “Sebastian.” She said in a voice that told me she was only just holding onto her patience.

I flashed her a smile, “Sorry.” I said, “I’m just really nervous.” I’d been to the bathroom more times than I’d like to admit to and my arse was feeling pretty damned tender.

She nodded, “I know, honey.” She said, “Now, are we packing these?” She held up a couple of brightly coloured thongs.

I snatched them out of her hand, feeling utterly mortified that she even knew they existed, “Oh, my God!”

She left my room, laughing. “Just hurry up.” She shouted over her shoulder, “We’ll be going in half an hour, young man. Or you’ll miss your allotted moving in time.”

I sat on my bed and stared around my room. It was my haven, this room. It was painted in navy blue and white and everything matched beautifully. I doubted my room at university would be anything like as nice. Still, I guess I could always accessorise...

 

*

 

Four hours later, it was apparent that I was going to have to buy paint, rugs and fairy lights just to make my room even half way decent.

Something my new roommate, Kurt, who was absolutely beautiful by the way, thought was really quite hilarious...

“Oh, man – you are so like my brother!” he chortled.

I raised my eyebrows, “You’ve got a gay brother?” Interesting. Younger or older? I’d always liked guys who were older than me by a couple of years... I wondered what he looked like...

He nodded, smiling fondly as he talked about him, “Yeah, Kane – he’s just like you with your penchant for accessories and shit.”

I smiled, “But you’re okay with it?” I asked, “And uh, with me I mean – you know – being gay?” It may well be the twenty-first century where we were all supposed to be tolerant and everything but there were still so many horribly ignorant people around – young and old alike...

He nodded, “Sure.” He said, “I’m totally down with the whole gay thing – I’m not gay, though.”

Well, if that wasn’t as plain as the nose on his face. I laughed, “I never thought you were, mate.” I said.

He grinned, “You’re not gonna hold it against me are you?”

Was he flirting with me? Hello... But no, of course he wasn’t flirting with me. He’d just told me that he was as straight as a die – and my gaydar had definitely not even so much as given a feeble ‘ping’ at him being anything like me. It was a shame because he was totally my type – dark hair, blue eyes framed with long black lashes and dimples to die for. My God, it was like spotting the best cream cake in the box only to find someone else had ordered it specially... totally unavailable... Oh well, there were plenty more fish in the sea and all that.

“Well, you’ve already made a difference in here,” Kurt said, “Fancy a pint?” he asked, looking at me hopefully.

I blinked, “Me?” I asked.

He frowned and made a bit of a show of looking around the room, “Well, I don’t see anyone else in here.” He flashed me a grin, showing off those magnificent dimples again, “So, how about it, Seb – are coming with me?”

I nodded. He just called me Seb... Don’t read anything into it. He’s straight. Straight... “Yeah, definitely.” I said, scrambling off my bed where I’d just wound around my string of rather lovely multi-coloured fairy lights and shoving my feet in my Converses. “Just give me two minutes to do my hair.”

He nodded, following me to the bathroom and sitting down on the toilet to watch me while I ran a little wax through my hair and teased it back into shape, “Sure – take your time, Kane always does...”

I was surprised that he’d come to a different uni to his brother – even more surprised when he explained that actually, his brother, who was his twin brother (niiiice – gay and with his looks – phew! Shame he was already taken by the lucky bastard, George...) hadn’t come to uni at all and I almost died of shock when he said they were both twenty-three already.

“You’re twenty-three?” I asked. Wow, he was a total grown-up! He didn’t look any older than me.

He nodded, rolling his eyes, “It’s not that old.” He reminded me, “And yeah – I guess I’m what you might call a late developer. We live in France...”

“France?” I squawked in utter disbelief, “And you’ve come here?” I stared at him as if he’d lost his mind completely. France was so romantic and ever-so-slightly exotic... “You’ve actually come all the way from France?” He had to be crazy... “Are you mad?”

He just chuckled and shook his head, “No,” he said, “I’m just spreading my wings and getting away from my very close, very loving, very nosey family for a while.” He grinned, showing even, white teeth and my belly went a little funny.

Desperately trying to get the message through from my brain to my dick that this guy was never going to be interested in me in a million years, I smiled, “Oh, okay.” I said, “Where in France does your family live?”

I was assuming somewhere like Cannes or Monte Carlo or something equally as impressive and was actually quite relieved when it wasn’t.

He grinned, “We run a ‘small and friendly’ holiday park near the slopes and Dad teaches skiing. So do I when I’m home – that was my job before I came here. I loved it – but I just needed a break from it and I uh, I just wanted to know that I could actually do this. You know, living on my own.”

I brightened. I’d always wanted to learn to ski and I was visualising him showing me the ropes... his arms around my waist as he leaned down and whispered in my ear how to hold my ski poles. Hello! I was at it again. I gave myself a mental shake, “Really?” I asked, trying to slow my heart rate down a little, “That was your job? That’s so cool!”

He grinned and nodded. “Yeah, I guess it was pretty cool.” He acknowledged modestly.

I nodded. “I’ve always wanted to learn to ski.” Just thought I’d drop that one in there. Call me an opportunist by all means...

He grinned, “I’ll take you back with me sometime, then,” he chuckled, “and I’ll introduce you to my best friend, Elliot.”

I fluttered my lashes at him, “Elliot?” I purred, “I like the sound of that.”

He chuckled, shaking his head, “Nah, I couldn’t do that to you. He’d have you for breakfast.” He said. “Total man-whore if ever there was one – but he’s a great mate.”

Suddenly the idea of getting jiggy with the promiscuous-sounding Elliot didn’t seem all that appealing after all. I turned towards Kurt and held my arms out at my sides, “Well, I’m ready whenever you are.”

He looked at me in surprise, “What, no lip gloss? No hairspray? What sort of a gay guy are you?”

I grinned, “I’m the best kind.” I said with a wink, “I can be manly and fit in.”

He grinned back, “I like you already.”

 

 

 

Short Stories by Heather Mar-Gerrison

 

 

Friends

Zoe’s First Date with Fate

Save The Last Dance (Dance #1)

Can We Dance (Dance #2)

Inevitable…

Seven

Something Stupid

Maybe Never…

Kiss The Boy (Boy Next Door #1)

Are We Good...? (Boy Next Door #2)

Equal Measures (Boy Next Door #3)

Some Kind of Paradise (Boy Next Door #4)

Without You... (Boy Next Door #5)

Looking for Trouble (Boy Next Door #6)

Best Boyfriend Ever... (Boy Next Door #7)

Racing Hearts... (Boy Next Door #8)

I need a little time... (Boy Next Door #9)

 

What If... I Belonged to You? (What If? #1)

 

 

Coming Soon

 

Oblivious (Last Christmas #2)

Determined (Last Christmas #3)

 

 

What If... I Was Your Boyfriend? (What If? #2)

What If... I Remember? (What If? #3)

 

When Danny Met Horatio (The Band #1)

When Tobias Met Noah (The Band #2)

When Justin met Max (The Band #3)

When Karl met Devon (The Band #4)

 

Contemporary Romance by

Heather Mar-Gerrison

 

The One That Got Away

If I Can’t Have You

Like No Other

Summer Break (Summer Break series #1)

Operation Boyfriend (Operation Boyfriend #1)

All Kinds of Trouble (Operation Boyfriend #2)

The Trouble with Tyler (Operation Boyfriend #3)

What Happens with Vegas (Operation Boyfriend #4)

 

Tomas… Enchanted (Riverside #1)

True… Love (Riverside #2)

Tatum… Undercover (Riverside #3)

Toby… Captivated (Riverside #4)

Trey… Unbelievable (Riverside #5)

Sam… Distracted (Riverside #6)

 

Peyton... Protected (Studs & Steel #1)

River... Redeemed (Studs & Steel #2)

Alfie... Abused (Studs & Steel #3)

Buzz... Bedazzled (Studs & Steel #4)

Stake Out (Studs & Steel #5)

 

 

Coming Soon

 

Simon... Spellbound (Studs & Steel #6)

Seth... Saved (Studs & Steel #7)

Thai... Troubled (Studs & Steel #8)

 

Emilio… Enraptured (Riverside #7)

Riverside… The Weddings (Riverside #8)

 

When Deanna Met Lincoln (Operation Boyfriend #5)

Misunderstood… Theo’s Fight For Love (Operation Boyfriend #6)

 

 

Heather also writes historical romance eBooks

 

The Duchess of Chittenden (Duchess #1)

Highway to Society (Duchess #2)

The Real Duke of Circhester (Brunswick #1)

Philip Brunswick is getting married (Brunswick #2)

 

Coming Soon

 

Matilda’s Escape (Brunswick #3)

An Unlikely Hero

The Lady and the Blacksmith

Rosy’s leap year

Gabriella’s unexpected proposal

The Other Son… (Duchess #3)

 

 

Check out my blog at https://www.heathermar-gerrison.blogspot.com for news of my upcoming books.

Follow me on Twitter: @hmgwriting

Follow me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heather.margerrison.5

Follow me on Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/heathemg

 

 

About the Author

 

I live in Nottingham, England with my lovely, long suffering and incredibly patient husband and my two beautiful daughters. We also have two cats that we adopted from the RSPCA, Bella and Romeo... and a brand new member of the family – Enzo, our Border Terrier puppy...

When I’m not looking after a wayward puppy – I’m generally writing a book, any spare time I get between these two pursuits, you can either find me curled up with a good book that someone else wrote and a cat or a dog on my knee in place of the laptop, or I’ll be pottering about in the greenhouse, whilst plotting my next storyline in my head, muttering to myself like a crazy woman.... It’s not easy living with all the voices of my characters in my head!