Meeting Mr. Christmas (Collier’s Creek Christmas)

Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Jed let himself into the silent house, dark except for the soft glow coming from the kitchen. Only Gomer, their old family dog, was home, guaranteed to be snoozing in his basket in the corner. His parents wouldn’t be back for hours as they’d arranged to have dinner with friends following the tree lighting ceremony. Relief flooded Jed. His mom would have asked question after question about the double date, and he doubted fucking disaster as a response would have gone down well.

Grabbing the bottle of bourbon from the kitchen, some ice and a glass, he made his way upstairs and closed the door to his room.

Perching on the edge of his bed, he poured a generous measure, but instead of taking a drink, he stared down at the floor, his shoulders heavy and slumped.

The tree lighting ceremony, which had always been about him and Noel, and ugly Christmas sweaters, the two of them goofing around, had instead been a shit show from start to finish. And it had all been his fault. Taking a gulp of the bourbon, Jed winced as the liquor burned its way down. He deserved that, and more.

He’d been an ass to Kent, who seemed like an okay kind of guy, even if the admission was begrudging. He’d been an ass to Cora, too, who apart from the one kiss they’d shared, he’d all but ignored. Jed sighed, his cheeks puffing out. There was no way she’d want anything more to do with him. He couldn’t blame her; she was lovely and deserved somebody better than him. Worse still, he’d been a total ass to Noel, forcing him to find a date for an event that, until tonight, they’d always shared together, everybody else excluded.

“Fuck,” he muttered, topping off his glass. He owed apologies all round, that was for sure. A soft scratch at the door, accompanied by a softer whine, caught his attention. Opening the door, Gomer tottered in.

“Hello, boy. I’m not good company at the moment, so you’re better off curled up in your basket.” Gomer took no notice as he came and sat down, his head tilted to the side as he stared up at Jed. “I was a total dick. But what’s new, huh?” Gomer answered with a rough little bark. “Hey, you don’t have to agree with me.” Jed smiled as he scratched the old mutt behind one of his floppy ears, his fingers slowing to a stop.

He’d been a dick, and some, his teeth grinding and muscles stiffening as he’d watched Kent pull Noel in close. But why shouldn’t they do that? The guy was Noel’s date… the date he’d encouraged Noel to find.

“I’m just protective, Gomer, that’s all. Maybe too much sometimes.” Gomer made a snorty, snuffly noise. “I am. It’s how it’s always been, and always will be, too. It’s who I am.” Or it was where Noel was concerned.

Short and on the skinny side since he was a kid, Noel wasn’t much better now. It had never taken much more than the slightest of breezes to blow him off his feet, which had been a green light for the bullies. But Jed had always been there for Noel, his sheer physical presence making it clear the fuckwits would have to get past him first.

“Yeah, protective, that was all. I wasn’t jealous or anything. No way. Why would I be jealous? Hey, did you just roll your eyes at me?” Jed stared down at Gomer, who silently stared back. Jed exhaled a long breath. “All I was doing was looking out for Noel, checking out to see where Kent with a ‘t’ measured on the Noel’s Asshole Boyfriend scale. Okay, the guy wasn’t as bad as some of them, but he didn’t get ten out of ten.” Because nobody ever did, so it was just as well Noel had always had him to turn to when things with the latest guy always went south.

Gomer, after a scratch and a halfhearted wriggle around on the rug, decided it was time to amble back downstairs to his basket. Jed finished his bourbon and pushed the bottle aside. He was a beer drinker, not a hard liquor man, but the events of the evening had made it feel like a hard liquor night.

The app, the one he regretted mentioning. He pulled his cell out of the pocket of his jeans.

Love Heartz: Bringing friendship and a whole lot more to Collier ’ s Creek LGBTQ+ community! If you ’ re looking for your special someone, join today! Jed scrolled through. How the app worked; what it was and what it wasn’t; how to join up; how much it cost — not very much — his brows arched. Not very much at all. Jed’s fingers hovered over the screen.

“Jesus, Mason. What are you thinking?” There was no way, no way at all, he was going to join up to keep tabs on the kinds of guys Noel might be dating. What was he, some kind of crazy stalker? He turned his cell over and over in his hands. It had been Noel and Kent’s third date, and Jed reckoned he’d just about managed to hide his shock. But would Kent still be a feature in Noel’s life, after the evening’s shit show? There was only one way to find out. He pulled up Noel’s contact details, hesitating for a moment before he punched in a message. If Noel replied with a concise Fuck You , he’d only have himself to blame.

Hey, sorry I had to rush off like that. It was good meeting Kent. Jed made a face as he keyed that part in. Are you guys still there? Jed pressed his lips together, because meeting Kent had really, honestly, truly, been about as good as a dose of the shits.

Jed stared at the screen, clutching his cell hard as he waited for a return message that wasn’t coming. If he were Noel, he’d ignore him too, but as the three little dots began to dance, Jed couldn’t stop the smile loosening and lifting his lips.

No.

Jed swallowed. No . That was all. Maybe they were — his stomach flipped over. He really didn’t want to think about where Noel might be, or what he might be doing, about what he might have interrupted… The three dots started dancing again.

Kent bumped into some friends. I decided to go home.

Jed’s heart did a jump that felt too much like relief, but he hesitated before replying.

I was an ass tonight. Sorry. Kent seems like a nice guy. Yeah, right. His fingers tingled as he typed in the words he wasn’t sure he wanted the answer to. You gonna see him again?

No dancing dots, just minutes of silence. Jed glared at the screen, willing Noel’s answer. Maybe he’d switched his phone off. Maybe he was hunkering down on the couch with a steaming mug of hot chocolate and Peter, wearing his dachshund motif PJs and watching one of his sappy rom coms… Jed smiled, the thought thawing the frozen pebble in the pit of his stomach, which had been there since he’d watched Noel walk towards him, hand in hand with Kent. With a ‘t’.

Three dots and a message lit up the screen.

You weren ’ t an ass. You were a dick. To everybody. Not made any arrangements.

A dick? It was exactly what he’d been. But… No further arrangements? Was it right to want to fist punch the air?

You ’ re right. Not just a dick but a huge, fat, prize dick. Even more than usual. Had a bad day. Didn ’ t mean to take it out on you guys. The lie made his insides twist. You want to get some takeout tomorrow? On me for being a dick? Have that movie night? Jed stared at the screen, willing Noel to answer.

Not tomorrow. I ’ ll call. Night.

No more dancing dots. Jed threw his cell aside and climbed into bed. At least Noel’s final message wasn’t a you just totally crashed my love life, you fucker , which meant they were kind of back on track.

I ’ ll get pizza… even get the pizza with pineapple… Noel can never resist pineapple pizza… and the sappiest, most syrupy movie I can find… with puppies… just us on the couch… no Kent, no anybody else… because I ’ m not jealous, Noel ’ s my best bud… just protective, always have been, always will be… Jed’s lips lifted in a tiny smile as his eyes fluttered to a close.

Yeah, just protective, that ’ s all…