Page 69 of Down My Chimney

“Alright, buckle up.”

“Buckle up? Why, what are we doing? Wait, what areyoudoing?”

He answered that by sliding one hand under my ass, the other around my back, and standing up. I yelped in surprise and wrapped my legs around his waist out of sheer instinct. He walked towards the stairs like I weighed no more than a backpack.

“What kind of workouts have you been doing this fall?” I asked. “I feel like I should be heavier than this, but you’re acting like I’m a koala.”

“Coach has been pushing us kind of hard,” Blake said. “But I could probably do this anyway. Like grandmothers who lift pickup trucks off their trapped grandchildren. Humans can do a lot with the proper incentive.”

“So you’re saying you see me like a tiny child trapped under an F-150?”

“I’m saying nothing is going to stop me from being inside you within the next five minutes.”

“Wait, wait,” I said when we reached the top of the stairs.

“Afraid I’ll drop you?” Blake raised an eyebrow.

“No!” I said, which just made his brow go up higher. “Okay, maybe a little. But I have a more practical concern too.”

“Oh?”

“Did you bring condoms? Or lube?”

He looked dismayed. “Fuck. No. Did you?”

I shook my head. “I had no idea I should.”

He bit his lip. “Um, not to be super embarrassing and sappy…”

“Please, be super embarrassing and sappy.”

“I haven’t been with anyone since you.”

“Really?” My chest filled with something warm and sweet. “In all that time?”

“Really. There was never anyone else I wanted to be with.”

“I think we need to get your brain checked out. You had months of being single, months where you could have banged pretty much any guy you wanted. And you didn’t try anything with anyone?”

“When are you going to get it through your head that I don’t want anyone else but you?”

“I guess I just always thought you felt that way because you weren’t out,” I admitted. “And that things would change once you had better options.”

“Well, I’m out now,” Blake said. “And there’s no one else, Henry. No one else has ever come close.”

I wondered if it was possible to die from happiness.

“You?” he asked after a moment.

“Me what?” I cocked my head to the side. “Oh, you mean did I ever hook up with anyone else? God no.” I laughed. “Vernon did try to kiss me during the last week of the program, but I told him I wasn’t interested.”

Blake smirked. “I’ll try not to get jealous. At least he has good taste.”

“Maybe we should set him up with Matty,” I said with a giggle. “Have another gingerbread decorating party when we get back next week, and invite them to—oh, shit, let me down!”

I poked Blake’s chest until he obliged, then sprinted to the kitchen when he set me on my feet. I opened up an upper cabinet, then turned and showed him my prize.

“Crisco?” He sounded doubtful.

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