Page 33 of The Christmas Keeper

“Guess you learned.”

“Yeah, I did. I managed to get a job cleaning bathrooms at a glass factory and got a new battery for my car. But then I was broke again, so I tried my hand at busking. And then you walked into my life.”

“You poor bastard. You’d have been much better off if you had told me to go play in traffic. I’m a real problem child. Just ask my mother.”

“I need you to believe me when I say I am here because I want to be here. I plan to be here for as long as you can stand me being under foot. I like it here, I like you, and the people arenice. Kind and generous. Accepting of me, ofus. You don’t find that everywhere. I am sorry for not telling you about Lance.” He brought our linked hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles. “It’s odd, but I kind of think of Lance as this whole other person. Someone who was in my past, who did some stupid shit, got knocked down from a glittery pedestal, and now is a faint memory that some country fan may think of now and again and ask their sig other whatever happened to him. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, sure. You’ve moved past that guy. I mean, he is still you, obviously.”

“Mm, totally still me. That’s my addict. He’s always with me. And sometimes when things are tough, I talk to him. I’ll tell him to fuck off, that I got this life shit, and I’m handling it.”

“You so are. And if I ever, ever make you so angry that you feel the need to use—”

“You won’t. Just because you have moments of uncertainty about us?” I nodded. He smiled at me so sweetly that I almost wept. “We all have our little voices, those inner saboteurs, that like to act out on occasion. Mine will get real sulky when things are super rough, just so you know.”

“And mine will lash out like a harpy when he feels he’s been lied to. Trust me, I know you didn’t lie. You just didn’t tell me everything, and while it was a big thing, you are entitled to keep things about your past to yourself. We’ve only been doing this thing for a few weeks.”

“A few wonderful weeks. And no, that was a bad way to handle that part of my past. I should have come clean right after you gave me a place to sleep. And now that I know how much you hate surprises—”

My phone rang. Rang. Not pinged. Mom. “Speaking of unwanted surprises.”

She was calling to see if we had left yet and I would bet my damn pub on it. I released Kenan’s hands, dug my cell out, and passed it to him. He drew back as if I were handing him a scorpion.

“What do you want me to do with this?” he asked as he gingerly lifted my phone from my palm.

“Tell her we’ll be at the restaurant on time.” He gaped. “You can do it. That Southern drawl of yours will make her melt like ice cream on a hot sidewalk. Just like it did her son.”

I stole a kiss, timid after all the deep shit we’d just gone through the past thirty minutes, but one filled with promise.

“You still want me to stay with you?” His question was a raspy whisper.

“I would like nothing better. Now talk to the female version of me. I need to clean the kitchen and if I sit here staring into your eyes much longer, we’ll be upstairs on the couch fucking like warthogs.” He raised one sleek eyebrow. My dick twitched. “On second thought, tell her we’ll be a little late.”

He politely told my mother something had come up the kitchen sink, and we’d hopefully still be there on time, but if not to go ahead and order drinks and appetizers and we’d be along in short order.

We raced up to my office, dove onto the old sofa, and proceeded to get very naked and very warthoggish.

***

Dinner with the fam was an odd affair.

I suspected that Nora, who was now seated beside her handsome behemoth of a husband and glowing brighter than the candles on the table, had an inkling that what had come up to make Kenan and I late had nothing to do with a sink backup and everything to do with two men being hog wild about each other.To her credit, she did not tease us about our goofy smiles or the way Kenan’s hair was beyond wild. That was on me.

The parental units noted nothing other than we were late. Dad was fine with it, as he always dragged his feet, but Mom…well, Mom was quite pointed about how being late was a sign of inconsideration. She did give us a sharp look when we finally arrived at the same time as the appetizers. The restaurant was hopping so a slow kitchen had worked in our favor.

“So, this is so nice,” Nora gushed as she looked around the table. “It has been like ages since we all were together for Christmas.” Her eyes rounded. “Oh crap, I’m sorry. For the holidays. I didn’t mean to exclude you, Kenan.”

He smiled and waved off her worry just as a server arrived with some nibbles. “No, please, it’s fine. I love Christmas. It’s such a joyous time of year, everyone is cheery and filled with goodwill for their fellow man. Also, the tips are great!”

Dad nodded, then passed the dish of asparagus wrapped in prosciutto to Antoine. “I remember when I tended bar during the holidays back in my college days, tips were always double. I used all my savings and a fat night of tips to buy my darling wife an engagement ring for our third Christmas together.”

Mom gave him a look of sheer adoration. I stared, rudely, as I could not recall ever seeing my mother gaze so lovingly at anyone.

“It was a tiny little diamond chip. You would have needed a magnifying glass to find it, but she didn’t seem to mind. She said yes and here we are thirty-three years later with two grown children, a new son-in-law, a grandbaby on the way, and our son’s new boyfriend to welcome into the fold.”

I nearly choked on my asparagus. “Dad, Kenan isn’t my—”

“That’s so kind. Thank you for being so cordial,” Kenan said before giving me a quick glance. I nodded, chewed, and let the misstep slide. Maybe Kenan was onto something. Maybe I didn’thave to call out every little flub my folks made. Big ones, yes for sure, but tiny errors such as calling him my boyfriend when we were…well, I wasn’t sure what you would call us. Lovers fit well. We sure did love to love on each other. Anything past that, though, I didn’t want to try to pin down. Living in the present was hard, especially for someone like me who got anxious if things weren’t laid out neatly far in advance. “I’m thrilled to be part of this wonderful family. I’ve fallen out with my parents, so this is quite lovely.”

---