Page 17 of Decorated

“It looks cheap,” Blaine lamented.

Alfie shrugged. “It’s shiny.”

“It’s tacky.”

“It’s supposed to look like icicles.”

“It looks like crap. I don’t even know why I let you slip those boxes into the trolley.”

Alfie grinned before he could stop himself. Knowing it would throw Blaine off, he circled his arm around Blaine’s shoulders and pulled him close, as if they were a real couple.

“It’s romantic,” he said.

Blaine huffed a breath, then shrugged out of Alfie’s half-embrace with a shouted, “Damn you, Corporal Alfie Spears!”

He then marched over to the ladder, where the open box of tinsel sat, pulled out a handful, and began to throw it over the branches.

Alfie chuckled and moved to join Blaine in finishing off the tree.

“I’m glad to know it’s so easy to get my own way with you,” he said.

“It is not easy to have your way with me,” Blaine protested with mock irritation.

Alfie’s brow shot up. He leaned around the tree enough to look at Blaine directly instead of through the branches. “I said ‘get’ my own way, not ‘have my way’ with you. They’re two different things.”

“Oh,” Blaine said, his face going pink.

Alfie went back to strewing tinsel, but added, “I couldhavemy way with you whenever I wanted.”

When Blaine didn’t immediately fire back with something cute, Alfie leaned to the side to look at him around the tree again.

Blaine was redder than ever. When he felt Alfie’s stare, he shifted stiffly to meet his eyes and said, “Yeah, well, it’s not really that difficult for anyone to have their way with me.”

Alfie’s smile dropped. Was Blaine still hung up on the ethics of having a strong libido?

“I didn’t mean to imply?—”

His question was cut off as his mobile rang in his pocket. He blew out through his nose, tossed his remaining handful of tinsel over the tree, then pulled his phone out to see who was calling.

It was Group Captain Parker.

“I have to take this,” he told Blaine, stepping away from the tree.

When he was halfway across the room, he tapped to answer the call with, “Parker, hello.”

“Hello, Spears,” Parker answered. Fortunately, he didn’t sound upset or angry. He shouldn’t be. Alfie had been specific when he’d told Parker he would be out of the office today. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything important.”

Alfie glanced back over his shoulder at Blaine and the large Christmas tree. Blaine was pretending to be focused on decorating, but Alfie had the sense he was watching him.

“Not really,” he answered, turning away so his thoughts could focus where they needed to. “I’m at Hawthorne House, helping to decorate for the Christmas party next weekend.”

“Good. That sounds fun,” Parker said. “Keep up the good work.”

“I will.”

“Speaking of your future, I need to bring that meeting we were going to have up by a couple days,” Parker said.

“Sir?”

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