Page 16 of A Man for the Holidays

He makes a very valid point. I don’t recall him ordering much of anything that day. And now that I think about it, I don’t ever see him eat or drink anything at home.

“You have to nourish yourself. It’s not healthy to not eat. You’re a human now and you need to eat to survive, that’s how it works in the human world,” I tell him.

“I’m sorry, I’m just so confused with what I am to do and not supposed to do. Being a human is hard work.” He tells me.

I give him a reassuring smile and stare at him for several long minutes. I slowly lower my arm so that it brushes against the side of his body, and when I feel the moment is right, I grab his hand and lace our fingers together. He looks down at our hands but says nothing, when he raises his head, and our eyes connect, I see the love and sincerity in them and although neither of us say anything, it’s obvious from our silence and the fact that he hasn’t pulled away, that we’re both happy and comfortable with this. Together, hand-in-hand, we slowly make our way outside of the theatre.

There’s a chilling winter breeze as the wind smacks me hard in the face, and when I feel Quinn pull me toward the edge of the curb, I turn to look at him.

“Shouldn’t we get a taxi?” he asks.

“It’s a beautiful night, I figured we could walk home.”

Okay, so I’m lying. It’s fucking freezing, and I’m almost certain I’ll probably catch some severe frost bite by the time we get home. But if it means spending more time with this guy, holding his hand, thenit’s totally worth it. He doesn’t hesitate, and when I pull him toward me, he leans in closer so that he can rest his head on my shoulder. It’s a long walk home from the theater, fifteen blocks to be exact, and although it is a cold night, the atmosphere out here this evening is buzzing. Everywhere I look, people are sitting down enjoying a meal or coffee with friends or their significant others, joking, laughing, or just general chit chat. Quinn and I don’t say very much, in fact, we don’t really say anything because it would seem that he’s more fascinated with his surroundings than he is with me at the moment. But he still holds a firm grip on my hand, and that’s more than enough for me, and all I can ask for as we enjoy our long walk home.

It’s still early by the time we get home from our walk from the theater, and although I may be freezing right now, I don’t want it known to Quinn. He let’s go of my hand for the first time since we left the theater and wanders over to his room. I look around the living room and then poke my head out into the foyer to see Paige’s bedroom door wide open, but when I duck my head inside, her room is empty. I head into the living room and turn on the heating, I rub my palms together, trying to get warm. Removing my coat and scarf, I then toss them on the armchair before making my way back out into the foyer. When I get to Quinn’s room, I find him sitting on the bed, wearing nothing but his boxer briefs and his robe which is open at the front, and he has a book open in front of him.

“What are you reading?” I ask from the doorway.

“Just something I picked up from the library the other day.”

“You went to the library?” I ask horrified.

“Yes. But I was extra careful. I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to worry.”

I make my way into the bedroom and notice several more books on the nightstand. I reach out and grab them, then sift through the pile one by one and read each of the titles.The Complete Illustrated Step By Step American Cookbook, How To Be the Perfect Partner, The Male Reproductive System.But it’s the final book in the pile which really has me gasping,How to Improve Your Sex-Life.

“You get everything out of a book?” I ask him.

“Spencer, there are so many things I need to know, things Iwantto know. I can’t always ask you everything, sometimes I need to figure them out for myself.”

That has me smiling as I lean in and rest my head on his shoulder.

“Hey, can I ask you a question? Quinn asks.”

“Of course,” I reply.

“How come you don’t have a Christmas tree in your apartment?”

I remove my head from his shoulder then look at him as I realize he’s right. After everything that’s happened with him coming to life and all, I totally forgot about the Christmas tree. And in all honesty, I’m actually quite surprised Paige hasn’t mentioned it because it’s a regular yearly tradition in our house to put the tree up together. I guess it completely slipped both our minds.

“It must have slipped my mind, with everything that’s happened. Normally Paige and I would go down to the local Christmas tree farm, pick out a tree and then come back here and decorate it together. I guess she didn’t want to say anything because you’re here.”

“Well that certainly makes no sense whatsoever. I’m going to quickly get dressed, and then you and I can go to the Christmas tree farm and pick out a tree together, come back here and decorate it, Paige will be surprised when she gets home.”

“Quinn we just got home, and not to mention it’s freezing outside.”

“Don’t you have one of those machines with wheels that people use to take them places?”

“You mean a car?”

“Yeah! A car! I’ve seen lots of them on Fifth Avenue. They’re very noisy and dirty at times though, I don’t know how people can ride in them.”

His adorable cuteness has me chuckling again, “No, I don’t have a car. I have a motorcycle.”

“A motorcycle?” he questions.

“Yeah. It’s kind of like a car, only a lot noisier and it only has two wheels instead of four. Here, I’ll show you.”

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