Page 18 of A Man for the Holidays

He considers me for a moment, and when I click the buckle of my helmet and place my hands on the handlebars, I anchor my feet on the ground then place one hand on my thigh and look at Quinn. He remains perfectly still, almost horrified, so I give him a reassuring smile and say, “Come on, you’ll be fine. Just sit down here, wrap your arms around me and just hold on tight.”

He slowly starts moving toward me, and when he’s standing right beside me, he mirrors my moves and swings his leg over the back of the bike. When I feel him seated behind me, I look over my shoulder and his eyes meet mine.

“See, that wasn’t so terrifying, was it? Now, open your arms; and wrap them around my waist.” I say.

“Like this?” he asks, wrapping his arms around me. He then slides forward, and I feel his crotch dig against the crack of my ass.

“Yeah, just like that,” I say.

I clear my throat, then turn the ignition on and kick the shifter as the motorcycle comes to life.

“Oh my, this is noisy, and my seat is vibrating,” Quinn says from behind me.

“Just hold on,” I tell him.

I kick up the stand, then throttle the accelerator on the handlebars. Inching forward as I pull out of the park. I ride onto the main road, then increase speed as I feel Quinn gasp in a breath behind me. I continue at a reasonable pace, taking it easy so as to not frighten Quinn, and when I feel his grip around my waist tighten, my mouth curves into a smile. I turn down the street, feeling his body press against mine and he rests his head against my shoulder. As we ride further down the street, I feel him inch his head forward until our helmets are touching. When I turn down the next block, I see the Christmas tree farm up ahead on my left. I begin to slow the bike down and indicate, before making a left-hand turn. Once inside the farm, I park the bike, turn it off and lower the stand. I slide off the front, then assist Quinn as he slides his foot off the back, and then help him with his helmet. Quinn has the cheesiest grin on his face, and I love it. We place them on the motorcycle and make our way inside the yard.

Spending about thirty minutes sorting through at least several dozen trees until Quinn and I find the one that’s the most beautiful. I rip the tag from the tree, then take it over to the woman at the window, standing behind the counter and swipe my credit card. She informs me that the tree will be delivered later tonight, so I thank her and make my way back to Quinn. This time, when we ride on the bike, he’s less tense, and in fact enjoys the ride much more than earlier, and when we finally turn into the street leading back to the house, he removes both his hands from around my waist and slides his palms down my thighs. I pull over into the park and park the bike, then remove both our helmets, before throwing the protective cover back over. The two of us quickly head inside and I immediately head for the kitchen.

“Would you like some eggnog?” I ask.

He nods, then curiously wanders into the living room and over to the television set. I grab some eggnog from the fridge and pour it into two glasses, before joining Quinn in the living room. I hand him his glass, and he continues to look around the room, fascinated by something, but when he doesn’t say anything, I raise my eyebrows and take a sip of my eggnog.

“What is this?” he asks, pointing to the small stereo system I have set up on a small table beside the television.

“Oh, that’s called a CD player, you use it to play music.”

“You mean, the sound comes out of this small box?” he asks, pointing at one of the speakers.

“Yes. But they don’t really exist anymore, not now that people have phones and iPods to listen to.”

“How does it work?” he asks.

I place my glass down on the coffee table, then walk over toward him and switch on the CD player.

“First you have to turn it on by pressing this button here, then you press this button which opens the CD player.” I take out the unlabeled CD from the player and hold it up to Quinn. “This is a CD, it’s what the music is stored on.”

“CD?” he asks.

“Yeah, it stands for Compact Disc.” I insert the CD back into the cradle, then press the button and the door closes. “When you want to listen to the music, you press this button here which reads ‘play.’”

I press the button, and it takes a second or two for the music to come through the speakers. I gasp when the familiar tune escapes the speakers, forgetting I’d only listened to the song a few days earlier and hadn’t changed the CD. “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” byStarshipbegins playing and I angle my head up at Quinn who’s fascinated by the CD player. He stares at the CD player, curiously trying to work out where the sound is coming from. I stare into his eyes, then slowly reach out my hand and take the glass of eggnog from him and place it on the coffee table.

“Quinn, would you like to dance?” I ask.

He says nothing but gives me an approving nod and a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. I turn up the volume slightly, take a step forward and wrap my arms around his waist. When he doesn’t move, I take both his hands and wrap them around my waist, then tangle my arms around him again. As the song plays, we slowly move from side to side, my head is angled up at his, while his is angled down at mine. We slowly dance around in a circle, neither of us taking our eyes off the other. I lose myself in his eyes, and it’s taken me this long to truly appreciate how wonderfully handsome and perfect this man is. He is definitely a delicious sight. Short, straight hair, gorgeous brown eyes, broad shoulders, solid arms, muscular torso, killer legs and, as my eyes wander a little lower, a perfect package wedged between an exceptional pair of thighs. Finally, the leather jacket he’s wearing, makes him look fucking hot. The song continues to play, and I turn Quinn around so that his back is now facing the couch, and I slowly walk him backward while dancing, our eyes still connected. There’s no one else here, it’s just us, this moment, this very minute, and I’m afraid to even close my eyes for a second, in case I blink it all away.

As the beat changes, I slide my hand up Quinn’s right arm and ever so slightly, I lean forward and almost press my mouth to his when I hear a knock on the door. The two of us pull apart, and look at each other awkwardly for a moment, and when there’s another knock on the door, I quickly head out of the living room and open the front door. It’s the delivery man from the tree farm, with the delivery of our beautiful Christmas tree. I hold the door open as he and his colleague head back down to the truck and grab the tree. They then slowly, and carefully, proceed to make their way into the apartment. I instruct them to place the tree in the living room beside the fireplace, and when it’s standing upright, I let them know that it’s right where I want it.

The two men ensure the tree is safe and stable, then make their way out the front door. Closing the door after them, I head into the living room and stand beside Quinn who’s standing beside the fireplace staring at the tree.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I ask.

“Yes. Do you think we should decorate it before Paige gets home so we can surprise her?”

I nod, and the two of us take a sip of our eggnog, then get to work with decorating the tree.

Although it’s not exactly the tradition I’m used to, decorating the tree with Quinn felt perfect and special. After we place the last bit of tinsel on the tree, I get to my feet and take a step backward to examine our work. It’s beautiful. Everything from the ornaments hanging from the branches to several fake boxes underneath the tree, and the wonderful display of colored lights. As we both stare at the tree, I hear the front door open, and immediately turn my head so that I’m facing Quinn.

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