Page 11 of A Candy Cane Christmas
But when I turned around, any words I might’ve said got stuck as I took in Luci’s form that decidedly lacked any kind of legwear. Holy fudging shirt!
“Sorry,” he said, but again, his smirk and wink said he was anything but sorry. “Fucking itchy tights. Don’t worry, I have a pair of sweatpants right here.”
His eyes glittered with mischief as he slowly pulled a gray pair of sweatpants out from… somewhere. I couldn’t be bothered to look where because my eyes were glued to Luci’s slender legs. I followed the slight dusting of copper hair up his calves and his creamy thighs further up… right to the point where his legs disappeared under the skirt part of his costume.
Shame crashed into me as I wished for his costume to be even shorter and more skimpy than it already was. Heat flooded my veins at the thought of what was hiding beneath that thin layer of red, green, and bells.
It seemed like an eternity in which I could only stare at his half-naked form before he slipped on his sweatpants and gave me a much-needed reprieve to gather my breath and thoughts. But the break was short-lived. One moment, he was grinning at me with a devilish glint in his eyes, and the next, he took my breath away once again as he pulled the rest of his costume over his head.
A guy my age should not be rendered speechless by a bare male chest, but alas, he was the first guy I’d seen half-naked and in person ever since I’d openly admitted what I’d been afraid of most of my early teenage years.
I was gay.
So fudging gay.
If there were any doubt left in me, my cock was shredding it to pieces. Just like it was trying to shred my jeans to pieces and break free.
Finally, and yet way too soon, he put on a black hoodie that hid his slender frame, but it did nothing to break the spell Iwas under because I could do nothing but keep staring while my mind was running wild.
The air grew heavy with tension, the sparks between us charging our surroundings; an explosion waiting to happen. I desperately needed to take a bit of the pressure off, but I didn’t know how. This was uncharted territory for me. Completely new.
“That was a bit too much, wasn’t it?” Luci said. His cheeks were turning a deep shade of red, and he ran a hand over his face, lowering his head in shame. “Sorry. I just thought… I don’t know. Teasing you seemed like a good idea at the moment, but I think I came on to you a little too strongly.”
“Make that… a lot too strong,” I croaked, my voice basically inaudible.
Luci hung his head for real now, his copper curls hiding his face. “I’m really sorry. Do you want to go?”
Did I?
If I were completely honest with myself, the answer was no. Not at all. A part of me was thrilled he’d tried flirting—or was it seducing?—with me, even if it was too much too fast.
“If I stay, would you mind keeping your clothes on?”
Luci groaned. “Definitely keeping my clothes on. I kinda want the floor to swallow me.”
I chuckled. “I’m not sure Mrs. Martinez would appreciate you dropping by that way.”
A bright laugh escaped Luci’s lips, and a bit of the tension seeped out of his shoulders. His eyes regained their usual mischievous sparkle. “Theodore Campbell, was that a joke?”
“Uh… yes?” I said, raising my eyebrows at him. “But my full name isn’t Theodore.”
“It’s not?” Luci asked, brows knitting before he shrugged and disappeared into the living room. “What is it?”
“Uhm…” I followed him, unease curling tight in my stomach. I hated where this conversation was going, but maybe getting it out of the way would be for the best. “My real name is Theophilius. Before you ask, yes, my parents are crazy ultra-Christians and part of a cult-like church. Which is why I’m no contact with them.”
There was a lot more to tell, but I didn’t want to trauma dump on him, and I didn’t want to bring the mood down more than I’d already done. No, I needed to find a way to steer the conversation back in the right direction.
Taking in my surroundings, my eyes latched onto the huge canvas sitting on an easel in the middle of the room. Rich greens warred with deep blues, the colors splattering like waves crashing into each other.
“Are you an artist, too?” I asked, though the answer was obvious. Maybe I should rather ask what he wasn’t. Model, elf, painter… the list already far exceeded what I had to show.
“I am.” He nodded, throwing himself on the couch. “I’m doing a bit of modeling on the side, but I’m a painter. I’ve even done a couple of showings. I also teach art at the community center. I’m also dabbling in cover design, and yeah, there’s the whole mall-elf thing.” He shrugged, blushing again as he tucked a few curls behind his ear. “My brother says I’m a bit of a mess juggling that many jobs at once, but… it works for me.”
Filing his taxes had to be an utter nightmare.
But looking around in his living room, taking in the chaos of colors, it, yeah, in a weird way, it made sense.
“Are you happy with your jobs?”
