Page 20 of Jalen & Colby

But Ido.And I haven’t seen most of them in over five years. Anisha came for that visit with the girls, but that was two-and-a-half years ago now.

What am I really waiting for? To share that experience with someone? Or…two someones. But that would be crazy, right? It’s one thing to agree to spend the twenty-fifth together when we’re all right here in the city. But am I really thinking what I think I’m thinking?

What I’mthinkingis what’s the use of having all this money if it just sits in the bank. I might have my apartment, but what else am I really doing with it? Investing it? Saving it for a rainy day?

The sun is most definitely shining right now, no rain in sight.

I decide to shove the idea to the side. Today we have food and sunscreen and wine and even a mini Bluetooth speaker to play some tunes on quietly, just for our little corner of the beach. The water is sparkling, and I’m spending more quality time with these two amazing young men who make me laugh as well as my heart soar.

If this is just our first picnic of many, I’ll be entirely grateful to the universe for bringing us together. But I can’t help but feel like having grown up with sunny Christmases all their lives, there might be another kind of holiday season I could show them.

I’m getting ahead of myself. Anisha said chances of snow this year back in the UK were minimal anyway, so I’m not really missing out on what’s in my mind. Those kinds of Christmases only happen in films, anyway. It’ll be dark and rainy, and we’re here, basking on the beach.

Yet I can’t let go of the idea that if I’m going to take this chance to try sugar Daddying, then I should go all in. Go crazy. Who knows how long this strange relationship between the three of us is going to last? They’ve said time and again that they wanted their first Christmas together in person to be as special as it could possibly be.

Why can’t I give them a little Christmas miracle they’ll never forget?

CHAPTER9

Jalen

“I’m justsaying,”Colby ‘just says’ for the twentieth time. “Why’s Andreas coming here? We always go to his place or into Sydney.”

I shrug as I tip a bag of chips into a bowl. It’s not exactly fine dining, but I wanted to have some snacks out for when Andreas arrives. I don’t want to encourage Colby, but Andreas’s sealed lips on his sudden, unexpected visit have got me a little nervous too.

“Maybe he’s just conscious that we always travel to him,” I say nonchalantly.

“Yeah, because his place is a hundred times nicer than ours,” Colby argues back. “And there’s nothing to do around here.”

I sigh and walk over to where Colby’s rearranging our now-beloved collection of Jurassic Galaxy action figures on the bookcase. I grip his shoulders so he’ll look at me.“We’rehere. Andreas is coming to see us. He doesn’t need a reason. He’s our friend and he said he wanted to hang out.”

Colby chews his lower lip. Not for the first time I want to reach out and gently pull it out before running my thumb over it. But I know that’s far too intimate for me to do.

“You’re worried we’re not good enough,” I suggest.

His eyes go wide. “Me! I mean—I!I’mnot good enough. You’re always fabulous.”

I huff and roll my eyes. “So are you, boo-boo. You don’t need glitter to be fabulous, I promise. Just relax. This is no different from any other time we’ve hung out over the past few weeks.” He arches an eyebrow at me. “Okay,yes,”I relent. “It might feel just a teeny, tiny bit different. It’s probably because it’s so close to Christmas. Everything’s a bit out of the ordinary right now.”

One of the only good things about my boring job is that the office closes its doors around December twenty-first and doesn’t open them again until at least January third. So I’ve just done my last day. Colby’s schedule is horrible, but that can’t be helped. At least he’s only got two more shifts until we’ll get a couple of days totally all to ourselves to celebrate the holiday.

Secretly, I’m hoping that Andreas might be coming over to surprise us with a fancy plan for Christmas Day. We already had our day-long picnic on the beach, after all. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll happily do that again. But I can admit that I am a little bit of a brat, and I wouldn’t mind being swooped off my feet.

Again.

Andreas is just so fun. If it were any old guy throwing money at me and my bestie, the novelty would wear off pretty quickly, I know. It’s sharing all this fun stuffwithAndreas that’s the best part.

The doorbell chimes, and I can’t help but remember the first he rang it when I opened the door to find him standing there with a box full of goodies. I give Colby a little shake and a big smile. “It’s fine,” I assure him as I dash out into the hallway. “Everything’s fine, buttercup!”

Andreas isn’t holding anything this time, but his smile is just as bright as before. Possibly even better now that I’ve had the chance to get to know him so well. Either way, my heart does a little flip, and I melt against the doorframe.

“Hi,” I say breathlessly.

He chuckles as he steps over the threshold, giving me a hug and kissing my cheek. All my queer friends say hello like that, so it doesn’t really mean anything. Except my heart’s forgotten that particular information and starts doing more gymnastics in my chest at the close contact.

“Hey, hun,” he says. I love the way he says that in his London accent. It’s so cute.

I regain my senses and step away so Colby can come over and get a hug as well. “Hi!” he says cheerfully. I can hear the nerves behind the one-syllable word. I wonder if Andreas knows Colby well enough yet to notice it, too.

---