Carry Me Home by Sterling Rivers

Author:Sterling Rivers
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 9781634768429
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2016-02-08T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

I CAME awake slowly, something warm and solid up against me. As my sight sharpened, I shot up, startled. Cody was facing me, his smile bright, his thumb racing as he texted on his phone.

“About time, you bum,” he said.

“Oh…. Right.”

As memories of last night swirled around me, I relaxed. It had been a long time since I’d shared Zs with someone, and it was strange sleeping with them, no sex involved. It was kind of nice. I got up and made directly for the bathroom to relieve myself and brush my teeth. When I returned, Cody was still in bed texting furiously, his face twisted in excitement.

When he noticed me, he pushed his phone into his pocket, and I realized he was dressed. “Aiden… I know we said we’d get started in the morning, but Christmas is only a few days away, and there is something very important I need to do. I almost forgot.”

“I understand.”

Sitting up, he beamed. “And you’re coming with me.”

“I am?”

“I’m not going to let you sit here in this room and rot. Get dressed, because we are going Christmas shopping!”

“Okay,” I said, not at all disheartened to be sidetracked. “So I take it I’m driving?”

“I forgot about that. Do you mind?”

“Nope.”

“We have to go back to my place, though, so I can change. I smell like beer.”

“Not a problem.”

As I threw some clothes on, I couldn’t believe it was only a few days until Christmas. That thought sobered me. Had Mom been alive, her house would have been decked out, every inch of the porch, every tree and shrub glowing with lights and the smell of pine thick throughout the house. And the dinner she would have made…. I closed my eyes, remembering last year. It had only been us and Mrs. Johnson from down the street, but it had been perfect. We had shared some wine, getting a little buzz on as I told her about the cities I’d seen.

“Aiden?”

“Sorry,” I said, offering Cody a smile. “I was just thinking about the holidays.”

“I love Christmastime! The food and the decorations and the snow. Oh, and the gifts. I usually go broke around this time of the year,” he said, pushing his feet into his shoes. “Of course, receiving is just as much fun. Unless it’s underwear. My great-aunt Mildred still insists on getting me tighty-whities a size too small, even though I’ve told her I’m a boxers kind of guy. She doesn’t understand that the boys need to breathe, you know?”

As he droned on, I smiled to myself. If I’d had half the balls—pun intended—Cody did in letting his thoughts be known, I might not be in this mess.

Cody gasped and shot to his feet. “What was the one thing you wanted when you were a kid but never got?”

“Ah… a Dr. Dreadful Lab.”

“Oh, the laboratory where you make body parts out of goo and eat them? That’s awesome! I remember that.”

Feeling light, I inquired, “What about you? What did you want?”

His cheeks colored.

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