Secret Santa by Jay Northcote

Author:Jay Northcote [Northcote, Jay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jaybird Press
Published: 2017-11-24T05:00:00+00:00

Eleven

Luke knew he had a daft grin on his face, but he couldn’t stop himself. Luckily Theo was tucked under Luke’s arm, his head on Luke’s shoulder, so he couldn’t see how goofy Luke looked right now. Good sex did that to a person, Luke told himself, and it always left you happy and buzzing. But he suspected it was more than just the good sex that was making him smile. It was everything about Theo.

The evening had been so good: easy conversation, great kissing, and amazing sex. It really couldn’t have gone better. Riding high on the success of it all, Luke decided he wasn’t going to find a better time to bring up the subject of Christmas plans.

“So… you said your parents live right up in Northumberland. It’s a long way to travel. Do you get enough time off at Christmas to visit?” Luke felt a little bad about his line of questioning. It seemed dishonest when he already knew Theo was going to be home alone for Christmas, but fuck it. He was doing it with good intentions, and it wasn’t as if Theo was being entirely honest with him either.

“Yeah, it is a long way. It would be hard to fit it in this year around work.” Theo’s disappointment was evident in his tone. Now was Luke’s chance.

“So have you got other plans closer to home?” Luke’s heart beat faster, and he braced himself ready to make his invitation. Surely Theo would rather hang out with Luke than spend Christmas alone.

There was a slight pause before Theo answered. “Um… yeah. I’m spending it with some friends of mine. Paul and Jolyon. They’re a couple so I’ll be playing third wheel, but it was nice of them to invite me, and it’s definitely better than being a lonely saddo and spending Christmas on my own, right?”

Ouch.

“Oh, yeah. Yeah of course. Nobody wants to be that guy,” Luke managed, while internally he cursed. He hadn’t anticipated Theo flat out lying to him. The slight hesitation before answering made him suspect that Theo wasn’t actually spending Christmas with these alleged friends, and unless his plans had changed since Saturday it seemed unlikely he was being truthful.

“What about you?” Theo asked. “Will you be doing stuff with your family?”

“Uh… yeah. Yeah of course. Hanging out at my mum’s and eating my bodyweight in turkey, as you do.” The lie tripped off Luke’s tongue easily. Theo wasn’t the only one who could make stuff up, apparently, and Luke didn’t want to be the only one admitting to Billy-No-Mates Christmas plans. “I don’t get on great with my stepdad but it’s worth going there for my mum’s cooking.” That part was true at least, maybe Luke should reconsider accepting his mum’s invitation if it was still open.

“Yeah. I wish I could go and see my folks, but it’s just not feasible this year.”

The conversation ground to a halt, and the silence grew heavy between them. Luke’s earlier smile had melted away, along

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