Snowdrop in a Storm by Ava Kelly

Author:Ava Kelly [Kelly, Ava]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NineStar Press, LGBT, contemporary, gay, pansexual, trans, interracial/intercultural, holiday, Christmas, established couple, children, panic attack, grief, family drama, teachers
Publisher: NineStar Press, LLC
Published: 2019-01-15T16:00:00+00:00

THE PENSION BEING as large as it was had been a good thing during the mini-tournament. It meant they had a large hall at their disposal with various chairs and tables and sofas lining the walls. Only, in the past few hours, a hurricane of paper and plastic and cardboard had been unleashed.

Christmas morning meant presents, which had been carefully wrapped by parents, collected by chess club supervisors, and mailed to the pension beforehand. At least that was how Amber and Sara had described it, as they all stared at the mess left in the wake of fifty kids opening presents. Sure, the gifts were small enough to be taken back in suitcases, but there’d been so many.

Someone had commented along the lines of not leaving all of it for the staff to clean up—maybe Daniel—and Nick, of course, had promptly opened his mouth.

“I can’t believe you volunteered us for this,” Leon said, fluttering a trash bag open.

“I volunteered myself. You can go.”

Leon raised an eyebrow. “And miss the opportunity to stare at your ass while you bend over to pick all this up?” He extended the hand with the bag, grin wide. “Get to it.”

Hell. Nick couldn’t help laughing, not anymore.

“Aw, there it is again,” Leon crooned, self-satisfied as usual. “I knew you had more of it in you.”

“More of what?”

“Laughter.” He said it with such simplicity that something shuddered inside Nick. Something old and cold.

Leon had already turned away, though, picking up boxes, and Nick pushed that weird feeling aside.

They worked in silence for a while, dividing the trash into piles of plastic and paper, and, in one disgusting instance, the contents of a small abominable slime jar.

The commotion in the dining hall was in full roar with a late lunch when Sara dropped off sandwiches and tea for them.

“There’s a choir concert down in the resort, next to the statue,” she said. “We’re taking all the kids there after they eat. Join us?” She blinked at Leon; Leon blinked at her. “Or don’t.” Her gaze skittered briefly to Nick. “See you later!”

“What was that all about?” Nick asked.

When he looked over, Leon had half of a sandwich in his mouth and eyebrows raised in an expression that was supposed to convey ignorance.

Nick hummed, unconvinced, and grabbed a sandwich for himself. Whatever was in it was delicious, and the tea hot. Sitting there, thighs pressed against each other’s on the sofa, Nick felt mellow. The emotional turmoil of the past few days had drained him, and he leaned back to enjoy the quiet in his head; a break was just what he needed.

They were down to the last mouthfuls of tea, Leon’s thumb warm as it shifted across his shoulder—and when had he put his arm along the back of the couch?—when Nick thought to ask.

“Why did you come out to me like that? It doesn’t seem like you.”

It didn’t, not really, now that he’d gotten to know Leon better. What Nick had learned was that Leon came across as an overt and flirtatious guy, but he was still pretty reserved.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.