Straight To the Heart by Lynn Van Dorn

Author:Lynn Van Dorn [Van Dorn, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2023-01-27T18:30:00+00:00

20

Simon Goes on a Date

Monday, December 18

The Christkindlmarket

The Loop

Simon followed Hudson’s directions nearly to the letter. Ben, bundled up in flannel-lined jeans, a wool sweater soft as cashmere, red parka, boots, gloves, and a knitted alpaca scarf and hat, looked delightful, with bright spots of color in both cheeks, his lips, and at the tip of his nose. Simon wanted very much to kiss those cherry lips but still felt unsure. He didn’t want Ben to feel in any way obligated toward him, and he was still unsure of his strong attraction to the boy. Nothing in his life had prepared him for his admittedly tepid libido deciding to wake up in his forties for a much younger man. It made no sense at all, but nevertheless the thought persisted that it felt right. Simon wanted to be by Ben’s side. He wanted it badly, even if he didn’t understand it, but he was also determined to not pressure the man into anything.

It was like tap dancing on ice. Simon was bound to fall at some point, but until then, he was doing his level best.

Ben seemed both charmed and somewhat mystified by the market. About half of it was food and the other half things to buy. Mostly ornaments and decorations, but also gifts. They also had a glass-blowing demonstration that night which Ben watched with fascination. Simon bought him the glass ball he’d admired the most, despite the boy’s protests. Simon then proceeded to feed Ben as much as possible. They shared sausages and potato pancakes, sauerkraut and schnitzel, gingerbread and strudel. They drank German beer and hot mulled wine and two types of hot chocolate. By the time they had gone through the entire market, Ben declared that if he tried another bite of anything he’d explode.

“Do you want to go home?” Simon asked him. “Or are you okay to take a little walk?”

“Walk, please,” Ben replied. “I need to move around after eating all that food.”

“Are you cold?”

Ben shook his head. “No. I mean my face, a little, but the rest of me is toasty warm.” He hugged himself. “I think I love this coat.”

Simon grinned with pure happiness. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.” He took Ben’s hand and squeezed it. He was about to let it go when Ben turned his hand so he could clasp Simon’s. It made a jolt of pure pleasure sing through Simon. Ben’s hand securely in his own, the two of them walked back to where Hudson waited with the car. As they did, they passed the Eternal Flame in Daley Plaza.

Ben paused at the fence surrounding the monument, dragging Simon to a halt as well. “What is it?” he asked.

Ben pointed to the pigeons clustered around the small flame built into the sidewalk. “When I first came to Chicago I thought it was nice of the city to give the birds somewhere to get warm. It seemed surprisingly kind. Then I mentioned the pigeon fire

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.