Santa's Last Gift by Sandine Tomas

Author:Sandine Tomas [Tomas, Sandine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-64405-722-3
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2019-08-19T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Matthew

FOR several moments after the low thud of the door shutting, Matt stayed frozen in the same spot. When he did manage to move, he twitched in place, fingers mussing his hair and scratching along his scruffy chin. He opened his mouth to say something and then remembered he was alone.

Without thought he walked to the door and opened it. Not surprisingly Baz’s car—really Cheryl’s Volvo—was no longer in the circular driveway. He stepped onto the porch, eyeing the quiet street. The Starr house looked down on neighbors dotting the landscape on all sides. He could see Christmas lights on many of the houses and the Christmas tree in the living room of the neighbors across the street, along with the soft blue flicker of their television.

He sat on the rocker in the corner of the porch and concentrated on matching his breathing to the slow back-and-forth of the chair. Despite these attempts his mind raced—like back in high school on days he’d left his pills at home. Over the years, he’d not felt the effects of his ADHD as severely as when he was younger. But that distinction seemed moot because right now he couldn’t think. His brain was running to catch up to something so far ahead as to be in a different place altogether. He called into the darkness, “What the hell just happened?”

His outburst boomeranged around the wide porch. A soft hoot of a hidden owl was his reply.

Why the one-eighty? They’d had a great dinner and they’d been getting cozy and that kissing didn’t feel like let’s step on the brakes. No way. Matt had been worrying about whether Baz was still feeling odd about Matt’s relationship with Steph and his mom but he’d thanked him for being good with the girls. Why say that if it was some sort of barrier to their being together? His head spun because everything came back to what the hell.

A car passed and Matt’s heart leaped, thinking maybe Baz was returning before realizing that it didn’t slow down. He shuddered and glanced down in confusion at his coatless state. The winter bite sliced like a knife against his cheeks. His fingertips tingled where they gripped the wood of the seat like claws. Staring expectantly at the dark road for several more moments, Matt realized there was no point to sitting in the cold and he went back inside. The room was the same. Throw pillows mussed, one on the floor where they’d kicked it over in their eagerness to get closer. Two empty beer bottles on the square coffee table. On the TV, the Netflix menu flickered. He’d been about to clear the beers and turn off the television when he’d called up to Baz. Nothing could have readied him for Baz’s pressing the pause button like he had.

Except, despite the minimal amount of words exchanged—one thing was coming through clear. Baz cared for him. Likely as much as he cared for Baz. Yet he was acting as if it was one-sided.

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.