The Ugliest Sweater by Gillian St. Kevern

Author:Gillian St. Kevern [Kevern, Gillian St.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: NineStar Press, Ltd.
Published: 2015-01-03T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

“That’s not ominous at all.” It was meant to be a joke, but the moment Jake said it, he felt the truth of it. Dan’s expression was serious, and the happy buzz that had sustained Jake since unwrapping Dan’s present curled up to die in the pit of Jake’s stomach. The bag in Jake’s hand felt like a lead weight. “Now?”

Dan looked down the hall. “Somewhere private. Is there an empty studio?”

A CD then? Dan hadn’t mentioned a relative in a band, but that didn’t rule out best friends or colleagues or, god forbid, Dan’s own karaoke dreams committed to CD in the hopes that Jake “knew someone.” He schooled his disappointment from his face. “Follow me.”

He led Dan down the corridor to a larger studio, this one featuring a raised stage and concert microphone, in addition to the DJ desk. “We use this studio when we have guests in for live performances.” Please, by all things Christmas, let this not end in a live performance. “No one’s using it tonight.”

Dan only gave the stage a brief glance, leaning back against the soundproof door. “I like you a lot, Jake.”

Jake had only ever heard those words followed by ‘but I need to put my music first.’ “But?”

Dan hesitated, running one hand over his arm. The gesture looked out of place on someone as well put together as Dan, and Jake was so distracted he almost missed his words. “I can’t decide if we’re perfect for each other, or too different that it’ll never work. So I figured—” He shrugged, leaving the sentence hanging.

“I’ll either love this or hate it.” Jake felt the ice that had settled in his gut start to thaw slightly. “It’s not marmite, is it?”

Despite the obvious tenseness he felt, Dan laughed. “It’s not marmite.”

“Good. Because that might have been an actual deal-breaker.” Taking some courage from Dan’s laugh, Jake turned his attention to the bag. Inside was a long object, expertly wrapped in festive paper. The relief rushed straight to Jake’s head, making him dizzy. Not a CD!

Dan watched the removal of every piece of tape with such fixed attention that Jake began to feel nervous again. Part of him wanted to just rip the paper away and be done with it, but he was unable to stop himself from prolonging the unwrapping as much as he could.

He couldn’t stall forever. The last piece of paper fell away. Jake looked down at what he held. Red and white stripes. Like my boxers. This was no innocent candy cane, or a cheeky nod to the festive season, though. It was a deliberate perversion of a joyous, celebratory occasion, a cherished holiday reduced to blatant sexuality. “A dildo.” Jake felt a sudden need to laugh and clamped down hard. The studio was soundproof, but not private. He couldn’t crack now.

“I know.” Dan’s voice was miserable, as though he’d already thought the better of the gift. “But I thought— I guess I was hoping—” He raised his hands in a defeated gesture.

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.