Page 79 of Piece Us Together
Nolan laughs, the sound pulling me out of my head and even getting me to smile a little. He gives me a look that’s clearly meant to be a check-in. I widen my smile for him and add a little nod. He bounces, thrilled that I’m okay, before turning back to his dinner.
Hunter widens his arms on the counter, his right elbow bumping my left. I don’t pull away. Neither does he.
“The holidays are coming up,” he says to no one in particular. “Do either of you celebrate?”
“Yes! Christmas is my favorite, but I’m also excited for Thanksgiving. It’ll be my first time cooking the meal instead of just assisting someone.”
“When he says Christmas is his favorite, he means that he’s already secretly decorating our house and will probably be a walking Christmas commercial come December, just to warn you.”
“He doesn’t need warning,” Nolan argues with a roll of his eyes.
“Doesn’t he? I’m pretty sure you have a whole bag of decorations you wanted to bring here before you chickened out.”
Nolan’s cheeks flush, his eyes darting to Hunter. “Okay, way to throw me under the bus there.”
“Hey, your sir requires honesty, baby. I’m just being honest.”
“Decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving?” Hunter asks, his nose wrinkling. “That’s a little soon.”
Nolan puts a hand to his chest like he’s been shot. I shake my head at Hunter. “You totally just got on his bad side.”
“Yeah?” Hunter smirks. “I’ll spank the attitude out of you later. See what side I’m on then.”
“You don’t have to spank me!” Nolan argues with a bright red face and a little whine in his voice. “I’m not abrat.”
“No, darling. You most certainly are not. You’re far too good of a boy for that, aren’t you?”
Nolan perks up. “I try to be, sir.”
“Careful,” I warn Hunter. “He’s about to make you melt, then follow it with an adorable plea to decorate, and all of a sudden you’ll have fake candy canes hanging above your fucking toilet.”
“Oof. Thanks for the warning. Turn around, darling. Keep cooking. No heart-eyes, please.”
Nolan dramatically rolls his eyes with a sigh, but he’s smiling when he turns back to his casserole that surely should be ready for the oven soon.Does tuna casserole even go in the oven?I don’t think I’ve ever even had it.
“What do you do for the holidays?” I ask Hunter, not because I’m curious but because it’s only polite.
“Well, my parents retired to Florida a few years ago and my sister and her family live just an hour from here. My sister is big on having her kids at home for Christmas, waking up at the house for Santa, doing all their traditions, you know—so my parents come this way every year for Christmas and we all usually go to Florida for Thanksgiving.”
“So, you’ll be heading to Florida?”
“Not this year, actually. I’m teaching an extra course this semester and don’t have a TA, so I’ll be spending my Thanksgiving break grading papers and preparing finals.”
Nolan frowns. “I’m sorry. That sucks.”
Hunter just shrugs. “I’ll see everyone a month later at Christmas, so I’m not too worried about it. I’ll miss the pie, though. I’ll have to grab one from the—”
“Don’t finish that,” Nolan warns, shooting a dirty look over his shoulder at him. “You will not be grabbing a random pie from the grocery store. I’ll make you one.”
“You bake, too?”
“He’s the whole package,” I tell Hunter.
“It seems so.” He grins. “Nolan’s pumpkin pie it is.”
For just a moment, I consider inviting him to our Thanksgiving. That would be ridiculous, though. He’s the guy we have sex with every weekend.How would we even explain that to our friends? How could we ask them to trust a man they don’t even know to come to the one safe place they have in the entire world? How would we explain the living arrangement to him? Would we have to make everyone lie about their pasts?It’d be a fucking mess. A mess that a sex-partner isn’t worth.
We’ll bring him Nolan’s pie. That’s it.