Chapter Eight
Gavin
It was just past one in the morning when we pulled into the Yates’ driveway. Charlie killed the engine, and we looked at each other. “We actually made it for Christmas morning,” I said. It had been a slow drive out of Sandusky, but the plows had been out in force once we’d reached Pennsylvania.
Charlie stared at his house, which shone with Christmas lights strung across the roof and on the bushes along the front window, which glowed a warm yellow. He grinned. “Come on.”
“Oh, are you sure? I can just…” I motioned up the street to where my dark house stood.
“You don’t want to come in?”
“No, I do—I just don’t want to intrude.”
He rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.
You’re not intruding.” He climbed out and shut the door quietly, and I followed suit, relieved.
It would have been fine to go home—I certainly missed my bed.
But it wasn’t nearly as inviting as the Yates’ house, with warmth spilling from it as Mrs. Yates opened the door and hauled Charlie into a hug.
I hung back on the stoop as she took his face in her small hands and kissed his forehead, chin, cheeks, and nose.
She was blonde and petite, and pretty in that comforting mom way.
Charlie’s parents both wore robes over their pajamas, and Mr. Yates edged past his wife to extend his hand to me. He was tall, paunchy, and balding, but had Charlie’s killer smile.
“Gavin, so nice to see you,” he said quietly. “Thank you for making sure Charlie made it home. Please come in. Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
Smiling, I shook his hand and closed the door behind me.
“It was my pleasure, sir.” Of course then my cheeks got incredibly hot, and I stammered and concentrated on untying my sneakers.
But Mr. Yates didn’t seem to notice, and he yanked Charlie into a big hug.
As they spoke quietly, Mrs. Yates took my coat.
She asked me, “How about some hot chocolate?”
“That would be great, but I probably shouldn’t stay long. It’s so late. Or early, depending on your perspective.”
“I was thinking Gavin could stay until he goes skiing tomorrow,” Charlie said.
“Oh, of course!” Mrs. Yates was still whispering. “We’d love to have you. We don’t want you going home alone.” A thump-thump-thump-thump from above had her sighing. “I guess the jig is up.”
Charlie raised his eyebrows. “Did you seriously think she was going to sleep through the night? You’re such an optimist, Mom.” He jumped onto the bottom of the staircase, shouting, “Because this bear is out of hibernation, isn’t she?”
A remarkably loud growl accompanied the blur of movement that was Ava barreling down the stairs into Charlie’s arms. He gave her a roar, and she wrapped herself around him. She was still small for eight, which made sense after how sick she’d been.
Her hair was growing back into brown almost-curls that reached her ears, and she was possibly the most adorable thing I’d ever seen, especially in Charlie’s arms. He squeezed her with an expression of such tenderness and love that my eyes burned watching them.
Mrs. Yates looked ready to cry herself, and her husband wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Ava dropped down to her feet and spun to where I stood off to the side.
“Hi, Gavin! I don’t know if you remember me.”
“I sure do.” I smiled. “It’s really nice to meet you again.”
She came to me and threw her arms around my waist. “Thank you for bringing Charlie home for Christmas.”
“Of course.” I patted her head and hugged her back.
“It was meant to be, the way that storm moved north,” Mr. Yates said. “I think Santa pulled a few strings for that miracle.”
Ava bounced on her toes. “Did he come yet?”
Mrs. Yates brushed a hand over Ava’s hair. “He just might have, but you know you have to wait until Christmas morning.”
“It is Christmas morning! It’s past midnight.”
Charlie slung his arm around her. “How about we open our stockings now? Since Mom and Dad are already up, we won’t have to wake them at five or six.”
“He raises an excellent point,” Mr. Yates said.
Mrs. Yates smiled. “I’ll put on the kettle for hot chocolate, and I suppose we’d better check the mantel.”
Ava tore off down the hall, and I followed the family past the kitchen to the den.
That summer I moved to Norwalk, I’d spent so many days in this house, and especially in the den.
The thick beige carpet and sectional couch was the same, as was the brick fireplace and wood accents around the windowless room.
The huge TV over the mantel was new, and I imagined how awesome it would be playing video games on it.
Maybe Charlie and I could have some rematches.
We’re friends again, but are we definitely more than that? What’s going to happen after Christmas?
Ava squealed as she took in the brightly wrapped gifts tumbling out from beneath the Christmas tree in the corner. “There are so many!”
“Guess you’re on the nice list this year, huh?” Charlie asked. “Unless those are all for me.”
“I believe Mom and Dad rated a few presents too,” Mrs. Yates commented.
Charlie shrugged. “I guess.”
Giggling, Ava eyed the bulging stockings hanging from the mantle. “Can we, can we?”
“I suppose we can,” Mr. Yates said with a broad smile.
I perched on the couch beside Charlie’s parents while Charlie and Ava flopped down on the carpet and went to town on their stockings, oohing and ahhing over the little gifts squeezed inside.
I assumed Mrs. Yates had done all the shopping, and they all had toiletries in their stockings, as well as toys for Ava and a new race car video game for Charlie.
With a furrow in her brow, Mrs. Yates unwrapped the tissue from a small bottle in her stocking. She gasped softly, beaming at her husband. “Chanel. How did this get in here?”
“Hey, ask Santa. I wouldn’t know.” He kissed her and continued emptying his own stocking.
“Oh!” Mrs. Yates went to the mantel and picked up a white envelope. “Gavin, here’s a little something for you.”
“What? You didn’t have to do that.” I took the envelope, staring at my name written in gracefully swooping letters.
Mrs. Yates sat beside me again and gave my arm a squeeze. “It’s just a little thank you.”
I opened the envelope and pulled out the blue and silver Hanukkah card, decorated with snowflakes and little stars of David. When I opened it, a hundred dollar iTunes gift card plopped onto my lap. “Wow. Thank you so much! You really didn’t have to.”
“It was Hanukkah Harry,” Mr. Yates assured me. “He stopped by just before Santa.”
Chuckling, I read the card.
Warmth of joy, glow of prosperity, sparkle of happiness.
May you be blessed with all these things and more.
In her neat script, Mrs. Yates had added:
Thank you for being such a good friend to Charlie. We hope to see more of you!
Love,
Maria, Graham, and Ava
“Thank you.” I managed to keep my smile in place, even though I wanted to protest that I was a fraud. That I hadn’t been a good friend at all to Charlie, not even after Ava got sick, when I should have put my own fears aside.
But as I looked around at the Yates family, opening their stockings in the middle of the night, I realized it wasn’t about me. Charlie was right that we couldn’t change the past, and no matter what happened between us, I’d do everything I could now to be the friend they thought I was.
It was the middle of the night, and I should have been exhausted.
And I was, but my eyes didn’t want to close.
Wired and restless, I stared at the ceiling of the guest room.
Charlie was across the hall, and I itched to tiptoe over and see if he was sleeping.
He probably was. Probably out like a light.
I closed my eyes resolutely. Time to sleep now. We’d be up again in a few more hours for Christmas morning, so I needed to rest. Inhaling and exhaling, I counted out my breaths, making them longer and longer. That’s it. Getting sleepy. Time to drift away.
With a sigh, I opened my eyes and turned over, sprawling out on the queen-sized bed. Then I tried the other side. Then my belly. Then on my back again. My blood pressure rose as I kicked off the covers. Sleep, damn it! GO TO SLEEP!
My breath caught as the door squeaked open a crack.
I blinked in the darkness, reaching up to pull back one of the curtains by the bed.
The moonlight flooding in illuminated Charlie shutting the door behind him.
Grinning, he climbed into bed and right on top of me.
I loved his weight, the rightness of it warming me like the steady glow of a candle. I opened my mouth for his tongue.
We both wore T-shirts and flannel pajama bottoms, and I stole under Charlie’s hem, touching the lean muscles of his back.
Opening my legs, I moaned into Charlie’s mouth as he fit between my thighs and rocked his hips against mine.
I wanted to get naked and throw my legs up to my ears so Charlie could fuck my ass.
The thought of him pounding me had my balls tingling.
Or maybe he could ride my cock the way I had his. I would love to be inside him. But there was no way I’d be able to keep quiet. Kissing him roughly, I rutted desperately.
Breaking the kiss, Charlie pushed himself up on one hand and sucked my earlobe. His whisper sent icy-hot shivers through me. “What do you want?”
Not able to speak actual words, I grabbed his ass and ground our cocks together through too many layers of flannel and cotton.
“I really want to fuck you again, but we can’t here.” He thrust his hips, panting in my ear. “But maybe you want me to suck you?”
I actually bit my tongue hard enough to make my eyes water.
Nodding hard, I pulled at his clothes, but he crawled back out of reach, yanking down my boxers and PJ bottoms. My tee got hung up on my arm, but I managed to tug it free and toss it onto the floor.
I was naked and Charlie wasn’t, and for some reason that made my cock stiffen even more.