Chapter Sixteen
AUSTIN HAD a plan.
It was a good one too. A sneaky one.
Step one was getting Joe to join him on a visit to the local Christmas market.
Austin floated it as a convenience that could be entertaining.
Austin definitely wasn’t motivated by the romantic nature of the market—he only wanted to visit so he could buy some local honey and pick up gifts for Christmas, that was all.
And he needed Joe’s input because Joe knew the kids better than Austin did.
So on Saturday Austin launched his campaign and, with little urging, managed to get himself, Joe, and Pepa out of the house.
Pepa was a bit of a cog in the works for Austin’s plan, but Joe suggested it and Austin didn’t know how to say no when he couldn’t give his real reason.
At least the market was perfect for finding gifts for the kids.
First they looked at jewelry, and Austin was instantly drawn to an asymmetrical necklace in the colors of the ace/aro flag, with green at the top, white, gray, and black in the middle, and purple on the bottom.
“Meg will love it,” Joe confirmed.
Next, in a stall filled with knitting, Joe cackled when Austin picked up the socks with humping reindeer.
“If you don’t buy them, I will.”
Austin clutched the socks to his chest and mockingly joked, “Hands off my present. I saw them first.”
“I won’t take it,” Joe laughed, hands up. “Though maybe I should. You’ll be Gavin’s favorite after you give him those.”
“That’s the plan,” Austin said cheerfully. He waited just a few beats and then added, slyly, “I refuse to be the wicked stepmother.”
Color rose into Joe’s cheeks. It was so charming Austin wanted to kiss them, but he held back. That wasn’t slow, and Austin was committed to slow. Joe was more skittish than a mouse in a cat café. He turned toward the next stall. He still had to find something for Will and Alex, and maybe Starling.
This one held more knitwear, and Austin picked a matching hat and scarf with colorful stripes.
It wasn’t exactly rainbow, but it was close enough, and Joe agreed that it shouldn’t get Will in trouble with his parents but would be a fun fuck-you to them.
Especially since Will was in need of new gear, which apparently his parents hadn’t noticed, even if Joe and Austin had.
The reward of finding gifts would have warmed him on its own—never mind the mere fact of having so many people to appreciate at Christmas—but the happiness on Joe’s face, the way he smiled softly at the bag dangling from Austin’s arm, was a delightful bonus.
Austin was starting to despair that he wouldn’t find anything for Alex here.
The problem was Austin had an idea but didn’t know how to implement it.
Over the past couple of visits, Alex had taken an interest in Austin’s work on the table legs.
They had asked about the welding and even offered to help, to act as an extra set of hands.
Austin suspected it might be more than a passing interest for them and wanted to encourage Alex’s exploration of different crafts.
He suspected they might find a passion in the trades, but it wasn’t Austin’s place to give unsolicited advice.
Still, he could help them by giving more opportunities.
He just didn’t know how. He couldn’t exactly gift Alex a welder.
Then, at one of the final shops, he found it.
The artist did metalwork jewelry, repurposing old cutlery into artistic pieces as well as stamping and shaping metal into cuffs and bracelets.
But most importantly, they had build-your-own DIY kits.
Each one had a strip of leather, a strip of metal, thread, and three stamps to make your own bracelet.
Joe and Austin pored over the options for the stamps and eventually settled on bronze and brown for the color and a set of geometric shapes that would give them opportunities to make their own pattern.
If they liked it, Austin would happily buy more stamps—maybe a full alphabet.
At that point, Pepa announced it was time for a bathroom break and dragged them outside to find a series of bushes to pee on.
“Wow.” Joe looked around the exterior of the community center for the first time, and Austin took a moment to be glad of the brisk wind whipping off the Detroit River, which gave him an excuse for the pinkness in his own cheeks. “I didn’t know this was here.”
“It’s new this year, apparently.” Around the building and parking lot, down by the riverfront, the town had built a walking trail.
It had booths set up selling hot cider and chocolate, and one that rented skates.
Refrigeration coils under the path kept the trail frozen, and dozens of people were skating on it, kids with parents, couples holding hands.
He’d needed to do some shopping, sure, and Joe’s input helped, but this was what he really wanted to bring them here for.
He’d had a whole plan and everything. Act surprised to see the rink, casually mention he’d never skated before, wait for Joe to suggest they try it—let him think it was his idea—get Joe to hold his hand.
Cliché? Yeah, but he was pretty sure it would work.
Joe might be skittish, but he let Austin get away with a lot and never called him on any of it. Austin thought he was enjoying himself.
Pepa put a crimp in that plan, though. They couldn’t skate with the dog. Austin didn’t want to risk any of her remaining paws getting injured by a stray blade.
Too bad. But Pepa needed a walk anyway. They could take her through the park instead, look at the light displays at least, even if it wasn’t dark yet.
Just as they were heading that way, Fate intervened with a Linda ex machina.
“Boys! And Pepa,” she said brightly, squatting to give her star patient her due attention. “Doing some Christmas shopping?”
“Just finished. Bags are in the car.”
She straightened up and offered a smile. “Off to have a skate, then?”
Oh, bless Linda. Austin needed to get her something really good for Christmas. “Well, we can’t, with the dog,” Joe started, and Austin saw his window and added, “I can’t skate, actually.”
Joe gaped at him. “What?”
Austin shrugged, feigning nonchalance. He let Joe draw his own conclusions. Skates were expensive; it wasn’t like anyone was going to pay for Austin to play travel hockey growing up.
“That’s just….” Joe looked at the skating trail. He looked at the skate rental booth. He looked at Pepa.
He looked at Linda.
“Hey,” Joe said, “would you mind sticking around for a little while? Maybe taking Miss Pepa for a quick constitutional? They let pets in the building too, so if you haven’t gone shopping yet—”
Austin was glad Joe wasn’t looking at him, because he definitely would’ve clocked the smug expression right away. Linda did—she glanced at Austin and then visibly clamped down on a smile. “I’d be happy for the company,” she agreed. “What do you think, little lady?”
They handed off the leash, and Pepa trotted gamely after Linda while Austin let Joe steer him toward the skate-rental booth.
“What if I don’t want to skate?” Austin asked innocently.
Joe gave him a flat look. “It’s new this year, apparently,” he echoed, an obvious mimic of Austin’s earlier words. “Which means you knew it was here. And then you just casually mention you’ve never been skating?”
So Joe did see through him. Austin smiled, faux innocent. “Does this mean you’re paying for the rental?”
Joe elbowed him and told the booth attendant their shoe sizes.
The skating track was decently busy, which meant they didn’t have to deal with too many teens and preteens showing off, trying to run each other over.
Austin hid his smile in his scarf when Joe insisted on checking his laces before they got on the ice, then let Joe pull him to his feet and lead him onto the path.
He didn’t wobble.
He didn’t let go of Joe’s hand either.
He felt more than saw Joe glance down between them, and kept his eyes straight ahead, even if the smile showed through.
“Never skated before?” Joe said incredulously.
Austin hummed, tugged Joe around a slow-moving group of children. “Yeah, man, I don’t know why you bought that. You know I grew up north of Toronto. Even poor kids can buy used skates. Yard sales exist.”
Laughing, Joe put on a burst of speed and put them even again. “So, what? This whole thing was a ploy to hold my hand?”
Finally Austin couldn’t resist. He looked over to find Joe smiling, blushing. His hair ruffled in the wind; he probably should’ve put a hat on, but he was too vain. “Maybe,” Austin admitted with his own grin. “It worked, didn’t it?”
“Kinda convoluted,” Joe said. “You could have just asked.”
Austin looked at him consideringly. “Could I?” His tone serious now.
Joe licked his lips. “Yeah.”
“And you’d be into that?”
Joe snorted. “It’s handholding, not handcuffs.”
Oh, really? “You could argue it’s more intimate, in a way.”
“Oh, could you?” Joe asked, a clear parody of Austin’s earlier question.
“Joe.” Austin shot him a look. Now that they’d started this conversation, he was suddenly desperate to know Joe’s answer. So much for sneaky wooing. “Can I date you?”
They were still holding hands, still gliding forward. Joe’s cheeks were already pink from exercise in the cold, but Austin thought they were growing darker.
“Yeah. You can do that.” He looked bashful. “I think—I mean—the last few days have been good.”
“Yeah?” Austin couldn’t have stopped the grin if he tried.
“Yeah.”
They skated a few loops around the path and then decided to call it for the afternoon. They sat down on a bench to unlace. “So.” Austin glanced at Joe. “How’m I doing so far?”
“Top marks for the market and the skating. Deductions for the scheming.”
Austin worked his skate off. His toes were freezing and his arches ached. He’d missed this. “Hey, now. You have to admit you’re kind of skittish.” He paused. “So what is that? An A? A plus?”
Joe waggled his hand, smirking just a little. “A minus.”
Austin whistled under his breath. “Wow, tough grader.” He tangled his fingers with Joe’s again and tugged him toward the parking lot. “Come on. Let’s go find our dog.”
At home, they set their purchases on the table and got to wrapping.
Austin’s thighs ached pleasantly from the exercise, and he knew he’d be sore tomorrow, but it was a satisfying feeling.
They placed the gifts under the tree, and Joe fed the animals while Austin cleaned the litterboxes.
Then they were both exhausted, so they washed up and had tomato soup and grilled cheese for dinner, defending their plates from Pepa and Walker, Austin tucked against the arm of the couch and Joe slotted between his legs, leaning back against his chest while A Charlie Brown Christmas played.
They hadn’t even kissed since that night with the wine, and Austin was kind of desperate to do it again. But he was also enjoying the slow, easy comfort that was living with Joe, touching him with no deeper purpose than because they both liked it. Maybe this was why people had pets.
He had the sudden unbidden mental image of Joe sitting at his feet the way Pepa did, looking up at Austin with big trusting eyes. He immediately pushed the thought aside. They were taking this slow.
Besides, he supposed it was Joe’s turn to top next.
Although—
Watch the damn movie, Austin told himself as he plucked Joe’s empty soup mug from his hand before he could fall asleep and drop it on the floor.
He set it on the table behind him with his own empty dishes, then pulled the blanket from the back of the couch and spread it over—well, over Joe, mostly, and Austin’s feet, but Joe was covering the rest of him.
The December chill couldn’t get him at all.
“’M not gonna fall asleep,” Joe protested, voice thick with exhaustion.
“Maybe I am,” Austin said. This couch was really too comfortable. No wonder Alex fell asleep so quickly the other night.
“Mm,” Joe said, and then for a very long time, he said nothing.
Austin closed his eyes and wondered how he’d lived almost thirty years without him.