Chapter Fourteen
Saturday. Four days to Christmas
The next morning, I busied myself with mundane tasks like the laundry, housework and shopping, but the whole time, I was thinking about Ollie.
I remembered the coffee shop, the cafe, decorating the tree, the skating…
I recalled his smile, his blue eyes, his unruly hair that would flop over his eyes on occasion, the way he laughed. God, even his laugh made me feel good.
“So can we talk about this now?” Mike stood by the fireplace, a duster in one hand. Then he casually dropped it, catching the soft cloth on his dick where it hung, draped over his stiff shaft, and twitching.
“Show-off.” I arched my eyebrows. “You’ve come to help with the cleaning?” I smirked. “Wow. I guess leopards can change their spots.”
He gave me a mock glare. “Just because I didn’t do much housework when I was alive, doesn’t—”
I snorted. “‘Much’? Try never.”
This time I got a full-on glare. “And now you’re being evasive.”
I sank onto the couch. “I got a little carried away last night.”
“You got carried away?” His eyes gleamed. That inflection told me we might have been observed. “And what’s wrong with that?”
“It was too soon.”
It was Mike’s turn to snort. “Says who? You wanted him, he wanted you… what’s the problem?”
I narrowed my gaze. “Then you did see what happened.”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Sweetheart, I’m dead, not blind. Or deaf, for that matter. But if it makes you feel better, I stopped watching when you started making out.” He grinned. “Or should I say when he took your hand and brought it to his—”
“And you can stop right there.” I glared.
“But I did stop,” he remonstrated, still grinning.
“Oh, thank you for that,” I replied, not bothering to tone down my sarcasm.
Mike dropped the duster to the floor and joined me on the couch. “What’s really on your mind?” he asked, his voice soft.
“I should have let him know how much he means to me before we… you know.” I sighed. “Only, I don’t think I can tell him how I feel.”
He frowned. “Why not?” He cocked his head in that familiar way. “You love him, don’t you?”
I stilled. “I… how can I be in love with him after only two weeks?”
Mike rolled his eyes. “Honey, I knew I loved you after Tina. Love doesn’t work to a schedule.
” He leaned in, his gaze locked on mine.
“Do something for me. Close your eyes.” When I gave him a sceptical glance, he sighed.
“Just do it, okay?” I did as instructed, my heartbeat quickening.
“Now…look deep into your heart. Be honest about how you feel. Then tell me about Ollie.”
I took a deep breath. I didn’t need to look that deeply. “I care about him. He makes me feel good. He makes me laugh. I love talking to him.” I bit my lip. “He’s a good kisser too.”
Mike snickered. “I wondered when you’d get to the sex.”
I opened my eyes. “Hey, it wasn’t exactly sex last night.” When he merely stared at me in silence, his lips twitching, I huffed and lowered my gaze. “Okay, okay. We both got off, so technically, it was sex.” And yet I hesitated to tell Mike I loved Ollie. It felt too much like… betrayal.
Cool hands covered mine. “Sweetheart, it’s okay. Say the words.”
I swallowed hard, then met his gaze. “Okay, you’re right. I love him.”
It was as if a sudden warm wave washed over me, only, I could feel it inside too, spreading through my body, filling every crevice.
Mike’s eyes shone. “Thank you for that.” He squeezed my hands. “Remember how bad I was at buying you presents for Christmas? It’s okay. You can admit it, if I can.”
I frowned at the change of subject. “Yes.”
He nodded slowly. “Well, this is why I came back. To finally give you what you want—what you need—for Christmas.” He smiled. “Ollie.”
I stared at him, my mind trying to take in what he’d said. “You’re giving me…. Ollie?”
Mike’s smile eclipsed the lights on the tree. “Yes, sweetheart. Well, maybe not giving him exactly. I see it more as facilitating. But the point is, you need him. He completes you. And all I’ve been waiting for is for you to admit it.”
It finally sank in. “You came back… so I could fall in love with someone else?”
He gave another slow nod. “And now that you have, I can go.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. “For good? I won’t see you anymore?”
Mike got to his feet. “Nope. You won’t hear me either. Except for those times when you recall things I’ve said. You won’t ever forget me, just as I’ll never forget you. But now it’s time to make a new life… with Ollie.”
I got up. “Doesn’t this rather assume he’s in love with me?”
Mike laughed. “If he doesn’t love you now, he soon will.
I know what you’re like what you set your heart on something.
But I’m pretty sure you already know how he feels about you.
” He laid his hand on my shoulder. “You’ll have a lot to talk about when he comes here later.
Be honest with him.” Then he grinned. “Just do me a favour, okay? Whatever you do, don’t sing to him.
You’ve got a lot of good qualities, but sweetheart, you couldn’t carry a tune if I gave you a bucket.
” He straightened, as if readying himself for his fade out.
“Wait!”
Mike relaxed. “What is it?”
I gave him a watery smile. “Don’t I at least get a hug goodbye?”
He smiled. “Time to let me go, Andy. Goodbye, love. Be happy.” He faded from sight. And buy condoms. You’re going to need them. At first, at any rate.
He had to have the last word, didn’t he? Then heat rushed through me when I realized he’d made a valid point. “So no hug, but sex tips?” I called out, grinning.
Suddenly, I was enveloped in warmth from head to toe, and a feeling of peace filled me. I was overwhelmed by the certain knowledge that I was loved, and it took my breath away.
Mike’s final hug.
When the warmth receded, I glanced around the room. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I knew deep down that he’d really gone.
“Thank you,” I whispered. I looked at my phone. I had a few hours before Ollie would arrive.
And I had some shopping to do.
Ollie sniffed the air as he entered the living room. “I love the smell of pine. It always reminds me of Christmas.”
“Mike once said we didn’t need a tree for that, not when they sell pine scent in a can.” I shook my head. “Sometimes I swear he’d say things just to bug me.”
Ollie laughed. “Jay was the same. He always referred to Miski as my cat, even though it was him she plainly adored. He said it anyway, knowing he’d get a rise out of me.” He smiled. “He loved her to bits.”
I sat on the couch and he joined me. “No more reminiscing. We need to talk.”
He joined me, putting a little space between us. “Yeah, we do.”
When both of us said in perfect harmony, “About last night…” we laughed.
Ollie sighed. “I shouldn’t have rushed out the way I did. That was wrong. Heaven knows what you thought of me.”
“I was too busy thinking what I’d done wrong.”
He stared. “You? I was the one who acted like I was a cat on heat.”
I smirked. “Well, that made both of us then.” I’d had time to think about it since. “Not really surprising, when you consider how long it’s been since I got any.” When he gave me a quizzical glance, I smiled. “Try six years.” Ollie widened his eyes and I nodded. “There’s been no one since Mike.”
Ollie expelled a long breath. “And I thought I’d become a monk.”
I chuckled. “So there we were, two guys who’d been starved of physical contact… Makes it easier to understand why we both went off like rockets.”
“That’s only part of what I need to say.” Ollie gazed at his hands in his lap. “I didn’t want you to think that I got my rocks off, then left because that was all I’d wanted. There’s more to it than that.”
“Like feelings.”
He raised his head slowly. “Yeah. Like feelings.”
I breathed a little easier. “Like wanting to tell someone how you feel about them, but being afraid they might think it’s too soon. Like not being sure they’re ready to hear those words.”
His lips parted and his breath quickened. “Which words?”
“The ones where you put your heart on the line when you utter them.” I looked him in the eye. “Words like, I think I love you.”
Ollie said nothing for a moment, his blue eyes so huge, his mouth open. At last he took a breath. “Funny. I was thinking of the exact same words.”
I smiled. “I hoped you were.” Then I leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. Ollie shifted closer, until he was in my arms, his hands cupping my face, and he was returning my kiss. We paused, our heads together as they had been the night before.
“I thought I was going crazy. I’ve never fallen for anyone this fast,” he murmured.
“Me too. That’s why I couldn’t tell you. I thought you’d look at me like I was nuts.”
Ollie laughed softly. “Jay said he knew the night we met that he loved me. It took me a little longer, like a month. I always thought he was exaggerating.” He pulled back and looked at me, smiling, his eyes glistening. “Now I know he was telling the truth.”
I stroked his cheek gently. “Love you.” The pleasure that swept through as I uttered the words was exquisite, and I knew this was right.
Ollie kissed my palm tenderly. “Love you too.” He let out a happy sigh.
“Got any plans for the rest of today?”
He smiled. “Apart from spending it with you?”
I’d taken that as read. “Well, I do have an idea where we could spend it.”
He laughed. “Not another visit to Winter Wonderland.”
I got to my feet, pulling him with me. “I was thinking more of my bedroom.”
Ollie’s breathing hitched. “That would have been my second suggestion.”
“Why not the first?”
“I didn’t want you to think that all I wanted was rip your clothes off.” His eyes sparkled. “Which of course is exactly what I want to do.”
I took his hand and brought it down to my crotch when my dick had thickened at the thought of us making love.
Ollie’s pupils dilated. “Please tell me you have supplies.” I chuckled, and he let out his breath in a rush. “Thank God. Because I would’ve been out of this flat so fast to find the nearest—”
I covered his lips with my fingers. “Less talking, more clothes ripping.”
He laughed, then glanced around the flat with a cautious air. “We’re not going to have any… observers, are we?”
“Absolutely not.” I’d tell him later that Mike was gone for good. Not that I intended telling Ollie everything.
That was between me and Mike.
“Thank God,” he breathed. Then his hands were on the back of my head and he was pulling me into a kiss that made my toes curls.
I gave as good as I got, sliding my hands down his back to cup and squeeze his arse.
Ollie moaned into the kiss. “Now that’s more what I had in mind,” he murmured, before launching into a kiss that sent heat barrelling through me.
He reached down to stroke my hard dick. “And I know just where I want this.”
When I moulded my hand around his jeans-encased erection, Ollie let out a gasp. I smiled. “Great minds think alike.”
Ollie gave a huge grin. “Oh, I’m all for equality.”
I cut off his words with a slow, lingering kiss, before leading him out of the living room and into my bedroom. Right then, there were more important things to do than talk.