5. Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Tyler
B etween work and finishing up the semester, Tyler barely had enough time to think about anything else. But his classes were officially finished, and he had boxes upon boxes of gifts for his family and clothes for Julien, which had yet to be unpacked.
They were leaving in two days, and that wasn’t enough time. Ty hadn’t talked to Julien, aside from a few texts to tell him to come over so they could go over some last-minute details. Plus, he hadn’t told his family he was bringing anyone yet.
Once he had packed up his stuff, he finally sat and mustered up the courage to call his mother and lie directly to her ear. He had lied to her a thousand times, but this felt massive. It was too late to turn back now. He’d committed to this deception .
“Hey, Mom,” he said in a light, casual tone when she picked up. He hoped he didn’t sound like a liar already.
“Hi, Honey, how did your exams go?” Her question was superficial, as always. A typical mom, she always kept tabs on how his classes went, how his work was, and whatever he had scheduled. She wanted the best for Tyler, but that meant he had to be the best.
“Really good.” Tyler had been a bit dubious about one of his tests, but the rest had been solid. “I, uh, just wanted to ask you something.”
There was some shuffling of papers on the other line before his mother spoke again. She was a psychologist and worked from her home office most of the time. Tyler could practically hear her moving her client files away to give him her full attention. “Do you need money? Is everything okay? What is it?” Concern laced her words.
Tyler groaned. He didn’t know why Mom always thought he called because he needed or wanted something. He had an allowance from his parents and made more than enough money alone. Mom seemed to expect him to mess up, so he tried to be extra careful and responsible.
“No, Mom. God. It’s all fine. I just wanted to ask if it was alright if my boyfriend came to spend Christmas with us?” He pinched the bridge of his nose as he waited for her response. Here we go .
There was silence on the other line. A long stretch of silence, and Tyler wasn’t even sure if she had heard him. He pulled the phone back to check the call hadn’t ended.
“Mom? You there?”
“I am. I hadn’t realized you were seeing someone,” Mom said in a voice a touch more high-pitched than usual. “You never said.”
“I know. I-it’s still new, but we’re getting more serious. I thought it would be great to have him come to meet you guys. His family is going abroad for Christmas this year. He doesn’t have anything to do, so…” Tyler trailed off and leaned over to the laptop to type out family abroad for Christmas in the notes so he’d remember to tell Julien later.
“I don’t see why not. I know we would all love to meet him,” Mom said. “What is his name? What does he do? ”
“His name is Julien Kosta,” Tyler recited. “And his family owns a car dealership. He runs it with his dad.” Tyler was sure that sounded convincing. As long as Julien could sell it, he could sell it.
“Julien. Hm. I’ll make sure Hailey knows there will be one more for dinner, but she always makes too much food anyway. I don’t think there will be any problems.”
Hailey always cooked dinner for them on Christmas. She was by far the best chef in the family, thanks to her culinary arts degree, and she liked to make something different every year. Tyler had no idea what they would eat until the day of because she wanted to keep it a secret.
His phone buzzed, and he figured it was Julien saying he was on his way. “I need to go, Mom, but I can’t wait to see you guys. Thanks for letting me bring him.”
“Of course, Honey. Let me know when you get to the airport.”
He told her he loved her and hung up to check his texts. Instead of being from Julien, his sisters texted him in their sibling group chat.
Boyfriend?
Hailey had sent it over along with a string of screaming face emojis. Tyler had no idea how his mother had gotten this news to her before they even got off the phone.
Cece texted:
I can’t wait to meet him!
A second text from her said:
Mom says he owns a car dealership. Brad and I were talking about buying something bigger. Maybe he can help us.
Tyler sighed and sent a quick reply to them about how word traveled fast before he got off the couch to make himself some hot chocolate.
It was too late to change the lie about the car dealership. But if Tyler could redirect questions about that, they could avoid Cece figuring out Julien was a fraud.
Tyler was heating the milk up when someone knocked on his door. He nearly skidded on the floor as he rushed to open it .
Julien wore less greasy pants than he had on their previous meeting and a tight gray T-shirt under his leather jacket. Tyler stared at him for a moment before opening the door wider. Somehow, he forgot how hot Jules was. Big, scruffy, and a little intimidating, which was not Tyler’s type. Or it shouldn’t be.
“Oh. You’re early.” He stepped aside to let Julien in. “Umm, I was just making some hot chocolate. Did you want some?”
Julien came inside and toed off his dirty work boots, leaving them on the rack near the door. “No, it’s fine. I’m not really a hot chocolate fan.”
Tyler filed that one away for later. He didn’t know how someone couldn’t enjoy hot chocolate. “How about a seltzer? I have lemon-lime or orange-vanilla.”
“Orange-vanilla is good, I guess.” Julien looked around his apartment the way he did when he first came.
Tyler finished making his hot chocolate. He swirled the chocolate into the simmering milk and stirred until it was dark brown with a rich scent. He poured it into his favorite Christmas mug, which was bright red and said cozy season on it, along with a dapple of delicate white snowflakes.
He left it to cool for a moment while he pulled a can of seltzer out of the fridge and set it down then went to get a glass.
He heard the can open as he turned with the glass in hand and watched Julien’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed the liquid. “Oh, I got you a glass,” he muttered apologetically.
Julien furrowed his brow and pulled the can from his lips. A drop of seltzer made his bottom lip shine from where it clung to the soft-looking skin. And, when Julien’s tongue poked out to swipe it off, Tyler thought he might have to go lay down.
Tyler put the glass into the sink without thinking. Clearly, Julien did not need a glass. He managed not to comment that he had heard about rats and roaches crawling all over cans in warehouses.
“What are you doing?” Julien asked, perplexed.
Tyler shook his head, taken aback by the question. “What?”
“You just put a clean glass into your sink.” Julien gestured to it with the hand holding the can .
Tyler looked at the glass, then back to Julien, then back to the glass. He didn’t even realize he had done that. He had been too distracted gazing at Julien’s mouth. “Oops. But now it’s in the sink, so it has to be washed anyway.” He waved his hand, ignoring the way his cheeks heated.
He wasn’t a complete germaphobe, but his mother had always told him how much bacteria lived in the sink, and it stuck in his mind, even if his sink was completely dry and all but sparkling.
“Anyway.” Julien shook his head. “You wanted me to try on clothes?” He took another long sip of the seltzer and turned the can over in his hands to inspect the name on the label.
“Yeah,” Tyler said, focused on adding too many marshmallows to his hot chocolate. “It’ll be like a fashion show.” He looked Julien up and down. “You totally could be a model.”
Julien snorted, then grinned. Tyler realized this was the first time he’d seen him actually smile. He had these big, stupid dimples on both cheeks, and his dark eyes crinkled at the corners. Tyler couldn’t help but grin in response.
He took a quick sip of his hot chocolate, which was, at this point, too hot to drink, but the melted marshmallow was all he was after anyway. He set it carefully on the coffee table.
“Come on.” Tyler led Julien to his bedroom, flicking the lights on despite the steady sunlight streaming through the open blinds.
Usually, his room was tidy, but it looked like a hoarder’s dream right now. The desk in the corner was piled high with boxes, and his bed had stacks of parcels with clothing inside. His suitcases were stacked on the floor near the walk-in closet, and the ordinarily spacious bedroom felt cramped.
He sat on his bed and opened the boxes from the clothes pile. “We have four pairs of jeans, two khakis, a pair of dress slacks, and a bunch of shirts,” he listed off as he unboxed each one and pulled them out of the bags.
“What about all of that?” Julien asked with a panicked expression as he pointed to the pile of gifts.
“Oh, yeah. I still have to go through and wrap all the presents for my family. I have been procrastinating on that job. I hate wrapping,” Tyler told him. “Any chance you’re a wrapping pro? ”
“Just put them in bags,” Julien said, then scanned the room and picked Tyler’s cologne off the floating shelves on the back wall. He removed the lid and smelled it before replacing it. He picked up a small llama sculpture Cece had made years ago and held it up with a questioning look.
Tyler resisted the urge to tell Julien to stop snooping because he wasn’t really doing anything invasive. But a wave of self-consciousness washed over him as he wondered what Julien could be thinking about him. “My sister made it.”
“Is she five?”
That made Tyler laugh. He could imagine what Cece would have to say about that. He could practically hear her whine. You don’t appreciate art.
Finally, Tyler scooped all the clothes in his arms and handed them to Julien. “The bathroom is by the front door, on the other side of the kitchen. You can do a little catwalk in the living room so we can make sure they look nice.”
“This is demeaning,” Julien groaned.
Tyler bit his bottom lip to stop the smile that threatened to appear. “It’s not that bad. You’ll look great in all of it.” It seemed impossible for Julien not to look great. Even dirty, covered in oil, and his curly hair a mess, Tyler felt his mouth go dry at seeing him. In decent clothes, Tyler was confident he would look the part of the perfect boyfriend.
He perched himself on his couch and blew on his hot chocolate while he waited for Julien to come out in the first outfit. It was a pair of dark wash jeans with a hunter-green button-down that stretched over Julien’s shoulders in a way that made Tyler oddly jealous o f the shirt .
“Wow! Yeah, that looks great,” Tyler said. It did look great. It leaned casual, but Julien’s olive undertones were brought out by the shirt’s green color.
Julien shifted uncomfortably. “It’s a little tight.”
“Yeah, but all your T-shirts are a little tight. This is just form-fitting,” he promised. The sleeves covered up Julien’s tattoos, which was good because he didn’t want his mother or grandmother to go on about how a real gentleman would regret them.
“Are you sure I can’t just wear my clothes?” Julien asked, reaching down to grab at his crotch .
Tyler’s mouth gaped as the gesture drew his eyes between Julien’s legs. He focused on the thick bulge cradled by denim with more attentiveness than he would care to admit. The jeans weren’t so tight that they were lewd, but they definitely enhanced Julien’s features more than the less form-fitting jeans he seemed to favor.
“Yeeesss,” he drew out, trying to pull his brain out of the gutter as he imagined Julien in the tight, gray shirt with these tight jeans, his muscled body on full display. The fake boyfriend idea worked well so far, except his phony boyfriend was so fucking sexy that Tyler felt as if he was undergoing torture. “I mean, yes. I am sure. If you're uncomfortable, we can try something else, but I swear you look good.”
Julien sighed. “I’ll get used to it, I guess. It’s fine.”
“Okay.” Tyler smiled broadly. “Now, go try on another one.”
Despite Julien complaining for several minutes when he tried on the more formal outfit, he didn’t seem to completely despise anything. Luckily, most of the clothes fit, save for the winter coat he’d gotten. It was way too small around the shoulders. The thick wool of the coat had no give, and Julien could barely pull it over his broad back.
“I won’t be able to get the size up by the time we leave,” Tyler complained. He rose to help Julien pull off his coat since he was stuck. He caught a whiff of Julien’s skin’s peppery, woody smell, and he had to fight the urge to smash his face between the stranger’s shoulder blades and inhale.
Julien pulled his arms out of the tight sleeves and spun around to face him, close enough that Tyler had to lift his chin to meet his eyes. “Relax. I can wear my own coat. I don’t think anyone will care as much as you think.”
Tyler took a deep breath and imagined his family deciding that Julien was not his boyfriend because of a tattered leather jacket. Maybe that was a bit extreme, and Julien was probably right. “Right. It’s fine. It’s gonna be fine. I just wanted everything to be perfect.”
Julien scowled but then put a hand on his arm, and Tyler felt his face heat up, remembering, once again, the night at the bar where Julien had pulled him close and nuzzled him. He could practically feel the hot breath on his earlobe, and his skin prickled at the recollection.
“Nothing is fucking perfect, Baby. We’ll make it work. I am going to be the best fucking boyfriend you could ask for,” he promised.
Tyler smiled at him, unable to ignore the warmth in his chest at being called Baby. “Yeah, yeah.” He glanced at their feet to avoid eye contact. “I like your jacket anyway. It suits you.”
Julien certainly had a bit of a bad boy thing going on, with the tattoos, big arms, and all the frowning. Tyler couldn’t deny that there was a bit of a draw to bringing this man home to be his boyfriend—a fake boyfriend—a very fake boyfriend. But his family would, no doubt, make things uncomfortable. They had expectations of him, and though Tyler got a thrill from Julien, he had to meet those expectations.
The clothes had to go, and the story had to stick. Tyler needed to keep this under wraps in front of his family for over a week. They could do this.