11. Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Julien
J ulien sat crammed in the back seat of Hailey and Walter’s car as they drove to the Christmas Market. Tyler sat beside him, ignoring him as he talked to Hailey about her wedding plans.
From what Julien could gather from the snippets of conversation he had heard, Hailey was in a war with their mother over the guest list.
“Walter has such a small family, you know? I don’t want to invite everyone from our side, including friends and Dad’s work colleagues. I feel like it’s already getting out of hand. We’ve only been engaged for a month, and already we’re at two hundred people,” Ty’s sister complained from the front seat.
She had the sun visor flipped down, and the mirror opened so she could look at Tyler through it without turning her head as they spoke .
“Cece and Brad had three hundred, I think. You might end up with the same,” Tyler told her.
Tyler had been hot and cold all morning, and Julien didn’t know what to make of him half the time. Sometimes, he thought Tyler liked him, and then he would make some entitled comment that made Julien want to strangle him. But Tyler had been pretty standoffish since breakfast.
Julien had no idea why. They were supposed to be playing a lovey-dovey couple, and Julien wasn’t about to let Tyler change his mind. Not when he was close to freedom.
“But I want something small. We were tossing out the idea of a destination wedding, you know? Only inviting the closest people. You know how much I love Italy.”
Tyler let out what sounded like a relieved breath. “Hails, do it. You have to put your foot down if you want to do that. It’s not their wedding. I told you this before.”
Julien could agree with Tyler there. As much as a destination wedding was rich people’s shit, it was Hailey and Walter’s wedding, not Connie or Cece’s wedding .
Julien didn’t pretend to understand the dynamics of this family but could imagine that, given how close everyone seemed, it was hard to feel like they could speak up. Julien couldn’t relate, but watching from an outsider’s perspective was interesting. He wasn’t jealous. He was happy on his own. But he wondered what his mom would have thought if he had gotten married when she was around.
“It’s still early. We have time to make it perfect.” Walter reached out to squeeze Hailey’s hand. “You know I am happy just to marry you.”
Tyler didn’t even hide his groan. “Yuck. Spare me, please.”
“Oh, please. You can’t say anything anymore, Mr. PDA,” Hailey giggled. “You guys are all over each other, so don’t even.”
Tyler blushed. “We are not,” he protested.
Julien caught the glance directed at him before Tyler looked back to Hailey’s reflection. For someone who had been so eager to have Julien perform the part of his boyfriend, he looked embarrassed at being called out for the very mild PDA.
“You guys are sweet,” Wally said. “Jules, how long have you and Tyler been together? He never said,” Walter asked. He used the rearview mirror to look back at Julien as he drove, in a strange mimic of how Hailey spoke to her brother.
“Uh.” Julien looked over to Tyler, who was suddenly on high alert. “Two weeks,” Julien said, just as Tyler said, “A month.”
Hailey turned around in her seat to look at them directly. “Well, which is it?”
“Well, umm…we went on a date a month ago,” Tyler said carefully. “But we made it official about two weeks ago?” He did not sound at all convincing.
Julien reached over and laced their fingers together for selling value. “Yep. He played hard to get.”
Tyler gave him a smile. Julien could practically see the relief on his face. He wished the satisfaction he felt could be chalked up to doing an excellent job for the money, but he was glad Tyler didn’t seem stressed anymore. There was no reason for him to be.
“Yeah. You know how I am,” Tyler mumbled .
“Ugh. Yeah. I do. Do you know he’s never had a boyfriend before? I mean, neverrr . Ty didn’t even date girls before coming out.” Hailey faced the front again. “There was this one guy from the country club, but I think Tyler dumped him after, like, three days?”
Julien remembered Cam saying something along those lines, but to hear it reinforced made Julien feel a little guilty. Tyler was a good guy, high-strung, maybe, but good overall. Before Jules could think better of it, he said, “I don’t know why. Tyler’s great and deserves someone who knows it.” What he deserved was an actual boyfriend.
But Julien also needed that money, so he didn’t feel that guilty.
“I have really high standards. Alright?” Tyler said quickly. His ears turned pink, something Julien noticed they did a lot. The color washed over his cheekbones and the bridge of his nose.
“Do you?” Julien was actually curious. From what he had gathered, Tyler had high standards about most things, but he didn’t know his type regarding men. He had a distinct feeling it wasn’t mechanics who looming debts. But a guy could fantasize sometimes.
It shouldn’t have made him feel disappointed or inadequate, but it did. Tyler wouldn’t have looked twice at Julien if he had other options, and that fact left an unpleasant taste in his mouth.
“ Does he?” Hailey all but shrieked from the front seat. “He’s always had this idea that he would find this perfect guy. Like a prince or something.”
“Alright, easy, Hail. That’s enough.” Tyler pulled his hand out of Julien’s grasp and smacked the back of Hailey’s seat.
“Well, how about that, Jules,” Walter said. “You must be as good as a prince.”
Julien’s jaw clenched just a little. “I’d say I’m more of a beast than a prince.” He could pretend to be some preppy car dealer all he wanted, but at the end of the day, he didn’t even come close to being a prince. His tattered thrift store jacket was proof of that, even if Wally had complimented it effusively that morning when he put it on. Not that he cared. Ten more days, he’d have his money and never have to think about this or Tyler and his pretty little blush again .
Tyler nudged him. “But the beast was always a prince on the inside.”
Julien relaxed at the touch, glad that whatever awkward tension there had been started to disperse.
“Yeah, and Belle had no idea he would turn hot. She was ready to bone a hairy beast,” Hailey said. “Beast or not, it was a win-win for him.”
“Jesus.” Tyler covered his face, which was now the reddest Julien had seen. “I don’t want to think about that, Hailey.”
Julien reached over and pulled Tyler’s hand away from his face. “I thought you liked a beast in the bedroom, Baby.”
The glare that comment earned Jules held no heat. Tyler bit his bottom lip, then shook his head, almost like he wanted to say something but thought better.
The rest of the drive was quiet, except for the croon of Christmas music from the speakers and Hailey humming along.
They pulled into the large parking lot of the Christmas market and rode around, trying to find a spot in the chaos. Once they found one far enough that Walter didn’t worry he’d get his car dinged and sufficiently close that Hailey didn’t feel like she had to walk a mile in her high-heeled boots, they all piled out of the vehicle.
“Cece said they’re parked already.” Hailey linked arms with Wally as they strode toward the center of the market.
The market began at the edge of town, with tents and stalls selling anything from hot chocolate and roasted nuts to beach glass ornaments and handmade soaps. At the far end of the market, there was a vast Christmas tree farm.
Big red pickup trucks drove back and forth, delivering hand-picked trees to customers’ cars, and groups of well-dressed carolers stood on the corner to serenade those who walked into the main area.
They met up with the rest of the family by the entrance, and Hailey immediately let go of Walter to scoop her niece up.
“Sorry,” Tyler mumbled as he stepped behind his sisters and their partners.
“For what?” Julien asked. It made sense for him to reach over and take Tyler’s gloved hand. They were boyfriends, after all, and he found the casual touches were easy and natural.
“I know this is probably uncomfortable for you,” Tyler told him. “I mean, like, this?” He gestured to their hands.
He never thought of himself as touchy, but he’d never had a reason to be. The more he held Tyler’s hand, the more he enjoyed the warmth of that simple gesture.
“We’re boyfriends,” Julien told him. “It’s fine.”
Tyler licked his lip and dragged his feet over the cobbled pathway. “Is it?”
“Do you not want to do this?” Julien lowered his voice. “I mean, not the whole thing, but is the touching too much?” he asked. It occurred to him that maybe Tyler wasn’t into it.
Tyler brought Julien’s hand closer, almost like he feared Jules would pull away. “No! Not for me. I was worried that it might be too much for you. Is it weird?”
It wasn’t. It was stupidly easy. Julien enjoyed touching Tyler the same way he enjoyed the man wiggling against his stiff prick that morning. It might have been worrisome, but Julien didn’t want to think too deeply about it. Who says I can’t enjoy this job?
“Don’t worry about it. If I don’t want to do something, you’ll be the first to know about it, Baby.” He smirked and started to walk again. “What exactly are we doing here?” he asked as they found their group by the entry to the Christmas Tree farm.
The choir sang the Twelve Days of Christmas loud and cheerfully over the low din of a crowd wandering in and out of the lot.
“Well, we have to find the perfect tree but trust me, I’m just here for the hot chocolate,” Tyler said. “I know you don’t like it, but they make the best kinds.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“After we get the tree, we’ll also have time to explore the market. Then tonight, we’ll probably decorate and take some pictures,” Tyler explained.
Julien didn’t decorate for Christmas. It was pointless when he didn’t have anyone to share it with. The last time he had a Christmas tree was the year before his mom got sick. Jules was sixteen and disillusioned with Christmas and spending time with his family.
When she got sick, the effort of decorating and cooking was too much for her. Julien had been too busy ensuring she was comfortable or making her doctor appointments to assemble anything.
After she died, it seemed stupid even to bother.
Mr. Ashford advanced in line and spoke to a woman at a table, who handed him a hand saw and a little flag. Once they had found the tree, it would be up to them to chop it down and flag it. Then, the helpers would load it up on one of those trucks.
“I’ll hang on to it,” Brad said with too much delight in his eyes as he took the saw from Mr. Ashford.
Tyler let go of Julien’s hand and went over to Hailey to whisper in her ear while she helped Cece wrangle the children. According to Kelsey’s cheers, they were already trying to escape and find Santa.
“Should he be trusted with a weapon?” Julien asked Wally, who stood at the back of the group.
Wally let out one of his snort laughs. “Brad’s the muscle around here,” he admitted. “Or, he was until you came along. You must spend a lot of time at the gym.”
“You flirting with me, Wally?” Julien asked with a grin.
Wally laughed again. “Sorry, Buddy. You’re not my type, and we’re both spoken for. I’m just glad to have you.” He clapped a friendly hand on Julien’s shoulder. “Truth is, no one talks to me besides Hailey during these things.”
Julien looked back to the twins chatting. Their older sister held her daughter’s hand and balanced her phone against her ear. Brad loudly discussed the best way to saw a tree trunk while Mr. and Mrs. Ashford listened attentively to their son-in-law.
None of them seemed to spare Julien or Wally a thought as they proceeded down the dirt path lined with trees.
“They’re close, I guess,” Julien noted. “Is your family that way?”
Wally shook his head. “I mean, it’s only me. I don’t have any siblings, and my mom and dad are always busy. It’s nice to be around it. What about you? Do you have a big family? ”
Julien shook his head. “No. It’s just me too.”
“Wait until they break out the eggnog tonight when we’re decorating.” Wally tactfully did not ask Julien anything else about his family. “It’s a blast.”
Julien couldn’t help but wonder if Wally thought it was a blast or if he wanted to seem enthusiastic because of his fiancée.
“We’re going to have to walk far back to get to the bigger trees,” Brad instructed with the tone of a man who spent too much time ordering people around. Tyler had said he and Cece owned a huge contracting and real estate business. He could easily imagine Brad as a micromanager.
Tyler finally returned to Julien, if only because Hailey had sought out her fiancée, and he reached down to retake Julien’s hand. “Buckle up. It’ll take a while to pick the right one.”
He hadn’t been lying. They looked at probably twenty trees before they found one they liked.
Whenever they found one that looked like it might work, someone had something to say about it.
“It’s too tall. It won’t look right in the space,” Connie said about one.
“This is way too bare at the bottom. We want an evenly full tree,” Cece had commented about another.
“This isn’t tall enough. It’ll look too small in the great room,” Mr. Ashford observed about another.
Even Tyler had chimed in about one, saying, “It’s lopsided, and there’s not a big branch on top for the angel.”
Julien thought they all looked the same. They all look like fucking trees. But apparently, the family was after something particular.
When Julien started to believe he might die in the middle of a Christmas tree farm, Hailey squealed and ran up to a tree.
“Look at her,” the woman said, childlike glee lit her face up.
According to Mrs. Ashford, it had excellent color. Cece noted that there weren’t any unpleasant gaps in the branches. Brad said it was the perfect height and mentioned that he knew because he measured things to fit in spaces for a living .
Once they all agreed that this was the one, Brad brandished the saw and set about his self-appointed task. “I got this.”
Cece produced a blanket and set it on the ground so Brad could position himself on his knees without getting covered in needles and dirt.
“Dad, you have to move the branch up,” Brad said from where he was positioned on his knees. “I can’t reach the trunk. God, Tyler, can you be useful for once and help your father?”
Julien was struck with the white-hot desire to punch Brad in his artificially white smile. No one could talk to his boyfriend that way. But before he could speak up, Tyler hurried to oblige the order.
“I think you might need to put your back into it more, Sweetie,” Cece said. She held her hand over the speaker of her phone. In the middle of their search, she got another call from a client and had to take it there. She didn’t even bother to move away as she talked to them.
“I am putting my back into it, Babe. It’s this saw. It’s so fucking dull,” Brad bit out.
“Language!” Mrs. Ashford and Hailey exclaimed in identical admonishing tones.
“Can I help?” Julien stepped closer to the men. He didn’t care if it took Brad all night to cut this tree down, but Tyler gave him a desperate and pleading look as the branches nearly enveloped him.
Brad peeked his head out from under the tree. “I got it, big guy,” he said before disappearing under the brush and grunting as the saw’s sounds against the bark started again.
“Honey, can you make this quick? I need you.” Cece stomped her foot.
“Just a minute, Dear ,” Brad’s breaths came out in labored puffs.
It wasn’t just a minute. Mr. Ashford and Tyler still held the tree up, the branches well out of Brad’s way, but it didn’t seem like the situation was progressing. Julien and Wally even had to move branches out of the way.
“Don’t hurt the tree,” Hailey whined. “Don’t break the branches. ”
The sawing stopped, continued, then stopped again. “It’s got to be this damn saw. Cece, go get me another one,” Brad snapped.
“Darling,” Cece said in a sickly-sweet tone. “I am on the phone with our client right now. Just let Julien do it.” She pressed her phone right back to her ear.
Brad climbed out from under the tree. His cheeks were red. His hair stuck up at odd angles, with pine needles dusting the edges of his sweater. He brushed himself off, shoved the saw handle at Julien, and marched over to his wife, who put the call on speaker so they could talk to their clients.
Julien looked at Tyler, who shrugged. “We can just call someone over. You don’t have to do it,” he said softly.
Julien smirked. “You don’t think I can do it?” he asked. Julien had never cut down a tree, but he was confident it couldn’t be as hard as Brad had made it look. It was only a tree.
Tyler’s mouth opened, but before he could reply, Julien knelt and could feel Tyler watch his ass stick out as he bent over. Brad hadn’t even made a dent in the trunk of the tree. At least no one could see how hard Jules rolled his eyes when he lay under the branches so he could get the right angle for the teeth of the saw to sink into the trunk.
Despite what Brad had said, the saw wasn’t dull, but Brad must have been more worried about getting dirty than he had about getting the tree cut down. Julien could feel the dampness from the ground soak into the nice sweater and jeans Tyler had gotten him. He didn’t care.
“About halfway there, keep a hold on it.” Julien tapped Tyler’s ankle so he would hear him while he readjusted.
With a few more strokes of the saw and a loud grunt of satisfaction, the tree came free from its roots, and thanks to the Ashfords, it didn’t crash down on top of him.
He hurried out from under it while Hailey planted the flag on it with their number.
“Oh no, you’re all wet and muddy.” Tyler’s cheeks were pink from the cold, his bright blue eyes wide as they searched Julien’s face.
Julien shook off some of the needles from his pants and shrugged. “It’s not a big deal.” Unless Tyler planned to return the clothes he’d bought, in which case Julien almost felt terrible. Almost.
Tyler reached up and ran his hand across Julien’s shoulders and back. Needles rang out as they fell from Julien’s clothes. Tyler’s hands moved over Julien’s chest to brush the fabric, but now Tyler’s movements were slow and deliberate. He sucked in his bottom lip before he cast his gaze upward and caught Julien’s eye.
Jules resisted the impulse to lean forward and suck the lip into his mouth instead. Julien’s eyes flicked down to appreciate the slick, pink skin that fell from between Tyler’s teeth.
A second later, Tyler dropped his hands and stepped back.
“Come on. We’ll shop while they load the truck and then head home.” Ty’s gloves were now covered in needles, and he pulled them off and tucked them into his pockets. His hands stayed there, depriving Julien of the chance to lace their fingers together again.
Julien nodded as dread settled in his gut. There was nothing he hated more than shopping.