13. Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Tyler
B y the time they got home, Cece and Brad had already put Kelsey down for a nap, and Owen sat in the living room with Tyler’s mother, playing with his trucks and describing them to her.
Brad helped his father unload the tree from their car, and they called Julien over to help. Walter followed Julien like the lost puppy he was, and Hailey grabbed Tyler’s arm.
“I have a surprise,” she said and pulled him over to their mom’s office, which had become a dumping ground for all the presents people were too lazy to take to their rooms. She went to a brown box and pulled out four baubles of mistletoe.
“Dad will kill you if you put holes in his ceiling,” Tyler pointed out.
“Then we’ll use tape, Dumbass. Come on. We have to put it in the best spots to catch people under it. Imagine if Brad has to kiss Walter. I would fucking die.” Hailey laughed like an evil villain.
Tyler trailed behind her. He had to do his best not to think about Julien sucking on his finger, but he could still feel the heat of Julien’s mouth on his thumb.
“Earth to Tyler.” Hailey stood on a chair in the doorway to the living room, looking at him expectantly. “Julien will be there when we’re done. He’s helping Daddy.” There she went, reading his mind again.
Tyler rolled his eyes and held the tape up. “Shut up.”
“God, seriously, though, he is sooo hot,” Hailey said. “I’d stare at him constantly.” She stood on her toes, trying to reach the tall ceiling to tape the ball of mistletoe up. She almost couldn’t get that high but carefully stuck it on the middle of the door frame.
“I know,” Tyler admitted. “It’s kind of unfair.”
Hailey held the ball before gently releasing it so it didn’t bust through the tape. When she was satisfied it wouldn’t fall, she stepped down. “Unfair? You’re the one banging him.”
Tyler felt his face heat up as he picked the chair up to follow her to their next destination.
“What? No. I mean, don’t be weird,” he said. He and Hailey were close, and they did talk about sex. However, it felt weird talking about his still non-existent sex life when she was under the impression he was getting his fill of Julien.
Which he tried to avoid thinking about at all costs.
A part of him longed to tell her the truth, but then what would be the point of any of this?
Hailey hummed and circled the kitchen before stopping near the mudroom. “It’s not weird. I’m really happy for you. I’ve never seen you like this with someone. You guys can’t keep your hands off each other.”
Julien’s acting was way better than he could have hoped if he even had his twin fooled. “I guess.” He ensured Hailey didn’t topple off the chair as she reached up to put the other ball of mistletoe on the doorframe.
“The way he looks at you, ugh, my heart. Seriously, he watches you, and I want to cry. I can tell he’s smitten.” Hailey put the other ball of mistletoe up and looked at it with satisfaction.
Tyler glanced over his shoulder. The rest of the family was in the corner between the fireplace and the stairs, working all hands on deck to get the Christmas tree in the perfect position.
Julien caught his eye and smirked, and Tyler smiled back, and the words , soooo sexy, popped into Tyler’s mind before he was swatted on the head with some mistletoe.
“Ow. Hails,” he said, then flicked her arm.
“Focus. We have a job to do.”
When they set the final mistletoe trap, his mother called them to start decorating the tree. If Tyler was honest, he hated this part. It was tedious, and his mother and Cece followed everyone around, trying to change where the placement was. They always did it wrong, so he would have to return and fix whatever they did. Luckily, he was there to correct their errors.
“No, Julien,” he said once the lights were lit so they could better see the branches. “You can’t put two reds that close together.” He pointed out a better branch from which to dangle the ball.
Julien stared at him. “They’re basically all red.”
Tyler sighed. “Yes, but you want to disperse them. It has to look balanced." He placed a glittery silver ball in the spot Julien had mistakenly put a red one a moment ago.
“Whatever you say, Baby.”
Tyler wished that every time Julien called him the term of endearment, his toes didn’t curl, but here he was.
The Ashford decorations were always coordinated. They had solid-colored balls with a few patterns in complementary colors here and there and then several bows to set the whole thing off.
When Julien picked up a glittery black ball and set it in the wrong spot, Tyler went right behind him and took it off, placing it higher on the tree.
Julien scowled at him. How dare he do that in front of his family? Tyler almost grinned in spite of himself .
“Would you rather me just put them where you tell me?” Julien folded his arms. He wore one of the cashmere sweaters Tyler had gotten him, and the temptation to run his hands over the muscled arms was too intense, so he gave in.
The soft fabric gave way to the firmness of Julien’s arms, and Tyler enjoyed the slight crook of Julien’s thick eyebrow as he gazed down at him.
Tyler laughed. He couldn’t help it. “Now that you mention it…” He handed Julien the buffalo plaid ball, which he held and pointed above his head. “Up there, where I can’t reach. No, a little to the right? Oh, yes, perfect,” he said once Julien put the hook over the precise branch Tyler had been eyeing.
“You’re the worst,” Julien said in his gruff, low tone. “Alright, where should the next one go?”
It was nice to be a director for once, even if Cece came over and directed Tyler’s directing. For his part, Julien didn’t argue and just did as he was told.
Eventually, Brad came over with the ladder and climbed to the top step next to the top of the tree, which devolved into his mother taking over. Cece jumped in to criticize where the decorations were placed now that Brad was in charge.
“Honey, you need to put more on the left,” Cece said, then tapped her foot.
Brad sighed. “Sweetheart, I can only reach so far. I’ll get the other side in a second. Can you hand me the friggin’ balls?”
Tyler noticed Julien and Walter make eye contact and chuckle. Was that a thing now? Did Walter think he had an inside joke with his boyfriend—fake boyfriend?
Tyler felt a pout form on his lips, and he had to press them together to stop it from becoming too noticeable.
“Eggnog is ready,” Hailey announced from the adjoining kitchen. “No rum for you, Owen. Your mom said not until you’re at least twelve,” she joked as Cece glared.
“Come on.” Tyler tugged gently on the sleeve of Julien’s cardigan. “Do you like eggnog?”
Julien shrugged. “I’ve never had it. ”
“It tastes similar to bubblegum with a lot of rum.” Tyler led him over to the island where clear mugs sat, filled with eggnog and topped with a light shaving of nutmeg.
“I do enjoy rum.” Julien took one of the glasses.
“Cheers.” Tyler gently tapped his glass against Julien’s before having a sip. It was creamy and frothy with just the perfect amount of cinnamon and nutmeg, but the rum cut through it pleasantly. They always drank their eggnog cold, especially since Hailey had made it from scratch.
He watched Julien’s brow furrow as he took a sip. “This also tastes like a milkshake.”
“So, do you like milkshakes?” Tyler asked. He had noticed that Julien had finished the frozen hot chocolate before they got home. Now, he was taking another sip of the eggnog.
“Who doesn’t like a milkshake?” Julien said. “This is good. I always thought it would taste like egg or something,”
Tyler shook his head. “You really don’t do Christmas, do you?”
“Not this way.” Julien took another sip of the eggnog. “You guys are a fucking Christmas movie.”
“Language,” Tyler hissed. He elbowed him playfully.
Julien’s arm snaked around his front and pulled him close. The warmth from him seeped into Tyler’s back and made chills erupt all over his skin.
“Eggnog, Christmas tree cutting, hot chocolate, what else do you guys do?” Julien leaned in to whisper his words into Tyler’s ear.
Julien’s breath tickled Tyler’s neck, and goosebumps broke out over his arms.
Tyler tilted his head, coming face to face with Julien’s sexy smile. “Don’t forget the cookie decorating and the country club Christmas party,” he told him.
He could smell Julien’s peppery scent mingling with the sweet smell of eggnog. Julien’s dark eyes focused intently on him as he spoke.
“Like I said. Christmas movie.”
“A good one, I hope.” Tyler tried to keep his voice even.
Julien smiled brighter. “An entertaining one, at least. ”
“Everyone gather around.” Mom broke the spell and distracted Tyler from the god-like man holding him. “I’ll plug it in, and Brad will put the topper on.”
Tyler led Julien over to an excellent spot to see the whole ordeal, and he wondered how long it would take Cece and his mother to instruct Brad on getting their topper on correctly.
Their traditional topper was a beautiful porcelain angel, with a pristine white gown made of their great-grandmother’s wedding dress material. She had sat with pride on their tree since before Tyler was born.
Brad was still balanced at the top of the ladder. Cece stood below him, holding Kelsey and demanding he be careful as he reached the top of the tree to place the angel in her rightful position on the highest bough.
Now that it was decorated and lit, the tree looked beautiful. Tyler smiled, thinking about how nice it would be to see piles of presents beneath it on Christmas morning.
“We have outdone ourselves this year,” Cece said once everyone had absorbed the full grandeur of the perfect Ashford family tree. “I mean, Brad, honey, you were so right about the size. It fits perfectly in the space. We have to get a picture of the family for our website.”
“I want a picture of all of us first, just fun,” Mom said. “The photographer is coming in a few days, but we should get some for the photo album. Cece and Brad sit on the floor with the kids and Duke. Hailey and Walter, you can stand behind them. Tyler, Julien, stand over to the right, I think. We can have it more coordinated when the photographer comes,” she instructed.
Tyler looked up at Julien. “You, uh, you don’t have to be in the picture if you don’t want to,” he told him. It would be awkward to look back at these pictures and see the man he hired to play his boyfriend in them.
Not to mention how his family would comment about him for years and years because his stupidly handsome face would be right there, looking back at them from their Christmas albums.
“It’s a picture,” Julien said.
“Wait!” Hailey shouted. She pointed her finger up. “Did you not even remember, Tyler?” she exclaimed .
Tyler looked up and realized that he had dragged Julien over to stand under one of the balls of mistletoe they had put up.
Julien looked up, too. Tyler could see the lean muscles of his neck and where his dark stubble ended.
“Oh, ugh, no, Hailey, it’s not a big—” Tyler started. Julien hadn’t signed up to kiss him. He had not specified that in their deal, and he couldn’t imagine that Julien would even want to.
But everyone cut him off with protests about lousy luck and tradition. It was bad luck not to kiss under the mistletoe, but Tyler didn’t know if his growing crush would be worse if he tasted Julien’s lips.
Julien tilted his head and shrugged. “I don’t mind,” he said softly.
He took Tyler’s chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting his face up before leaning in to lay a gentle, soft kiss on Tyler’s lips. It was tentative and chaste, but Julien’s full lips were warm and inviting. Tyler couldn’t help but kiss back.
Heat blossomed in his chest, and he stood on his toes to chase the kiss without thinking as Julien pulled back. He blushed, embarrassed that he had done that, but was rewarded with another kiss.
Julien’s lips captured his bottom lip, and he nibbled just a little. There was no tongue or lewd displays, but it was definitely not chaste.
Tyler had to swallow the surprised moan that came out of him.
He longed to open his mouth and invite Julien in, to taste the eggnog on his tongue and suck the flavor off it. He wanted to wrap himself up in the sensation and let it keep him warm on his loneliest nights.
“Get a room,” Cece scoffed, breaking the spell.
Julien pulled away entirely, dropping Tyler’s chin and standing up straight.
Tyler cleared his throat a few times. He wondered if he should say something but didn’t know what. The only thoughts that sprung to mind were red-hot, naughty ones he wouldn’t want his family to hear. His mind was stuck in the gutter now.
“Tyler, come on, I want the picture before dinner,” his mom exclaimed impatiently. She waved her arm toward the spot where she wanted him to stand.
Tyler collected his thoughts from wherever they had just melted to and went to stand next to Hailey, with Julien on his other side. Julien’s hand found him, and their fingers laced together. Even as Tyler’s mother told them to smile and the flash went off, he was sure the whole room could hear his heart thudding.