Chapter Twenty-Six
Aubrey had once had his own apartment in Vancouver, of course, but considering the difficulty of finding housing there and the restrictions on vacant real estate, he’d leased it out.
So, for the first time in forever, he was staying with his family—albeit in his parents’ guest house instead of the main building.
His family. How strange. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d spent a holiday with them and actually enjoyed it.
And sure, things weren’t perfect, but Rachel’s wedding was fun.
He didn’t feel jealous, at least not of the attention heaped on her.
The serene happiness she projected everywhere and the obvious adoration in her new husband’s eyes… those he could envy.
His mother must have noticed, because she’d reached over and squeezed his arm. “Give it time.”
He’d already tried getting Nate to move in with him. The ball was in Nate’s court now. Giving it time was all Aubrey could do.
Meanwhile, it was already the morning of December 24, and the tree needed decorating.
“No professional this year?” he asked as his father set a dusty box of ornaments on the floor next to the tree.
“Your mother’s therapist suggested it would be a good family activity.”
They looked at each other, then at the box, then at the tree, which was nearly tall enough to reach the fourteen-foot ceiling.
Aubrey said, “Does Mom’s therapist know you’re afraid of ladders?”
“Where’s your sense of adventure?” his mother chided, coming into the room with a stepladder that one of them might, generously, use to get decorations two-thirds of the way up the tree.
“I hung upside down from a roof last week with knives strapped to my feet,” Aubrey pointed out.
“Which reminds me we’ll be needing tickets to your first show.”
Aubrey smiled. What did they think he got them for Christmas? “We’ll see.”
They hadn’t done much more than open boxes when the doorbell rang. Aubrey’s mom set down the garland she was holding and headed to the foyer. “That’ll be Rachel and Tim.”
“We brought mimosas,” Rachel said cheerfully as she and Tim entered a few minutes later.
“And cinnamon buns,” he added.
“I’ll put on another pot of coffee,” Aubrey’s dad said. It did not escape Aubrey that he was conveniently going to be away from the ladder for the next several minutes.
The advent of booze and breakfast—and, Aubrey found to his own surprise, company—improved the decorating experience immeasurably.
“I think if I get the angle right, I might be able to land this in one of the upper branches,” Tim said idly, hefting a glass ornament the size of a softball.
“And if you miss, you can land in my mother’s bad books indefinitely,” Aubrey pointed out. Then he shoved another piece of cinnamon bun into his mouth. God, it was still warm. Bless his cousin and her foresight.
Tim’s face fell.
Aubrey licked his fingers clean of the last of the cinnamon sugar and held out his hand. “Give it here. I’ll do it.”
Rachel laughed into her mimosa, flush-cheeked, grinning, and happy, and Aubrey relished it. His childhood should have been like this. He spared a flash of bitterness that it hadn’t been, but he couldn’t do anything about that now. He could make sure he had more holidays like this one.
It was almost perfect, with just one thing—one person—missing.
Nate would be on a plane again now, if not already back in Michigan with his parents.
He’d been looking forward to seeing his niece.
Aubrey would call him later… maybe on Skype.
Nate was pretty irresistible with children, and it was Christmas.
If Aubrey wasn’t going to see him in person, he should get to see him with a baby.
An hour or so later, they’d run out of ornaments and ambition to attempt reaching the top of the tree. As a result, the decorations mainly clustered around the bottom two thirds, leaving the top naked and sad.
It was still kind of nice, though.
“So next year,” Aubrey said, turning to his mother. She was lounging with her feet up, mimosa in hand, and she raised her eyebrows in invitation. “Hire the decorator and we’ll just do the mimosas. Therapists don’t know everything.”
Now she raised her glass as well. “I always knew you got my brains.”
Aubrey’s dad accepted this with a mild smile, and Rachel and Tim exchanged grins. Which just figured. Maybe next year he’d get to be something other than the fifth wheel.
If he could convince Nate they were worth fighting for, at least.
But before he could get any further into his own self-pity, the doorbell rang again. “Who else did you invite?” he asked his mother. Maybe she was going to have someone deliver an actually decorated tree?
“Nobody,” she said, shaking her head. “Everyone’s here.”
Well, obviously not. Aubrey heaved himself off the couch to answer the door. Maybe someone had ordered a last-minute gift?
But when he opened the door to the drizzly Vancouver morning, it wasn’t a beleaguered delivery person on the doorstep.
It was Nate.
Aubrey’s mouth dropped open.
“Merry Christmas,” Nate said, dripping ice water from his eyelashes. “I hope your mom loves me as much as you think she will.”
“How did you even find us?” Aubrey asked, ushering Nate into the guest house on his parents’ palatial estate.
Nate guessed this must be where Aubrey was staying while he was in town, which was kind of hilarious.
He easily could’ve taken a room in the mansion and had enough privacy that he wouldn’t have seen another soul unless he wanted to.
“Honestly? Luck. I ran into Jackson Nakamura in the airport.” He managed a partial smile as he worked off his boots. It was the polite thing to do in Canada, and his socks were wet through.
Aubrey helped him wriggle out of his coat. That was soaked as well. “Was that your rental car in the driveway?”
Nate winced, not relishing the way his shirt and jacket clung to him or the way he smelled after so much air travel.
His eyes felt like sandpaper. But there was a manic energy humming beneath his skin too.
“What, you don’t like it?” It was a bright green Kia Soul that had barely made it up the steep driveway.
“It’s December 24. Options were limited. ”
He paused as they both absorbed that. They hadn’t actually addressed the elephant in the room yet.
Nate hoped the past two weeks hadn’t changed Aubrey’s mind. “It’s okay that I came, right?”
“Yeah!” Aubrey said a little too loudly. Maybe he was having flashbacks to their first I-love-you; God knew Nate was. But he could relax now. “Yeah, it’s—I would have asked you, but, uh.” He blew out a breath. “I was afraid you’d say no.”
“I might have.” Nate’s priorities had been confused. “But it would have been the wrong decision.”
They were still standing too far apart, but after flying God knew how many thousands of miles, Nate didn’t know how to close the last two feet. This wasn’t how he’d imagined it. The arrival he envisioned had less talking, no rain-soaked clothes, and a lot more kissing.
“I just….” Aubrey was staring at him like he’d never seen him before. Nate couldn’t tell if that was a good thing. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
Oh—and there was the kiss, Aubrey’s fingers in his hair, his warmth against the damp chill of Nate’s body, his smile against Nate’s mouth. Nate put his hands on Aubrey’s hips and held on, reveling in everything he’d missed for the past weeks.
Finally Aubrey pulled away and said, “Okay, I love you, and I’m thrilled you’re here, but you’re freezing. Do you want a shower?”
“Do you want to join me?” Nate countered.
Nate thought he was pretty enthusiastic, but Aubrey still dragged him toward the bathroom.
“So,” he said afterward, when he was dressed in borrowed clothes because everything he’d brought on his trip was dirty and overly formal anyway, “I’ve been thinking.”
Aubrey was in the process of putting his sweater back on, and he struggled for a moment to get his head through the neck.
Nate tried to breathe evenly and calm the butterflies in his stomach, but it wasn’t easy. “I hate my job.”
Aubrey sat down on the bed, all traces of levity gone. “I’m listening.”
Nate exhaled slowly. “I talked to Jess and Kelly, and I made my decision. I’m going to quit. But it’s kind of complicated.”
“Legal trouble?”
Of course he’d be familiar with the issues. “Technically under contract until the playoffs are over,” Nate confirmed. “I have my agent looking into it. If I have to pay to get out of it, I will, but obviously I’d prefer not to.”
“Obviously,” Aubrey agreed, and he stood up again and went out to the living room.
Nate wasn’t finished talking. “Where are you going?”
“Getting my shoes on.” Aubrey stuck his head back in. “My cousin’s husband, Tim, is in the house with my parents, and he’s an entertainment lawyer. You want to make friends?”
Well, in that case, the rest of Nate’s news could wait. “I guess it’s time to meet the family.”
When they entered Aubrey’s parents’ living room a few minutes later, Aubrey’s family were all sitting on the sofas, ostensibly engaged in their phones and not in gossip.
It reminded Nate of that scene from Pride & Prejudice, and he had to smother a smile.
Aubrey’s parents were definitely not the Bennets in this scenario.
“So, this is Nate,” Aubrey said, as everyone jumped to their feet in unison. “Nate, this is my mom and dad, my cousin Rachel, and her husband, Tim.”
Aubrey’s mom actually cried, wrapping Nate up in a hug so tight he thought he might need help with extraction, but finally she pulled away, wiped her eyes, and said, “We’re so glad to have you here.”
Aubrey’s parents apparently were having lunch catered, and there was plenty of food for everyone. Nate ended up sitting with Tim in a corner of the living room, discussing options and strategies until Tim and Rachel had to leave around two to travel to his parents’ for the holiday.
By that time Nate was flagging, and Aubrey must have noticed.
“Mom, do you mind if Nate and I head back to the guest house?” He flicked his gaze over to Nate, who tried and failed to get his eyes to open past half-mast. “I think he’s going to pass out on the couch.”
“Oh!” Aubrey’s mom looked initially disappointed, then contrite, and then compassionate. “I think you’d better, actually. But bring him back tomorrow.”
Nate managed a genuine smile despite his exhaustion. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.” He glanced at Aubrey’s dad. “Even if I have to justify every goal I’ve ever scored against the Canucks. Again.”
Aubrey’s dad barked a laugh. He’d spent ten minutes giving Nate a hard time earlier. “I like you,” he said cheerfully, clapping Nate on the back. “Have a good nap.”
The emphasis he put on the word made Nate’s ears burn, but all things considered, the whole day was a win.
All the same, it was a relief to take off his boots—still wet—and borrowed socks—wet again—in the tidy living room of Aubrey’s parents’ guest house and just collapse on the sofa.
His eyes felt gritty, but he had more he wanted to say before he gave in to sleep, so he reached out his arm for Aubrey, who dropped next to him and leaned his head on Nate’s chest.
“I didn’t get anybody presents.” Oops. That wasn’t what he’d meant to say. “Yours are probably waiting for you in Vegas, but even the Duty Free at the airport was closed at three in the morning. Just inconsiderate.”
Aubrey kicked his feet up on the couch and arranged himself further with Nate as his pillow. “It’s all good. It’s not like my parents actually need a two-thousand-dollar bottle of scotch.”
“How’s it going with them?” Everything had seemed okay today, but families could put on a pretty convincing front for outsiders.
“Good, actually.” Aubrey rolled so he was facing the ceiling, and Nate could see the way his brow furrowed. “It’s… I have a hard time trusting it, still. I keep waiting for the rug to get pulled out from under me. I don’t know if that’ll ever completely go away, but it’s been really good so far.”
Automatically Nate threaded his hand in Aubrey’s hair and massaged his scalp. God, his whole body was in overload. He’d never felt so skin-hungry as he had these past two weeks.
He never wanted to feel like that again.
“So, not to bring up a potentially sensitive subject.” He tried not to hold his breath. His heart suddenly felt like it was beating way too loud, but he’d put this off long enough. “I was wondering if you know anyone in Vegas who might be looking for a roommate?”
For a moment Aubrey only blinked at him, and everything seemed very still.
Then he sat up so fast Nate had to lean back to avoid cracking their heads together.
“Are you serious?”
Nate had a moment of doubt. “I mean, if you changed your mind—”
Aubrey cut him off with a kiss, hard and fast and fervent, that basically left him sitting in Nate’s lap. Nate wasn’t complaining. “I haven’t. Yes, you can still come live with me.” He paused. “Actually, I insist. If I have to subject myself to that vase….”
Nate laughed, and Aubrey leaned down to touch foreheads with him. “There’s that competitive streak biting me in the ass again.”
“Rude,” Aubrey said. “That’s my job.”
He was such a brat.
“I was worried,” Aubrey admitted quietly a moment later.
Nate leaned back into the couch, taking Aubrey with him, and maneuvered until they were lying side by side. “About?”
He shook his head, obviously searching for words. “Us? Everything? I don’t know. I thought, I didn’t want to give up Cirque for you, and you didn’t want to give up the show for me, and where did that leave us? How could we make that work?”
Nate got it. He ran his hands absently up and down Aubrey’s back while he worded his response. “I needed more time,” he said finally. “I already knew I didn’t like my job anymore, but I hadn’t accepted it yet. And I knew getting out of my contract was going to be a pain. But it was never….”
“It was never the show or me,” Aubrey said quietly.
“Yeah. Though this new version of the show wasn’t hard to give up once I finally admitted the truth to myself.”
“What about in the future, though?”
“Well, I have it on good authority that Vegas has an NHL team now. Maybe they need some off-ice personality.”
Aubrey shook his head. “I meant—what about after Cirque is done? What if you have a job there and my work is somewhere else?”
“Then we make that decision together.” Nate lifted a shoulder in an awkward shrug.
“I’ve been lucky my whole life to have a job I’ve done because I love it.
Doubly lucky because I could quit now and never worry about money again.
But if it came down to a job I love or the man I love?
” He cupped the side of Aubrey’s face. “Easy choice.”
Aubrey’s eyes were suspiciously shiny. “It’s me, right?”
Nate gently pulled him closer, until his lips were kissing distance. “It’s you.”