Chapter five
“Merry Christmas, sleeping beauty,” Davey whispered, nuzzling under Tyler’s ear, waking him up.
“Mmm...yeah, you, too. What time is it?”
“Early, but I can’t sleep anymore.”
“And you say I’m the one that acts like a kid.” Tyler tried to roll over and pull the blankets over his head, but Davey jerked them away.
“No, you don’t. Get up. I can’t help it.
I haven’t had a real Christmas in this house since.
..” He sat back on his heels, the covers bunched at his waist. He’d put the pajamas back on, and the zipper was half down the Superman emblem on the front, exposing some of his chest. He looked young and sad.
“Since your dad died?”
Davey nodded.
“Okay then. Let’s go.” Tyler couldn’t have Davey thinking sad thoughts on Christmas. He knew Davey missed his father, but it was time for new family and new traditions. “Race you!”
Davey took off, nudging Tyler out of the way as he pushed through the doorway and into the hall. They raced into the living room, and both collapsed in front of the tree. There weren’t too many presents under the branches, but it would be enough to make the day special for them both.
“These are for later when we go to Dillon’s.” Davey set a few aside that they’d both wrapped for Dillon and a few others that made Tyler narrow his eyes.
“Whatcha got there?”
“Don’t worry about it. Here.” He handed another package over to Tyler, and the distraction worked.
Tyler bounced with energy. He hated getting up early.
He was not a morning person at all, but the race to the tree and the excitement of Christmas had him quickly strung tight.
For once, he didn’t need coffee to get him going.
He was wide awake and ripping open the first package, which only took seconds to reveal a new helmet.
It was neon green to match his bike. “Cool!”
“You needed it. This is the best brand.”
Tyler rolled his eyes. “I didn’t need the best—”
“Yes, you do. That skull is very important to me.”
“Okay. Thank you. Open this one.” He leaned in and grabbed the special present he’d been working on for so long. He’d gone into Gallup the week before and had it framed at the one store that did that kind of thing. He’d been afraid he’d have to drive much farther away.
Davey ripped the paper off and gasped. “My God, Ty!”
“Don’t just...it’s you.”
“I love it.” Davey held the picture up. “You must have worked on this for months.”
He had. The framed drawing was seventeen by twenty-two, much larger than he usually drew, but he wanted the extra space to be able to add in more detail.
He’d done several practice sketches to get Davey’s body shape right, before putting him in the image.
The bike he’d been drawing for over a year.
He’d used colored pencils to get the blue and red in there.
The bike was in the air, caught in mid-jump.
The figure twisted, and the leg stuck out a bit with the front tire turned to the side.
Beneath him was dirt. Tyler had shaded in the ruts and bumps, lumps, and gravely bits.
To Davey, the dirt was everything, and Tyler invested his time to make it just right. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Like? I love it. It’s getting hung in here.” He made a motion with his hand. “Over the mantel.”
“Let’s wait until we pack up the Christmas stuff.
” They had a huge wreath that Janie had shipped to them hanging over the fireplace.
He’d been relieved that it was a nice gift and not a giant dildo.
Tyler could imagine the picture replacing the wreath when the holidays were over, though.
That’s who they were—more about dirt bikes and racing than home decor.
“Okay. Your turn again.” Davey dug under the tree and pulled out another present. This one was a flat square as wide as his hips and a bit longer the other direction.
“What’s this?” He took it from Davey. It was moderately heavy.
“Open it.”
Tyler bit his bottom lip as he pulled the paper off the present. It was his turn to gasp. “Oh, my.” It was an art set, by the label on the box.
“Open it.”
The wooden box was nice, but he was desperate to see inside.
Tyler ripped the plastic away and opened it up to reveal three levels of art supplies including paint, brushes, oil pastels, colored pencils, watercolor pencils, charcoals, and some damn nice drawing pencils.
“Wow. I’ve never used a lot of this stuff.
I just, you know, draw. With pencils and paper. ”
Davey got up and leaned behind the tree. He pulled out a larger box. “Here.”
“How did I not notice that?” The box was about waist high on Davey.
“Come on.”
Tyler closed the art set carefully and set it down before tearing into the huge box. Davey helped him bust the tape on the cardboard and then pulled out what was inside, a piece at a time. Different paper and portfolio books and several canvases of different sizes. “Wow. I’m...speechless.”
“For once.” Davey nudged him. “I also bought you a drawing table, but it’s not going to be delivered until after the first.”
“Wow.”
“Is that all you can say?”
Tyler turned to Davey and grabbed his face with both hands before planting a long kiss on his lips. “This is amazing. I don’t know what to do with all of this. Where do I start?”
“You’ll figure it out.”
“Why? Why’d you do this?”
“I’ve seen you draw and well...” He moved across to where he’d set his framed picture down and picked it up. “This.”
Tyler didn’t know what to say. Drawing was just a hobby, and mostly he drew what he loved, motorcycles, engine parts. Nothing he would consider art.
“Tyler. You love art, and you’re good at it. So...have fun with it.” He nodded toward the big box.
“This is incredible. Thank you.” Tyler was amazed at how Davey had paid attention to what Tyler did.
“I also saw the one you did for Dillon.” That was a drawing of a bike roosting mud behind it. Smaller than Davey’s but still very detailed. Now that he had all the supplies, he wondered what it’d look like in watercolor or acrylic.
“Thanks. Davey. This really is awesome.”
Davey put the picture down and stalked over to Tyler.
He grabbed his shoulders. “You’re still the most amazing person I know.
I love you.” He leaned in, and Tyler welcomed the kiss.
He opened his mouth, inviting Davey in, and Davey did not disappoint him.
The kiss heated up, and as they withdrew, Tyler noticed Davey’s eyes darkening, as they often did when he was so turned on, and his pupils widening.
“I love you, too.” Tyler smirked at him, knowing Davey was thinking about sex. “Can we have pancakes now?”
“Huh?”
“It’s Christmas morning. I get pancakes.”
Davey looked a little disappointed, but only for about a half a second. “That’s not healthy.”
“So? It’s Christmas.”
“Fine. Pancakes it is, but we’re working out after, and I want you to try out your new helmet on the track before we go to Dillon’s.”
“Sounds like a plan.”