Chapter 19
“I knew I was going to regret this.” Blinded by Brent covering his eyes from behind, Graham stumbled his way upwards through the snow.
The comment elicited a scoff. “Come on, you don’t really mean that, do you?” Their bodies pressed close together, Brent guided his hostage carefully.
“I can’t even see where I’m going.” Graham resisted the urge to acknowledge how good Brent’s arms felt wrapped around him.
“Exactly. The element of surprise is what makes it fun.” The tone of Brent’s voice suggested he was enjoying this just a little too much for Graham’s liking.
“Well, in that case,” Graham responded, “you and I have different definitions of fun.” He ignored the voice deep down that knew he was loving every second of this.
Damn it, Graham. You’ve got it bad.
Patient, Brent continued to steer his sightless captive. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there.”
“Almost where?” Graham asked. This whole not-seeing-where-he-was-going thing was losing its novelty fast. “Where are you taking me?”
A rich scent of sandalwood sent tingles down to Graham’s toes as Brent hovered closely behind. “You’ll find out soon enough, city boy. For now, just chill out and enjoy yourself.”
“Oh, I am plenty chilled,” Graham retorted, the night air seeping into his jacket, “and let me assure you, it is anything but enjoyable.”
“Good thing I’m here then to help warm you up.”
Graham could have sworn then he felt Brent’s arms squeeze him tighter.
“You know,” he said, voice jittery, “I don’t usually let people do this to me.”
“Interesting,” Brent replied, guiding their steps, “you’re certainly letting me do it to you.”
Somehow, despite the cold, Graham noticed his palms begin to sweat. Was Brent flirting with him? No, that wasn’t possible.
Was it?
Oh, this was bad.
“Geez, Graham,” Brent said, “I can practically feel your body shaking. Are you this nervous around everyone?”
Just hot guys like you, a voice inside Graham’s head answered before he quickly pressed it down. “I don’t know. Are you this bossy around everyone?”
For a moment, Brent paused their trek up the slope. “Only when I’m trying to impress someone.” He leaned in so close, Graham felt his breath tickle his ear. “How am I doing?”
Graham swallowed a nervous gulp. “Let’s just see how this little surprise of yours pans out.”
“Fair enough,” Brent conceded. “But don’t you worry. This surprise is anything but little.”
Graham suddenly felt himself go weak in the knees. “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Keep it together, Graham. Keep it together.
“All right, then,” Brent answered, his voice swelling with pride. “Why don’t you have yourself a look?”
And just like that, he pulled his hand from Graham’s eyes.
“Hoooly cowww.”
Up above their heads, shimmering waves of emerald and indigo danced across the night sky.
“The northern lights,” Graham heard himself say. Nonplussed, he gazed from their hilltop perch at the majestic expanse above.
“Bet you don’t have a view like that in LA.”
Graham felt his whole chest swell at the vastness of the panorama before them. “You’re certainly right about that.”
Though he hated to admit it, now that he knew what a sight Brent had in store for them, he was almost, dare he say, thankful he’d been kidnapped and dragged up here.
Had Mistletoe Grove always boasted northern lights like this?
He certainly didn’t remember anything like this from when he was younger.
It just went to show—sometimes you really didn’t know what you had until it was gone.
He shifted his eyes briefly to steal a glance at Brent gazing up at the sky, too.
But what he saw instead was Brent gazing back at him.
What happened next happened instantaneously. By the time Graham registered it, it was already too late to stop.
The next thing he knew, his lips had become pressed against Brent’s.
The whole world—northern lights included—faded away into the distance. He let himself become wrapped in Brent’s strong, confident arms.
All at once, his body started glowing. On their trek up here, he wouldn’t have dared be so bold as to hope things would lead to this, to locking lips in a deep, passionate kiss with the man he’d only reunited with a day ago but who had occupied his secret thoughts for years.
Now that it was happening, though, Graham couldn’t help but feel like this had always been meant to be.
Sure, he’d heard people talk about the spark they’d felt when they finally met their person. He’d never put any stock in it, though. The idea of fireworks going off when you’d at last found ‘the one,’ that was just a myth.
At least, so he’d thought.
Until now.
His knees practically buckling, he reminded himself to breathe.
Back in LA, he’d made out with plenty of men who were, objectively speaking, gorgeous.
There was certainly no shortage of them in a place like Tinseltown.
Insta-models, up-and-coming actors—they’d all flocked to LA like it was the Promised Land.
And as a result, Graham had the luxury of an endless, all-you-can-eat buffet of smoking hot studs 24/7.
But despite the Colgate smiles, despite the washboard abs, none of the mass-produced Adonises back in West Hollywood had ever managed to give Graham the shiver running down his spine that he was currently experiencing thanks to Brent.
God, his lips tasted magical. Warm. Sweet. Passionate. Better than Graham could have ever thought possible.
Their tongues became intertwined, linking the two men together under the bright, starlit sky. The cold left Graham’s mind completely as the heat between them flared.
Suddenly, a knot took hold in his stomach. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. A mistake like this threatened to undo everything.
He told the voice inside his head to shove it. Whatever fallout arose from this, he’d deal with the consequences later. For now, no way in hell was he going to pass up this fantasy come to life. It was almost too good to be true.
Although, as Graham was about to find out, perhaps it was too good to be true.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, man.”
The sound of Brent’s voice instantly snapped Graham back to reality. “Sorry?” He felt as if his body had entered freefall.
“This was a mistake.”
Brent took a step back to distance himself.
He might as well have stepped into a different time zone.
“Please don’t be mad at me,” an anguished Brent continued. “I just—well, I got caught up in the moment. I let myself get carried away.”
The words hit like an anvil in Graham’s stomach. Mad? How could he be mad? Being kissed by Brent was a fantasy he’d dreamt of for as long as he could remember.
“This wasn’t a mistake,” Graham assured. “Not at all.”
Unfortunately, his insistence did little to convince his companion. With a heavy sigh, Brent continued backing away. “Listen, thank you for trying to make me feel better, but don’t. It’s…too confusing.”
“Of course it’s confusing,” Graham replied, his voice becoming increasingly urgent. “Back in high school, we were practically on two separate planets, but somehow, the universe brought us back together.” He motioned up at the northern lights above.
A look of hurt flooded over Brent’s face. “Oh, so now you’re mocking me? I said not to try and make me feel better, Graham. That doesn’t mean you need to be a dickhead.”
At this, Graham felt his heart begin to race. No, Brent, he wanted to say, can’t you see you’ve got it all wrong?
Everything around him started to spin. How could he have ever been so stupid as to resist the way he felt? Now that he’d finally gotten a taste of Brent’s kiss, the truth of his feelings was undeniable.
He had to do something. The question was, what? No matter what he said, it only seemed to make matters worse.
Well, when words failed, there was but one thing to do.
With a whirl of motion, he pulled Brent back and locked their mouths together. Immediately, he felt Brent melt into his embrace.
But once again, the spell was broken as Brent pulled himself away.
“So, wait…you like guys?” Brent’s eyes were as round as a pair of Christmas tree ornaments.
Until he shook himself out of it, that is.
“What am I saying? That doesn’t matter. You’re with Coco.
” He proceeded to launch into full-on panic mode.
“Oh, man, did I fuck up. I can’t come between you and Coco.
That would make me—” He let out a horrified gasp.
“I’m the other woman.” He began to pace in circles.
“This was all a horrible mistake. I should have never taken you up here.”
Without warning, Graham steamrolled into Brent’s path. “Brent, relax. It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal?” Brent sputtered in disbelief. “I just kissed you.” He started to hyperventilate.
Graham shook his head in spite of himself. To think he’d once thought of Brent as the confident one, and himself as the hot mess.
Oh, how the tables had turned.
“Just calm down,” he assured.
“Calm down?” Brent repeated, sounding alarmingly close to a mental breakdown. “How am I supposed to be calm right now? You’re spoken for, Graham. And I just played a game of tonsil hockey with you!”
The phrase drew a snort that Graham failed to hide. He grasped the nervous wreck in front of him. He couldn’t believe what he was actually about to do, but unless he wanted to give Brent an existential crisis, there was just one thing to be done.
It was time to come clean.
A nervous grimace spread across his face. “Brent, I have some explaining to do.”