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Nick’s head snapped up so quickly he heard a crack in his neck. “What?”

Matt was staring thoughtfully at the mantelpiece, eyes drifting to the nearby box of decorations. “We should have brought our stockings. Damn it, I didn’t think about it.”

Nick hesitated, then let out a heavy sigh. “Check my luggage.”

Matt turned, eyes wide. “What?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Like I was going to forget the custom-made stockings you lost your mind over a few years ago. You’re not the only one who can plan, you know.”

Matt beamed, hopping away from the fireplace and toward the hallway. He skidded to a stop beside Nick, looking up at him with his sparkling gaze. Gently, he set his hand on Nick’s hip and squeezed.

“I’m saying that maybe this doesn’t have to be awkward or weird. Maybe I’ve been thinking about that kiss more than you think. Or at least, in a way you wouldn’t think I would, I don’t know.”

And then he was gone.

Nick’s mouth dried as he stared at where Matt had been standing only seconds before. Distantly, he could hear the thumps overhead, followed by an overjoyed shout as Matt found what he was looking for. Matt came tearing back into view, holding the stockings. Each of them had their names sewn into the cuff, Nick’s in regal purple and Matt’s in a bright blue, their favorite colors. Along the rest of the stocking were symbols and scenes from their lives. Corn, mountains, his rank at the time, and a few other odds and ends for Nick’s. Cacti, a stitched-together heart, the sun, and a few electronics on Matt’s.

“I love that you had these made,” Matt proclaimed as he all but skipped to the fireplace.

“Considering the look on your face when you opened them up, how could I not?” Nick asked.

Matt paused before hanging the first one, looking over his shoulder. There was a thoughtful expression on his face, lingering before he turned his attention back to the stockings.

“You love me,” Matt said simply.

“Of course I do.”

“And I love you.”

“I sure hope so.”

“That was a statement of fact, Nick.”

“Then, yes.”

It was the easiest thing in the world for Nick, loving Matt. Here was a man who had been at his side through so many things and accepted everything about him. How could he not love him? How could he not beinlove with him?

Matt hung the second stocking, staring forward. “It wasn’t a bad kiss.”

Nick’s eyes widened. “Uh, what?”

When Matt turned around, he was smiling, which wasn’t all that unusual. What was strange, what sucked the breath from Nick’s lungs, was the shyness of it.

Matt shrugged. “I’ve been thinking about it since you did it. At first, I was just a little surprised, okay, a lot surprised. But there was a moment last night when I just...I don’t know, I stopped beingjustsurprised. And I started thinking about what it felt like, started obsessing over how it felt.”

Nick could only stare, unable to believe what he was hearing. “I...see.”

“And I started thinking a little more. If that surprise kiss was good, then what about the rest? Being with you feels good, always has. I straight-up big-spooned you last night, and it was the most natural, wonderful thing ever. I realized I didn’t care that you practically drooled over me when we woke up this morning.”

Nick choked on his next sip of coffee. “What?”

Matt looked up, grinning sheepishly. “You did. And then you made thisnoise.”

“Noise,” Nick repeated dully, unsure what to say.

Matt raised one shoulder and let it drop. “I don’t know, man, it was a noise, a moan? A groan? I don’t know. And it got methinking what you would normally be doing to make that sound. And the next thing I knew, I was thinking about that in...detail.”

Nick had to set the coffee on the table before he dropped the cup. “You thought about that in the span of...five seconds?”