Page 38 of A Dye Hard Holiday
“Since when?”
“Right now,” Josh said adamantly, but his smoldering eyes said something different.
I reached between my legs with my free hand and cupped my balls while working my swollen knob with the other. “Come over here.”
“I’m not in the mood.” His stubbornness was adorable, but his erection tenting his pj pants called him a liar. “Oh, fuck it!” Josh threw his spatula on the counter then jumped me.
I might’ve been joking before about him fucking me into behaving, but he wrung me out so much that I didn’t have the energy to put up a fight at the mall. We made it in time to see our kids scream the building down when the grandmas tried to set them on Santa’s lap. Maybe it was sick of me, but I suspected that would be my favorite moment of the season.
IT SEEMED THAT THINGSwere finally going to settle down a bit the week before Christmas, which was the opposite of what you’d expect. Most people start getting frantic when the days until Christmas reached the single digits, but not me. Hey, I had every right to be hysterical while juggling a busy schedule at the salon, the ’rents staying at our house, and Gabe’s nightly countdown to the perfect Christmas activities. It sounded like a huge cluster-fuck, but it was the most magical time of my life.
With that said, I decided to put my size nine Converse down that night and insist we have quiet evenings at home leading up to my annual Ugly Christmas Sweater party. Besides, what the hell else was there left to do? I knew that Gabe would balk, but I planned to distract him with a grown-up version of a Christmas advent calendar. I got the idea from the countdown advent calendar I received from my secret Santa at the salon. It had Christmas giftboxes wrapped in festive, shiny green paper that stacked to form the shape of a tree. Each box was numbered from twenty-five down to one and was just big enough to hold a few pieces of candy or a little trinket.
My favorite gift so far was a tiny picture frame attached to a keychain. The picture frame was nearly an exact replica of the gilded glamorous ones I had at my station. The picture inside wasn’t the typical family photo though. It was two dads having to sit on the mall Santa’s lap before their babies would trust the stranger with bright red clothes and that fake-as-fuck, white beard. Gabe and I were laughing, the babies were screaming, and Santa looked ready to hit the bottle. I loved it so much that I would’ve used it for the photo on our Christmas card if I’d had it in time.
Up until I opened that gift, I thought Meredith drew my name from the Santa hat, but that gift had Gabriel Roman-Wyatt stamped all over it. It didn’t surprise me that he joined in on the salon festivities because he was a Christmas freak and half-owner of Curl Up and Dye. I started to suspect that him having my name was more than simple luck of the draw. It was too late to swap names to get his, so I decided to spring a surprise on him at home that would accomplish two things: have fun and wear us both out. An exhausted Gabe was one who didn’t drag me around to every outdoor manger in a thirty-mile radius. Oh, holy night, I needed a break.
Surprising Gabe kept my spirits up during the long day. In fact, I didn’t even mind when Trent showed up midday to take Dare to lunch. Wren minded a lot though. Those two guys were making me nuts, but there was nothing I could do about it except knock their heads together. The idea grew in merit each day that the tension grew between the two men. I didn’t want to accuse Dare of using Trent to make Wren jealous, but he sure as hell didn’t look at Trent the way he looked at Wren.Stay out of it. Stay out of it. Stay out of it.
Repeating that in my head over and over helped, until Dare approached me that night with a nervous expression on his face. No one on my staff feared me for crying out loud. I was the best damn boss on the planet, yet Dare looked like he was seconds away from pissing down his leg. What could be so…
“It’s not a good idea,” I said when I realized what he wanted to ask. The crestfallen look on Dare’s face made me feel terrible, and I thought perhaps he liked Dr. Doofus more than I had originally thought. “Okay, let me talk to Gabe.”
“You’re the best, Josh,” Dare said, hugging me. “I’m going to start planning our ugly sweaters because there’s no way Gabe can tell you no.”
“No fucking way,” Gabe said, shaking his head.
I looked up from stirring the pot of stew that Martina had started earlier in the day. Gabe sat in a kitchen chair with a baby on both knees. “I haven’t even asked a question yet.”
“I can tell by your expression that you’re going to ask something I won’t like, and I can bet what it is since we’re only a few days away from the annual Christmas party for our friends and salon family.”Do you see why I love him so much? Not salon employees. Not salon staff. Family!“The answer is no.”
There comes a time in every man’s life where he needs to learn to choose his battles or be miserable. Now, I could’ve pointed out that Gabe’s ex-lover, one he lived with for a few years, sat at our table and ate our food week after week, and I never once complained or got jealous. I would’ve been justified in doing so, and maybe I would’ve taken up the fight if Dare had convinced me that Trent was the one for him, but I saw the smug smirk Dare gave Wren after talking to me. Therefore, I chose not to call Gabe out on his knuckle-dragging bullshit.
“I was going to ask if you wanted to top or bottom tonight, Captain Know-It-All.”I said I pick my battles; I didn’t say anything about giving Gabe a bigger ego than he already had.
Gabe threw his head back and laughed. “God, you’re such a bad liar.”
“That’s a bad thing?”
Gabe tipped his head and thought for a second. “Not at all, but I do wonder how the hell you keep beating everyone at poker.”
“I’m a Gemini, Gabe. Multi-faceted. Chameleon. Awesome.” I put the lid back on the pot and walked over to the loves of my life. After I kissed each baby on the forehead and Gabe firmly on the lips, I said, “I need to go make a quick phone call before dinner.” I thought it was best not to have the conversation at the salon the next morning, and I wanted to give all my energy to Gabe and the babies after dinner.
“Tell Dare that he’s playing with fire,” Gabe called out to me.
I went to the library slash office to call Dare and was glad when he answered right away. “So, look—”
“Hell has frozen over,” Dare said, interrupting me. “Gabe actually told you no.”
“He really hates Trent, and to be honest, I’m not all that comfortable around him either. Trent has apologized for the way he treated me, and I even think he means it.”
“But he still makes you uncomfortable,” Dare added. “Kind of like a reminder of a bad time in your life.” His voice had softened to nearly a whisper at the end. “Oh man.”
“What?” I asked.
“I think that’s what I am for Wren. I remind him of something or someone unpleasant.”
“I doubt it, Dare. You’re so delightful to be around,” I told him.