Page 85 of Back in the Game (Pride in the Game #1)

Jett jumped up and was gone before Harrison could ask him what was wrong. He was about to get up and follow him to make sure he was okay, when his boyfriend ran back into the living room, socked feet sliding to a clean stop beside him.

“Your gift,” said Jett, handing him a wrapped box. “You’re going to hate it, but I’m not taking no for an answer.”

Those words didn’t fill Harrison with confidence, but he accepted the large box and began unwrapping it, revealing a Switch that was a different colour than what he was used to.

“It’s a limited edition one,” said Jett when Harrison raised an eyebrow at him.

“Everyone in the group chat plays Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley besides Sébastien and étienne, but they’re old, so they have an excuse.

Now I can help you build an island, and we can get married in Stardew until we decide to do it for real. ”

Jesus Christ. Jett was so adorable that it sometimes made Harrison feel cute-aggression.

“You and Arlo won’t let me rest until I join the cult, will you?” Harrison began removing the gaming system from the box so he could get it set up. He had no problem with gaming and sharing hobbies with Jett, but he at least had to pretend to be grumpy about it.

“Nope,” said Jett. “But I realized this was a present for me too, so I bought you a car on top of this. ”

Harrison halted, his attention snapping back to Jett. “You bought me a car?”

Jett’s cheeks were slowly turning red as he worried his bottom lip with his teeth. “It’s not here, it’s in Toronto, but yeah. You like cars, so I bought you a car.”

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know, but he had to ask. “What kind of car?”

“I had to harass your cousin for suggestions, so if he told me the wrong damn thing, I’m going to be pissed.”

Harrison waited silently.

Jett sighed and took out his phone. “I don’t remember the name, so give me a second.” He scrolled and clicked on a few things, frowning in concentration. “Uh, it’s an Aston Martin DB5, if that means anything to you.”

Harrison let his head fall into his hands because, yes, it meant something . “That is my dream car, Jett.”

Jett rubbed his back like he was trying to soothe a crying baby, which Harrison might turn into if he wasn’t careful.

“You gonna be okay, buddy?”

Harrison inhaled and exhaled. “What colour is it?”

Jett grumbled something about car guys and said, “Looks silver.”

Don’t cry. Do not cry.

“Fuck, did I pick the wrong colour? There was a green one too, but Arlo made me pick the silver one—”

Harrison lifted his head and narrowed his eyes at Jett. “The silver is the most iconic. Do you not watch the James Bond movies?”

“James Bond?” Jett’s nose crinkled. “A straight guy fucking girls and shooting guns? That’s boring. I watched Jurassic Park like a normal kid.”

“James Bond isn’t just a straight guy who fucks women and shoots guns .

” Harrison couldn’t believe he dared to criticize his favourite movies when he watched cartoons running around with super powers, screaming stupid attack names.

“I don’t think we can bridge this gap. I’m going to have to break up with you, and I’m taking the car. ”

“You don’t even know where it’s parked,” Jett said snappily. “And also, fuck you. ”

Harrison pulled his hair out of its tie, smirking when Jett’s gaze locked onto it. “Fine, I’ll stay. Don’t get any ideas because I’m not staying for love, I’m staying for the car.”

“You’re welcome for the Christmas gift, Killinger .”

He looped an arm around Jett’s waist and tugged him closer, kissing his pouting lips until Jett grumbled and opened them with an annoyed sigh. Harrison took his time exploring Jett’s mouth, gripping the back of his neck to keep him in place while he claimed what was his.

When Jett was putty in his arms and fluttering those golden lashes at him shyly, he gave him one last kiss and drew back. “I have a gift for you too, but pre-fucking-warning, it’s not as amazing as an antique sports car.”

Jett boldly put his hand on the bulge that was beginning to strain against the fabric of his pants. “I mean, as long as I get this whenever I want, it will eventually equal out to a car. You’d have to put in effort though because that cheque had a lot of zeros.”

Harrison smacked his hand away and stood before Jett mounted him on the couch. “Don’t tell me. I don’t want to think about it.”

Jett blinked big golden eyes at him, but Harrison had things to do before they got distracted by sex.

“I’m going to give you my gift,” said Harrison. “And then we’re going to finish this movie so I can use my good boyfriend points to cash in on a James Bond marathon.”

“Thank fuck Lord of the Rings is a long movie then,” said Jett, grinning.

Harrison bent down and kissed him. “Thank you for the car, Fraser. You really know how to spoil a guy.”

Jett’s happiness shone through the grumpy acting he was trying to put on. “I don’t spend money often, so it was fun using it to make someone happy.”

“Very happy.”

Harrison gave him one last kiss and went to his room to fetch his gift. He tried not to feel too awkward about what was in the thin box, but he hoped Jett liked it, no matter how last-minute it was.

When he was on the couch and under the blankets, he tucked himself into Jett’s side and handed him the box. In an attempt to calm his rattled nerves, Harrison picked up his plate of food and dug in, glancing in Jett’s direction.

Jett ripped off the wrapping paper and opened the box, his brow creasing with confusion when he saw what was inside. He lifted the gold chain, fingers gliding over the heavy links until they stopped on the pendant.

Jett’s eyes widened when he saw the dates engraved on the pendant, and Harrison let out the breath he’d been holding.

“It’s our birthdays,” said Jett in disbelief. He didn’t wait for confirmation; he swung the chain over his head and picked the pendant up again, eyes fixed on the dates. The chain was long enough that he could wear it during games without worrying about it flipping out of his sweater.

“I made sure there was enough space left for other birthdays,” Harrison pointed out. “For our kids.”

He knew he’d picked the right gift when Jett’s eyes went watery and he dropped the pendant to tackle him. Harrison dropped his plate, and it shattered on the floor, sending pizza and lasagna flying in every direction.

“Frig—”

Harrison laughed and hugged him back, stopping him from running to clean the mess. “It’s okay, your dad gave us a whole container.”

Jett tucked his head under Harrison’s chin, and he pretended to ignore the sniffles and shaking shoulders. He smiled and played with Jett’s hair, enjoying the press of the warm body against his.

The wind outside rattled the house, and Harrison turned his attention to the window to check on the snow situation. It was falling at an alarming rate, but that was tomorrow’s problem.

When Jett stopped crying, he made Harrison sit while he cleaned the mess. They ended up needing a new blanket to replace the sauce-covered one, but once the replacement food was heated, and Jett was back under the blanket, they started the movie.

“You’re so annoyingly handsome and perfect,” Jett muttered so quietly that Harrison almost missed it. “Perfect body, perfect smile and even perfect gifts.”

“You literally bought me a car.”

Jett fidgeted with the pendant, rolling it between his fingers. “What’s a car compared to this? I’m never taking this damn thing off. ”

Harrison chuckled at the images those words conjured and focused his attention on the movie.

Jett hadn’t been lying when he said it was a long film. By the time the credits started rolling, the snow had fallen enough to cover the porch in a couple of inches.

Harrison picked his favourite James Bond movie and relaxed on the couch with Jett on top of him.

Jett’s attention span, which usually wandered during movies, was locked onto the screen for the entire movie.

Harrison kept giving him smug smiles whenever Jett met his gaze, because they were good movies.

It was dark outside, and they were halfway through their second Bond movie when a crack as loud as thunder shook the house.

Jett hollered and flung himself off Harrison’s chest and onto the floor.

The house went dark a second later. Their only source of light came from the flickering fire that was burning down to embers.

“Sonofabitch!” Jett said from the floor, his hand searching until Harrison took it. “What the hell was that?”

Harrison felt like his soul had left his body from fright. He had to take a moment to breathe and shake off the old familiar feeling that rose inside whenever it was storming.

“Lightning?” Harrison said, ignoring how shaky he sounded. “Maybe it…blew the transformer at the end of the road?”

Jett pushed himself onto his knees and touched their brows together. “Shit, are you okay? I’m right here, Grumbles. Take all the time you need.”

Harrison gave a shuddering breath, but he was slowly getting a grip on his anxiety. Being with Jett made it ten times easier to deal with.

“So handsome,” said Jett, kissing his forehead. “So grumpy and gentle.” Another kiss. “So perfect for me.” Kiss. “All mine.” Kiss. Kiss.

Harrison chuckled, soaking up the affection like a sponge. “Let’s get dressed and take a look. I need to get more firewood too, so we’ll do that while we’re out.”

Jett nodded and rose to his feet, holding his hand out for Harrison to take. They untangled themselves from blankets and heating pad wires, and Jett went to fetch shirts while Harrison lit a few candles .

“I would like to point out that if we were in the city—”

Harrison slapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

They put their boots and winter coats on, and Harrison led the way through the door and into the snow outside. The wind drift had piled snow against the door, but it was light enough that he could get it open with no issue.

Jett groaned when he stepped into snow that went past his knee. “This is crazy. I can’t believe we’re having a white Christmas this year of all years.”

Harrison walked down the porch steps, and he immediately spotted the problem. “Fuck.”

“What?” Jett asked, peeking over his shoulder. “Bigfoot?”

Harrison pointed to the black line in the snow that ran from the garage and alongside the driveway. “See that? That’s our powerline.”

“Well, shit.”

Harrison’s thoughts exactly. He pushed his way through the snow, keeping far away from the line as they shuffled down the driveway.

It was too hard to see anything in the darkness, but if he had to take a guess, he would say a tree took the line out.

The snow wasn’t heavy enough to do it on its own, and there were a lot of old trees beside the road.

“We can’t fix this tonight, so let’s get back inside,” said Harrison. “We’ll investigate when it’s light out tomorrow.”

“Yay,” Jett said sarcastically. “Can’t wait to hike back to civilization.”

Harrison pinched his cheek. “Go back inside, pretty boy. I’ll get us some wood.”

“You get any more wood, and I won’t be able to take it all,” Jett chirped, and Harrison felt his cheeks go red.

“Fucking brat,” Harrison growled. He spun Jett around and pushed him in the direction of the house. “Go before I shove snow down your pants to cool you off.”

Jett blew him a kiss and bolted before Harrison could make good on his threat. Shaking his head at Jett’s behaviour, Harrison began carving a path toward the warehouse where he kept the woodpile. His leg twinged painfully, but he wouldn’t be out for much longer.

And the colder he was, the more excuse he had to wrap himself around Jett and never let go.