Page 141 of Men of Fort Dale: The Complete Series

His relief was cut short, eyes snapping open. That only made him wince from the brilliant sunlight streaming into the room. Grunting, he tried to roll away, only to be stopped by a solid mass behind him that he gracelessly slammed into.

From behind, Matt groaned pitifully. “Jesus, just tell me to move, man.”

His mind was desperate to make sense of what was happening, even as his memory banks opened and flooded his head. He managed to roll to his side, facing Matt as the other man rolled away with another series of grumpy mutterings.

To make matters worse, Matt wasn’t wearing a shirt as he finally settled on sprawling on his back.

Either he’d undone the button of his jeans last night, or they’d come undone on their own.

The result was the same, with Matt’s pants having been shoved down, along with his underwear, revealing his bare waist and the faintest peek of short hairs creeping up from the waistline.

“Fuck,” Nick muttered, headbutting his pillow to clear the image from his mind.

“Bit early for that,” Matt muttered, scratching his stomach.

Nick could only groan plaintively. He knew if he looked up, he would see Matt sprawled out, looking sleepy and inviting.

Lord above, why had Matt chosen to sleep with him after last night?

Then again, even Nick couldn’t have predicted how he would feel the next day other than guilt-ridden and sorry for himself.

He certainly wouldn’t have predicted feeling a little more aroused than usual.

“Floodgates and walls,” he muttered, answering his question to himself.

Matt groaned. “You telling me about your dream or having a conversation with yourself?”

Nick sighed, refusing to pick his head up. “Why are you like this?”

The soft sound of scratching stopped. “What’d I do?”

“You’re acting like nothing is wrong,” Nick muttered, wishing he could think straight before he had this conversation.

Matt grunted. “Only thing wrong right now is you’re thinking way too hard for having just woken up.”

“Matt,” Nick groaned.

There was a pause, followed by a surprised grunt. “That’s new.”

Nick dared to peek out from his pillow to understand. Matt was sitting up, hunched over with his legs crossed. His hair stood up in the back as it usually did when he woke up. He was staring thoughtfully at Nick, which thankfully distracted Nick from anything else he might see.

“What?” Nick asked.

Matt shrugged, swatting Nick’s butt. “Get up. I’ll get your zombie brain some coffee started.”

Nick grunted. “Matt, seriously.”

“We can talk about what you told me last night and the fact that you kissed me after you’ve had some caffeine,” Matt said, twisting off the bed.

“Oh sure, just throw it out there,” Nick hissed.

“If I don’t, you’ll keep finding all sorts of roundabout ways of saying it or ways to avoid saying it.

You’ve had feelings for me for years, and you got bold enough to act on it last night by kissing me.

There, it’s been said. Now get your awkwardness out of your system, and come have some coffee,” Matt said, padding toward the door.

“That way, we can just talk about it instead of dancing around it.”

Nick could only gape at his friend as Matt left the bedroom. He was distracted only by the slope of the man’s back and the way his muscles rolled as he tried to shift the tightness of his limbs away.

He continued staring at the empty doorway, even as faint shuffling sounds echoed from the kitchen. The sounds of his best friend going about his normal routine were oddly comforting. It had always been like that for them, an ease and comfort shared that came without trying.

Nick snorted softly as he pushed himself to sit on the bed.

Just like it had always been Matt who looked at things simply.

Matt worried and fretted over what he presented to others, but he was a simple man.

It was why so many social situations were awkward and nerve-wracking for him.

Things were what they were, but people weren’t always like that, and it caused Matt to trip and stumble when dealing with other people.

So, of course, Matt would look at the night before as something easily dealt with.

Maybe partially because he hadn’t been living with the emotions and worries for the better part of a decade.

But also because that’s just how Matt was.

Just as it had been easy for him to crawl into bed with Nick as he was used to, as though nothing was wrong, so too would Matt see the awkwardness as something they could hurdle together.

Had it been anyone else, Nick would have wondered what was wrong with him. But with Matt, he knew full well Matt didn’t question it because he didn’t feel the need to. For him, they could weather anything and come out the other side as close and tight as ever.

Whether that would happen remained to be seen, but at least one of them had confidence.

“You gonna sit up there all day?” Matt called. “It’s Christmas Eve, for God’s sake. Come down and get your coffee.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Nick called back.

“No, she’s probably herding wet cats in the main house right now,” Matt shot back.

Nick chuckled, knowing that was probably the most accurate way of summing up his family. With a grunt, he threw his legs over the edge of the bed and stretched. Knowing Matt was right and he couldn’t spend all day hiding in the bedroom, he made for the stairs.

He stopped in the hallway, eyeing a large box in the living room entrance. “Matt? Why is there a box in here?”

A snort echoed out of the kitchen. “The same reason there’s breakfast leftovers in the fridge. I guess Emily and Nicole went one step further than I asked.”

Nick came around the corner, frowning. “And what did you ask?”

Thankfully for Nick’s sanity, Matt wore a shirt, though he’d changed into a comfortable pair of loose lounge pants. He was leaning against the kitchen counter, sipping from a steaming mug.

“I asked them to drop off something for me, and they left breakfast too,” Matt said.

Nick glanced at the box. “And what’s in it?”

Matt beamed. “Christmas decorations.”

“Seriously?”

“Hey, it’s Christmas Eve and it doesn’t look like it in here. If I’m going to be celebrating Christmas out here, it’s going to look like it, damn it.”

“The main house is covered in decorations and will probably be three times that tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but this is the place where we’re staying.”

And just like that, Nick lost any ability to argue.

Once more, it was a simple matter to Matt.

They weren’t back home, so Matt was going to make their temporary, shared home look like Christmas.

It was one of the many ways Matt showed his vested interest in keeping his and Nick’s lives mutual.

It warmed Nick as always, and just like every time before, he felt a tug in his chest at the thought.

“And your whole family thinks you’re nursing a hangover, so they’re going to be shooed off,” Matt added.

Nick froze, reaching for the huge cup of coffee waiting for him. “I...what?”

“I ran into Nicole and Emily last night while I was out walking. Talked to them for a bit, and they promised to keep the family off our backs and apparently go the extra mile to do the same with your mom. And don’t ask me, I don’t know what that last one involves, they didn’t say,” Matt warned.

Nick sighed, taking the cup in hand. “You told them.”

“I did. But since they weren’t exactly shocked, I’m guessing they knew a lot before.”

“They did,” Nick muttered into his cup.

Matt nodded. “Good, I’m glad you could talk to someone about it.”

Nick watched Matt pull out plastic containers from the fridge and set them on the counter. With a grin, Matt patted his hip and walked out, and the sound of rummaging quickly followed. Nick shook his head, unable to help his smile as he stood in the kitchen, dutifully drinking his coffee.

“Oh,” came Matt’s voice. “Those devils.”

Nick raised a brow as he took another sip, waiting. He only had to wait a few seconds before hearing a soft beep. Another moment and another beep, and then came the sound of Christmas music.

Matt popped around the corner, holding up a small, colorful cylinder. “Bluetooth speaker!”

Nick laughed as Matt disappeared. Of course, his sisters had heard about Matt’s obsession with the Christmas season.

And, of course, they had figured he would have Christmas music downloaded onto his phone.

Nick was not in the least bit surprised to hear Jingle Bell Rock, and he was sure Matt was eagerly hopping up to start throwing decorations all over the place.

Not one to miss a good show, Nick refilled his cup with the strong brew and exited the kitchen. Stepping into the living room, he stopped at the doorway. Matt had started on the small fireplace with a sparkling garland while a small string of lights waited on the couch.

Matt glanced over his shoulder as the music played softly. He grinned, eyes sparkling with delight as he taped the garland to drape in swoops over the mantelpiece.

“They spoil you,” Nick said fondly.

“You’re worse,” Matt pointed out.

Which was true, but Nick only smiled as he watched his friend.

It felt so domestic, watching Matt eagerly string up Christmas decorations as Nick watched on with a cup of coffee.

It was exactly what he always loved about them, even if part of him wished it had started with a gentle kiss and maybe a bit of roaming hands.

They had always done domestic so well, that comfortable intimacy that made the everyday things so easy to do together.

Matt grabbed the lights. “So, on a scale of one to ten, how guilty are you feeling about kissing me last night.”

And the magic was gone.

Nick grimaced. “Ten seems like a rather small number.”

Matt snorted. “I figured.”

“It wasn’t…” Nick began, looking down at his bare feet.

“Right?” Matt guessed.

“Yeah.”

“You act like you pinned me down and forced yourself on me, Nick.”