Page 39 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 1

TILLER

Watching Mikey at the tree farm had been a joy, but even being able to go out into the snow and select a tree for the first time in years was special. I hadn’t realized how much I missed it.

We got the tree back to the house, surprising Mikey with the unique trick of blowing all the snow off the branches simply by driving with the tree tied to the roof.

On the way back, we stopped at a store to grab lights and decorations, but we ended up having to hustle back so I could get the tree inside the house before calling into the coaching staff and turning on the pregame coverage.

Despite having to work, I enjoyed every minute of the domestic scene that followed. Mikey spent the first hour of the game prepping and cooking something in the kitchen while the tree dried off in front of the picture window between the sitting area and the kitchen.

At one point he brought me a crudité plate with little pieces of salami, cheese, and olives on it, and I snacked in between conversations with Gonzales.

So far, Brent Little and Derek Mopellei were working well together, and thankfully the run game was also bearing fruit.

We were up by three points going into the second quarter when Mikey asked if I could talk on the phone and string lights at the same time.

For the next hour, I used the Jaguars’ possessions to focus on helping Mikey with the tree and then stopped to watch the game as soon as the Jags scored and the Riggers got the ball back.

While I enjoyed Gonzales asking for my advice and treating me like a key consultant on the Riggers’ passing game, I was selfishly annoyed it was causing me to miss out on giving Mikey and the holiday decorating my full attention.

Unfortunately, a late hit penalty halted our momentum right after the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter.

The setback made the final half hour of the game excruciating.

Gonzales didn’t listen to my suggestion to trust Brent in the slot, and he advised Coach to call a running play instead.

It wasn’t enough. Time ran out without a touchdown, and we lost 20-27.

By this point, Mikey had disappeared from the kitchen area completely, and I could see the familiar veins popping up on Coach’s head on the high-def television. He was pissed. And Mikey had bolted.

I wondered how many times Mikey’d had to bear the brunt of a Rigger loss in his lifetime. How many times had he been left with a Sunday night depression at the very least and a raging father at his worst?

After hanging up with Gonzales, I blew out a breath and ran my hands through my already messy hair. I’d spent the last half hour pacing and barking into the phone. My adrenaline was pumping, and my stomach hurt. I hated this part. My father had always warned me that high highs meant low lows.

Ups and downs are what make the roller coaster, son. But it’s a hell of a ride, ain’t it?

I rubbed my hands over my face and wondered, not for the first time, how men like Coach Vining could survive this kind of stress long-term. It wasn’t healthy.

After calming down and drinking the rest of the water from my water bottle, I shuffled back toward Mikey’s room. He wasn’t there. I looked around the house until finally spotting him out back under the fading light of the sun setting behind the mountains.

He was building a snowman.

I gathered up some items, threw on my boots, hat, and parka, and hustled out to join him. “Hey. What’re you doing out here?”

His face lit up so bright, I sucked in a breath. Mikey was gorgeous. The cold had pinked his cheeks, and playing in the snow had obviously brightened his mood.

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he asked with a laugh. “I’ve never gotten to do this before.”

I pulled a scarf and hat out of my coat pocket. “Here. He looks cold.”

Mikey laughed and wrapped the scarf around Frosty’s neck before plonking the hat on his head. “What else? He needs eyes.”

I pulled out the baggie of whole black olives. “Done.”

He accidentally mashed a few in an attempt to fix the olives to Frosty’s face, but we finally figured it out. Next, I handed him a carrot for the nose and a red Twizzler for the mouth.

Mikey’s eyes narrowed as he flapped the Twizzler at me. “Where’d you get this?”

I grinned at him. “Since when are you allowed multiple hidden candy stashes?”

His hands fisted on his hips. “Since I’m not paid a zillion dollars to be in tip-top shape. In fact, professional chefs are expected to be… rounded.”

I snorted. “You’re the furthest thing from rounded I’ve ever seen. Besides, Twizzlers are only forty calories per stick. Do you know how easily I can burn off forty calories?”

“By giving one small, rounded chef a very enthusiastic blow job?” he asked innocently.

I ignored his suggestion, but my dick definitely did not. “And do you know why I know how many calories are in those things?”

“Because you’re a sneaky sneak?”

“Because my… Mikey keeps a giant bag of these fuckers hidden inside an empty laundry detergent box in my laundry room.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Since when do you go in the laundry room?”

Did I dare admit the truth? “Since I had a legit wet dream about you maybe a year ago and was too embarrassed to let you see my sheets.”

His eyes twinkled, and his lips curved up. “No! About me? Really? Tiller Raine, you dirty dog. Raine was spankin’ the main vein.”

“You’re a shit poet.”

Mikey threw his arms out and spun in a circle in the snow. “Raine came in pain as he claimed my name!”

“This… was a mistake.” I tried to bite back the giant grin threatening to overtake my face.

“Tiller fondled his pillar of a willer. Wait. That was terrible.”

“ That one was terrible?”

His eyes flashed in the low light. “Raine, no need to explain.”

“Make it stop,” I groaned.

“It’s plain you strained to obtain me in vain. Instead… your fame was a stain on your counterpane. For shame.”

I stalked toward him and placed my hand over his heart. Just as his face began to soften with affection, I shoved him on his back in the fluffy snow.

“Ack!” He flailed for a second before realizing he’d fallen in the perfect position for a snow angel. He began moving his arms and legs through the fresh powder. “Thanks, Raine!”

I climbed on top of him and shut him up with a kiss before he could keep rhyming. By the time I was finished kissing him, he couldn’t have rhymed if someone had been there with a rhyming thesaurus and a million dollars. He was glassy-eyed and dazed. I wanted to devour him.

I stood up and grabbed his hand, pulling him up with me. “C’mon. Let’s get you warmed up inside.” In my mind I was already conjuring up images of stripping him down and shoving him into a hot shower, bending him over and sliding my way deep into his body to warm him from the inside out.

As I imagined how the scene would play out, we walked back to the warmly lit lodge hand in hand. Mikey asked me in a soft voice how the game ended up, and my dream snapped like a fragile soap bubble.

“Oh. We lost,” I admitted, noticing the tension in his body pick up. “Ran out of time.”

“Shit, Tiller. I’m sorry. Does it mess up your playoff chances?

” Mikey reached for the door and pulled it open, letting out the warmth and the fresh piney scent of the new Christmas tree.

Oddly, it smelled like home. Like the kind of place I wished was our home.

I wanted more days like this with Michael Vining.

Days of snowy adventures and holiday decorating.

Listening to him putter around in the kitchen while football was on the TV.

Watching him laugh and try something new for the pure joy of it.

I wanted more time with him, full stop.

“Tiller?”

I looked up from kicking off my boots onto the nearby mat.

“Yeah, uh… It depends on how everyone else does tonight and how the Titans do tomorrow night against the Chiefs, but we still have a shot at the division title. If the Titans win and we don’t want to rely on a wild card spot, we need to beat the Steelers which won’t be easy. ”

My phone was ringing from farther inside where I’d left it on the kitchen counter. Mikey glanced in that direction and then sent me an understanding smile. “I’ll hop in the shower while you take your call.”

I leaned in and kissed his red nose, wanting so badly to tell him how much he meant to me, how incredibly special this time out of time was, and how I wanted desperately for it to become real when we got back to Houston.

But I didn’t. Instead, I made my way to the kitchen and swiped my phone before looking to see who it was.

“Where in the Sam Hill are you?” Coach shouted through the phone. “I been trying to get ahold of you for thirty fuckin’ minutes.”

I was shocked by the vitriol in his voice, but then I reminded myself how much pressure he was under to make the playoffs. The loss would be sitting on him hard.

“After I got off the phone with Gonzales, I went outside to cool off. Why? Did something happen?” God, please don’t let someone in Mikey’s family be hurt or sick. “Is everyone okay?”

“I even tried getting ahold of Mikey to see if he knew if you were even still in Denver.”

Warning flags began waving across my mental landscape. Of course Mikey wouldn’t have told him we were off together, just the two of us. Coach thought I was at home with my parents. “Oh ah… What did you need, Coach?”

“I need you . Get back here. This injured reserve bullshit isn’t working for me. We’ll have to figure something out.”

At first, I thought he was joking. “I thought Brent and Derek did a great job tonight. It looks like?—”

“I don’t give a shit what you think. Just get back here in time for Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh. Tell your parents I’m sorry you can’t stay.”