Page 16 of The Loneliest Dragon at Christmas

“No! It felt…intense.” The word came out a little breathless.

“I see.” Jack flushed. He scratched at his neck. “I…ah…made that batch.”

Cas normally made those cookies. But Jack had offered to do it instead today. This had not gone unnoticed by his siblings. And whilst Jack had mixed the ingredients and formed the dough into crescents, he’d thought of Avery the entire time, of Avery eating the cookie, enjoying it, moaning as his eyelids fluttered shut.

“You made these for me?” Avery’s eyes widened. “I mean,” he exhaled, “not for me, obviously, but for?—”

“I did,” Jack cut him off.

Avery’s mouth hung open, ever so slightly.

Fuck, I want to kiss those lips.

“Thank you.” Avery licked his lips again. “I liked it very much.”

They stared at each other.

“What’s going on?” Cas’s whisper broke the silence.

A round of “shhs” followed.

Jack let out a breath. “Sorry about them.” He pointed behind him. “My siblings are idiots.”

“But you love them dearly.” Avery said the words matter-of-factly.

“Yeah.” Jack smiled. “I do.”

“How many siblings do you have?” Avery asked softly.

Jack laughed. “There are ten of us in total. Two sisters. Eight brothers.”

Avery’s golden eyes widened. “That many?”

Jack nodded. “I know it is a lot.”

“Jack,” Lacy called out.

Jack ran his tongue over the front of his teeth, trying to push down the flare of annoyance. “Yes, Lacy?”

“Don’t forget to ask Avery about the thing.” His youngest sister could be very annoying and determined.

“The thing?” Jack repeated.

“You know, the Christmas market thing.”

“What Christmas market thing?” Avery tilted his head.

“Well, you know the Christmas markets?” Jack asked.

Avery nodded. “Of course.”

“Well… We have a stall. We split our time working here and there during December.” Jack could feel his body heat as he spoke.

Then again, Jack always felt warm around Avery. “I was wondering if you might like to stop by the stall. I’ll be there tonight. I’m there most nights. You could say hello.” Jack took a deep breath. “And then maybe we could walk around, check out all the stalls, food, and festive stuff. We could do it together.”

“Really? At the Christmas markets? Like a…” Avery sucked in a breath. “Like a…a date?”

Jack nodded.