The surgeon was right. It was going to be a rough time for Rowe regardless, but maybe he could come up with something that created their own memory, something to add joy to Rowe’s life.###
Rowe sat on the lowered tailgate of his truck, his keys clenched in his left hand and his cell phone in his right, pressed to his ear. He’d just gotten home and was trying to unload the truck when Lucas had called. He’d spoken to him just the day before while he was at the hospital with Noah.
“I’m okay, I swear,” Rowe said for the third time.
“You’re not okay. We all know it. It’s okay if you’re not,” Lucas pressed.
“Then quit fucking asking if you know I’m not okay!”
“Ward…”
Rowe growled. “Yes, I miss her, but I’m not going to disappear off the face of the earth again. I think we’ve both learned our lesson.” He paused, letting the heavy silence sink into their conversation.
Lucas cleared his throat. “Definitely.”
“Look, if you want to worry about someone, worry about Keegan. He’s the one living with me, putting up with my moody ass. You think this is the kind of Christmas he had in mind when he finally got out of the Army?”
“I think he’s happy as long as you are.”
Rowe grunted. Noah would have said the same thing, but he didn’t feel like it was enough. He wanted to do more. Shoving to his feet, Rowe kicked a small rock sitting in the middle of his driveway and watched it bounce into the street. “I’m good, Luc. Let’s just get through this holiday and then we can start working on getting back to great.”
“I like that plan.”
He smirked as he wished Lucas a good night. His gaze strayed to the contents of his truck bed as he shoved his phone into his back pocket. Just looking at it made his stomach twist into an uncomfortable knot. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, getting the anxiety to ease slightly. He’d go inside. Eat dinner with Noah. Get back to normal for a little while, and then try this again later.
But normal wasn’t what was waiting for him in the house.
Rowe stopped in the process of closing the front door when several things seemed to hit him all at once. The lights were all turned off and the house was lit by a dozen flickering candles, casting the living room in a warm glow. Something small and dark hung from the ceiling and throughout every room he could see from the entrance. It was like a tiny forest was sprouting from the plaster.
And to top it all off, Noah was sprawled across the couch, naked except for a pair of tiny briefs with an image of Santa Claus stretched across his junk. The merry old elf’s mouth was wide open as if he’d been caught mid-laugh.
“What the fuck?” Rowe choked out, finally shutting the door when a cold wind slipped through the narrow opening. “What’s on the ceiling?”
“Mistletoe.” Noah jumped to his feet, revealing that he was wearing a pair of felt reindeer antlers. “You wanna play some reindeer games?”
Laughter slammed through Rowe, knocking him back against the door so that he was leaning on it for support. Noah…Noah was fucking perfect. The man always knew how to force him out of a bad mood. He surprised Rowe like no one else ever could. Rowe gasped, trying to catch his breath as his laughter gave way to low chuckles. Noah stood in the middle of the living room, fists on his hips and a wicked grin on his lips.
“Yeah, let’s play,” Rowe growled. He pushed away from the door and started to stalk toward Santa’s reindeer.
“Wait!” Noah said, throwing both hands out to stop Rowe. “You’re under the mistletoe.”
Rowe looked up and found he was, in fact, under a small sprig with white berries. “It’s kind of hard not to be. It’s everywhere!”
Noah closed the short distance between them and captured Rowe’s mouth in a rough kiss, while at the same time sliding his hands inside of Rowe’s coat. Rowe immediately responded to Noah’s show of force, opening his mouth, letting the other man dominate him while tugging his coat off his shoulders. The second the heavy material thumped to the floor, Noah broke off the kiss and stepped back.
“Every time I kiss you under the mistletoe, I get to remove an article of your clothing.”
Rowe arched an eyebrow in question. “That’s a rather easy game.” As if to test Noah, he slid a few inches to his right so that he was standing under a new sprig of mistletoe. Without hesitation, Noah was on him, tugging at the dark green waffle Henley and lifting it over his head before shoving his tongue deep into Rowe’s mouth. Rowe groaned loudly, his arms circling Noah’s waist. He would never get enough of this man. His hands slid down to cup Noah’s ass and was surprised to hit bare skin rather than fabric.