Nick let his gaze linger on Jackson’s mouth, and his lips tingled with another echo of their less-fleeting kiss under the mistletoe earlier. He’d managed to put it out of his head during the game, and now he remembered it again he felt edgy and unsettled. Was Jackson still thinking about it too?
“Yeah, good work, lads.” Pete gave them a thumbs up. “I was no help with that one.”
“That was bloody impossible,” Nick’s father said. “How on earth did you draw that?” He peered at Nick’s drawing and his eyes widened. “Oh. Of course.”
“C’mon. How else could you draw it?” He looked at his father’s effort to see that he’d drawn a guitar with someone’s hand and a vibrating string. “Oh yeah. I see what you were going for. But my way was much easier.” He grinned. “You didn’t stand a chance.”
“Apparently not.” Nick thought he heard a hint of humour in his father’s tone, but his face didn’t give much away.
After the game they sat and watched TV for a while until Adrian started yawning and set the rest of them off.
“Come on, darling,” he said to Maria. “We’d better head to bed. No doubt Seth will be awake at some ungodly hour.”
“Surely he’s too young to be excited about Christmas?” Pete frowned.
Maria laughed. “Yes of course he is. But he wakes around six a.m. every day, so I doubt tomorrow will be an exception.”
“Ugh. Rather you than me.”
“I’m heading to bed too,” Nick’s mother said. “Are you coming, love?”
“Yes.” Nick’s father stood, stretching as he yawned.
Left alone with Pete, Nick and Jackson now had a whole sofa to themselves, so Nick took the opportunity to put his feet up. He lay with his head in Jackson’s lap. “Is this comfy for you?” He looked up.
“Yeah.” Jackson smiled down at him. “It’s fine.”
Pete had the remote and was channel hopping. The rapidly changing images and sounds were doing Nick’s head in. “For fuck’s sake, Pete. Pick something and stick with it.”
“Okay, okay.” He settled on Independence Day, which had only just started, moved from the armchair he was in to the other sofa, and lay down to watch it.
Nick had seen the film so many times he didn’t need to pay much attention to it, which was good, because Jackson started stroking his hair, making it impossible to concentrate on anything apart from the delicious sensation. His fingertips sent sparks flying from Nick’s nerve endings through his body, igniting a strange tingling warmth in the pit of his stomach.
“Mmm.”
“Shh!” Jackson tapped his scalp lightly. Nick looked up to meet his gaze, and Jackson mouthed the words. “No sex noises.”
Nick grinned and mimed zipping his lips before turning towards the TV again. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift as Jackson combed through his hair with gentle fingers. The alcohol in his veins made his head feel fuzzy and his limbs heavy. He was just starting to doze off when the sound of loud snoring from the other sofa tugged him away from sleep.
“Jeez,” he grumbled. “Fucking Pete.”
Jackson chuckled. “Yeah, that is impressively loud.”
“He’s ruining my nap.”
“Want to head up to bed?” Jackson asked, his fingers still raking slowly through Nick’s hair. He said it so easily, as if they always went to bed together. For a moment, still caught in the liminal space between sleep and full wakefulness, Nick could almost imagine he’d slipped into an alternate reality where they actually were a couple.
“Yeah. Okay.” He sat and rubbed his eyes and then got up and reclaimed the remote from where it rested on Pete’s chest so he could turn off the TV. “Pete…. Pete!” He poked his unresponsive sibling.
“Hmph. Whassup?”
“We’re going to bed. I suggest you do the same. But bags we get to use the bathroom first.” Pete’s room was also on the top floor, and they shared a bathroom.
“’Kay.”
Nick didn’t reckon Pete was going to be moving anywhere for a while. “Well. I tried.” He shrugged at Jackson. “Knowing Pete, he’ll stumble up to bed in the small hours.” They turned the lamps off and went upstairs, leaving Pete in darkness.
“I’m dying for a pee.” Nick went straight into the bathroom to take care of business and then brushed his teeth afterwards.
In the bedroom he found Jackson sitting on the edge of the bed. “What are you waiting for?” Nick said. “I left the door unlocked.” In the bathroom in their flat they thought nothing of pissing in front of each other or knocking elbows over the sink while they brushed their teeth.
“Oh, right. I wasn’t sure whether I should.”
“Jackson. They all think we’re a couple, so nobody would bat an eyelid.”
“Yeah. Course.” He stood. “But this way you get to warm the bed up before I get in. It’s bloody freezing.”
This house was a lot colder than their well-insulated flat. Plus Nick’s father had always been really strict about turning the heating down low at night, so the temperature was dropping fast. Nick stripped to his boxers and put on a T-shirt before slipping under the chilly covers. Thankfully the duvet was thick, and the bed warmed up fast. By the time Jackson returned Nick was very cosy and starting to feel sleepy again.