Nick.
He rolled away gently, not wanting to disturb Nick by making the noisy bed creak. His back to Nick now, he tucked one arm under his pillow as he nestled his head. It had been a long time since Jackson had shared a bed with anyone. A spike of loneliness came with that thought, and he hugged his pillow a little more tightly.
As if Nick had sensed Jackson’s longing for contact, he rolled too, shuffling closer with an unintelligible mumble until he was spooning Jackson with one arm draped around him.
Jackson tensed. Is he going to wake up?
But Nick’s breathing settled back into the slow steady rhythm of sleep.
Fibre by fibre Jackson’s muscles relaxed again, and he allowed himself to lean into the solid warmth of Nick behind him. Eventually his breathing fell in sync with Nick’s and the gentle rise and fall washing through his body lulled him back into slumber.
Next time Jackson woke, they’d somehow switched positions in their sleep. Nick was curled in front of him in a foetal position with Jackson curved around him, arm around his waist. With Nick’s arse pressed tight against Jackson’s crotch and Jackson’s hand brushing Nick’s happy trail, this was definitely more than Jackson had bargained for when he’d signed up for sharing a bed with his friend. As he registered the proximity of their bodies and the intimacy of the position, an extra rush of blood went south, transforming Jackson’s lazy morning semi into a critical boner in a matter of seconds.
He tried to move away stealthily, but as soon as he moved, Nick stirred. “Mmm. Feels nice.” He pulled Jackson’s arm up and held it against his chest.
Jackson froze, wondering precisely what Nick was referring to. The cuddling? It has to be the cuddling. Hopefully his dick wasn’t that obvious. He forced himself to think of the least sexy things he could imagine: puke, clogged toilets, mushy peas, phlegm…. That soon fixed his problem and he was able to relax again. It did feel nice. Holding Nick like this was so natural, he could almost imagine that they woke up like this every day.
“Good morning,” he said, his breath ruffling Nick’s hair. “Did you sleep okay?”
“Yeah. Really well. You?”
“Yes.” Considering the strange bed and the fact that he wasn’t used to having company at night, Jackson had slept very soundly. “Oh, and happy Christmas. I nearly forgot.”
Nick chuckled. “Me too. Happy Christmas. What’s the time?”
“Dunno.” Jackson had taken his watch off to sleep.
Nick stretched to reach his phone from the bedside table. “Just after eight.”
“What does Christmas Day look like for your family? What time do things happen?”
“Well, unless it’s changed significantly since I was here last, they normally open presents around midday. Mum used to always make pancakes for breakfast. I’m not sure what time that would be though; I should have checked last night. Hang on, I’ll text Maria. She’ll know.”
He picked up his phone again and typed something, and then said, “She’s replying.” A pause. “Breakfast’s at nine apparently.”
“Cool. I wouldn’t mind a shower before breakfast.”
“Same. You can go first if you want,” Nick said. “I’m feeling lazy, and I can’t imagine Pete will be any competition for an early shower given the state of him last night.”
Jackson snorted. “You’re always feeling lazy.” Nick wasn’t known for his get-up-and-go in the morning. He almost always slept through his alarm. Although Nick worked from home, he often had client meetings or calls scheduled. After he’d missed a particularly important one that had cost him business, Jackson had taken to checking on him before he went to work, bringing him coffee, and kicking him out of bed if necessary.
“Yeah, I’m not going to argue with that.” Nick rolled onto his back and stretched like a satisfied cat. He grinned, and Jackson’s heart did a dangerous little flip. Even with his eyes puffy from sleep and his hair flat on one side and sticking up crazily on the other, Nick was gorgeous.
Jackson’s gaze settled on Nick’s lips for a moment and his mind shot back to Nick kissing him under the mistletoe. He wondered if that might happen again today, and he couldn’t decide whether it would be wonderful or terrible if it did.
That was a dangerous train of thought considering he’d only just got rid of his morning boner. “Right, shower time!” Jackson jumped out of bed and picked up one of the towels that had been left out for them. “See you in a few.”
As they went downstairs, the sound of traditional Christmas carols spilled from the open kitchen door, and the smell of pancakes and coffee wafted through the hallway. Jackson’s stomach rumbled in anticipation.
“Good morning. Happy Christmas!” Nick said as he walked through the doorway. “Do you need a hand with anything, Mum? It smells won— Oh!”