A clash from the kitchen followed by a curse signals that Gideon must have arrived back from where he’s been hiding these past few nights. The noise is followed by a melodious rendition of that loathsome Mariah Carey song where the occasionalyouuuuuuuuu isbelted out at the top of his lungs. Hopefully, he’s makinghot, hot chocolate.
Sighing, Nix watches from the threshold, half-longing to melt into the warmth, half-wanting to avoid questions about his mood.
Spotting a perfect, irresistible cuddle spot between Jamie and Luca—who is damn cute in a fleecy squirrel-themed onesie, complete with feet and a hood—Nix aims to slip between them.
“Hey, Baby. Did Finn warm you up?” Luca says, waggling his eyebrows and opening his arms.
Jamie chuckles as he makes a slice of room between them. “Nix, are you wearing my entire closet?”
“What gave it away? Is it all the black?” Nix gripes, flopping down and letting Jamie’s arms pull him close. The introspection has done nothing to improvehis mood despite the glow from two impeccable toppy-Finn orgasms.
“Meow.” Rowan’s self-preservation instincts must be at a low because he adds a sassy hand-claw. Then again, he also digs out a granola bar from his cargo pocket and lobs it over like an apology.
Leo rises with a theatrical groan, cracking his neck. “Okay, okay. I’ll start a fire. That should warm you up in no time.” He never could resist a chance to flex his Boy Scout mastery.
Grayson groans at the mention. Already down to a tank and shorts—the former of which shows off his extremely nice arm muscles—when he leans over for a kiss, Nix has an eyeful of a lean eight-pack. “It’s okay, Gray’s already sweating. I’ll survive.”
“Look, if you’re cold, then we make a fire. I can go stand outside and cool off if I need to.”
“Or better yet, Grayson can just go naked. Not like anyone will complain,” Gideon adds with a smirk. He tosses Grayson an ice-cold bottle of water before putting a tray holding eight mugs of hot chocolate—complete with whipped cream and red and green sprinkles—on the coffee table/sex bench.
Without a word, Rowan theatrically mimes zipping his lips and throwing the imaginary key away.
Tragically, Grayson does not strip down. He just takes his cocoa and gulps down the burning hot liquid, licking away the last bit of whipped cream with a wink and a smirk.
“Did you wear Finn out?” Jamie whispers in his ear, soft lips sending heat down his spine. If he keeps it up, Nix could shed one of these infernal layers of black hoodies and sweats. “Should I go up, see for myself? Make sure he’s alright?”
The faint scrape of claws on hardwood precedes Tsuki’s entrance, her nose lifted like she’s hunting whipped cream. Behind her, Finn emerges barefoot, a new blue sweater tugged on over his broad chest, cheeks pink from heat or something better.
Nix can’t help it—the glow of being the cause of that smile flares in his chest. He blows him a kissbefore he can overthink it.
Finn grabs it out of the air and puts it in the pocket of his navy pants.
Jamie nods at the red box tucked under Finn’s arm. “Whatcha got there?”
The metal guard over the fireplace clangs as Leo sets the blaze alight and pokes the smaller pieces of kindling into a tight formation under the logs. Tsuki crowds in behind Leo as he crouches in front of the fire. She gives a huge sigh as the heat warms her flank, and her eyes slide closed, like now that all her people are in one place, she can finally nap.
Finn’s voice is soft and careful, “It’s for Secret Santa. Nix and I were talking earlier—”
“That hickey doesn’t look like it came from too much talking,” Luca mumbles through a mouth full of chocolate croissant. Now standing in front of the fire, Luca’s bare ass peeks out through the open butt-flap of his squirrel onesie.
Nix short-circuits. Because yep, that’s a tail. Tucked neatly between those golden cheeks.
Wait. What did he say?It’s only then that Nixhearswhat Finn said.
Embarrassment and dread drop like a stone in his belly, and he sends an angryFinn!in warning along their mental bond.
Out loud, he says, “Please don’t.” He says, recognizing right away that this is what has put him off since he’d climbed from Finn’s bed and tried to cover himself in the armor of Jamie’s closet. What made him squish in tight between him and Luca. And what—in part—made him unable to get rid of what he was sure was the weather-related chill.
“It’s going to be okay, Nix. Trust me. Look, every year we buy each other gifts for Christmas. Big, extravagant things. But this year, I thought maybe we could do something different.”
“But I like big extravagant things,” Leo insists, rifling for his phone like a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. “I was literally just thinking about it—look!” He turns the screen. A sleek black SUV gleams back at them, the kind with heated seats and a sound system that could make angels weep. “Finn’s getting his license, and…”
Leo exhales, almost imperceptibly, and reaches for Tsuki without thinking—his hand sliding into the thick fur, looking for comfort.
For a moment, Finn falters, stunned by the thought of what Leo must’ve planned—leather seats, custom plate, the works. But then he sees the soft pink flush blooming over Nix’s cheekbones like guilt, and just like that, his resolve hardens. “Uh…thank you for thinking of me. I would have liked that. But, we need to lead more with our hearts and less with our wallets.”
“I like it,” Grayson says, grabbing a second mug off the table and drinking that one, too. “We can make something.”
