Micah stiffened. “What guy?”
“The one you bumped into,” Mark said. “Was he a jerk to you, because you ran into him?”
Micah swallowed, beads of sweat sprouting across his brow. “No,” he mumbled. “He wasn’t a jerk.” Had Mark seen the way Micah looked at the man? Was that why he seemed so subdued? They talked a lot about being just friends, but they’d shared much intimacy since they’d first met. Had Mark unwittingly developed feelings for him? If he had noticed the exchanged looks between Micah and green eyes—was hejealous?
If it had been reversed…wouldMicahhave been jealous?
He thought he might.
“It just seems like something is bothering you,” Mark went on. “You were fine when you went to get the car keys.”
Micah scrambled for a viable excuse for his sudden change of behavior. “I think exhaustion just hit me all at once.” He looked at Mark and smiled. “I’m not used to such activity in the bedroom. Between that and preparing for this trip and the flight…I think I’m just crashing. I’ll be fine once I get some rest.”
Mark accepted it—though whether hebelievedit, was another thing.
The shuttle dropped them off and they found their car parked in its slot. They stowed their luggage in the trunk and drove away from the airport.
Micah turned on the radio and found a station that was playing Christmas music, coming into it in the middle ofSanta Claus is coming to town.When it ended, a couple commercials aired, thenAll I want for Christmas is youbegan to play. Micah was immediately thrust back to the diner last Christmas Eve. That was the song playing on the jukebox when he first walked in. He hadn’t even known he remembered that detail until just now.
The lyrics wrapped around Micah’s heart and began to squeeze.
‘I just want you for my own…more than you could ever know…make my wish come true…all I want for Christmas is you.’
He turned his face away from Mark as his head was suddenly filled with images of the emerald-eyed stranger—and his vision began to blur. What the hell was wrong with him?
When he cast a quick look at Mark, the other man was staring out his own side window.
Micah faced forward and blinked back the forming tears. What had happened to their pleasant trip?
As they drove along in silence—but for the radio—Micah’s thoughts lingered back at the airport, circulating around the stranger with the beautiful green eyes that refused to release him, even now, as the miles piled up between them.
Micah swallowed thickly and cast a hurt, confused glance at the winter sky as fissures webbed his heart, cracking it open.
Why are you doing this to me?
