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“Thistime?”
He grinned. “Trust me, you’ll be begging to do this again. And you know what? We probably will.” Then he pulled on the reins with both hands. “Let’s go, girls.”
There was snorting, huffing, chuffing, andOh my God, we wereflying. The world below fell away, and I clung to Santa, my fingers digging into the soft cloak, wishing his arm was still around me. The reindeer strained against their harnesses, heading upward into the black sky sprinkled with stars.
And there we were, flying over hills, fields, cities, some places clothed in darkness, others alight with streetlamps, windows, car headlights… High above us, a plane crawled across the heavens, taking its passengers who knew where. The reindeer slipped into a more comfortable speed, and Santa sat back, the reins in one hand.
Another shiver trickled through me, and he put his arm around me once more.
“Better?”
“Much.” Warmth radiated from him, and I laid my head on his shoulder, listening to the bells hanging from the harnesses that tinkled and chimed. I peered down, trying to fix our location, but the night pressing in on the land below made recognition difficult. “However do you find your way?”
He laughed. “I’ve been doing this for so long, I could do it blindfolded.” He glanced at me. “But this is a first.”
“You’ve never taken anyone else for a ride before?”
“Never.”
My chest swelled with pride. “Wow. You know how to make a guy feel good.” Then the solid earth below grew even more solid, and I realized we were coming in to land. “So soon?” I wanted to stay up there, to enjoy the magic a little longer.
To enjoy his arm around me.
“I said it would be a short trip.” He pulled up on the reins, the sleigh banked, and the reindeer dropped gracefully to the ground, landing on the disturbed snow from where they’d taken off.
He turned to me. “Did you like that?”
“No,” I announced with a straight face. Then I grinned. “I loved it. And now I can’t wait for next year.”
“I promise the next trip will be longer. And I’ll let you choose where we go.”
“Seriously?” All thoughts of Kris had fled, replaced with the memory of riding through the night sky, Santa’s arm around me.
His strong arm.
His warmth.
Despite the cold, my dick twitched, and it was in that moment I realized something important.
All the men I’d dated so far? All the ones I’d been attracted to?
They all looked like Santa.
When I was forty
2007
Santa settled back in the chair. “You’ve really done things with this place. I like it.” The little house was just right for me. I was close enough to the river I could hear it at night when the wind was still. New Hope was an LGBTQ+-friendly place, with a sea of rainbow flags wherever you looked. There were quaint shops, cafes, restaurants… The commute to work wasn’t a drag, and I loved my job.
Everything was a win-win.
Well, not quite everything.
My once-a-year friend still visited, but he didn’t disclose anything about his life.
It was starting to worry me.
“So… the big four-oh.” Santa sipped his whiskey.
