AllFreeNovel
Share Us
DECEMBER 2016
Cyril and Rian are renting a tiny apartment, still saving up for a house. The kitchen and living room are one open space that takes forever to heat up. Big windows, covered with iron bars overlook a line of factories. The view is as sad and gray, as it is in any blue-collar industrial neighborhood.
The inside of their modest home doesn’t fare much better. In a desperate attempt to boost up their holiday spirits Rian has tried his best to decorate the shit out of this terrible little dwelling. Alas, no matter how much effort he has put into sprucing up the joint, it is still a cold, crappy excuse of a one-bedroom rental.
Ty doesn’t care where they are, or what the place looks like. Being with Rian and Cyril for the holidays is the best gift he could ask for. The days they spend together, are dedicated to cooking each other’s favorite meals, playing old board games with missing pieces, reading, and listening to Cy tell cheesy dad jokes or lecturing them on the benefits of clean eating and regular exercise.
Unfortunately for Cy, Rian loves any kind of spicy food and that’s more than fine with Ty. Ty is a not-so-closeted sugar-indulging fiend and he gladly got in trouble with Rian when they would veer off the ridiculously healthy diet Cyril shamelessly enforced on his two favorite people.
Cyril and Rian shared a small bedroom with two twin beds and Rian’s big work desk by the window. Ty slept on the couch in the small living room.
Oh, how familiar he is with thisfucking couch.
There is no doubt in his mind, that he can get a better night’s sleep resting on a pile of rocks, crawling with fire ants.
As soon as Rian and Cy tell him they are ready to move out and buy a home of their own, he is personally coming back just for this terrible excuse of furniture and torching it to ashes.
He glares at the offending representative of the famous Scandinavian conglomerate.
Your days are numbered asshole.
This isn’t their first Christmas together, but it is the first he and Rian end up spending a lot more time together as Cyril has somehow gotten a shitty cold. On their way back home, one of their connecting flights is canceled and they sleep on the floor of this tiny airport in the middle of nowhere.
Sleeping rough is not a big deal for any soldier, but if only he had slept. Cyril had spent the whole night trying to get blankets and food for his fellow soldiers traveling together with them. Ty has begged him to rest at least for an hour, but that stubborn donkey doesn’t sit down until the first signs of fever start slowing him down.
Ty takes over for him, but by the time they are back home, and Rian picks them up from the airport, Cy is reduced to a babbling sleepy, snotty baby. After that, he had opted to spend a good part of his leave in bed, snoozing and catching up on Netflix shows on his laptop.
Ty and Rian have known each other for years now. There should be no awkwardness between them. Perhaps Ty shouldn’t even feel giddy about having Rian all to himself, yet he can’t help it. He is so foolishly in love. He still thinks about Rian all the time and smiles like a moron when he remembers something cute about him. Like the way his messy hair falls over his cheeks when he’s fallen asleep on the couch, or the way he is so impatient to taste what he is cooking, that he constantly has his fingers dipped into pots and pans, or the way he still blushes when Ty is near him.
Rian’s just shy.And yes, that may have been true years ago, when they were both barely out of their teens, but these days the boy that has held his heart in a vice for years is all man. His wide chest and broad back, from all those hours of swimming, stretch the fabric of his hoodies just right.
Ty’s been careful not to ogle him, but how the fuck is he supposed to keep his cool, if Rian walks by him, with just a thin towel wrapped around his narrow hips?
Still a creep move, dude.
Ty isn’t dating anyone because what if there might be a chance they get together?
“Fat chance,” he mutters to himself, scrubbing his face from the last traces of sleep.
Damn, this place is fucking cold.
Rian is making coffee, moving quietly in the kitchen. He is always graceful and mindful of Ty, carefully maneuvering in the cluttered apartment, and doing his best not to disturb his sleep.
Ty stretches and groans. This couch is fucking up his neck and back, but there is no place else he’d rather be than waking up to Rian’s mussed hair and sleepy face, dressed in an oversized green hoodie and gray sweats.
As soon as he sees Rian, everything fades away – the cold, the soreness in his back.Well, everything but…he glances at his tenting sweats.
Closing his eyes, willing his morning wood away, he listens to Rian making breakfast and humming to himself quietly.“Boys Like You”byTanerelle.It’s his current favorite on his Spotify list. Ty is following him on the platform, making sure he listens to all his playlists. In all fairness, he is keeping tabs on Rian on all of his social media accounts.
Definitely not like a stalker.
A tiny pang of jealousy makes him wonder if Rian is thinking about someone while he is singing to himself. He knows he has no right to wonder or to be upset about it, but he can’t help it. The very thought of any rando idiot trying to touch Rian sends him straight on the warpath and snuffs out his boner in no time.
Yes, Ty is fucking jealous.
He gets up hastily, stretching and blinking away the last of his sleep. After one last yawn, he walks to the kitchen nook where Rian meets him with a bright smile. Warmth thick as molasses spills inside Ty’s chest, transcending into a profound sense of comfort. His heart does its usual happy dance at the sight of Ri, and he smiles in return, feeling at ease.
Being anywhere near Rian feels like a blessing, like a wish come true.
