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“He’s not angry,” I defend him with a smile. “He’s just a little damaged, but it’s not bad. It just is. And I think he won’t be one day. He asked if he could come to the parade with me, even though he doesn’t love the holidays. So, damaged may be a thing of the past in the next few weeks or months. And who of us doesn’t have a bit of baggage?”
“True,” Bryce says with a shrug. “Well, good luck. I hope you both have a good time while I’m freezing my nuts off and talking to people I might not like.”
I make a pssh sound as I drink from my own mug of coffee. Then I make a ‘blech’ sound when I realize I forgot to add creamer. Making my way to the fridge, I say over my shoulder, “You don’t like anyone but me and Jake.”
Bryce smiles when I mention his boyfriend. “Who else is there to like?”
I shake my head at him when there’s another knock at the door. Grinning, I skip to the door and open it wide, taking Andrew in. Gods, he is sexy. And all mine.
Pulling him in, I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him gently. He takes over the kiss, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing me long and deep. I would be content to continue if not for the throat clearing behind us.
Shit, I forgot all about Bryce.
Andrew pulls away from me quickly and I duck my head, feeling my face flame.
“If you two are done,” Bryce says, but I can hear the laughter in his tone. “Good to see you again, man.” He holds his hand out to Andrew. “Although I wish it weren’t because you were mauling my brother.”
Rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, Andrew shakes Bryce’s hand with the other, his face bright red. “Sorry about that. Good to see you too.”
“Dyl is grown so I can’t tell him what to do. Just don’t hurt him, yeah?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Andrew looks down at me with a soft look and I feel my heart melt just a bit. Okay, a lot. I’m a puddle of goo from just that look.
Bryce speaks to Andrew for a moment longer while I get my coat, scarf, and finish my coffee. “I’ll see you in two hours at the latest or that booth will be unmanned. You know I hate the parade crowd.”
I ignore Bryce as he leaves, grumbling about being a good big brother and skip over to Andrew. “Where were we before my brother so rudely interrupted?”
My alpha grins down at me and frames my face. “I think I was doing something like this.” He bends to kiss me gently and I swear my toes curl in my shoes. This fucking alpha will kill me with his sweetness.
What a wonderful way to go out.
We separate and Andrew runs a thumb over my bottom lip. “The parade will start soon. Do you go to the beginning and follow the floats down or …?”
I shake my head, pulling his hat down more snugly over his ears. “No. I usually miss the first few and don’t see them until they’re parked at the end. We can do whatever you want to do though. We can just walk to the booth and catch the floats as they drive past.”
“That’s fine if that’s what you want. This is your day, babe.” Andrew’s eyes go wide and I know my face is bright red. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I like it. Pickles, babe, what other pet names do you have for me?”
“Pain in my ass.”
Laughing loudly, I smack a kiss on his cheek and loop my arm through his so we can start our walk to the parade. It’s only about three blocks over, so it’s not far. The walk to the booth site will be about two miles, so we’ll have plenty of time to talk and see some floats.
The parade is in full swing by the time we make it to the street. There are large floats with people on the backs, waving and throwing out prizes. The homecoming kings from the local high school are on the first booth we see, looking happy, but a little cold with just their suits and kings’ robes on. The rest of the court throw out candy and Andrew reaches out—since he’s a few inches taller than even the tallest alpha standing there—and snatches a few for me. I give him a wide smile as I pocket the candy canes, wanting to put some in my wine when we get to the booth.
We stand for a few minutes, watching the floats go by, and I love the festive spirit in the air. The crowd is loud, clapping and cheering. Every one of the floats are decorated to within an inch of their lives, and I love them all. One is made up like a snow globe, an alpha inside dressed as a giant snowman. There is even fake snow drifting around him, giving it the appearance of being just shaken up.
Bending down to my ear, Andrew says, “That’s really clever. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Looking up at him, I beam. “Just you wait. You’ll see a lot of awesome floats. People are really creative for the holidays.”
Andrew nods, looking around at the people assembled, the decorations and the floats that are going past. “This is a lot.” I’m not sure of his tone, but it doesn’t sound like he’s too upset. But to get him away from it being too much, I tug on his hand.
“Come on. Let’s walk to the end. We can see floats while we walk if we don’t rush.”
Instead of moving at a brisk pace, we walk leisurely, occasionally stopping to get a view of the parade. Andrew catches me more candy and a few bags of popcorn balls, which I absolutely love. I didn’t get any last year and was hoping the old omega that makes them was going to be here this year.
I tuck his catches in my messenger bag, anticipating eating my treats while I’m helping people at the booth.
