"He's out doing something today. Let's go!"Holly backed out of the driveway and headed toward the mall. "Doing what?""Some job, I guess, but he was very cryptic about the whole thing."Steph opened her eyes wide. "Maybe he wants to buy a special Christmas gift for someone." It was clear who she thought that someone might be.Holly sputtered out a laugh. "Easy girl, I wouldn't want you to get overheated.""Oh stop, you're just jealous he picked me.""You keep telling yourself that," said Holly, looking at me in the rear view mirror with a wink.I sighed, letting their ordinary banter ground me to the real world. "It's nice to see you two getting along again."Steph smiled at me over the seat back. "I couldn't bear to stay angry over Christmas. It just wouldn't be joyful.""I think she called me because there are too many people visiting at her house," said Holly."That's true, but I really am sorry about what I said."The parking lot was insane and it took forever to find a spot. Whe

"I need to find a way to wave off Steph. She's already starting to pick out china patterns, for fuck's sake.""I don't know what to do, Holly. It can't possibly work."Her face softened and she took my hand. "But that doesn't matter when you're with him, does it?"I couldn't trust myself to speak, so I shook my head."God, what a mess, I don't know what to say. Not many people have stumped me, girl. What does he want to do?""Damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead." I chuckled sadly. "Maybe he's right. At this point, Mom would probably be relieved I'm not gay.""What happened?" She didn't seem as surprised as curious."She and I had a very interesting discussion this morning. Apparently she's been worried that I'm just pretending to date guys to hide the fact that I'm gay. Can you believe that?""How the hell did that come up?""Yesterday she said that she wished Steph and I had been closer growing up, implying she wished BF and I weren't. I got mad. Today, after we apologized, we we

Mom opened the door and came in singing. "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"I worked the lotion into his fingertips. "Hi Mom."John put on a strained smile. "Did you have a good day, Aunt Lisa?""I sure did. It may be a record for us, which means that end-of-the-year bonus is in the bag. And my employees were all buzzing about the hot, young pianist playing in the atrium today," she said grinning and mussing his hair."That would be me. My hands are shot," he replied as I got my scissors and trimmed a couple of rough cuticles."Kate will get them in shape again. Have you eaten dinner?""Yeah, I got a free meal at the mall.""Kate, what about you?""Steph and Holly came over and we ordered a pizza. There are a couple of pieces left over in the fridge, if you want them." When I'd finished trimming the snaggy bits, I put lotion up to his forearms and began to massage his muscles. "You probably should eat a banana to get some potassium or you'll have cramps later."He nodded.

When she slid over a flat square package, I had no idea what it could be. The paper came off to reveal a 2013 calendar with pictures of mugs full of steaming coffee. Puzzled and a little disappointed, I looked up at John, but he offered no explanation, only an enigmatic smile. "Thank you.""You're welcome."With the present opening out of the way, we cooked breakfast together with Christmas music playing in the background. I made cinnamon rolls while Mom fried bacon and eggs and John set the table. After we ate, John plugged his tablet into our television and we had a long video call with Aunt Susan, Uncle Tom, Nate, and little Alex. Mom made phone calls to other relatives while John and I sat on the couch and read. All morning I tried to tease some kind of meaning out of his gift to me with no success.Later, Mom played games on her new tablet until she started nodding off in the afternoon. John finally turned off his tablet and stuffed it in his backpack. "Aunt Lisa, Kate and I are

"These taste pretty good." he whispered into my ear, pulling my ear lobe between his lips. "They're a little dry though. Do you have something a little more..." he paused when I took his hand and slipped it down into my sweats. "Oh, there's something I'd like to try."The moment his fingertips brushed over me, I pushed against him and his shaft was hard against my ass. "I need you to take me to bed right now."Bending down, he picked me up and carried me swiftly through the door to the bedroom. When he put me down on the bed, he quickly pulled off his shirt and pants. I sat up and took off my sweatshirt and unhooked my bra. His eyes were fixed on me, moving from one part of my body to another and the lust on his handsome face revved my engine.He said, "Oh, look, you match all the way down," he said, his eyes taking in every inch of me."I was hopeful, too."He slid into bed next to me, kissing my lips, his hands cupping my breasts. When he bent to take my nipples between his lips, I