Mistletoe and Handgrenades - 1. Chapter 1

What would you do if someone tossed a handgrenade into your life? Do you run like hell or just hope and pray that it doesn’t go boom? Do you catch it like a baseball? Are you faster than an all-star shortstop, ready to tag out that sorry sucker trying to steal home-base? Your heart races, knowing that it could go off at any moment, essentially blowing your entire world to fucking smithereens!

Or do you cower and duck for cover, hoping that the shrapnel blast will only leave a flesh wound in your ass? That’s at least something you can recover from. The scars are going to be pretty gnarly no matter how fast you run, so you’re still not going to come out of this situation completely unscathed!

Well, when it came to catch or hide…Alexander Jamison Wellberg didn’t hesitate.

It only took a second for his entire world to be blown into little tiny fucking bits and pieces.

***

“What do you mean, the account is overdrawn? That’s not possible.” Alex growled into the phone. He was already late for work and didn’t have time to mess around with the bank, especially when they were calling him with such a ridiculous mistake. If he didn’t leave right now, there wasn’t a chance that he would make it to school before his students arrived.

“Look,” he ran his fingers through his shaggy blond hair and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “Just transfer however much you need from savings and I’ll look at it after class--”

His mouth dropped open. The veins in his neck popped when he heard the woman on the other end of the line tell him that his savings account was empty too.

Collapsing into the big leather chair behind his desk, Alex’s hands started to shake. This had to be a mistake…it had to be.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Wellberg, but all of your accounts have negative balances…”

He didn’t hear the rest of whatever the bank manager was saying. Empty? No way! How could that be? Alex wasn’t exactly sure just how much money he had in the bank. When you have a couple of millions as a buffer, you don’t always balance the checkbook to the penny at the end of each month.

“Mr. Wellberg, you seem surprised--”

Shouting to cut her off, “You’re damn right I’m fucking surprised! What the hell did you incompetent jackasses do with my god damn money?” Now Alex was on the verge of a total meltdown.

“We assumed you were relocating to Europe since you’ve been slowly moving money for the last six months, but these last few transfers were substantially larger than all the others. By the way, you’ll be getting a notice from the IRS since these last three transactions had to be reported--”

“What??? I never authorized any transfers, large or small!” Jeez, this really couldn’t be happening.

Banks are required to report all transactions over $10,000, so that means whoever hacked his account—Alex pushed himself out of the chair and stormed out of the study and into the bedroom.

No! No! No! It couldn’t be. The sinking feeling set in.

Grabbing the doorknob to the closet, he swung the door open and almost crumpled to the floor.

All of Eduardo’s things were gone. Everything! His shoes, of which there had been hundreds of them, his business suits, even the matching luggage set they bought for the vacation to Puerto Vallarta they took right before the new school year started, it was all gone!

Alex felt sick. How could Ed do this to him? Tears burned his eyes while the bitter taste of bile stung the back of his throat. He fought to keep all of his bodily fluids right where they were. There was no way he was going to lose it, not right now, not with a stranger on the phone line. It was bad enough that she could probably hear the crushing implosion of his heart; he wasn’t going to add sobbing and puking to his list of embarrassments for today.

While the woman babbled on about fraud and police reports and god knows what else, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. Ed’s number was listed first on his speed-dial. They had been dating for over a year now and had been living together since spring; until this morning, everything had seemed perfect, but right now the fairy tale was unraveling right before Alex’s eyes.

“The number you have called is not in service. Please check the number and try your call again.” The automated recording sent chills down his spine.

Ed left last night on another one of his business trips. Nothing was out of the ordinary…until this morning.

If Alex had anything in his stomach, he would have vomited it up right then. How could this happen? He thought Eduardo loved him, that they were perfect for each other.

Fighting the urge to scream, Alex walked back to the desk and flipped through the rolodex sitting on top. Charles Skinner, attorney at law, the card was easy to find, it was close to the front under ‘C’ for Charlie.

Charlie has been the family attorney for as long as he could remember. Alex had a bunch of phone numbers in his cell phone, but he had never added his lawyer’s number to the list. There had never been a reason before now.

Before Alex could get the woman off the phone so he could call trusty old Charlie, his cell phone started ringing. Snatching it off the desk, Alex didn’t recognize the number. He answered with a flurry of questions. “Eddie? Is that you? Where are you?”

The reply wasn’t what Alex had expected. The woman on the other end sounded offended when Alex didn’t know who she was.

She shouted over his barrage of questions. “No, Mr. Wellberg, it’s Kimberly at Holtzman and Kellerman Real Estate Agency,” her snippy tone grated on his nerves. He was not in the mood for her right now.

“Look, now is not a good time--” trying to cut off the snooty bitch was not as easy as Alex hoped.

Kimberly just talked louder and faster, “With your grandfather’s house in the present condition, you’ll be lucky if you don’t have to pay someone to take that dump off your hands--”

Kablam!

Alex was already dodging shrapnel when the rest of that bomb went boom!

***

“What the fuck do you mean, woman?” Alex growled loud enough for both women, on each end of the two phone lines, to balk simultaneously.

“Excuse me?”

“Pardon me?”

He pressed his cell phone to his chest to muffle his conversation with the bank. “I’m sorry,” struggling to recall the woman’s name, “Miss…whoever-you-are, I have to have to call you back after I speak to my attorney.” With that, he hung up the house phone and turned his attention back to the snobby realtor.

The Wellberg mansion was a million dollar estate. Since Alex was Jamison Wellberg’s sole heir, it had been left to him when his grandfather passed away over the summer. White Grove Manor was worth a fortune. Alex hated the idea of selling it, but after the blow-up between him and his grandfather two years ago, Alex had never returned to the house. He hadn’t gone back and tried to see him before he died, so there was no reason to step foot on the property now that the old man was gone.

“That house is worth a lot--”

She cut Alex off. “No, Mr. Wellberg, it isn’t worth anything. I don’t know the last time you were in that house--”

“It’s only been two fucking years!” He shouted into the phone.

Some days, that horrible afternoon felt like it was yesterday, and at other times, it felt like it happened a hundred years ago. The shouting, the anger, and the hurt, those painful memories tried to resurface, but Alex quickly pushed them to the back of his mind.

“Well, a lot can happen in two years. That’s not a very long time considering the amount of damage done to the house. I’ve spoken to Mr. Kellerman and we are withdrawing your listing. That property needs serious repairs, Mr. Wellberg. Get the place cleaned up and all the repairs made and then maybe we’ll talk.”

The line went dead. Glaring at the phone, Alex realized that bitch actually hung up on him.

***

The three hour drive seemed to take so much longer today than he remembered it ever taking in the past. Maybe it was his nerves twisting his stomach. It was the first time Alex actually dreaded making the trip to his grandfather’s home.

Before, he had always been excited to see the old man. As a kid, Alex spent every summer vacation at White Grove Manor. It was one of his favorite places on earth. At least it was until Alex decided to confide to the old man.

He thought the two of them had a special bond, one that could never be broken, but he was wrong. After Alex’s father died when he was nine years old, his mother thought it was a good idea for him to spend more time with his grandfather. Since Jamison had already retired, he had lots of free time and loved to spend it with his only grandchild.

The tightness in his chest caused Alex to gasp. He hated to think about his grandfather passing away without any family by his side. His father had been an only child just like him. There was nobody with the old man at the end.

Alex wanted to be there, but when Jamison told him to get out and never come back, he did as his grandfather had asked.

***

Concentrating on the road, Alex jumped when his cell phone suddenly buzzed in his lap. Laughing at his own silly nerves, he cleared his throat to activate the hands free system on his Cadillac.

“Answer telephone,” Alex smiled calming the tremor from his voice. He loved everything about the V-series Cadillac, including the super-soft suede steering wheel and fought to contain the purr, hovering at the back of his throat, when his fingers gripped the wheel even tighter.

“AJ,” Charlie sounded tired. Alex winced, knowing that the guy had been working non-stop on his case since he called him three days ago. “Well, son, I’ve got some more news for you, but it’s not good news.”

Alex took a deep breath. “Just spit it out, Charlie. Whatever you found out now, I can handle it.” Bracing himself, Alex didn’t know if his words were really true.

It was bad enough the man Alex loved had left him and cleaned out his bank accounts, but when Charlie called him two days ago to tell him Ed’s investment company was a complete sham, it was just another weight on his shoulders, ready to crush him at any moment.

Charlie hesitated. He’d watched Alex grow up over the years and hated to deliver more bad news. “Eduardo Mancini died five years ago from congestive heart failure at the ripe old age of seventy-three.”

That's great, real fucking great! Unless Alex had been screwing a corpse for the last year, everything about Ed had been one great big lie.

“I’m really sorry,” Charlie tried to make Alex feel better, but there was no use.

Alex tightened his grip on the steering wheel and pressed the gas pedal on the Caddy a little harder. “What about the liquidation sale?” He asked, eager to change the subject.

All of the belongings Alex wanted to keep were neatly packed into the backseat of his car. Everything else in his condo was scheduled to be auctioned off tomorrow.

“The appraiser is meeting with me in an hour. Are you sure you want to sell everything?” Charlie asked for the hundredth time.

“I’m sure,” Alex said, nodding his head even though Charlie couldn’t see him. Nobody could see him. He was alone in his car, driving in the middle of nowhere.

“Hmmmm,” the old man stalled.

“What is it, Charlie?” Immediately regretting his tone, Alex could have kicked himself for snapping at the old man.

“What about the Nash O’Reilly original? I know you want to recoup some of your losses, but with Nash’s new found popularity, he’s sure to become the art world’s next Picasso. That painting is going to be worth a fortune someday--”

“Make sure you sell that fucking painting first!” Alex suddenly couldn’t breathe. He hit the disconnect button and dropped the call. That damn painting is part of the reason he was in this mess. If Eduardo hadn’t bid against him at the Emerald Fields Art Gallery, then Alex would have never met the man.

Looking back, he realized the intense bidding war hadn’t been foreplay to a hot night of sex, like he had believed. It was actually a great big set-up. Ed was sizing him up to see how much money he had and Alex had fallen right into his trap.

***

White Grove Manor came into view. The long driveway was flanked by dozens of huge paper birch trees. Their bright white bark was one of the reasons the estate had gotten its name in the first place. Rounding the curve of the drive, the other reason came into view.

The big garden statues still took Alex’s breath away, just like they did when he was a kid. Tears burned the back of his eyes. The limestone wasn’t the same brilliant white as the last time he saw them. Age and neglect had taken their toll on the magnificent pieces of art. Varying shades of green covered most of the statues, but thick black muck was imbedded deep into the crevices.

“Oh, Grandfather,” Alex spoke to himself as he parked his car in front of the house that had once been a beautiful showplace. The yard was overgrown and unkempt, but the house had damages far beyond normal neglect.

The house was in a state of total disrepair. The cold November wind howled, giving Alex an unfriendly feeling. The old man might not be here anymore, but Alex still felt like he was unwanted.

He took another step towards the door, then stopped. His hands trembled. The glass was busted out of the grand entrance. The open panes made a whistling noise as the wind blew through the openings.

The inside was no better than the outside. Piles of trash and debris were everywhere. Alex ran his fingers through his shaggy hair as he looked around.

“It’s not how you remembered it, AJ, now, is it?”

The deep voice caught Alex by surprise. He let out a frightened yelp as he whirled around to see who had crept up behind him.

Henry leaned against the doorway, watching him. A smile split Alex’s face. The realtor must have contacted Henry when he told her that he would be coming to inspect the house. His hair had turned completely white since the last time Alex had seen him. It was such a contrast to his dark black skin.

“Oh my god, Henry, what happened?” Alex muttered. They told him it was bad, but he wasn’t prepared for this. With three long strides, Alex closed the gap between him and his grandfather’s old butler. Henry welcomed the warm embrace, as Alex wrapped his arms around the older man.

It was useless to try to fight back his tears. Once the first droplet touched his cheeks the rest of them all followed. Alex shook as he let out a soft sob.

“You know how hard-headed Jamison could be.” Henry rubbed Alex’s shoulders giving him a little comfort.

Alex rolled his eyes and chuckled between a broken sob.

His grandfather and Henry had always been friends. He liked to hear the old man called by his given name and not by the overly formal, Mr. Wellberg, that everyone was prone to around his grandfather. “I heard he fired the gardener and maids after I retired. I came up here to check on him last winter. The place was a little messy then, but nothing like this.”

Henry opened his arms wide, gesturing to the visible disaster on the first floor. “So…” The question hung in the air. The old man wanted to know what Alex planned to do with White Grove Manor.

Alex wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. “I guess I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me.”

***

Henry didn’t stay long. He offered to let Alex stay with him and his wife, now that all of their kids had finished college and lived on their own, but Alex didn’t want to drive back and forth from town to the estate every day. Henry was a good man. Alex had met his wife and kids on many occasions. Growing up, he was jealous of how close Henry was with his four kids.

A flood of heat stirred his groin remembering Henry’s oldest son. Brice and Alex had been teenagers the last time the two of them saw each other.

“Crap!” Alex growled under his breath when his cock started to harden inside his jeans. He had to keep his mind on work and not the teenage boy he had his first sexual experience with almost a decade and a half ago.

Shaking his head, pushing thoughts of Brice out of his mind, Alex returning to the list of supplies he needed from the hardware store.

As Alex inspected the rest of the property, he found the shed outback held most of the essential tools he would need. His smirk turned into a full-fledged grin when he opened the garage and found an old pickup truck along with a fleet of exotic cars.

The big Ford truck was a constant companion of the gardener. Alex always assumed it belonged to the grumpy old landscaper, but looking back it made sense that the truck belonged to the manor.

It looked like Alex's luck was turning around. Not only did the garage hold a perfectly good truck, but the chauffer’s loft above the garage was completely untouched. It appeared as if the last driver simply closed the door and nobody ever went inside again. Good thing too, because there wasn’t a single room fit for human habitation inside the main house. Alex would sleep in the loft while the massive cleanup and repairs got underway.

***

The first week was spent clearing the property of junk. A dumpster was delivered, but after it was filled and hauled away, two more were delivered in its place.

Charlie supervised the sale of the contents from the condo before placing the property on the market. It was in a prime location and shouldn’t have any trouble selling.

Alex was slowly picking up the pieces of his life.

The headmaster of Westwood Prep called and asked if he would be coming back after the winter break, but Alex really wasn’t sure. The school had offered to hold his job, but now that he was selling his condo, Alex didn't have a home to return to.

Alex sighed as thoughts ran amuck in his head. Except for phone calls, he hadn’t spoken to another person in days. He finished painting the last wall in the dining room before heading to the loft for a hot shower.

***

The November night was cold. A gust of chilly air rushed through the bar when the front door flung open and the newcomers waited too long to get inside.

A couple of fellows at the bar groaned about closing the door, but Alex didn’t care. He shrugged off the cold and downed the rest of his beer.

Two guys and a girl slid into a vacant booth near the back of the bar. They were overdressed for this kind of lowbrow establishment. The men at the counter were dressed in jeans and a variety of t-shirts, button flannels and hoodies. Did they think their nice dress clothes would go unnoticed here?

It was Friday night and most of the crowd had just gotten off work including the newbies. Alex glanced at the people in the booth. They dressed as he typically would have been, if he had just gotten off work back home. He chuckled and shook that thought from his head. This was his home now and his job, well, if he didn’t have a home anymore then he couldn’t have a job there, either.

Contemplating storming out of the bar, Alex noticed a guys from the booth staring at him. A slow smile spread over Alex’s face as recognition set in. The man's smooth caramel skin was blemish free, unlike when they were boys.

Alex knew if the guy smiled, he would glimpse the end result of years of painful braces, metal and wires that as a kid, Alex had cut his lips and tongue on more than one occasion.

It was Brice. He was all grownup. The man stared back at Alex, but his expression was hard and unfriendly.

“Ouch,” Alex muttered to himself. Turning back to the bartender, he could still feel Brice’s eyes boring into the back of him. Now, Alex was suddenly glad he didn’t take Henry's offer. Alex was hoping to catch up with Brice sometime during this trip, but, maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all.

Alex placed a couple dollars under his empty bottle and pulled on his work-jacket before heading into the cold.

***

“Do I know you?”

Brice’s words stopped Alex in his tracks. His heart raced at the thought that Brice had followed him onto the street. They had been teenagers the last time they saw each other and both of them have changed so much over the years.

Alex turned around. The last time they stood face to face, Brice was several inches shorter than him, but now the men stood eye to eye. Alex could see Brice’s mind struggling to place this stranger’s face. Alex’s shaggy blond hair blew in the wind. Intrigued that Brice didn't recognize him, Alex smirked as he watched Brice's gaze drifted over his lips hinting at a sexy grin.

Remnants of paint splatter stained Alex's jacket. In his rush to escape the bar, Alex hadn’t buttoned up the front. The opening showed a thick flannel shirt with scraps of long-john fabric, peeking from around his collar.

Brice’s eyes darted past Alex to the old pick-up truck parked down the block. The rest of the street was empty besides the truck. It was the same direction Alex had been heading when Brice stopped him.

“You were looking at me like you knew me.” Brice sounded disappointed when the realization set in that he didn’t know this sexy stranger.

Alex knew Brice assumed he was just another construction worker, collecting a few days work before setting off to his next location. With the building boom in town, a lot of good looking men came and went. Watching Brice fumble with his keys, Alex kept his emotions hidden. He could have revealed his true identity, but Alex was sure his first boyhood crush would recognize him at any moment.

“Do you want me to know you?” Alex almost growled, stepping closer to him.

Brice anxiously licked his lips. It was a nervous reaction he had when they were kids and it was even more delicious now as an adult. His brown lips were full and inviting. When Alex stepped forward, Brice stepped back.

Alex stared at him. Expensive cologne clung to his designer clothes. It mingled with the distinct smells of autumn, burning leaves and the spicy smell of apple-butter. They stood on the empty street in the cold November night, glazing at each other.

Without warning, Alex leaned in and captured Brice’s lips. He was soft and tentative until Brice moaned. The sound sent shivers down Alex’s spine. Tracing his tongue along the plump flesh of his childhood friend’s lower lip, Alex waited for Brice to come to his senses and push him away. When he didn’t, Alex’s eyes rolled back when he felt fingers pulling at his shaggy hair, bringing his mouth down harder onto Brice’s warm lips.

Tongues touched testing out the new sensation before dipping inside. The taste of beer lingered on their breath. Brice was a mix of sweet and salty. He made Alex’s blood rush straight to his cock.

Time stood still. Alex didn’t know how long they had been standing there making out on the street, but the passionate kiss had them both panting for air against each other’s lips. Alex pressed his forehead to Brice’s while he fought to catch his breath.

“Nobody has ever kissed me like that,” Brice said, his dark brown eyes clouded with uncertainty. Alex wondered if Brice normally make-out with random men on the street where anyone could see or was this the first time.

Grinning at the man in front of him, Alex took it as a compliment. The last time they had kissed, they were inexperienced kids and Alex had learned a lot since then. He stepped back, ready to tell Brice who he was. Alex was sure they would have a laugh after revealing his secret. He hoped Brice would invite him inside for a drink, but before he could come clean, Brice dropped a bombshell of his own.

“This was a mistake! I shouldn’t have followed you,” Brice muttered and before Alex could stop him, Brice ran in the opposite direction.

***

Alex woke up with another raging boner. His dreams for the last five nights all ended with him grinding against his pillow, and then having to take a cold shower to defuse the impending explosion. He thought about jerking off and getting it over with, but that didn’t help. When his erection returned, and it always did, it was twice as hard and painful as before.

Being in the house and seeing Brice again had stirred up childhood memories. The first time they played hide and seek in the woods, it was Brice’s idea to leave his younger brothers behind and to sneak down to the creek at the back of the property.

The first time they were alone, it started as stolen glances, but Alex remembered when Brice finally laced his long dark fingers through his while running through the forest one summer afternoon. The touch of Brice's skin was electric. It was all the boys shared at first, soft awkward touches, a quick kiss here and there until…

Alex’s head jerked up from behind the steering wheel of the old pick-up truck. His heart pounded in his chest. He’d been daydreaming while driving, which was never good.

Thoughts like that had his erection stirring back to life. Crap! There was nothing he could do about it now. Parking the truck into an empty spot, Alex focused on the files Charlie had overnighted to him.

Somehow, White Grove Manor’s household account hadn’t been listed with the rest of the accounts when Charlie’s firm had reviewed Grandfather’s will. He contacted Alex with the information as soon as he found out. As the rightful heir to any funds remaining in the account, Charlie prepared the paperwork to help Alex with the necessary repairs for the house.

The bank teller looked up from her post and smiled at Alex when he stepped up to the counter.

***

Brice was studying financial figures on his computer screen when he got a sudden rush of warmth that flowed over his entire body. He glanced up from his desk, looking out over the lobby. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the sexy guy from the other night, standing right there, in the middle of his bank.

Just being this close to him had Brice’s body responding like never before. Images of that kiss came flooding back. He never even got the guy’s name after making out with him on the street. Well, he was here, right now. Maybe that was a sign?

What was it about this guy that got him so hot and horny? Brice didn’t even know him, but he’d been ready to follow him to the ends of the earth at the bat of one of those long blond eyelashes and the tilt of that gorgeous grin.

His hands trembled when he noticed the guy shake his shaggy head and his posture grew stiff. Mr. Gorgeous didn’t look happy. Brice suddenly wondered what was wrong. As the bank’s Senior Vice President, it was his job to make sure all of their customers were happy.

Taking a moment to glance in the small mirror hanging over the bookshelf, Brice smoothed down his shirt and tie. They were perfect. He quickly stepped out from behind his desk, ready to defuse the situation and noticed that Mr. Tall-Blond-and-Mysterious was gone.

Where the hell did he go? One minute he was standing there and the next…the lobby was empty. He glanced past the doors trying to catch a glimpse of him walking away or maybe still in the parking lot, but no luck. Sexy was gone!

“Shit,” Brice grumbled under his breath. His perfect opportunity vanished! Brice turned towards the teller, “Audrey, that man that just left here, what did he want?”

Brice wanted to grill her for information. He was dying to know more about his mystery man, but he managed to play it cool.

“He wanted to make a withdraw from an account.” The teller dropped her voice to a whisper, when an elderly couple walked in the bank.

“Then what was the problem?”

“The computer didn’t list him on the account. He argued that he had just been added to it, but since he wasn’t listed yet, I told him he would have to come back after the system is updated.” She pressed her lips together as if daring Brice to find a flaw in the bank policy.

Brice forced a smile. “No, that’s proper protocol.” Before returning to his office, he asked her one last thing, “and what was his name…so I can flag the account for the change?”

“It was Alexander…” The girl’s face went pale as the silence lingered on.

Refraining from rolling his eyes at his luck, Brice kept calm, “and Mr. Alexander’s last name?”

“Oh gosh, I don’t remember. I’m so sorry.” Audrey babbled.

Brice gave a nonchalant shrug. “No big deal.” Heading towards the exit instead of back towards his office, “I’m stepping out for lunch.”

***

Brice was too irritated to stay at work. The guy he’d been lusting over had been right in front of him, close enough to reach out and squeeze a perfectly round asscheek, but in the blink of an eye he was gone.

The late November wind blustered. Brice clutched the front of his dress jacket to his chest as he walked along the busy sidewalk.

Thanksgiving kicked off the official start to the Christmas season. Since it was only days away, every store in town was decorating in preparation for the holiday shoppers.

Walking through the cold, Brice couldn’t stop the memories of warm summer sun that brought a wave of heat that started in his groin before spreading all over. Tall-blond-and-Handsome stirred up feelings that Brice hadn’t felt in years. He hadn’t shaken like a nervous virgin since…since that summer…with AJ.

AJ had been Brice’s first. They were barely teenagers the first time his father took him to White Grove Manor to keep Mr. Wellberg’s grandson company. The boys had instantly hit it off. Each summer that tall, skinny boy would return from military school to spend several weeks with his grandfather, and each summer the two of them grew closer.

Each new summer brought with it new experiences, his first touch, first kiss, and that first blowjob which lead to—

HONK!

When his memory had settled into a comfortable rhythm of flesh rocking against flesh, together under the summer sun, a car horn interrupted Brice’s thoughts.

Brice stopped walking and looked up. He was in front of the hardware store. The side was roped off for fresh cut Christmas trees. A smile lit his face when he noticed the sign advertising live mistletoe.

Oh, how he longed for another kiss from Mr. Mysterious. “Maybe I should buy a sprig of the magical plant, just in case.”

Heading into the lot of thick green trees, Brice never noticed the white work truck pulling out of the parking lot on the other side of the hardware store.

***

The week after Thanksgiving came and went. Most of the repairs on White Grove Manor were completed. A new roof was installed, all of the broken windows repaired. The trash was gone. Just about everything had been restored to its original splendor.

The only repair that still had to be done was a creaky old hinge on one of the huge wooden shutters. If the bitter December wind hadn’t picked up last night, Alex might have left it on the repair list until spring, but since he hadn’t dragged the ladder back out to the shed after hanging the mistletoe in the center peak on the front porch, he figured it was best to get it over and done with.

Leaning forward without losing his balance was tricky. It stretched Alex’s long limbs, making him teeter dangerously high above the ground. He chuckled to himself, thinking that this would be the worst time to fall, after he’d just finished picking the last few slivers of shrapnel out of his ass.

Just as that though ran through his mind, Alex heard someone approaching below him. He jumped when the soft footsteps caught him off guard. He had finally fit all the pieces of his shattered life back together, the last thing he needed was for another bomb to go off.

Swinging the iron latch back into place, Alex hurried down the ladder ready to give someone a piece of his mind for sneaking up on him. “What the hell do you--”

The rest of the words froze in his mouth.

“Hello AJ,” Brice gave him a sheepish smile.

Alex’s heart raced inside his chest. He knew Brice would figure it out. His grin spread across his face as he stepped closer to his childhood friend. Alex held his breath.

“When did you realize?” Alex wanted to touch him, but he didn’t. His fingers itched to run over his smooth dark skin, yet he was worried the man would turn and run away again.

“As soon as I saw you here--”

“Here?” Alex laughed.

“Yes, here,” Brice stepped closer to Alex. “I drop by every now and then and walk around the property. When I saw you that night…” Brice’s words trailed off.

The tall thin boy with short blond hair and glasses was gone. The ruggedly handsome man standing before him was who he wanted. “I felt this connection that I’d only felt once before…”

Alex’s glanced up at the mistletoe hanging over their heads. Brice followed his eyes and smiled before leaning in to kiss him. Their lips met, detonating an explosion that would blow apart both of their worlds.

Discuss this story

A little Christmas twist of a tale.  I hope you liked it.  Hope you have a nice yule log to keep you warm and toasty this Holiday Season   thanks for reading.
KC