Briefcase Booty (9 page)

Maggie always said that he never did things halfway. She and Harry were certainly shocked when he told them why he wasn’t coming over Christmas day, but they’d wished him luck and made him promise to come over when they got back from Luka’s parents.

“Peter?”

Luka was down at the car, ready to drive them up to his parents, and Peter was trying to remember if he’d forgotten to pack anything for Loukas.

“Coming. Just doing a last round-up,” he called back. Parrot? Check. Food? Check. Ungodly amount of nappies and wipes? Check. Travel cot? Check. Several spare changes of baby clothes? Check.

Walking out of the house, he set the alarm and locked the door before turning and jogging down to the car.

Luka watched him in amusement from where he was leaning over the front seats to play with Loukas and the parrot. The front doors were open, so he could see Luka raise his eyebrows and smirk. “A bit excited are we?”

He slowed to a walk as he reached the car, and ducked his head. “I haven’t done the holiday stuff since I left home. I didn’t have a family, so what was the point?” he muttered, embarrassed that he’d gotten caught in his excitement.

Luka immediately apologized and reached for his hand.

“I’m so sorry, Peter. I didn’t mean anything by it. You know you have family now though, right? No matter what happens between us. My mom isn’t going to let you escape again,” Luka cajoled with a smile, pushing the hair out of his eyes.

“I know,” Peter said, feeling as if a weight had lifted. He had family now.
Loukas
had family now, and it was all because of Luka.

Staring at his friend—his lover now, he supposed—he reached up with the hand Luka wasn’t holding and pushed the blond hair back behind Luka’s ear.

“Where’s your headband? You said you didn’t like it down because it got in your eyes.”

The blush was really adorable up close. Peter just wanted to lean in and kiss him for it.

And then he remembered he could.

So he did.

Leaning in, Peter kissed Luka, tilting his head to the side a little so he could take it deeper when Luka opened for him and let him lead the embrace. He was just getting into it when Loukas giggled loudly, breaking the moment.

“You like playing with my hair,” Luka confessed breathily.

Smiling smugly, Peter stole another kiss before leaning over to the back to check Loukas’s car seat. When he made sure everything was fastened properly, he sat in the front passenger seat and fastened his own belt.

“Come on, my flying pirate, let’s go see our family.”

It wasn’t the first time the name had slipped out, but it was the first time he’s used it deliberately, along with
our family
and Luka gave him a grin in reward. This boyfriend thing wasn’t so hard after all.

A few hours later they pulled up in front of a large modern four-bedroom house, with a small garden in the front that went around the sides to what looked like a huge backyard. “Here we are.”

Luka parked the car, but they didn’t make a move to get out yet. Peter guessed he wasn’t the only one nervous about all this.

“Is this where you moved to originally, or did your parents move again?” He wanted to know whether this was Luka’s home, or just a house. And he’d never been one to stand uncomfortable silences.

“No, this is where we came after we left Shordon. Me and my brother love this place, and Terry spends most of the summer here when he isn’t coaching ball at his college.”

Peter’s eyes flew wide and a laugh escaped. “Oh god, I completely forgot you had a brother. I didn’t even ask about him. How is he?” In truth Peter didn’t spend much time thinking about Terry, even when he and Luka were friends as kids.

“Hey, it’s okay. Terry’s a few years older than us, and used to be a dick, and he knows it. Apart from his hassling us for being
gay
when we were little, because we didn’t like football, you didn’t interact with him,” Luka said with a shrug of acceptance. “He’s mellowed a lot since I came out at fifteen.”

That was news. “You came out at fifteen? That was brave. You hear horrible stories about kids being kicked out because of that.”

“I thought I was in love with a boy I was dating at the time, and wanted to bring him home,” Luka explained, but before Peter could ask what happened Luka continued. “I came out, and told my boyfriend I’d come out, and his reaction was to deny anything happened—and break my nose for
spreading lies
about him.”

“Wow, that’s awful.” Peter was pissed on Luka’s behalf. He wanted to go back to his fifteen-year-old self and find the little shit.

“Yeah, I have bad taste in men.” Luka sighed—then tensed, clearly realizing what he’d just said. “I mean, present company excluded of course, light of my life,” Luka gushed pleadingly.

Peter wasn’t insulted. “Good save,” he commented with a smirk.

But he still wanted to know what else happened, since there seemed to be more to the story. “So what happened then?”

Luka looked relieved he was dropping it so easily and took his hand, turning it over to wind their fingers together. “Well I came home bloody and crying because I’d just been dumped. My parents were both at work, but Terry was home from college on term break or something, and saw me come in. Turns out that he’s the only one allowed to make fun of me, and he went and broke the bastard’s nose in retaliation. It was a good punch too; he needed a nose cast. And just before yearbook photos,” Luka said with a smile.

Wow. That was not the Terry he remembered, now that he did remember him, anyway.

“I think we’ve been spotted,” Luka said, looking over Peter’s shoulder at the house.

Sighing, Peter let go of Luka and put his hand on the door handle. He couldn’t put it off any longer.

“Hey—” Luka pulled him back around gently and they shared a quick reassuring kiss that left him a little breathless. “—It will be fine. You could be wearing a yellow polka-dot dress, and they’d still love you.”

Now there was a visual. “A yellow polka-dot dress. Is there something you want to tell me, Luka?”

Peter dodged the swipe coming his way and jumped out of the car, laughing when Luka tried to poke him instead. He opened the back door and unfastened Loukas’s seat, picked him up, and caught the parrot before it fell to the floor.

“Come on, baby boy. Let’s go meet our family.”

Luka’s parents met them at the door, and no sooner had he introduced Loukas than Luka’s mom was crying and running off with his son into the house. Luka’s dad just nodded and gave him a long hug, saying, “Welcome home, son.”

* * * *

Christmas morning came, and Peter lay wide awake in Luka’s arms, staring at the box he’d placed on the cabinet beside the bed before they’d gone to sleep. It wasn’t as though he was having second thoughts about giving it to Luka.

He just wasn’t sure Luka was going to like it. It was a risk.

A big one.

“You awake Peter? I bet mom has already stolen Loukas away to open some of the presents under the tree. I told you, whatever you got them isn’t going to top giving them a grandchild,” Luka said sleepily, nuzzling into his neck.

“I know, which is why I got them cruise coupons,” Peter answered, tilting his head to give Luka more room to nibble.

The lips teased up the column of his neck, and the night’s stubble on Luka’s chin scratched at him deliciously. “I bet you want to know what I got you, though, don’t you?” Luka purred.

Peter had to admit he was curious. Luka had said he’d gotten Peter something before he’d even left to pick up the rest of his stuff.

“Okay, you go first, and then it’s my turn,” Peter suggested. This way it would give him a few more minutes to try and talk himself into going through with his gift.

The other man rolled to the side and reached down for something on the floor. It was an envelope, the large kind you sent official documents in. “I nabbed Katie and managed to get the photos of you and Loukas from the show. The one with Captain Chris is so cute.”

Peter opened the envelope and, sure enough, the photo he wished he’d taken a few nights ago was there, along with several others of Loukas and him. His son was quite the poser.

“Thank you,” he choked, hugging Luka tight.

Luka smiled against his neck, Peter could feel it. “That’s not all. Since you liked my performance so much, I’ve pulled a few favors and next week we can go back to the theatre after hours, and I can do a piece just for you. Naked.”

“Oh, god,” Peter gasped.

Just thinking about seeing Luka flying through the air and tangled up erotically in the white silks gave him chills, and he had to adjust the sheet where it was trapping his raging hard-on against the bed.

Luka lifted up to his elbow and Peter rolled onto his back so he could see his lover’s face. Luka’s hand sneaked down from his waist to grip him through the sheet and squeeze lightly.

“You know, we could take a shower and
practice
some more.”

So tempting, devilishly tempting. “If we weren’t at your parent’s house right now, I’d love to show you just how much I love your present.”

“Fuddy duddy,” Luka chuckled, leaning over to tease him into a kiss.

“Yep. I guess it’s my turn now, then,” he said, trying not to let his nerves show. This was going to be a make-or-break moment.

Luka stole another kiss, then let him move with a smack on the ass. “What’d you get me, hot stuff?”

Rolling over to his side, Peter grabbed the small box off the cabinet and all but threw it at Luka.

“I guess a present like that is self-explanatory, but… Will you marry us?”

Luka didn’t answer.

Peter wasn’t even sure the other man was breathing. “I’m not asking for right now. I want a long engagement, like years, and I didn’t plan to do this when I went out to get you something, but the white-gold-and-platinum ring caught my eye. And it was like it was meant to belong to you. I guess what I’m asking for is a promise for the future,” he said nervously, rambling on until he had to take a breath

Slowly, as if Luka thought there was an alligator or a poisonous snake inside, he opened the box. Peter held his breath and tried to read Luka’s reaction.

“Oh. It looks like my silks,” Luka whispered, running a fingertip over the ring, fingering the ripples of metal. Peter still hadn’t let out the breath he was holding, and he was starting to feel a little light-headed.

He couldn’t tell how Luka was feeling. Luka wasn’t giving him any clues. The man’s face was very carefully blank. “And I thought my gift was going to be the best,” Luka tried to joke.

Peter put a hand on Luka’s chest, needing the contact, and waited.

After another minute Luka looked at him, and then pounced. Peter found himself pinned to the bed with Luka on top on him, sitting on his hips. “Yes!”

His heart stopped, and his breath came out in whoosh. “Yes?”

“But you’re telling mom. I actually like my eardrums intact,” Luka added, and swooped down for a deep passionate kiss.

There really is nothing better than a good book and a big mug of tea on a rainy day, which is often needed when considering the wet weather in Wales. She is rarely found without a book of some description on her person and a notebook, she can always be seen scribbling and doodling while lost in thought about sometimes random nonsense or day dreaming about alternate worlds of fiction. Real life may not be much fun but the imagination allows infinite possibilities to be explored and lots of naughty fun too if you're up to the challenge. So in the words of a crazy scientist—I reject your reality and submit one of my own. Happy reading.