Christmas Delights 3 (51 page)

"I see you went for
minimal then." The vision looked down at Jon's boxers.

"And you look
hideous." Jon replied, with just a hint of something cold in his voice.

Not to be outdone the
vision leaned in a little closer "Looks like someone's been skipping leg
day at the gym." Tilting his head to the legs below Jon's boxers he shook
it slightly in admonishment.

"Oh, I can never win
with you. Mr Perfect here is always at the gym. Never misses a day." Jon
rolled his eyes at Matt. "You'd think he’d have something better to
do." He flashed a smile at Matt, eyes suggestive of just the kind of
something else he had in mind. Matt nodded approval, his partner in crime
shared his smutty streak.

"Yeah well, I only
go because of the lack of anything else to do. I really need to get a hobby or
something. Something to distract me anyway." The vision shrugged.

Shaun wanted to be that
distraction. His promise of no sex before the first date be dammed.

The conversation
quietened and the guys all drifted into silence. The music shifted again, to a
sultry voice asking for a fur coat to be left under the tree. PETA would be
furious, but Shaun knew that Matt would be delighted to get one if it were for
him.

"So, we never got
your name?" Matt tried to get the conversation moving again.

"Rudy, hence the
reindeer." pointing at his chest, and the face on it, the vision smiled
wryly.

"Rudy? That's
unusual. You don't get many of those round here." Matt was intrigued.

"Oh, my mum had the
hots for some ballet dancer. So she named me after him. It's Rudolph really,
but I've only ever been Rudy since I was about five."

"Rudolph." Matt
said it slowly. Whipping his head round to Shaun, "No" he said firmly
"No, no, no!"

Shaun was looking at
Rudy’s eyes, entranced. Matt turned back to Rudy "I'm sorry, excuse us. I
need to stage an intervention for my friend here." Matt grabbed Shaun by
the arm and hauled him out of the room, muttering something about holy
trinities, slut shaming, and not having to complete the set.

Safely in the kitchen
Matt pushed Shaun up against a cabinet. "You will not sleep with that
man." He paused to construct his argument, but went straight for the
jugular instead "I thought you wanted a date? You weren't going to sleep
around."

"I do. I'm
not." Shaun was wavering though "But he's so handsome. Can I break
the rule? Just for him?"

"No. Break your rule
for him, and you might as well not have rules. You’ll spend your days running
away from sex because it isn’t ‘right’" Matt stood firm. Not fair Shaun
thought, but definitely firm.

"Alright, alright,
I’ll stand by my rules. No sleeping around, dates come first." Shaun's
face crumbled, excitement giving way to disappointment.

"Good." Tilting
his face towards his friend, Matt half closed an eye. "Can I trust
you?"

“Yes. Absolutely.” Shaun
nodded again. "Now, shouldn't you be socialising? Doing the rounds to find
yourself a present?"

Matt smirked "I
haven't seen anyone that takes my fancy, yet."

"Well, go have a
look around." Shaun nodded towards the rear of the apartment, and shoved
Matt off in the direction of his treasure hunt.

Shaun bounced his head
onto the hard cabinet behind him, marking time to the beat of some song about
Christmas wrapping. He was sure he was too young to know the song. Gently
taking a sip of his drink he vowed to himself that he would, indeed, stick to
his new rules. There was to be no backsliding, no matter how pretty the man
was, or how tempting the offer. He'd had enough of encounters that went
nowhere, and left him wanting more but never getting it. This was his new path
and he'd be sticking to it.

"Well, hello
again." Oh shit. The vision had returned to torture him. He had added a
pair of antlers to his outfit, managing to look dorky and sexy at the same time.

"Hi" Shaun
managed, a bit weakly.

"So, you're Matt's
housemate?" Rudy didn’t wait for a response "I've heard a lot about
you, from Jon mostly. About how he can rarely get Matt out to play. So I'm
going to do the friends job of keeping you here and leaving those two to go
hunt together. They've made some deal about both having one last fling before
Christmas." Rudy smiled. It pulled the bow of his lips tight, causing
Shaun to shiver.

Mentally shaking himself
by the shoulders, Shaun looked at the smile and wondered just how long he'd be
able to keep his resolution. "No, that's a good thing to do. You're a good
friend." He said "I never realised that I was getting in the way of
their fun." Shaun was concerned now, how had he been a bad friend and not
noticed? He wasn't aware that his brow had creased until Rudy reached up and
stroked the tiny furrow away.

"Hey, don't feel bad
about it. Matt can handle himself. He almost always manages to get what he
wants." Rudy let his hand fall onto Shaun's shoulder, squeezing gently he
asked "Another drink?"

"No. I think I'd
better stay wide awake and sober." He finished off what was left in his
glass and passed it over "But I'll have some water or something."

Rudy took the empty glass
from him and shuffled the few steps to the fridge. He bent down to reach for
some bottles to top up their drinks. Shaun eyed the brown corduroy clad butt.
Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. He chanted to himself, only half hoping it’d work.

"So why the staying
sober?" Rudy asked over his shoulder.

"Just not in the
mood this evening." Lied Shaun, knowing that if he kept drinking, he'd
make a pass at Rudy and break all his newly formed resolve. The music moved on
from wrapping to something about roasting nuts. Shaun didn’t pay attention. He
went on with his explanation instead, "Well, I've given up on the casual
encounters. They never lead anywhere, and I'm always disappointed afterwards.
So I decided from now on, I have to have at least one date first.” He gulped
down some water to give himself room to pause. “Does that sound lame?"

"No, that sounds
great. But why aren't you dating Matt?” Rudy gave him a look that said
'Dumbass, get it together.'

Shaun couldn't respond.
His brain had hit pause on his mouth while he tried to process the suggestion.

"Well, he clearly
adores you. Even I can see it on his face when he looks at you. And Jon's
always jealous of how Matt never stops talking about you. Jon doesn't like not
being the centre of attention, in case you didn't notice." Rudy's normally
sexy smile turned to a grimace. Finally a look that didn’t suit him. “Have you
even considered asking him on a date? Why wouldn't he say yes?" Rudy's
smile turned shy, figuring he might have stepped over a line. Not lasting, his
smile moved back to full on cupid-bow grin. "You'll never know unless you
try. Be adventurous. Be something Matt can't say no to."

Shaun finally found his
voice, "But what if he doesn't want that? What if he just wants us to be
friends?" His mind was bubbling with the reasons not to do it, some of
them made their way out.

 "How do I ask him?
Why haven't I asked him before?" His questions trailed off as he swirled
the ideas round in his head once more.

Rudy ducked his head,
trying to look straight into Shaun’s eyes. "If it doesn't work then you'll
still be friends. If it does then you both get a date."

"Thanks." He
traced the outline of the nose on Rudy's sweater, avoiding looking in his eyes.
"Thanks for the advice."

A Mariah song kicked in,
warbling about being needy and everything she wanted for Christmas. She could
wait, Shaun had an idea.

Shaun wriggled his way
slowly through the clusters of chattering party-goers. The noise of
conversations drifted around him, floating over him like overly-sweet perfume
samples in the department store. He backed into a quieter corner and paused to
seek out his target. To his left was a group of four young men dressed as the
three wise men, one clearly had to be an understudy. They had some of what he
was looking for; the party drug of choice, for this particular party. Poisonous
in the wrong hands and a miracle in others, it could make or break his evening.

"Excuse me"
Shaun butted in to the conversation. "Could I steal a sprig of that,
please?" he indicated to the greenery that the guys were holding. It
looked slightly limp but still recognisable with its droopy pairs of oval
leaves and little white globules of berries. Mistletoe could well be his
Kryptonite tonight. He thanked the wise men and eased back into the flow of the
party.

Back at the kitchen, he
found Rudy chatting to another reindeer. With rutting on their minds they
flirted and charmed each other.

"Okay, I'm gonna
need your help" he interrupted their conversation, noting the side-eye the
new reindeer aimed at him. It didn't work. Shaun pushed on undeterred, and held
up his sprig of mistletoe. "I'm armed and need to use this quick before I
chicken out. You need to go find Matt for me. If he kisses me with more passion
than a Grandma, then I'll ask him on the date. How's that?"

Impressed by Shaun's
rapidly flung together plan Rudy pushed himself up off the wall and strode into
the crowd to find the missing Matt. The other reindeer, which one would he be?
Donner? Blitzen? Who cared, was still giving him serious looks for disrupting
his attempts at capturing the red nosed Rudy.

"Sorry" Shaun
apologised. "Once I'm done with it you can have it. You can use it on
Rudy." He waived the mistletoe at the reindeer, trying to ward off any
evil spirits his death glares might have unleashed. He lounged against the
cabinets this time, gently easing his head against the door; aiming for
nonchalant he waited for Matt to arrive.

"Hey you."
Matt's arrival was as sudden and colourful as Shaun expected. Angel wings
fluttering, and the halo glittering above his ruffled blonde hair.

"Hey. How did your
hunting go?" Shaun inquired, still aiming for casual, rather than the
panic he was feeling inside.

"Oh it's about as
quiet a winter’s night as you'd expect. I mean, where's the party spirit?
Where's the adventure?" Matt was still searching it seemed

"That's a shame. But
I have something that you can use to liven things up" Shaun raised the
mistletoe in front of Matt's face. "Not that you ever need a reason to
kiss anyone, but this might help."

"Oooh good
plan." Matt moved to take it from Shaun's hands.

"Nuh-uh. You don't
get it without a kiss first." Shaun snatched it back and raised his arm so
the mistletoe was above them.

Matt's eyes widened in
response, an awed expression fighting to keep off his face. "Really? You
sure?" he managed to spill out before he forced his face back into neutral
and his hands to his sides. "Okay then, lead the way Romeo."

Shaun ducked his head to
search out Matt's lips. Matt angled his head upwards, ready to receive but not
expecting more than a gentle brush of lips. When Shaun made contact his lips
tingled with a passion he suspected would be there. The tingle spread from his
face into his brain, making him light headed the longer the kiss went on. He
couldn't resist adding a little pressure, encouraging Matt to keep the kiss
going.

He wasn't expecting the
thrill of the kiss, the speed of the beat of his heart increasing, or the flood
of emotion that swept through him. It all told him that this didn't just feel
right, it was right. He pressed firmly onto Matt's mouth. Encouraging further,
daring to see where this might lead Matt.

Feeling a little
hesitation from Matt Shaun was ready to let go, to let him break the kiss at
any moment. Then, slowly, he felt Matt press more, then firmer still, into the
kiss. Matt shuffled slightly in his arms and stood up straight, taking control
of himself, and the kiss. Matt pressed himself onto Shaun's chest. Shaun could
feel the beat of Matt's heart, the light gust of breath as Matt tried to
breathe through the kiss and the tentative touches of Matt's hands on his shoulders.
Shaun reached round and encircled Matt's waist with his arms. He opened his
lips a fraction, to let Matt know that the kiss could go deeper when he wanted,
giving Matt the control.

Shaun broke the kiss and
whispered into Matt's ear. “Remember, you said I wasn't allowed to have sex
until I'd been on a proper first date.”

“Better get that date
lined up then.” Matt's eyes twinkled as he responded.

Rudy looked on as Shaun
and Matt embraced and the kiss went beyond lips meeting and onto a deeper
connection as hands held tightly on to the other. Rudy plucked the mistletoe
out of Shaun's hand and turned to his new friend. "This obviously works.
It'd be a shame to waste it." He raised it above his friends head and
moved in for his own kiss.

* * * * *

The shop fronts were lit
with displays of Christmas scenes, designed to lure in shoppers desperate for
the best gifts they could get. Shaun and Matt strolled away from the
restaurant, glowing from being full of the finest Italian food and wine you
could get in Glasgow. Taking Rudy's advice to be adventurous, Shaun had lined
up a date within an hour. He'd whisked Matt home, where they both changed into
something a little more presentable, and then sped them into the city centre
for a meal. It counted as a date. Their first date.

They brushed shoulders
gently as they walked on, neither of them wanting to be the one to increase the
distance between them. They liked the closeness, the intimacy and togetherness
it implied.

Matt was first to break
the silence "Would you like to go on somewhere for a drink?"

"Not really. I'd
rather head home." Shaun hooked his arm into Matt's and turned them
eastward. They disentangled and ambled through the streets, pavements beginning
to ice beneath their feet. Their hands brushed against each other a few times,
until Shaun entwined his fingers into Matt's. "So, how's my Angel
now?" he asked Matt as they crossed the street and turned towards the
underground station.