the boy was there. His brain really was still trying to sleep.
“I don"t know.” Magnus grinned. “Old habits, I guess. I
bet you"ll get used to it in no time. I"ve also made sure we
have daylight bulbs installed in every room of our house.
They emit full spectrum light which should help.”
“Thank you.” Lance smiled. His fiancé was so
thoughtful. “I"m not sure I"ll get used to it, but I"ll just
remember what summer will be like, and I"m sure I can get
through it.”
“I don"t think it"s hard to wake up at all.” Jakob was
almost bouncing in his seat.
“It isn"t?” Lance suspected that the second cup of hot,
sugary cocoa his grandmother Carine had given him was to
blame. Maybe he should have some as well? It couldn"t hurt,
could it?
“Don"t you think it"s exciting to move into our new
house? I hope the neighbors have kids so I can find some
new friends. I can"t wait to have all my stuff back and to
explore the garden.” Jakob grinned.
“In all this snow? You haven"t had enough of it yet?”
Lance shivered. He was going to take up residence right next
to the fireplace and not move until it was spring.
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“But I love snow!” Jakob pointed at Magnus. “He"s told
me all about it, and I can"t wait to examine the Swedish
variety more closely, just as he taught me.”
“I can see how that makes sense, since you want to be a
glaciologist like Magnus when you grow up.” Lance shook his
head. “Me, I"m going to stay indoors until the sun
reappears.”
“You"re going to be stuck inside for a very long time.”
Jakob finished his cocoa.
“That"s not a problem.” Lance grinned back. He was only
half-joking.
When everyone had finished with breakfast, the taxi was
there. They hugged Carine and Enar goodbye, got into their
coats, gloves, and winter boots and made their way to the
waiting taxi.
Thank God the car Magnus had rented was a sturdy
SUV, with excellent heating and huge snow-safe tires. The
drive to their new home didn"t take very long. It was located
between the International School, near the centre, and the
university in the north. The neighborhood was fairly quiet for
being this central, and the house itself was even bigger than
the one in Mistletoe.
The moving van was already parked in the driveway
when they arrived, and they hurried to open the house up so
the men could start carrying everything inside. Lance heated
up some soup for everyone for lunch, and the men were done
shortly afterwards. The new furniture had also been
delivered, and they spent the rest of the day making sure
that Jakob"s and their bedrooms were set up.
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43
They practically fell into bed not long after Jakob had
finally fallen asleep. Lance crawled into Magnus"s arms and
closed his eyes. They had only two more days until the New
Year. It boggled the mind.
BOXES, boxes, and more boxes. Lance was so sick of them,
and he was only about halfway through them all. He was
never going to move again. Well, maybe once, to somewhere
farther south, where people had normal days and nights.
He grinned when he remembered how Magnus had
taken “special care” this morning to make sure that he was
awake before they left their bed. The blowjob his fiancé had
given him had definitely made him feel a
lot
more awake
than yesterday.
Now Magnus had taken Jakob to go shopping for
groceries, one of Lance"s detailed lists in hand, of course.
Lance had taken one look outside, seen the half-darkness
that passed for day, and suggested he stay home to make
sure their things were cleared away as soon as possible. He
had just settled down in the living room to sort out their
DVD collection and the communal books, when the doorbell
rang.
Who could that possibly be?
He opened the door. There was a man on the porch who
looked like yet another Norse god. An inch taller than
Magnus, with long blond hair and piercing blue eyes, his
smile was as devastating as his dimples. Of course he had
perfect white teeth, deep red lips, and just the right amount
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44
of stubble on his jaw to make Lance want to caress his
cheeks.
His shoulders were broad, his chest almost too wide for
the tight T-shirt he wore, and his abs were visible through
the thin cloth. Lance refused to look further down. The whole
vision of the man was too tempting, and he was engaged to
be married.
But, holy shit, were all Swedish men this gorgeous?
The vision held a large plate filled with fresh-baked
cinnamon buns. The scent made Lance swoon, reminding
him that lunch had been hours ago.
“You"re wearing a T-shirt?” Lance could have kicked
himself the moment the words had left his mouth.
Way to
make a good impression
.
“Hi. My name is Ragnor Eklund, and I"m your neighbor
from across the street.” Ragnor pointed behind him with one
hand, without moving his gaze away from Lance. “I just
wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood, so I brought
you some
kanelbulle
. And yes, I"m wearing a T-shirt. It isn"t
all that cold, and my house isn"t far from here.”
“Hi, Ragnor.” Lance"s mouth was dry.
The man was just too distracting. He was amazing
looking, had a killer smile, seemed friendly, and was offering
those scrumptious little cakes.
“Hi.” Ragnor"s grin grew wider.
He explored Lance"s face with his eyes, then let them
wander down his body. Lance was wearing old scruffy jeans
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45
and a worn-out sweater, but Ragnor seemed to like what he
saw as he continued to undress Lance with his eyes.
Lance was feeling the cold seep into his bones, despite
the other man"s heated looks. He couldn"t remain just
standing there, and he didn"t want to just send him away.
And he had looked forward to getting to know some of the
neighbors.
“Won"t you come in for a moment?” Lance stepped aside.
“I"m sorry about the mess, but we"ve only just moved in….”
“No problem, I understand. I"m happy to help, if you
want.” Ragnor stepped inside and closed the door behind
him, holding the plate with the tempting cakes out with the
other. “Where do you want these?”
“In my mouth.” Lance laughed. “No, actually, in the
kitchen will be fine. They won"t get dusty in there, and I
won"t be tempted to eat them all before Magnus and Jakob
return.”
“Sure.” Ragnor followed him and put the plate onto the
table before looking around. “Wow, this is a well equipped
kitchen. Do you like to cook?”
“Yeah, I love to cook. I"m a housedad, so I have lots of
time to experiment.” Lance held his breath. Somehow
Ragnor"s reaction was important to him.
“That"s wonderful!” Ragnor grinned and turned his full
attention back to Lance. “I work from home, so I get to bake
a lot.”
“Maybe we can exchange recipes? I"d love to learn how
to do some more Swedish dishes.” Lance had been learning
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46
from Carine, but having someone around the corner for help
was even better.
“Sure, I"d be happy to show you some of mine, if you
show me how to do some of yours?” Ragnor waggled his
eyebrows.
It made Lance blush. Was the man flirting with him?
MAGNUS had never really liked grocery shopping, and
today"s
expedition
with Jakob had only confirmed his intense
dislike of busy stores, greedy shoppers, and lines that
seemed longer than necessary. There"d been several closed
cash desks when he"d stood in line, waiting for it to be his
turn. Why didn"t they open all of them? The fact that most
people seemed to panic just before the New Year celebrations
and went on shopping sprees as if a famine was about to hit
was surely no surprise?
He sighed. Maybe it was to someone who hadn"t learned
to plan properly. Or maybe regression analysis didn"t work
for retailers, who knew? Whatever the reason, he"d been
stuck in the store much longer than he"d anticipated and
was more than eager to make it home to help his
älskling
unpack all his books. He hadn"t wanted to leave him to his
own devices in the first place, but the groceries wouldn"t
carry themselves home, so someone had needed to go.
“Thanks for all your help, Jakob.” Magnus smiled at the
boy who was doing his best to move more bags into the car
than Magnus.
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47
“No problem. I like shopping.” Jakob grinned and moved
faster. “They have different things here than they did in
Mistletoe. Even the cereal is different!”
“You like shopping?” Magnus raised his eyebrows.
“Sure, I get to watch all the people in the store, and you
let me pick what I wanted.” Jakob put the last bag into the
trunk. “Lance never lets me pick what I want. At least not all
of it.”
Magnus groaned. He had created a monster by giving
Jakob too much leeway in his choices. Lance would never let
him live it down.
“Don"t worry, I won"t tell him.” Jakob winked at him and
jumped into the back seat.
While Jakob had been able to stop using a booster seat
in Wyoming after he turned nine, here the law was different
and he"d still have to use one for the next two years or so,
depending on his height and weight development. Jakob had
grumbled initially, but when
Farmor
Carine had given him
one with a Spiderman design, he"d been somewhat mollified.
Magnus shook his head as he got into the driver"s seat,
started the car, and turned them toward home. Jakob was
far too perceptive for his own good if he"d noticed the
differences in shopping habits between Lance and himself
and was now making use of them.
When they"d made it home, he parked the car in the
double garage, opened the door to the pantry, and was about
to yell “We"re back,” when he heard voices, then laughter
from the direction of the living room.
Two male voices.
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Knowing that Jakob was starting to unload the car, he
made his way to the living room to find out who was with
Lance. When he entered there was a stranger next to Lance
on the sofa, his arm around Lance"s shoulders, and his head
suspiciously close to Lance"s. They sat with their backs to
where he was, so didn"t see him at first.
Magnus thought he might explode.
Before he could say anything, though, Lance turned
around and his eyes lit up. He looked almost relieved.
“Baby, you"re back!” Lance got up, impatiently removing
the stranger"s arm from his body, and walked right up to
Magnus with open arms.
There was only one reaction to that, the stranger
already forgotten at the sight of pure need in Lance"s eyes.
“Hey,
älskling
.” He bent his head down for a kiss.
Lance clung to him as if they hadn"t seen each other in
months. His soft lips were pressed up against his own, his
lover"s hot tongue was exploring his mouth as if to make
sure he was real.
“I should go shopping more often, huh?” Magnus was a
little out of breath.
Lance shook his head no, still clinging to him as he
turned around and walked them around to the front of the
sofa. The stranger held a photo album of their last holiday in
Florida in his hands, but quickly put it onto the coffee table
when they approached.
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“This is Ragnor, our new neighbor.” Lance smiled, but it
was one of those carefully polite smiles he used in public.
“Ragnor, this is my fiancé, Magnus.”
The stranger got up and they shook hands.
“Nice to meet you, Magnus.” Ragnor grinned as if
nothing was wrong. “Lance has been telling me about you.”
He had?
“Ragnor came over to welcome us to the neighborhood
and we got to talking.” Lance looked almost apologetic. “I"m