The Chrismukkah Crisis

by Ryan Taylor

  Gee, boyfriend, thanks. It was so nice of you to leave me on my own in a house full of strangers. For a while, I sat on the toilet that had a heated seat and some kind of light to sanitize itself, doing my business and thinking about everything. It was certainly a December to remember.

  We’d said we were going to wait until after the holiday to figure something out about jobs, but it was on my mind. On the way up, Aaron had mentioned that he might want us to think about moving to New York, so I’d wait and see where that went. I couldn’t wait too long, though, because my bank account was near bottom. I wondered if Craig Swan had to pay me for my accumulated time off while I reached for the plushest toilet paper I’d ever touched.

  My stomach growled through a quick shower, and I decided to go downstairs and find something to eat. Ben was sprawled across the sofa in some kind of family room, and he called to me as I went by. “Aaron went to work out.”

  “I know. Just going to find breakfast.”

  “Help yourself to anything you want. I’ll come in there to keep you company when I finish the sports section.”

  Mom would have loved the Roths’ kitchen. It was huge, all the appliances looked brand new, and the countertops held every contraption you could imagine. French doors formed a backdrop to a cherrywood breakfast table that could have doubled as a work of art, and large windows overlooked a huge yard with a gorgeous pool area.

  I’d just sat down with my toast when Aaron’s dad walked in from outside. Mr. Roth had the same amber eyes as Aaron and Ben, and when he was younger, may have had their brown hair. It was still wavy but had gone almost completely white. I didn’t know much about him except that he was an influential partner at a big law firm in New York.

  He nodded curtly. “Good morning, Matt. Just been out for my morning walk.” After pouring a cup of coffee, he came to sit across from me at the table, not looking particularly friendly. “I was hoping to find a few moments with you alone.” He took a sip of coffee. “Yesterday morning, I got a call from John Macombe at Craig Swan.”

  Fuck. Shit. Double fuck.

  “I didn’t realize you knew him. I suppose he told you what happened.”

  His eyes may have been the same color as Aaron’s, but that’s where the resemblance ended. Mr. Roth’s were dead. “I’ve been a successful lawyer in a global firm for forty years, Matt. I know everybody who’s worth knowing, and many more who aren’t.”

  My stomach tensed up as a trickle of sweat ran down the back of my neck. “It was unfortunate, what happened.”

  He took another sip of his coffee and shook his head. “It was unfortunate for you. It could be disastrous for Aaron.”

  “We had no choice.”

  His bark was completely unsettling. “Wrong again. There were several choices made along the way, all bad. The choice to get involved with your superior, the choice to do something so utterly stupid at a firm social event, the choice to decline a very generous offer on the firm’s part. You could have bowed out anywhere along the way, offered to leave the firm so Aaron could stay.”

  My sweaty hands were clenched on my lap, and even after a few seconds trying to get my breathing under control, it was hard to force words past the lump in my throat. “I didn’t ask Aaron to quit his job. I actually quit first so he could stay.”

  Mr. Roth slowly moved his head back and forth. “You know him better than that. He’s like a dog, loyal to a fault.”

  Anger ripped through my chest. “He’s not a dog!” I yelled, and then struggled to bring my voice back down. “That’s out of line, I don’t care who you are.”

  “I had you investigated yesterday. You’re an intelligent boy, personable, and you can no doubt make a decent life for yourself.” He looked out the window and sighed. “Let’s be honest, though. Your background is no match for Aaron’s. You know different things, value different things.”

  The longer this unbelievable fuckwad talked, the louder the pounding in my ears got.

  “This….” He shifted his gaze back to me and flipped his hand in the air. “This dalliance between you and Aaron will never last. You’re both still young, and face it, you’ll never be able to keep up. He needs someone who understands his world, something you can never do. It takes class and breeding to become a partner in a world-class law firm, and one’s spouse has to have class and breeding as well.” He sighed. “A relationship is the last thing Aaron should get into right now. He needs to stay focused on building a career.”

  My pulse took off like a rocket and my head felt like it might explode. I sat very still, grinding my teeth while I decided what to say. “You apparently have no idea what your son values. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He snarled at me. “Quite to the contrary. I know exactly what I’m talking about, and I’m going to tell you precisely what’s going to happen.”

  I stood. “I’m not listening to another—”

  “Sit!” He held up a hand while he took a breath. “Please sit back down. This will benefit you as much as it will Aaron.”

  I have no idea what came over me, but I sat. He got up and poured more coffee before returning to the table.

  “You and Aaron are in a tough spot, and you both contributed to it. As a result, I’m going to help both of you. It will require your complete cooperation, and it will save you.”

  “I’m not int—”

  “You are going to leave this house the minute this conversation is over. Leave a note for Aaron saying you need time to think. I’ll give you money for a ticket and you can go home to… Cheektowaga, isn’t it?”

  “You can stop right there.” I stood up again.

  He held up a finger. “Let me finish. You’re a polite young man, don’t be brash.” He took another sip of his coffee, and I wondered where my balls had gone. “Aaron will go back to work at Craig Swan in DC after the holidays, but you’re going to move away. You will have no further contact with my son. You’ve already seen him for the last time. Twenty-five thousand dollars is in it for you, plus I’ll pay for your move to Seattle and get you a job there. If there has been no further contact between you and Aaron after two years, I’ll give you another twenty-five thousand.”

  “You’re crazy as hell!” I yelled. “I love Aaron. I’d never hurt him like that. I don’t know who you think you are, but I am not for sale.”

  “Listen to me, you little prick. This is your big chance. You’re not going to get Aaron, the meal ticket, but I’m offering you a lot more than you deserve. Take advantage of what is going to happen, whether you want it to or not, because it is nonnegotiable. I’d hate to have to call the police, so you’d best go start packing.”

  “Packing for what? We’re staying for another day or two.” Aaron walked into the kitchen, flushed and sweaty from his workout.

  I couldn’t move, and stood looking back and forth between Aaron and his father.

  “Matt was just explaining to me that he’s had second thoughts about things, that—”

  “Second thoughts about what?” Aaron stared at me, his eyes as panicky as his dad’s were lifeless.

  “I’m going upstairs.” I started for the door to the hallway.

  Aaron was beside me in an instant and clamped his hand around my wrist. “You aren’t going anywhere until I know what’s going on.”

  I could hardly see him through the tears in my eyes. “I told you I wasn’t….” I jerked my hand away and wheeled on his father. “You are one sick fuck. I’m leaving all right, but not for what you said.”

  “What the hell?” Aaron looked at me, his wet eyes begging for an explanation.

  “Ask your father. I’ll see you back in DC.” I turned and started walking away, but when I was halfway to the door, Ben came in and blocked the exit. His face was screwed up in anger, and he marched across the spotless white tile to stand in front of me. Putting his hands on my shoulders, he smiled. “You aren’t going anywhere, at least not until that whole disgusting conversation is out in the open.
I heard every word.”

  By then Aaron had walked over beside me. “Matt, please tell me what’s going on.”

  Ben stomped on over to where their father sat, leaving Aaron and me in his wake. “I cannot believe you! I’ve spent my whole life trying to be what you wanted, to be like you in lots of ways, and it turns out you’re nothing but a sociopath?”

  Mr. Roth unraveled, just a little bit, but it was more emotion than I’d seen out of him yet. “Watch your mouth, Benjamin, or I’ll—”

  “You’ll what? Find some way to destroy my life again? What’s the idea, turn both your sons into emotional basket cases so they’ll do exactly what you say? Get rid of anybody they love so they only have work and your sick expectations in their lives?”

  “What the fuck is going on?” Aaron yelled. His face was fire-engine-red, and a vein throbbed beside his eye. He turned his head to look at Ben. “What do you mean, get rid of anybody they love?”

  I took his hand and squeezed hard. “Hold on, Aaron.”

  Ben stood beside his dad, glowering, so mad he spat when he talked. “You did this before, didn’t you? With Amy.” His breath was ragged, and he shook his head hard. “Well, you’re not going to hurt my brother the way you did me. I kept my mouth shut the other time, but deep down I knew you had something to do with Amy’s disappearance.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds and shook his head again, tears streaming down his face. “I despise you for what you did, but I hate myself more for not getting to the bottom of it back then.”

  Mr. Roth stood up. “That’s quite enough. I have to get into the city for an afternoon meeting.”

  “Aaron is a better man than I am,” Ben croaked. “He’s never been afraid of you the way I was. He wouldn’t stand for it, even if Matt considered it.” His eyes, heavy with emotion, shifted to Aaron. “Which Matt didn’t. Consider it, I mean. Not for a second.”

  Aaron pulled his hand loose from mine and tromped across the room to stand beside his father. I finally understood what it meant to loom over someone. He was much bigger than his dad, and forty years younger. Mr. Roth looked a little nervous.

  “Sit down,” Aaron ordered, his voice a little scary. His dad’s mouth worked silently for a second or two before he sank back into his chair.

  Aaron glanced around at me and Ben. “I don’t care who it is, but somebody’s going to tell me what the hell’s gone on here this morning.” The fear and hurt that filled his eyes kept me mute. “Now! Somebody talk.”

  I walked over to the table, and we all sat down.

  Aaron

  Part of me couldn’t believe what they told me in the kitchen, but I remembered how Ben’s girlfriend Amy just disappeared, how heartbroken he had been, and how he shut Dad out of his life.

  Dad was so arrogant that he didn’t even try to deny anything Ben and Matt said. He even tried to talk me into leaving Matt, and when that failed, he offered Matt the money again. Matt turned so green I thought he might puke on the kitchen floor.

  I don’t know what came over me, except that love is a powerful thing, and anger makes it even stronger. I slammed my fist on the table so hard that Dad’s coffee cup bounced off and shattered on the floor. “You need to leave now. If you don’t, I’m not sure what might happen.” His mouth opened a little, but he didn’t say anything. “You need to stay away until Matt and I leave. I do not ever want to see you again.”

  After a little sputtering and puffing out his chest, Dad announced that he would be at the Carlyle Hotel, should anyone need him. “Give your mother my best.”

  After Dad left, Ben said he needed to go for a run, and Matt and I went upstairs where we crashed on the bed together. He was lying on my shoulder, and I stroked his cheek lightly. “I can’t believe you had to go through that,” I mumbled in his ear. “I’m so sorry.”

  I felt his head shake. “I feel awful for you, Aaron. As if the stuff with your mom isn’t enough to deal with.”

  “Dad was never part of our lives, not really. Work was his life. It was Mom who loved us and kept us going.”

  “She’s really nice, and she loves her little boy.” He tickled my ribs a little. “She and I have that in common, for sure.”

  We were quiet for a moment. “You’re still sticking with me?” I asked.

  Matt roused himself and crawled on top of me. “I was never going to leave you. I was leaving this house, not you.” He took a breath, and I could tell he was thinking. “Please stop asking me that, okay?”

  “Asking you what?”

  “If I’m sticking with you. You don’t ever have to worry about that, so please stop asking. Trust me to show you I’m here, day after day.”

  The tear tickled as it leaked out of the side of my eye and ran down over my ear. Matt caught the next one on his finger, and his kiss was tender and ferocious at the same time. His tongue was like rough velvet in my mouth, and the warmth and weight of him brought me to life. Suddenly, my tongue was battling with his for dominance and my cock ground against his, frustrated by too many layers of underwear and sweatpants.

  “Baby,” I barely breathed. “I want—”

  He put a finger over my mouth and slowly crawled down the bed until he was at my crotch, where he hooked his fingers under the waistband and pulled everything out of the way. My cock sprang out into the cool air, thrilled to be free.

  “Now you.” My voice was a hoarse whisper.

  He shucked his sweatpants and I was thrilled to see he didn’t have on any underwear. I reached out, trying to get to his hard cock, but he pushed my hand out of the way and started mouthing and nibbling at me.

  I started to tell him something, but his delightfully rough tongue slithered up the underside of my dick and made me forget what I was going to say. I moaned instead, way too loud.

  “Like that, Aaron?” His voice was soft and airy, with an edge of promised fire.

  My head flopped back into the pillow. “Love it.”

  Suddenly, my entire cock was trapped inside his hot, wet mouth. His tongue worked my shaft while his throat caressed the head of my dick, and my hips raised off the bed in silent praise. “Aaaaah.” My cry would have been embarrassing, if I was with anybody except Matt.

  He settled into a swift, insistent rhythm. Suck, wiggle his throat, run his tongue up the bottom of my cock. Suck, wiggle his throat, run his tongue up the bottom of my cock. I cried out, over and over, and when I wasn’t yelling, I was groaning like a suffering man. I was suffering all right, from sordid pleasure. He hummed every now and then, and the vibrations inside his mouth created waves of pleasure that rippled deep into my gut.

  “You’re gonna….” I gasped. “You’re gonna… you’re gonna….”

  Suddenly, everything went quiet. My cock was cold. Matt’s mouth was gone. My mind struggled to catch up. After what seemed an eternity, a heavy whisper came from between my legs.

  “You wanna come for me, Aaron?”

  “Uh-huh! Fuck… yeah!” My hips twisted, desperately searching for that warm nirvana again.

  “You sure?” The warm puff of air across my dick made it leap with excitement.

  “Please….” My voice was strangled and pathetic.

  Matt wrapped his mouth around my dick again, causing me to yell out in relief. Suck, wiggle his throat, run his tongue up the bottom of my cock….

  Ecstasy shot down the back of my neck and connected my balls, toes, and ass, and I shoved my hips into the air. Raging heat exploded in my belly and ricocheted around inside me until it found its exit through my cock. Wad after wad of cum hurled out of me, and Matt started gagging.

  I bucked like I was riding a bull. Through the yelling and jerking, the heat and gagging, Matt’s throat continued moving as he swallowed my load.

  Eventually, my hips collapsed back down against the bed. My shrill scream had died away, and Matt’s amazing mouth was still. My cock remained encased in a warm, blissful space, and a soft hand worked in slow circles on my thigh.

  After a while, Matt
crawled up the bed and climbed on top of me, straddling my thighs.

  “Move on up here and let me suck you off.”

  He shook his head and started jerking his cock slowly, but the pace quickly picked up. “Just looking at you makes me wild, Aaron.” He slowed down while he leaned over and kissed me. It was all passion, and tasted strongly of my pleasure. After a short moment, he planted a hand on my chest and pushed himself back upright.

  “Jerk it, baby. Come on.”

  He rubbed his hand over my pecs and ran his fingers through my chest hair while he jacked off. His mouth opened into a wide “O” and he grunted and panted while I squeezed his thighs and talked dirty to him.

  “You’re so fucking hot, Matt. Jerk that big cock, come on. I want it every way you can give it to me. I love the way your ass feels, squirming around on top of me. Can’t wait to eat you out again. Jerk your fucking dick and think about how I’m gonna stuff your ass later.”

  His pace grew frenzied, and he suddenly threw his head back. “Ah fuck!”

  Ropes of white jizz flew out of his dick, covering my chest and splashing on my face. I was pretty sure one shot sailed right over my head. When he stopped shooting, I took his hand and sucked every delectable bit of cum off his fingers.

  “Love you,” he mumbled, when he’d settled beside me, his head on my shoulder.

  “Love you more.” I skimmed my fingertips over the arm he had draped over my chest. “Matt?”

  “Mm-hmm?”

  “What we were talking about at your apartment before the phone rang? What you asked me if I wanted?”

  He raised up and looked at me, his eyes alert. “I remember.”

  “When we’re ready, I want it.”

  Matthew

  I felt terrible about everything that had happened. The rift between Mr. Roth and his sons was sad, but considering what he’d tried to do, and what he’d done to Ben before, I was afraid it would last a while. Hopefully, time would eventually bring the Roth men some healing.