“I promise. A little later, I’ll show how much I liked those words. But get out of Huckabee’s shit first. We got dinner and dancing tonight, and I don’t want to worry about men in black interrupting my grind time with you.” Kreed left the office on that note and said a small little prayer that Aaron would do as he’d asked.
“Damn it! That’s supposed to work in giving me more time. Would a lap dance sweeten the deal?” Aaron yelled and Kreed snickered. Yeah, they were settling into each other very well.
Thanksgiving
Kreed took the corner leading into the familiar San Antonio neighborhood. He’d grown up in this tight-knit community, and throughout his life he’d traveled this street more times than he could count. Yet somehow, this time everything seemed different. His entire life had changed for the better and it was all due to the amazing guy riding beside him.
“Any regrets?”
“Not a one. You?” Aaron asked from the passenger side.
Kreed never glanced over but he could feel the kid’s gaze on him.
“I don’t do regrets. I’m in. I told you that.” Kreed slowed as he turned onto the street his parents lived on. Like normal for the day, the road was packed, forcing him to slow down and navigate the drive, moving in and out of parked cars and oncoming traffic. “It was cool how you got the guy to come in and ink us today.”
“He owed me,” Aaron replied, somewhat distracted. “This neighborhood looks like one of the fake places you see on the Hallmark Channel’s Thanksgiving TV shows.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s real. I keep telling you that families really do get together on Thanksgiving and spend the day eating and making each other totally miserable in the best possible way.”
“I just think it’s cool as shit,” Aaron added. From the corner of his eye, he watched Aaron’s eyes grow wide with excitement as he stared out the front windshield of the car.
As a kid, Kreed believed these same neighbors were always intruding in his life, telling his parents all the bad shit he’d done. Over the years, he’d grown up and come to realize they were only watching out for him. Now that he was older, he was thankful they had always stayed in his business. His life might have taken a much different path had they not stuck their noses in where he’d thought they didn’t belong.
A smile broke out across his lips as he followed Aaron’s gaze, curious as to what could possibly cause that much awe to appear on his sexy guy’s face. They had spent just about every Sunday afternoon at his parents’ house since he’d moved back to the area, but today, the neighborhood bustled with families enjoying the holiday. Even with all the years away, nothing had changed. Some were playing football in the front yard, some gathered by their cars talking, others struggling with armloads of food.
“Should we have brought something? Everyone’s carrying in covered dishes.”
“Nah, we’re good. I promise.”
“Are you sure? This is so different than Thanksgiving with my family. I’m glad we came.” Aaron’s attention remained focused outside the car.
Happiness filled Kreed’s heart. He loved sharing these special moments with Aaron. His guy had been overly excited about this family gathering. This year the entire clan would be celebrating Thanksgiving dinner at his parents’ place. All his aunts, uncles, and cousins planned to come. Aaron was so into the idea of celebrating this holiday that it was all he’d been able to talk about for the last couple of days.
When Aaron had arranged for matching tattoos to be inked this morning, it had come as a surprise—a very sweet surprise. Paying extra to have the tattoo artist come to the house added an extra layer of thoughtfulness to his guy’s special gesture. Kreed hadn’t missed the significance of what these tattoos really meant to Aaron. Being totally vested in this relationship himself, he was more than happy to commit to those ideas. This day was very special to his church boy and now it was permanently illustrated on both of them.
“My aunts and mom will cook more food than we can ever eat,” Kreed said, pulling into the driveway and putting the car in park.
“I don’t know about that. You might not have noticed, but I like to eat,” Aaron teased as he got out of the truck then shut the door without waiting on a response. “We can bring something at Christmas, right?” he quickly added, looking at Kreed over the hood.
Kreed couldn’t help but smile at the eagerness in Aaron’s words and the excitement written all over his face. Kreed made his way around the front of the car, the slight chill in the November air skating across his skin as he walked. “You’re gonna see that there’s enough food in there for us to have leftovers until Christmas day.”
“I hope so. I was trying to remember something my grandmother always made us on holidays. It was like a homemade creamed corn. It was the best ever. Everyone loved that corn. She always made me extra and would hide it so I could take it home. When she passed, my mom never made it for us; she doesn’t cook. They have everything catered and it’s just not the same. I bet I could find that recipe. You’re pretty good in the kitchen. I think we could pull it off and make it for Christmas,” Aaron suggested, falling in step beside him as they headed up the walkway.
“We could.” Kreed motioned to his hip where they’d both put their tattoos as he took the porch steps up. “I was just thinking about getting your name added to this.”
“Really? I left that spot open on the design, just in case. I know I kinda threw all that at you with no warning. I didn’t want to push too hard,” Aaron confessed, reaching for the doorbell. He stopped suddenly, and he darted his eyes sheepishly toward Kreed. “Not that I’m rushing us.”
Kreed had one hand on the doorknob. He didn’t bother to ring the doorbell when he visited. This was his family home. But he stopped mid-motion and used his free hand to cup Aaron’s neck, drawing him in for a quick kiss. He loved those little confessions from Aaron; they caressed his heart and filled him with happiness.
Kreed’s words had caught in his throat when Aaron had shown him the design he’d chosen for them— a mystical dragon and a beautifully detailed serpent, nose to nose. The lower halves of their long, sleek bodies entwined and the upper half arched high to form a heart. The tattoo had been more than perfect in Kreed’s opinion.
“Rush us, because I’m already totally there, church boy. It’s been almost a year now and I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”
Kreed knew those had been the right words when Aaron gave him that sexy little grin—the one that always made an appearance when he liked what Kreed had to say. As soon as Aaron slid an arm around his waist and drew him closer with the promise of something a little more than the quick press of lips, the door knob was yanked out of Kreed’s hand and his mother’s bright, shiny face came into view. The kiss would have to wait for now, but he would be hustling Aaron off to his old bedroom the first chance he got.
“You’re here!” his mom exclaimed and gave them both a hug. “We’ve been waiting on you two. We need our tester, honey,” she gushed, pulling on Aaron’s arm.
Turned out his church boy had fit right into the Sinacola family. His mom and Aaron had become best buddies. She loved to cook and Aaron loved to eat—a match made in heaven. Aaron headed inside first, where his mother wrapped her arm around Aaron’s waist, cheerfully listing everything on the day’s menu as she guided him toward the kitchen. Kreed had actually forgotten how much his mother depended on Aaron’s taste buds. She swore he made her a better cook because he could taste even the smallest hints of spices, and since Aaron was pretty much a bottomless pit, he never got too full to sample another bite.
“I’m sorry we didn’t think to bring anything, Mom,” Aaron apologized, settling his arm across her shoulders as they turned the corner into the dining room where covered dishes were already lining the table. His mom pointed Kreed to the back porch.
“Honey, can you please go out there and help your dad with the turkey? He got a new deep fryer at the Home Depot and it’s got more bells and whistl
es than his old one. It even has a remote that he can’t figure out. I don’t know why they have to make things so complicated nowadays. You really need to get out there so we don’t end up with a crispy turkey that’s raw on the inside.” Kreed laughed at that, remembering the past. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time. He loved those memories. He looked through the house onto the back porch where he could see several men gathered around a large, steaming pot.
“Sure,” he said absently, glancing back at Aaron, who’d become so completely engrossed with the desserts, he’d stopped paying any attention to him. His mom had a giant smile on her face as she watched Aaron take a finger and swipe it over some icing as he started talking again about wanting to bring creamed corn to Christmas dinner.
God, he loved the way Aaron always surprised him—simple things like asking to make the corn for Kreed’s family at Christmas or how Aaron made his mother’s smile a little brighter by just hanging out in the kitchen. Sweet unexpected moments like those seemed to happen about a hundred times a day, which made him love Aaron even more. His whole world revolved completely around that one man. Thank God Aaron had given him a chance.
Kreed kept walking, heading toward the back where the men had gathered. He was more than happy to help his father fry the bird, seeing as how it was his favorite Thanksgiving tradition. Well, that and ending his meal with a big slice of sweet potato pie and whipped cream. Kreed smiled at the idea of starting new traditions with Aaron, because if things went the way he planned, their next Thanksgiving would be celebrated with family and friends, creamed corn and all, at his and Aaron’s new place.
The End
Note to Readers: Although this is the end of the Nice Guys Novels, don’t despair. We love these characters as much as you do, so be on the lookout for them to show up in other works as well.
Orange Fluff Stuff
Ingredients
1 pkg orange Jell-O
1 container cottage cheese
1 can crushed pineapple (drained)
1 can mandarin oranges (drained)
1 container Cool Whip whipped topping
Directions
Drain cottage cheese and discard liquid. Place cottage cheese in large bowl, add dry Jell-O, mix well.
Stir in crushed pineapple until mixed, fold in oranges and cool whip.
Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.
Two’s a Crowd
Kreed lifted his gaze to scan the length of the vaulted ceiling in Aaron’s downtown Austin high-rise apartment. So completely caught off guard by the oh-my-fucking-god-this-place-so-didn’t-fit-the-Aaron-he-knew moment, Kreed almost ran into the small table in the entryway. He stood in the foyer, gawking at the open-floor-plan design and the neatly decorated, ultra-expensive décor until his attention landed squarely back on Aaron’s hot ass already several steps ahead of him in full guided tour mode. The muscles flexing beneath those tight hipster jeans enticed Kreed to follow Aaron further inside the apartment.
The same crazy expensive apartment that would soon be Kreed’s new home, too.
One thought led to another until Kreed smiled to himself, remembering how much time he’d spent inside that hot ass. Aaron was sexy as fuck and had a naughty-boy side that would make the most brazen porn star look like the Pope.
Slow down, Sinacola. Time and place. He shook his head, hoping to rid himself of that line of thinking before it got too far out of control. More important things right now, like figuring out why after all this time he was still blindsided when it came to Aaron Stuart.
By Aaron’s own confession, there were lots of discrepancies in his back story. More gray area than that fifty shades crap… Wait. Whoa. Kreed’s brows rose at the notion. He could be open to a little bondage if Aaron were agreeable. His head again slid solidly back in the gutter.
“Come this way. I cleaned out some space for you.” Aaron’s voice pulled him from his impromptu BDSM visual in time to watch the object of his distraction disappear behind the wall to the left of the entry.
Kreed followed the sound of Aaron’s voice, slowing to admire the art hanging on the walls. They were huge statement pieces that fit easily with the living room furniture but also flowed effortlessly with the dining table and matched the dark expensive old-world look of the kitchen. Floor to ceiling windows ran the length of the back wall and clear sunny skies filled the view for as far as the eye could see, even that seemed designed to match the interior of the apartment.
Kreed came to a complete stop in the dining room. “You pulled off gamer-nerd guy really well. I never truly got this vibe from you.”
“I can change anything you don’t like,” Aaron replied, coming back around the corner.
Aaron never crowded Kreed as he unfolded all the truthful layers. Instead, Aaron gave him space, just like right now. He kept a respectful distance while crossing his arms over his chest, waiting for Kreed to catch up.
He’d learned Aaron’s mannerisms well enough to sense insecurity that Aaron bravely tried to hide. Aaron loved him. Kreed had vowed to work through all the other bullshit, which had been immense, much like the size of this living space.
“We could even get a new place, if you want. I just own this one and thought it might work for us,” Aaron said, his voice sounding concerned.
Kreed shifted his gaze back to the view of the city’s skyline past the window. “The highest up I’ve ever lived was a three-story apartment in Louisiana. I was happy only one other person had lived there. Got it for a steal. The woman before me had died walking up the three flights to her place,” Kreed said, trying for humor as he glanced back at Aaron. He got the desired effect when Aaron grinned at his joke.
“Come on. We can find someplace else if you aren’t comfortable here.”
This time he followed Aaron without letting himself get lost in the aesthetic.
“I know it’s small, only one bedroom and an office. I did that on purpose. I don’t need my family getting any ideas that they can crash here whenever they’re in town.” Aaron opened the first door they came to, revealing what looked like a control panel of an airplane cockpit.
There was so much computer equipment that Kreed wondered how Aaron ever made do with the few pieces he traveled with while on assignment. When he finally stopped pondering that question and looked up, Aaron had already opened the only other door down the hall.
He followed Aaron inside the small bedroom. Intimate might be the more appropriate word. Decorated in much the same theme as the rest of the house, this room felt more lived in than the rest of the place.
“I cleaned out space on the rack and the drawers. They’re in here.” Aaron opened a large walk-in closet; overhead lights automatically lit the space. The boxes Kreed had shipped were neatly stacked in the corner. Aaron bypassed those for a row of narrow drawers built into the back wall. There had to be twenty or so long, thin drawers built into the closet. Aaron opened one. “Here’s this one and that’s your section for anything you need to hang.”
Kreed didn’t know if Aaron was being serious or not. One drawer? No, certainly not. All this space and he got a single drawer? He looked over to the area where Aaron pointed out approximately a foot of open hanging space in the super-organized closet. Kreed furrowed his brow as he studied the possibilities. Maybe Aaron meant that section of drawers was for Kreed. As Aaron left the closest still in tour-guide mode, Kreed stepped farther inside, opening the drawer directly under the one Aaron had opened.
“You had more stuff than I anticipated,” Aaron called out from the bedroom. Apparently, his guy had been serious. There were nicely folded clothes in each drawer. Nothing stacked fully on top of one another. Instead, the T-shirts were layered, showing at least two thirds of the front of each one. That same pattern seemed a running theme throughout the entire row of drawers. “What?”
“You’re giving me a single drawer?” Kreed asked incredulously.
“One in the bathroom too,” Aaron assured, as if that would make everyt
hing all right.
“I have three boxes of personal items. It’s not much, but seriously, Stuart, I’m gonna need more space than a drawer.”
Aaron stepped back inside the closest, looking confused as hell.
“Okay, well don’t lose your shit. How much space do you need?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he began to study the space in the closest. “If we move these things…” Aaron reached for five shirts hanging on a back rack.
“This is a joke, right?”
Aaron turned his still very confused gaze toward Kreed who stood to his full height and glared at the hottie staring back at him. “Can we combine a few of these T-shirt drawers together and maybe give me two feet of hanging space?”
Bewilderment mixed with horror crossed Aaron’s face. “I like my things in order. I have to be able to see which graphic is on which T-shirt. If I can’t see them face up, they lose the fold and get wrinkled. They’ll have to be ironed again.”
“You iron your T-shirts?” Kreed scoffed, remembering Aaron flinging his clothes all over the place in Hawaii.
“Everybody irons their T-shirts,” Aaron shot back defensively.
All Kreed could do was roll his eyes. His guy had a lot to learn about the real world. “You lived out of a small carry-on for over a month yet require your shit be ironed? And fuck it if you didn’t fight me on the church-boy clothes.” With dramatic flair, Kreed whipped his arm to the side in a Vanna White style gesture. “You have a five-foot row of fucking suits. What the hell, Aaron?”
“I rarely wear any of those, and only when I see my parents,” Aaron said, clearly as agitated as Kreed. “I thought this was enough space. You traveled lighter than me. I wasn’t trying to short you. I guess we could combine some of these things.” Aaron studied the closet as if it were a complicated math problem. The seriousness Aaron used finally caused Kreed to cave. Aaron was right, Kreed didn’t give a shit about any of this. He could live out of the boxes for all it truly mattered.
Nice Guys Collection With Added Bonus Material Page 113