by T A. McKay
“Hi, I'm Trey, Roman’s really stupid boyfriend who may have said some things to you that I wish I could take back.” I hope that he accepts that as the apology it’s meant to be, but I start to doubt it as he just stands there and looks at me. It feels like about an hour, but in reality it’s more like ten seconds, before he finally reaches his hand out and shakes mine.
“It’s nice to meet you. Just for the record my name is Grey, not bastard or fucking joke like you tried to guess earlier.” Fuck, I really did put my foot in it with him. The one time I want to make a good impression and I act like the ass that I am. I need to get him to like me, so I better turn on all my charm.
“I'm really sorry about that. I think I was just a little shocked to see a nearly naked guy answer the door, especially when it wasn’t Nathan.” At the look of confusion on Grey’s face I quickly explain. “That’s my best friend, the one who’s joining us today, and him answering the door like that wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest. He isn’t the most modest guy I've met, and I will warn you now, not the funniest.” This comment finally gets a smile to cross Grey’s face, and I relax a little thinking that maybe I can win him over.
“He can’t be the funniest, because that would be me.”
At Grey’s laughter, Roman comes over and breaks the tension between us. “And on that note let’s get a drink. It’s Christmas, let’s start celebrating.” He grabs my hand and pulls me towards the kitchen as the doorbell goes again. Thank god Nathan is finally here for moral support. When we reach the kitchen the smell of food hits me. It brings back memories from when my mom was alive, and when we would come down the stairs on Christmas morning to be greeted with gingerbread men and French toast. To this day I can’t smell cinnamon without thinking of those times. Now I'm surrounded by cinnamon and cloves, and I can’t wait to build more memories with Roman.
“What do you want to drink? I have Christmas coffee, eggnog or hot chocolate. I make the hot chocolate with cream and little marshmallows. It’s the way my grandma used to make it and it’s amazing.” His excitement steals a little more of my heart, and I know if I wasn’t completely in love with this guy that in this moment I would be.
I don’t bother answering him, just needing to kiss him straight away. I grip his face, my hands cupping his smooth jaw as I rub my fingers across his cheek, enjoying the softness of his skin.
“I love you.” I can’t hold the words back any longer, and with the shocked look on Roman’s face I know he didn’t expect them. I don’t wait for him to say anything, not needing to hear him return the words to me. I press my lips to his, the connection quieting my brain. This is one of the things that I love about Roman; he has this ability to make the stress of the world just disappear. Whenever I'm with him everything fades away, leaving just him and me. That’s true this time as well, when I don’t notice we aren’t alone until Nathan’s voice hits my ears.
“Oh man, put the poor boy down. So, who do I have to do to get a drink round here?”
Pulling back from Roman, I see the love shining out of his eyes and I know that I have found that thing I never thought I would. I've found the person who makes me whole.
I kiss his nose before smiling at him. “And that would be Nathan.” I wink at him before I turn to greet my friend who has the worst timing ever.
I groan as I lower myself onto the sofa. Roman has finally given us permission to exchange gifts after force-feeding us more French toast than I thought anyone could make at one time. Every single slice was divine, but by the third piece I just wanted to take a nap. Now I'm struggling to move but I seem to be the only one. Nathan is sitting next to me, Grey is on the single chair next to the tree, and Roman is on the floor next to the tree after announcing that he was going to hand out the gifts. I can’t wait for him to see what I got him, but his main gift is causing me nerves. I hope that he loves it, but there is a chance that I have gone too far and he will be angry at me for it. I’ve worked so hard to get it organized, so I'm hoping that I’ve done the right thing.
“Are we all comfortable? Can I start?” Roman is practically bouncing on his knees, and I wish we were alone so he could bounce on something else.
“I just want to warn everyone that my gifts aren’t that great. I didn’t know what everyone liked so I kinda went generic.” Nathan shrugs his shoulders as he finishes talking, acting like he isn’t bothered by what he just said but I know he is. When we went shopping he hated not knowing who he was buying for, he likes to put some thought into his gifts, caring more than he shows people.
“You didn’t have to bring anything, so they will be perfect.” I love how Roman has spent the day trying to make Nathan feel part of the celebration. He has treated him like he’s glad that he’s here with us, and I know in return, that Nathan has been relaxed in his company. I grab my coffee as Roman starts to hand out the gifts, watching as everyone opens theirs and thanks each other for what they got. I let my presents pile up, happy to just watch everyone. I'm busy watching when I feel a hand on my leg. I look down and Roman is sitting at my feet, his bottom lip sucked into his mouth, and the image has me instantly going hard.
“Aren’t you going to open yours?” He looks at the gifts piled to the side of me, and I know he must be wondering why there were no packages from me under the tree. When he was making breakfast I excused myself and moved the bag that was holding his presents off to the side, keeping them separate so I could give them to him personally.
I take some time unwrapping the packages next to me, thanking Grey for the shirt and tie he got me, and Nathan for the new sparring gloves. I stand and grab the bag that’s behind the couch, sitting on the floor next to Roman when I return.
“These are for you.” I kiss him and sit back to watch as he starts to pull out the boxes inside. He looks shocked that there are so many, but I couldn’t stop buying once I started. When he's set them out in front of him, I point to the closest one to me.
“Open that one first.” He does as I ask, and he smiles when he sees a mixed CD I made with the title ‘stripper songs … but only get naked for me’. He laughs when he reads the title, and I point at the next gift he needs to open. This goes on until there are three gifts left to open. He said he loved his aftershave, which is a new one but he would wear it now, and the new Andrew Christian jocks made him blush, as well as giving him an aroused look in his eyes. I can’t wait to see him in them, he’s going to look as sexy as hell.
Now my nerves are picking up as he looks at me to see what gift to open next. The last gifts are the ones that I put a lot of thought into, the ones that I really hope he loves but there’s a chance I’ve picked wrong. I point to the largest of the gifts and watch as he rips the paper off the box. This is what I had found inside the little boutique that Nathan had taken me too. It was actually the first gift I bought him, and started the whole snowball effect that is in front of us. His eyes widen as he undoes the box and pulls the silver figurine out. His eyes become wet as he looks over the male pole dancer that I was amazed to find. It has a guy wrapped around a pole, his arm thrown out behind him as his back arches backwards. It reminded me of the first night that I saw Roman up on the stage, the way his body moved as he danced in the spotlight. He was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen, and I think even that first night he stole a part of me that he never gave back.
“It’s beautiful. I haven’t seen anything like this before.” He sounds like he does when I kiss him with passion, that slightly breathy quality that makes me want to push him to the ground and devour him. He leans in and kisses me gently, a breath-taking smile across his lips. I lift up the smallest gift before I give in to the urge to take this further, and hand it to him to open. My heart is starting to race with nerves, wondering how he is going to react to the next two gifts. This one is a big step, but my last gift is the one that is likely to get the biggest reaction.
Roman gets a confused look on his face when he pulls the keychain and key out of the small box. He tur
ns it over in his hand before looking at me. I reach out and take them, turning it until he can read the word that is printed on the keychain.
Trust.
“Trust. It’s the main thing I want to give you, the one thing I haven’t given to anyone else before. I've always held a part of myself back from the guys I've been with, but not this time. I want you to have everything that I am, nothing held back.” I hold up the key, making sure that he is looking at me, but in reality I don’t think his eyes have left me since I started speaking. I’ve never been this honest in my life, and I'm glad that Nathan has decided that it’s a good time for him to keep quiet. The last thing I need is a sarcastic comment from him.
“This key is to my house,” I continue. “I want you to be able to come and go whenever you want. I'm not asking you to move in with me … yet, because I don’t know how you would feel about that. I do want you to think of my place as yours, and I want you to feel comfortable being there, even when I'm not. If I come home to find you there, lets just say it won’t be the worst thing in the world.”
The tears that Roman were trying to keep under control finally fall down his cheek, and hoping that it’s a good sign, I reach out and wipe them away with my thumbs. When my palms touch his cheeks, he leans into me, his eyes never leaving mine as he speaks.
“I love you.” Three simple words and my world changes focus. My whole life is about this guy in front of me, and if I had my head out my ass weeks ago I would have noticed before. I was so worried about what Roman might do to me, I missed the fact that he had shown me so many times that he wanted me and only me. But now is the time to find out if I've gone too far with his final gift.
“This final gift is your main one. It’s something important and I want you to have an open mind.”
Worry crosses his face and I would love to know what’s going through his head. I hold out the envelope but it takes Roman a few minutes to take it from me. I let him open it, his eyes moving over it as he reads the letter that is on the top of the brochure.
I give him a moment to try and process it before I speak. “Roman?” His eyes move to mine and I know he isn’t fully getting what’s happening. “You're fired.” This gets his attention, his head instantly shaking as he tries to rise to his feet. I grab him, needing to explain what I mean.
“Is this about Mr. Jamieson? I said I was sorry.”
I cover his lips with my fingers and pull him down until he's sitting on my legs. I pull him into my body so he’s leaning his body against me. “Listen to me before you freak out.” I pull the brochure from his hand and open it. “You are fired from the firm because you won’t have time to work with all your studies. I have never met someone more capable than you, and you deserve the world. I spoke to the other partners and we agreed that we needed to create a scholarship for the most outstanding paralegal. We haven’t done it before but we haven’t had you before. This scholarship pays for law school, and when you’re ready we will put you through the bar exam.”
His body becomes tense as I speak, and I know he's getting ready to argue me on this. It isn’t the firm who’s paying for his schooling, it’s all on me, but I knew he would refuse point blank to go if he knew that. This was the only way that I could get him to accept the gift.
“I can’t accept this, it’s too much. This is why Mr. Jamieson was pissed at me. He hates me so he would never agree with this.” He's right that Roger refused to accept putting Roman through school, but once I explained that I was only telling him out of obligation, that I didn’t need him to go along with it, that’s when the tension really got bad. What Roman doesn’t realize is that he will always come before Roger, and there’s nothing he can do to change that fact.
“You can accept and you will. It’s all sorted and if you back out we will lose a lot of money.” I turn his head away from the school prospectus, bringing his eyes to mine. “And you actually come out the loser in this deal, because when you pass the bar, it’s written into the deal that you have to come work for our firm. So really, the joke’s on you.”
He doesn’t even attempt to stop the tears that are falling now, and I smile when I know that he isn’t going to fight me anymore. I have plans for this brilliant man of mine, I'm just not going to let him into all of them yet. If there is one thing I have learned about Roman it’s that he is a worrier, so I will let him deal with one part of our life together at a time, but the big picture will happen. He will be in my bed and in my home permanently, and he will pass his bar, becoming one of the partners in my firm.
If Roger and Hugh have a problem with that, it’s really simple, I will leave Colby, Jamieson and Rose.
Chapter 27
My heart is racing as I pull on my jeans. This day has been surreal and tonight isn’t going to be much better. My gifts from Trey left me completely speechless, each one getting grander and more mind blowing. The figurine was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. No one has accepted my dancing the way Trey has, and to get me something to celebrate what I do made my heart swell. I would have been happy with just that, but no, that wasn’t good enough for Trey. He had to go and blow my mind, giving me the key to his front door. I thought I was going to pass out when he told me what it was, but when he said that he was going to ask me to move in soon, well that was almost more than I could cope with. Visions of spending my nights in Trey’s arms, watching television or reading books, won’t leave my mind, and part of me wishes he had asked now.
But not to be outdone, even by himself, he kept the best until last. When I opened the envelope and saw the prospectus for law school, I'm pretty sure my brain short-circuited. I’ve always wanted to go, but paying for it was always a problem. Hearing him explain that everything was paid for, and that after I passed the bar I would have a job, in the firm that I want to work with more than anything, was more than I could ever have dreamed of. But it was also the scariest thing, when he told me I was fired I was sure I was going to vomit on him. This job is important to me, it didn’t just pay my bills, it gives me place to live the part of my dream to help people. Losing it would devastate me, but when he said I would work there with him when I pass the bar, I let the idea of it settle in my mind. I smile at the knowledge that I’m finally going to law school.
The nerves come back when I think about what I'm about to do. It’s my turn to give Trey his Christmas present, and I'm finishing up getting ready to give him it while he sits in the living room waiting. I sit on Trey’s bed and take a deep breath. I look around his bedroom, trying to envision what is about to happen and make sure I have everything I need. There are four lamps lit around the room giving off just enough light that he will be able to see everything clearly. There’s a chair in the middle of his floor, and that’s where the evening will start. Oh god, I can’t believe I'm actually going to do this. There is no part of Trey that says he will be open to trying it, but I hope that he sees what I'm doing, and I hope that he can trust me. I want to show him that he can let his guard down, that I would never do anything to hurt him even when he's at his most vulnerable.
I stand from his bed, determined not to show anything other than confidence for the rest of the night. I will just pretend I'm Romeo, and that I own my sexuality, and in return I own Trey. I grab a black scarf as I walk past the dresser just inside the bedroom door, and make my way out to where Trey is sitting on the couch waiting for me. When I turn the last corner I see him and my breath catches in my chest. He really is the most beautiful man I've ever seen. He's reading a book, a glass of Scotch in his hand, looking like he's the most relaxed man in the world. I could get used to this view, and I think I need to talk to Grey about him finding someone new to share the apartment with. I know it’s quick, but I can’t imagine not spending the rest of my life with this man. My parents might not agree with my life now, but they always taught me that I shouldn’t ignore love, that time means nothing when it comes to finding your soul mate. They met and married within six months, and after nearly thirty ye
ars of marriage they said they wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Enjoying the view?” His voice is low and husky, and I feel it flow over my entire body and set it on fire. That’s all it takes with Trey, a few simple words and my body reacts to him like he owns it.
“Immensely. Are you ready for your present now, sexy?”
He finally looks at me, his eyes raking over my naked chest and down my body to where my jeans are lying low on my hips. I can feel the heat of his stare even at this distance, and I know he must be seeing the result of his attention pushing against the front of my jeans. I can’t help getting hard when I'm around him, and I hope that one day he won’t have the same affect on me, even though I know that he probably will.
He puts his book down on the table and drinks the last of the liquid in the glass. He stands and moves over to me, leaning down and giving me a kiss on the lips. It’s a gentle touch, just a connection between us without having too much heat.
“What are you planning on doing?” There is a slight tremble in his words, and I want to relax him before we go any further, but I need to check he's okay with what’s going to happen.
“I was going to play a little tonight. Are you willing to let me take control?” I bite my lip as I wait for him to reply. I can’t help but feel anxious as he takes far too long to give me an answer, but I know this is difficult for him, to give over the control that he always has between us.
“I ask you again, what are you going to do?” The tremble is more apparent now, and I reach out and take his hand.
“I'm not going to tell you, I just need you to trust me.”
He takes a deep breath, almost bracing himself for what he's about to do. A small nod is the only answer he gives, and as much as I would love him to give me words I know it’s all he can manage just now. I put the scarf around his eyes, moving behind him to tie it tightly so he can’t see anything.