by Kim Fielding
“I’d like to spend it with you, please,” Oscar said. “We’ll see if we can make tamales—I’ve never tried without my mom. My family usually cuts decorative shapes into paper bags to make luminarias. You and I can try that.”
“Uh-oh. Candles.” But Uri was smiling.
“We’ll use battery ones.”
Uri listed to the side. But this time it wasn’t klutziness—it was a deliberate action to increase his contact with Oscar. And since Oscar seemed amenable, Uri scooted around until he lay on his back with his head in Oscar’s lap. The couch wasn’t quite long enough, but Uri propped his feet on the armrest and felt as comfortable as a human could possibly be. Until Oscar started petting his hair—then Uri reached the kind of sensate nirvana usually experienced only by cats. He closed his eyes and wished he could purr.
Oscar stroked him for a long time before speaking softly. “Last night I dreamed I was stuck in traffic over at Briggsmore and Sisk. You know the intersection, right?”
Uri chuckled. “I’ve been stuck there many times.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen the data, and it’s one of the busiest in the county. All those strip malls, the cars getting on and off the freeway…. Ugh. Anyway, in my dream, cars weren’t moving at all. Everyone was just sitting there honking their horns. Until somehow they figured out what I do for a living, and then they all started screaming at me. They were, like, one step away from attacking!”
Uri reached up to caress Oscar’s stubbled jaw. “That sounds awful.” He’d never given thought to the potential nightmares of traffic engineers. His own bad dreams tended toward scenarios where computer viruses infected humanity or everyone on campus forgot their passwords at once.
“It was awful. But all of a sudden a helicopter zoomed down low, and you were flying it. You called for me to grab on to the ladder and climb up. Which I did, and you whisked me away to safety.” Oscar bent to kiss Uri’s forehead.
“I don’t know how to fly a helicopter. If I tried, I’d probably crash it.”
“Nope. You’re my hero.”
“You’re the one who helped me out of a jam, remember? I haven’t done anything heroic.”
“Of course you have. For the first time since I moved here, I feel like I’m home. Because of you.” Oscar spread his palm across the center of Uri’s chest, a welcome weight. “And I get to spend two holidays in wonderful company instead of enduring one alone.”
As Uri looked into Oscar’s eyes, he could almost see himself the way Oscar described him. Heroic. Strong. Attractive. Desirable. That was an incredible gift to receive—viewing oneself through the eyes of someone who saw the best in you.
Funny thing. Hanukkah was known as the Festival of Lights—and Uri had accidentally celebrated it much too literally. But candles and stove flames weren’t the only kind of lights. A different kind could be kindled in the heart and soul if you allowed yourself to fall in love with the right person. That kind wasn’t a disaster at all.
“I hate my hotel room,” Uri said with a melodramatic sigh.
“My offer still stands. Stay here.”
“In your spare room or in your bed?”
“Either.” Oscar anointed Uri’s forehead with another kiss. “Personally, I’d prefer you in my bed.”
Uri preferred that as well. “I keep telling myself not to move too fast. To be careful not to make a dumb mistake and mess things up. But you know what? Hanukkah celebrates a miracle. I’m willing to see if you and I can get a miracle too. See if we can make this work.”
“Do I get you for eight nights only?” Oscar’s expression was gently teasing, but his eyes sparkled with joy.
“Eight nights is a good start. We can take it from there.” Then Uri added an important part. “I feel good about this. I feel like we’ll be able to keep our flame alive.”
“Me too.”
Uri was going to sit up, but Oscar bent down for another kiss. This one on the lips, not the forehead, and this one scorchingly hot and full of promise.
When Oscar straightened up, he laughed. “Uri, did you know that your shirt is buttoned wrong?”
Uri glanced down. Sure enough, he’d done it up crookedly. Jeez, at his age you’d think he’d be capable of dressing himself. He reached to fix it, but Oscar playfully batted Uri’s hand away. “This doesn’t have to be a problem,” Oscar said with a grin as he began to unfasten the buttons.
No matter what, Uri was bound to break things and knock things over. He’d bump into walls and furniture, crack his head on car roofs, and trip over his own damned feet. He would remain untrustworthy near open flames and, likely, power tools. None of that mattered. Oscar wouldn’t care for him any less because of Uri’s klutziness. And Uri had a premonition that every day from now on, he’d find himself caring for Oscar a little bit more.
Uri tugged until Oscar lay fully atop him, the most delightful weight ever. Then he began tugging at Oscar’s clothes. Uri silently uttered one last prayer that couldn’t be found in any book. Please let the flames of passion become embers of love. And please let them glow forever. A prayer, a dream, a wild hope—one that Uri believed would come true.
KIM FIELDING is pleased every time someone calls her eclectic. Her books span a variety of genres, but all include authentic voices and unconventional heroes. She’s a Rainbow Award and SARA Emma Merritt winner, a LAMBDA finalist, and a two-time Foreword INDIE finalist. She has migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States and currently lives in California, where she long ago ran out of bookshelf space. A university professor who dreams of being able to travel and write full-time, she also dreams of having two teenagers who occasionally get off their phones, a husband who isn’t obsessed with football, and a cat who doesn’t wake her up at 4:00 a.m. Some dreams are more easily obtained than others.
Blogs: kfieldingwrites.com and www.goodreads.com/author/show/4105707.Kim_Fielding/blog
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KFieldingWrites
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @KFieldingWrites
By Kim Fielding
Alaska
Anyplace Else
Astounding!
Blyd and Pearce
The Border
Brute
Dear Ruth
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Get Lit
Grateful
A Great Miracle Happened There
Grown-up
Housekeeping
Motel. Pool.
Night Shift
Once Upon a Time in the Weird West
Pilgrimage
The Pillar
Rattlesnake
With Venona Keyes: Running Blind
Saint Martin’s Day
Speechless • The Gig
The Tin Box
Venetian Masks
Violet’s Present
BONES
Good Bones
Buried Bones
Bone Dry
The Gig
DREAMSPUN BEYOND
#8 – Ante Up
DREAMSPUN DESIRES
#56 – A Full Plate
STARS FROM PERIL
#67 – The Spy’s Love Song
#82 – Redesigning Landry Bishop
#91 – Drawing the Prince
GOTHIKA
Stitch
Bones
Claw
Spirit
Contact
LOVE CAN’T
Love Can’t Conquer
Love Is Heartless
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or loc
ales is entirely coincidental.
Get Lit
© 2019 Kim Fielding
Cover Art
© 2019 Brooke Albrecht
http://brookealbrechtstudio.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
Digital ISBN: 978-1-64405-784-1
Digital eBook published December 2019
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America