by Nell Iris
Ellis nodded and rubbed the back of his head where he’d banged it.
“You need some sugar?” Casey winked.
He nodded again and climbed out of the shower as Casey grabbed a towel from the rack, pulled it over Ellis’s head, and rubbed the water out of his locks, before wrapping it around his shoulders.
Casey cupped Ellis’s face—long fingers playing with his wild sideburns—and leaned in. Ellis loved that they were equally tall these days, even if his shoulders were much broader than Casey’s. His boyfriend had done a lot of growing up since he’d been a brave boy of six.
“Poor baby,” Casey whispered but didn’t kiss him. Instead, his fingers found their way to Ellis’s hair, where he wound them in the crazy curls and tugged. Ellis gasped, and Casey took advantage and pressed his lips against Ellis’s.
Ellis shivered and goose bumps spread all over his body, but before he could take it any further, Casey pulled away.
“Dinner’s ready,” he singsonged, turned on his heel, and bounced out of the tiny bathroom while Ellis stayed behind and dried off with a wide grin on his face.
Chapter 3
December 24th
Casey
WHEN CASEY was done with the cleanup after breakfast, he threw himself down on the couch with a loud sigh. The trailer was spotless, he’d planned the menu for tomorrow, and even the laundry basket was completely empty.
What the heck was he supposed to do now?
He wasn’t made for dawdling away all his time at home; he needed a full-time job. He would have to check with Mrs. Miller again after Christmas to see if he could get more hours at the library. Otherwise he’d have to seriously start looking for something else, no matter how much he loved his current job. A real salary wouldn’t hurt either.
Groaning, he jumped off the couch and jogged into their bedroom to change into his workout gear, putting off the decision on what to do with the rest of the day until after his run. Back out by the door, he got down on the floor to put his sneakers on—no shoes inside, thank you very much—and noticed something under the Christmas tree.
He abandoned the worn sneakers and knee-walked over to check the item. It wasn’t very big, so he got down on all fours to see better.
It was a ball: a little bigger than a ping-pong ball and wrapped in newspaper. It hadn’t been there yesterday when they’d gone to bed, so Ellis must have sneaked it under the tree this morning.
He sat back on his heels and his hand flew to his mouth.
Ellis had gotten him a gift for Christmas!
Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks. He didn’t wipe them away; he just sat there. Staring at the newspaper-covered ball.
What could it be?
He threw himself on his stomach and crawled as close as he could while making sure not to tangle his hair in the low-hanging branches. A message, scrawled with a red marker in Ellis’s almost illegible writing greeted him: merry xmass boo.
Next to the writing, he’d also drawn a small, crooked heart, with one arch much bigger than the other.
Casey couldn’t keep his hands off it. He traced the heart with his finger, wanting nothing more than to tear off the paper and see what Ellis had gotten him. But of course he didn’t.
Instead, he crossed his arms on the floor in front of him and rested his head down. Watching the present, he exhaled a shuddering breath and closed his eyes.
He still had no idea what to give Ellis tomorrow. Considering he had absolutely no money, what could he buy?
Untangling one of his hands, he reached out and enveloped the ball, but resisted the urge to shake it. He just held it in his hand, and somehow it made him feel closer to Ellis.
He shouldn’t be surprised that Ellis had gotten him a present. He knew how much Casey loved Christmas, how desperately he missed his mother, and was sad that there wouldn’t be any knitted socks wrapped in plain brown paper for either of them this year.
Of course he’d found a way to cheer Casey up.
Casey let go of the present and wiggled his way out from under the tree. He supposed he could always resort to giving Ellis stupid coupons like he’d given his momma when he was a kid. But instead of one month of doing the dishes, it could be stuff like one hour of hard ass-fucking or a promise of rimming Ellis until he screamed Casey’s name and shot his spunk all over the place. He could even draw dirty pictures on the coupons to illustrate the gifts.
He nodded to himself. It would have to do. But next year he’d buy Ellis a real present.
Casey jumped off the floor, took one last longing look at the ball before he pulled on his shoes, and went out for his run.
LATER, AFTER a five-mile sprint and a quick shower, Casey rummaged around in the closet to find some paper to make the coupons, when a cardboard box on the floor in the back caught his attention. It was taped shut and his name was written out in block letters on the side. He took two steps back and sank down on the bed.
He’d forgotten all about that box.
Casey’s momma had unexpectedly died of a brain aneurysm earlier this year. According to her coworkers, she’d complained about a headache all day, and just an hour before the end of her shift, she’d collapsed in the middle of the restaurant. The doctors had said there wasn’t anything they could have done; she’d already been dead when the ambulance brought her into the emergency room.
At first, Casey had felt nothing. He’d been numb, barely surviving in a reality he couldn’t accept. How could he go on living in a world where his momma didn’t exist anymore?
He hadn’t even cried at her funeral. Not until months later had he broken down in Ellis’s arms and wept for hours.
They had found the box with his name on it when they cleared out her tiny apartment. Casey hadn’t been ready to open it and check its contents, so he’d taken it home, hid it in the closet, and forgotten all about it.
Until today.
He gathered his still-damp hair at the nape of his neck and braided it, not taking his eyes off the box. What could be in it? He twisted the braid around itself at the neck and snapped a rubber band around the bun when he was happy with it.
Then he stood abruptly, grabbed the box, and walked to the living room, where he sank down in front of the tree. He put his hands on the box, fanned out his fingers as if he was trying to take in its contents through the cardboard.
It wasn’t very big. Or heavy.
He slid his hand down the side and fingered the brown tape, hooked his fingernail under a loose piece, and started scratching, peeling it away bit by bit. When it was loose enough to clasp between his thumb and index finger, he grabbed the end and pulled it all the way off.
Like a Band-Aid off a wound.
Before he had time to change his mind, he opened the flap and looked down in the box.
His old snuggly bear perched happily on the rest of the contents.
“Bear-Bear!” He smiled and hugged it close. It was even rattier than Casey remembered, with only one black beady eye and one of its ears half torn off. Momma had offered to stitch it back on at the time of the bicycle accident that had injured Bear-Bear, but the thought of her stabbing his beloved friend with a needle had made him cry.
He giggled at the memory. “I guess it didn’t heal on its own, old friend,” he said and kissed the bear on its black nose.
With Bear-Bear resting in the crook of his arm, he turned his attention back to the box. Grimacing, he shoved the boring old Monopoly game out of the way, eager to see if his Scrabble was in there too.
But what was underneath the Monopoly took Casey’s breath away.
The drawing.
He blinked and Bear-Bear fell to the floor, forgotten in favor of this amazing treasure.
Casey couldn’t believe Momma had saved it all these years.
With careful hands he lifted it out of the box and studied it, and his eyes filled with tears as he saw his momma’s handwriting in the lower left corner.
Casey and Ellis getti
ng married.
Two people stood next to each other on a green field full of sunflowers, holding hands and wearing big smiles on their faces. There was no mistaking their identities. The short boy, dressed in white trousers and shirt, had red, straight hair reaching his shoulders. Next to him was a much taller boy, dressed completely in black, with a headful of brown, riotous curls.
Casey and Ellis.
He remembered when he’d made it: he’d been six and he’d wanted to give his hero Ellis something for Christmas.
“Draw him a picture,” his momma had said, always encouraging his artistic side.
He’d spent hours working on it, wanting it to be perfect, and the only thing Momma had said when she’d looked at the completed drawing was “It’s beautiful, baby.” No comment on the motif; she hadn’t batted an eye at the fact that he’d drawn a picture of himself getting married to another boy. She’d just called him a talented artist, kissed him on the top of his head, and reminded him to bring it to the neighborhood Christmas party.
But when they’d gotten there, the other boys had started bullying him like they always did. Pulling his long hair, teasing him about the girly clothes he’d inherited from his cousin Mary, and making fun of his childhood lisp. He’d been on the verge of tears when Ellis had come to his rescue, forever cementing his hero-status in Casey’s six-year-old mind.
Before he’d had time to work up his courage and give the drawing to Ellis, his momma had told him it was time to go, and he’d returned home, still clasping the piece of paper in a sweaty hand. He didn’t remember what he’d done with it after they got back, and he’d had no idea his momma had kept it.
He smiled at the paper, put it down on the floor next to him, and turned his attention back to the box. But before he had the time to go through the rest of it, he was struck by an idea.
Screw the coupons! He knew what Ellis was getting for Christmas.
Chapter 4
December 24th
Ellis
“HEY, WALKER?”
Ellis looked up from the engine bay of the ancient Chevy truck he was elbow-deep in. “Yes, boss?”
“Get in here for a minute.” Hal, the boss, didn’t wait for Ellis to answer. He just hustled back into his office.
“What now?” Ellis muttered to himself as he straightened, careful to not bump his head on the hood. His stomach rolled, and he had to swallow down a sudden wave of nausea.
What if this was about his job?
He was nothing but a trainee after all, and maybe the Boss-Man had decided he wanted an experienced mechanic instead of a newbie like Ellis. Hal hadn’t complained, and Ellis was fairly confident that the boss was satisfied with his performance, but he had no way of knowing.
Life would become very difficult for him and Casey if he lost his job.
On the other hand, the Boss-Man had walked around with a frown on his face all day as if someone had scratched the custom paint on his ’55 Cadillac with a key. Everyone at the garage had tiptoed around him, careful not to make it worse, so hopefully it had nothing to do with Ellis’s apprenticeship.
He grimaced and pushed away the worry from his mind, wiping his greasy hands on his coveralls as he crossed the floor. When his coworkers threw him questioning looks, he shrugged.
Ellis knocked hesitantly on the open door. “Boss?”
The man’s scowl was worse than ever. “Shut the door and sit down, Walker,” he grunted without looking up. Ellis bit the inside of his cheek but did as he was told.
The office was quiet for several minutes except for the slow clicking noise of the keys on the computer as the Boss-Man typed, using only his index fingers. Ellis forced himself not to fidget in the chair, but couldn’t stop his knee from bouncing.
What the heck was going on?
Finally, Hal looked up from the screen. His salt-and-pepper hair was in wild disarray as if he’d repeatedly dragged his fingers through it. He pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned.
“Here’s the deal. Nancy’s quittin’.”
“What?” Nancy? Quit?
“Yeah. She wants to live closer to her kids now that she’s alone.”
Ellis nodded. He could understand that. She was a nice old lady and everyone at the garage had been devastated for her when her husband had passed away unexpectedly last year.
Nancy hadn’t been the same ever since. She’d always been a firecracker, making sure that every i was dotted and t crossed on the paperwork, and if it wasn’t, she’d come marching out in the garage, heels clicking, and read the perpetrator the riot act.
But ever since her husband died, she’d been subdued. Ellis missed her spunkiness, and if she would just get back to her old self, he’d gladly bend down so she could reach and smack him over his head with the clipboard because he’d missed a signature somewhere.
And now she was quitting?
“I’m gonna miss her,” Ellis mumbled.
“Me too, son. Me too.”
Ellis stared at the Boss-Man. Son? That was new. What happened to “Walker”? Or “Curly,” when he was in a good mood?
“Anyway. I need someone to take over for her in the office. Preferably yesterday.”
“Okay?” Ellis nodded but didn’t really understand what this had to do with him.
“You said your… uh… friend is needin’ a job?” Hal squirmed in his seat but looked straight at him.
“Um, yes?”
Everyone at the garage knew that Ellis was gay and that he was in a relationship with Casey. At first, there had been slurs and ridicule from the others, but Hal had quickly put an end to that. He’d told everyone in no uncertain terms to keep their pieholes shut or start lookin’ for a new job, right this minute. And even though Boss-Man was clearly uncomfortable at the thought of one of his mechanics living with another guy, he’d never said anything about it. Or treated Ellis differently.
“He any good at office work?”
Ellis inhaled quickly, and his bouncing leg stilled. “Yessir.”
“Good.” Hal grunted. “Bring him in after Christmas. We got two weeks before Nancy’s leavin’. I want him up to speed by then.”
“Really?” Ellis’s voice trembled, but he didn’t care.
“Really. Now get outta here before I change my mind.” Hal’s voice was gruff, but a small smile played in the corners of his mouth. He waved in the direction of the door and returned his attention to the computer, clearly done with the conversation.
“Thank you, sir.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
He stood on shaky legs and stepped out, but the Boss-Man called him back. “Oh, and Curly?”
“Yessir?” He turned back.
“You’re doin’ a fine job here. Next year, we’ll talk about makin’ it permanent. Give you a decent salary.”
Ellis stared at his boss, having no idea what to say. “Thank you” seemed so inadequate.
Hal grinned. “Cat got your tongue?” When Ellis nodded, he burst out laughing. “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”
Ellis made sure it didn’t.
“CASEY.” ELLIS jumped out of The Rust Bucket in front of their trailer and started yelling before he even closed the door behind him. He’d been giddy ever since the talk with Hal the Boss-Man, and he’d had a hard time concentrating on fixing the danged Chevy, because all he wanted to do was go home and tell Casey the news. He’d kept staring at the time and had been seconds away from accusing the other guys of tampering with the clock since the day never seemed to end.
His long legs quickly ate the distance to their trailer. He jumped over the two rickety steps leading up to the covered porch and threw open the door.
“Casey!”
“What are you hollering about?” Casey came sauntering out of their bedroom. Hips swayed from side to side, drawing Ellis’s gaze to the frayed sweatpants that sat so low, Casey’s fiery red pubes peeked over the elastic. His camo T-shirt was so short and tight Ellis wouldn’t be surprised i
f he’d bought it in the kids’ department.
The sight made Ellis’s mouth more parched than a car battery boiled dry, and he licked his lips, desperate for some moisture.
Casey stopped a few feet away from him, cocked his hip, and put his hand on it. “Honey?” He drew out the word, teased Ellis with his drawl.
“Uh-huh?”
Casey thrust his groin forward, drawing Ellis’s attention to the expanding outline of his dick. “You look hungry.” This time Casey laughed out loud, and the sound pulled Ellis out of his stupor.
Without taking his eyes off Casey, Ellis yanked the work boots off his feet. Then he started toward Casey with purposeful strides.
Casey walked backward, matching Ellis’s pace, with a teasing smile on his face. His green eyes twinkled as he started undoing his hair. Ellis stumbled but managed to stay upright, and he growled and increased his pace.
Their trailer wasn’t big, and soon Casey hit the back of his knees on their bed. His smile grew wider as he loosened his hair, and shook it out until it was cascading down his back. Then he let himself fall backward, bouncing on the mattress with arms and legs wide in invitation.
Ellis pounced. Within moments he was straddling Casey, whose eyes shone as he pushed his hips upward, making Ellis feel his growing bulge. Ellis cupped Casey’s face, but flinched as he saw the stark contrast of oil-stained fingers on Casey’s peachy complexion. He pulled back. “I better clean up first,” he mumbled, wondering if he looked as dejected as he felt.
Casey grabbed both Ellis’s hands and put them back on his cheeks.
“We can shower together later.” Casey thrust his hips, shoving his hard cock against Ellis’s ass. Ellis pushed down, threw his head back, and moaned.
“You want it? You want my cock?” Casey let go of Ellis’s hands, grabbed the bottom of his T-shirt, and managed to wiggle out of it while keeping his dick pressed against Ellis’s ass. He threw it without looking where it landed, started tearing at Ellis’s work shirt, and within seconds it joined the camo one on the floor.