by Sue Brown
After the third time, Angel scowled at him. “I know what you’re doing.”
“Huh?” Noel tried to look as innocent as possible with a mouthful of lemon drizzle cake his Maw-Maw would have sold her left kidney to learn how to bake.
“I know you’re making me rest. I don’t need a white knight. I told you before.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I was just hungry. Eat your cake.”
Deny. Deny. Deny.
“You’re a lying liar from Liarsville.” Angel popped a morsel of cake into his mouth, leaving a smear of frosting on his lips.
Oh hell. Noel was getting it bad.
Angel stepped closer to him, and Noel tensed, not sure if he was about to receive a punch on the nose or another verbal lashing.
“Thank you for looking after me,” Angel said, so softly Noel could barely hear him.
“You’re welcome,” Noel said, just as softly.
“Let’s go.”
So much for resting.
Noel sighed. “Are you going to listen to me when I tell you to take it easy?”
“Nope.” Angel smirked at him from over his shoulder. “But I like watching you try.”
Chapter 10—Day 4
day before Christmas Eve
evening
“I’M WIPED,” Noel admitted as they made their way back to the chalet. “You may not be tired, but my legs have sent up a white flag. Hot tub before dinner?”
“Yeah, definitely. My shoulder still aches.”
Angel sounded as tired as Noel was. Despite their late start and Noel’s attempt to rein in Angel, they’d pushed themselves on the slopes. Maybe too much, Noel thought, as he felt the muscles in his inner thighs twinge. He held back the comment he wanted to make. “I’ll give you another massage if you need it later.”
Angel gave a tired nod. “Thanks. You’ve got good hands.”
“I like giving massages. It’s like a full-body workout.”
“You have a great body.”
Noel felt his cheeks warm at the unexpected compliment. The cute guy thought he had a good body. “So do you. I run most days. I don’t use the gym much, although I pay for the membership. I keep meaning to cancel.”
“You don’t like the gym?”
“The gym’s fine. It’s the people who use it I’m not so keen on.” Noel knew Angel caught his grim tone.
“They bullied you?” Angel asked gently.
Noel shook his head. “Not me. There’s a group of roided idiots who pick on newbies, usually people just starting who don’t know what they’re doing or how to use the equipment. I hate it. I’ve complained, but it falls on deaf ears. The guys are long-term members and friends with the management. I keep meaning to find another gym, but instead I avoid going.”
“It’s a real shame when guys do that. I’ve seen guys from my gym go for women too. I don’t get there much. Between shifts and studying for my exams, I don’t have much free time.”
“I’m surprised you got Christmas vacation off,” Noel said.
Angel pulled a face. “I’m going to have to work every holiday between now and the next millennium to make up for it. I wonder what we’ll be doing tonight. Last night was movie night.”
“Maybe it’s another movie,” Noel suggested.
“Charlie said no when I asked, but he wouldn’t say what it was.”
“As long as it’s not board games.” Noel really hated board games.
The hour in the hot tub before dinner restored Noel’s sense of well-being. They ventured out of their veranda doors and walked around the porch to find it empty. Angel sank into the hot water with a sigh of relief.
Noel chuckled. “Good?”
“Oh yeah,” Angel murmured, his eyes closing, the long, dark lashes fanning over his cheeks.
“How did you end up with dark lashes when all your body hair is so light?” Noel asked.
“Dyed ʼem,” Angel said, not opening his eyes.
“Oh.”
“A girlfriend said I’d look better with darker lashes, and she was right.”
Noel blinked. “You had a girlfriend?”
“More than one,” Angel admitted. “It took me a while to realize I was gay.”
“Oh.”
“You?”
“I don’t dye my lashes.” At the twitch of Angel’s lips, Noel realized he was talking about girlfriends. “No girlfriends. I knew I was gay from an early age.”
It might have been easier if he’d liked girls, but Noel’s first crush had been the soccer coach, swiftly followed by the captain of the soccer team. It didn’t take him long to understand he was different from the other boys. Noel kept his mouth shut through school, and he survived. He played sports, he was reasonably popular, and he knew other guys just like him. School wasn’t the jungle for him that it had been for other gay kids. Now his high school had a GLA and an openly gay principal. Times had changed.
Noel closed his eyes and relaxed, and the hot water eased his tired muscles. Every house should have a hot tub. He spent a few minutes trying to decide if he could fit one on the balcony of his apartment, and he grinned at the thought of putting that suggestion to his landlord.
This time he didn’t growl too much when the wise guys joined them. They seemed tired, and Marv was less frantic, content to relax in the hot water and talk idly about the day. Frankie disclosed he’d been a world-class skier until injury forced him to retire. Now he could manage the slopes if he didn’t overexert himself.
“Holy shit, you’re Francis Maloney.” Noel’s jaw dropped.
Frankie grinned at him. “You’ve heard of me.”
Noel stopped before he said he’d had pictures of Frankie all over his wall as a teenager and had even dreamed of being an Olympic skier too.
Angel leaned forward and patted Frankie’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”
Frankie smiled at him. “You’re very kind, Angel.”
“He teaches kids to ski now,” Goldie said, pride obvious in his voice.
Noel frowned. “I thought you ran a car dealership.”
“We do,” Frankie agreed. “It’s a special program teaching kids who’d never get a chance to ski.”
“That’s our Frankie. He’s a real bleeding heart,” Goldie rumbled.
Noel wasn’t sure how he felt about the big man, but when he saw the loving looks Frankie and Goldie exchanged, he knew he was witnessing something special.
The door to the chalet opened and Charlie appeared.
“Dinner in thirty minutes, guys.”
Angel sighed, stretched, and stood up. “I need a shower.” He looked at Noel. “Coming?”
The question caught Noel off guard. “What?”
“Are you finished here?”
“Oh, yes.”
Noel swore he heard a snicker behind him as he climbed out of the tub.
NOEL FELT as though he’d eaten his body weight in fried chicken. He’d be content to relax in front of the fire all evening, but Charlie and Don stood in front of them, hands full of boxes, looking expectant. Oh God, Noel was sure he saw the Monopoly box.
“Board games?” Noel stared at Charlie in horror. “Hell no.”
Charlie looked as though Noel had kicked his puppy.
Angel giggled—not a chuckle, not a laugh—a full-on giggle.
Noel turned to him. “You find this funny.”
“You should see the look on your face. It’s like Charlie asked you to take your granny to the prom.”
“Ewww.” Much as he adored his Maw-Maw, Noel couldn’t think of anything worse. He had a sudden flashback to his actual prom, which started with him going stag because no way was he taking a girl and ended with him blowing the quarterback in the gym locker room. He had very fond memories of his prom night.
He stumbled as Angel shoved him. “What was that for?”
“You. You were thinking about getting laid.”
“How did you know?” Noel protested.
Don rolled h
is eyes. “Dude, we’ve all been there.”
“Speak for yourself,” Angel said primly. Then he giggled again, and even Noel had to laugh.
“It’s a Christmas tradition,” Charlie explained. “We always play board games in the evening.”
Maria clapped her hands as she waddled past. “Great. We can get the Monopoly game started now. It should be getting really vicious by Christmas Day.”
“A woman after my own heart,” Charlie said with a delighted grin.
They all ignored Noel’s groan, except for Angel, who patted his arm. “You stay by my side, Noel. I’ll take care of you.”
Noel’s heart pitter-pattered at Angel’s squeeze of his bicep. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he played with Angel. It was one night. He could cope, especially if he had plenty of liquor inside him.
NOEL HUFFED as he paid out his remaining dollars to the shark at his side. “What happened to, ‘I’ll take care of you,’ huh?”
Angel shrugged without the slightest trace of remorse and shuffled the bills into the ever-growing pile in front of him. “I had to get you playing somehow.”
“You lied to me?”
“Lie is such a strong word,” Angel said a touch pensively as he rolled the dice.
“You keep taking my money.”
“You keep landing on my properties.”
Noel didn’t have much choice. Angel owned two-thirds of the board. Frankie and Don had bowed out an hour earlier and were now drinking beer by the fire. Noel envied them greatly. He was still in the game—just—along with Angel, Charlie, and Maria. The last had proven to be just as much a shark as Angel, and Noel had a feeling those two would be battling it out to be the final champion.
Noel hadn’t seen the other two wise guys. Frankie had mentioned something about talking to family, and Noel had noticed how grim his face had gotten.
Maria grinned at them over the table. “You two bicker worse than an old married couple.”
Noel grinned at her despite his annoyance. It was true. They did sound like people who’d been together forever, rather than just a few days.
Another turn and Noel was out of the game and retreated thankfully to sit on one of the empty couches by the fire. He caught Charlie’s slightly desperate look as he stood, but Noel felt no remorse. Charlie was the one who dragged him into this, after all.
Don and Frankie were talking about motorbikes, which held no interest for Noel, so he tuned out their conversation and stared into the flames. It was nice not having to do anything other than sit. His life with Adam was filled with doing things and going places—Adam’s book launches, bars, movie nights, and theater trips. He liked that too, at least he had in the beginning, because he was with Adam. Recently though, Noel had found he was tired of the constant round of activities and he just wanted to spend time at home with Adam. When he suggested they spend more time alone at home, Adam had looked as horrified as Noel had been at the idea of board games. Now Noel wondered if it had been because Adam didn’t want to be alone with him. That saddened him. Had Adam been so unhappy that the thought of a night at home with Noel repulsed him?
Noel resolved when he got back home he would talk to Adam, no matter how much the idea hurt. He needed to know where their relationship had gone so terribly wrong. A cheer disturbed him, and he looked up to see Angel punching the air. He grinned, guessing that Angel had wiped the board with his competitors. When Angel looked over to him with a big grin and a thumbs-up, he knew his guess was correct.
Maria sat back, looking disappointed but still managing to be gracious in defeat. “You are a vicious opponent,” she said, holding her hand out to Angel. “Rematch?”
Noel’s heart sank but, to his relief, Angel shook his head. “Maybe tomorrow night. You’re just as vicious. I don’t think I could pull that off twice.”
She smirked at him. “That’s the whole point.”
“You should come with a warning,” Angel muttered.
“I should be saying that to you.”
Noel shook his head as Angel and Maria smirked at each other. “I’m never playing board games with either of you again.”
“You’re just a sore loser.” Angel plopped down beside Noel and held his hand out for Noel’s beer bottle.
“You could just get your own,” Noel pointed out even as he handed it over.
“I could, but I’m too tired to move.” Angel yawned.
Noel resigned himself to the loss of his beer. He could get another one soon. Don and Frankie were still talking motorbikes. Maria disappeared in the direction of her bedroom, and Charlie muttered something about breakfast and vanished into the kitchen.
Angel yawned again and closed his eyes. Noel studied him and noted the slight reddening of his nose and cheeks and the faintest spray of freckles across the bridge of his nose. It was cute. The weather had been sunny today, and he didn’t want Angel to get sunburned. He would make sure they both used sunscreen tomorrow. He blinked as he realized how possessive he sounded. Angel was a grown man. Noel couldn’t make him do anything, but he could suggest it and offer the bottle before they went skiing.
He looked up to catch Don’s knowing smile. He flushed, and Don’s smile broadened before he turned his attention back to Frankie. Noel sighed inwardly. He wasn’t doing a good job of hiding his interest in Angel. Then he looked at Angel again. He could, maybe, just let himself dream a little.
ONE BY one the occupants of the chalet all made their excuses and went to their rooms, leaving Noel sitting next to a sleeping Angel. He wasn’t in a rush to disturb him, knowing by now that nighttime brought its own terrors. Angel could sleep peacefully for as long as he needed. Before he disappeared, Don kindly provided Noel with another beer and a selection of books from the chalet’s small library. Noel shuffled through the books, deciding which one to read. Don’s choice included crime, thrillers, sci-fi, and what looked suspiciously like romance, although there were two men on the cover.
Ignoring a pique of interest, Noel picked up the crime novel, which was by an author Noel thought he recognized. After fifteen minutes he had to admit defeat. The plot was stodgy and turgid and didn’t hold his interest. He flicked through the thrillers—70s Cold War, Middle East, Russian, American hero saves the world. Science fiction wasn’t really his thing, and the cover did nothing to change his mind. The big boobs and prominent butt weren’t on his to-do list. Could women even stand in that position? He thought about it for a moment, shuddered as he realized what he was doing, and hastily discarded the book.
Which left the romance. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize it was about two guys. The last time Noel had picked up a romance book, he’d been collecting it for Maw-Maw from the library.
“It’s not going to bite you,” he muttered.
“Not unless you ask nicely,” Angel said.
Noel froze and stared at Angel, who sighed and snuggled into the cushions and was back to sleep in seconds.
What the hell?
Noel stared down at the book and turned it over. He curled his lip at the blurb—alpha male blah blah, covert ops blah blah. Oh, what the hell. He didn’t have anything else to read. He opened the first page.
“Good book?” Angel sounded sleepy and amused.
“Not bad at all.” Noel looked up from page eighty-five. “It’s kind of silly but engrossing too.”
Angel blinked and tried to wake up. “What time is it?”
Noel squinted at the clock in the corner of the room. “I think it’s about eleven.”
“Really?” Angel sat up. “You should have woken me or left me here.”
“I didn’t want to disturb you, and I was fine here. Don left me with a beer and books to read.”
“And you picked the gay romance?”
Noel shrugged. “Why not? It’s something different. Are you ready to go to bed?”
At Angel’s nod Noel got to his feet and stretched his tired muscles. He put the books back on the shelf, except the one he’d been read
ing, which he took with him. He wanted to know what happened. Angel was kind enough not to laugh at him too much.
BACK IN their room, Noel used the bathroom first to brush his teeth and change into his pajama bottoms and T-shirt. Unlike the last few nights, Angel wasn’t holding a conversation from the other room as he got ready for bed. Noel wondered if he’d fallen asleep already, but as he entered the bedroom, he could see Angel still dressed and curled up in a ball, his back to the room. He hesitated, unsure whether to disturb Angel. From the tense set of his shoulders, he was sure Angel wasn’t asleep. Noel hesitated. Angel had been relaxed sleeping on the sofa, but that relaxation had vanished.
“Angel?” he said softly.
Angel didn’t move.
Noel walked over to the bed and sat down beside him. He laid his hand on Angel’s shoulder. “Talk to me. What’s the matter?”
“Nothing.”
Noel rolled his eyes. “I can see that’s not true. Tell me what’s wrong.”
There was a long pause, and Noel was about to ask again when Angel spoke.
“I dread going to sleep.”
“Because of the dreams?”
Angel nodded. “I never get a break.”
His voice was muffled, and Noel could barely hear the words, but he understood. Angel was asking for comfort. He needed comfort, but he didn’t want to have to say the words.
“I’ll take care of you,” Noel promised, reaching out to run his hand down Angel’s back. “I’ll wake you up, I promise.”
Angel stood, stripped off his clothes except for his briefs, and climbed back into bed.
“I’ll turn off the lights. Move over, you’re hogging the space.” Noel switched off all the lights except the one on the nightstand and returned to the bed. He climbed under the covers and reached over to switch off the light, but Angel didn’t move any closer to him. He might as well have had a statue by his side.
“Come here,” Noel said.